As part of Anne Boleyn Day 2017, our commemoration of Queen Anne Boleyn’s execution on this day in 1536, Beth von Staats, author Thomas Cranmer in a Nutshell, talks about why the Americans love Anne Boleyn so much. I know from my blog statistics just how many visitors I have from the USA and it is a lot!
This talk was featured on MadeGlobal’s Anne Boleyn Day 2016, but it did not have the slideshow attached … this video is so much more interesting to watch!
Did you know that Beth also runs the QueenAnneBoleyn.com website? Do go and have a browse, it’s a wonderful resource.
MadeGlobal Publishing is offering a copy of Beth’s book Thomas Cranmer in a Nutshell to one lucky Anne Boleyn Files visitor. Simply leave a comment on this post before midnight on 24th May 2017 saying which country you’re from and how you became interested in Anne Boleyn. One comment will be picked at random and the winner contacted.
I’m from Hungary.
I’m interested in English history since the first day at school.
I was 13 when I first travel to England. I still hardly believe I visited the Tower then!
Hi Agnes,
If you love history as it sounds you may like the short videos we make about London and the British history.
If you search for “Curious Pavel” in YouTube, you will find bite-size videos with a lot of interesting stories connecting people with the places in the city.
I am from NJ in USA. I first became interested in AB from reading Phillipa Gregory’s books and than watching “The Tudors” and Natalie’s portrayal. I than wanted to know the real history and read just about anything I could get my hands on
I always read historical novels as a child and got interested in the Tudors, and especially Anne, that way. My sympathy increased when my mom did detailed genealogy and discovered she was my great, great cousin.
I’m in Charleston, SC, USA; I first became interested in Anne Boleyn when I read my mother’s copy of “The Concubine” by Norah Lofts when I was 8 years old.
I’m from New York. I fell into the Tudor world from the Showtime series. I watched the 1st 2 seasons online and during the hiatus between 2-3, I read a lot of books on Henry and his wives. My college campus had an extensive Tudor section. Wrote down any questions or comments that I had in a notebook so I could research again. I was a history major so this was something that I would try to do when I read history books.
Anne Boleyn’s story was always one that stood out the most. The Queen that Henry changed the world for. His true love or the most lusted after one. That story from beginning to end played like a soap opera and sometimes seemed too false to be true. With the right research it was true!
Anne’s story is the most fascinating of the wives for Americans I would say because it has all the qualities of a spectacle. Romance, bloodshed, conspiracy, controversy. Things that spread throughout America throughout its history. If you look at American tv now a new story about Anne and Henry would be welcomed!
Been interested in Tudor history since I was a little girl and my parents took me to the Tower of London.
I’m from Pennsylvania in the USA!
Hello!
I’miss from Wisconsin USA and I first became fascinated by Queen Anne when I was 15 in the mid-80s. For our drama class we were required to memorize a soliloquy chosen from a list of plays and present it to the class. The one chosen for me was by Anne Boleyn the night before her execution, I think from Shakespeare’s “Henry VIII”. In preparing for the assignment I learned about her history. I remember that what I took away from it back then was that basically the king killed his wife for not giving her a son. I felt a great deal of empathy for her, and a connection after having played her just for that little scene and it really stuck with me long afterward. In the 30 years since, my fascination and education have expanded to include English history from Henry VI through Elizabeth I – a period full of very strong yet tragic women who I have come to love and admire so much. But Anne Boleyn has always had a special significance for me because of one school assignment so long ago.
I have your book already Beth..just wanted to say l enjoyed your video…Good luck with the draw everyone
I live in the United States and I have been fascinated by Anne since I was 10 years old when I received my first book about her. From that day on I have found in Anne a kindred spirit, a friend and a role model. To date I own 32 books on Anne, the Wives, and the Tudor dynasty in general and I never get tired of them. I have read them all at least three times. I watch every documentary that has ever been produced (some on YouTube as I don’t get Channel 5 shows in the US).
I did my undergraduate thesis for my Bachelors Degree in Communications on Anne Boleyn. I analyzed her communication style and her relationships with others and how she viewed herself. I focused on how she viewed herself and how others viewed her shaped her and shaped our enduring fascination with her. She truly was a woman ahead of her time. My dream is to have my thesis read by Dr. Susannah Lipscomb and maybe even posted on this site. I am wearing my “B” necklace in her memory today.
I’m from Atlanta, Georgia, in the US. I’ve been interested in Anne Boleyn ever since I got a book in London called “Anne Boleyn and Me” (it’s kinda ironic I bought it at the Tower of London, though!).
I was interested from middle school studies. I then watched Anne of a Thousand Days with Genevieve Bujold. After that, I couldn’t get enough of books and reading about her. As a woman, even though I know times were different back then, it is disheartening to see women held to a different standard then men.
Hey there
I have your Cranmer book. Good Show! There’s too much fluff out there passing as the life of a very complex and interesting man. My interest about n the Tudors was peaked back in 73 with the BBC series “The Six Wives of Henry VIII” and “Elizabeth R”. I was further fascinated when I saw Glenda Jackson reprise her role as Elizabeth in “Mary, Queen of Scots”. Tudor overload! I’m from the Mountain West of the USA
I love Ann Boleyn – fabulous woman- the most interesting woman of her Day – the Mother of one of the most incredible rulers of all time – Queen Elizabeth I -?
I’m from America and I became interested in Anne Boleyn when I watched The Other Boleyn girl. However what really sparked my interest in her even more is when I saw Natalie Dormer’s portrayal of her in The Tudors. After that I just had to know more and all of the real facts about this amazing woman’s life!
I’m from Pennsylvania and I learned about Anne Boleyn in high school and I remember thinking she was ahead of her time in her thinking and outspoken nature. While some of the ways she is portrayed is less than dignified, as I grew and continued to read more about her and poured over the research as opposed to the gossip, I grew to love her as a woman who was manipulated and learned to make the best of every situation she found herself in. Some situations were self driven and some not so, but in those times, she was truly a woman of the world. Het daughter followed in the intellectual footsteps of her mother and made history as well. Long live the Queens!
North Carolinian here and I grew up hearing tales about Blackbeard and his “Queen Anne’s Revenge” when vacationing in the OBX. True or not, I’ve loved her ever since!
I’m about a year late reading and responding to this very interesting topic. I am from Maryland and so many of our counties are named after places or people in England. Somerset, Carroll, Prince George’s, Worcester. I became interested in Anne Boleyn when I saw the movie “Anne of the Thousand Days.”. I remember being so enchanted and obsessed with it. Anne just seemed to be one of those people who came to a tragic end and shouldn’t have. I married a Warfield who is related to Wallis
Warfield Simpson. (good or bad!). My husband’s mother read only about English history and she could rattle off names, places and dates so well. They visited England several times.My father-in-law’s heritage goes back to Wales. I think this is one reason why so many of us love English history because that’s where our heritage lies.
Anyway, sorry I had to split this in two, but something happened on the first time.