Category: Boleyn Myth
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Anne Boleyn the Woman behind the Myths – Live 13-15 December 2021

| December 9, 2021

Anne Boleyn the Woman behind the Myths – Live 13-15 December 2021

Three days of free live talks from me, historian Claire Ridgway, to introduce you to the real Anne Boleyn and to deepen your knowledge of this fascinating Tudor woman. DATE: 13, 14 and 15 December 2021 PLACE: Live on YouTube and Facebook simultaneously Sign me up already! Are you hungry to know more about Anne […]

Were Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard pawns of their families

| November 7, 2020

Were Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard pawns of their families

In this latest edition of my Questions about Anne Boleyn series, I consider whether Anne Boleyn and her cousin, Catherine Howard, were pawns of their families and whether the Boleyns and Howards deserve to be blamed for their subsequent executions. Did Thomas and Elizabeth Boleyn, and Elizabeth’s brother, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, force […]

The Other Boleyn Girl – Is it accurate?

| October 3, 2019

The Other Boleyn Girl – Is it accurate?

In this latest instalment of my “Questions about Anne Boleyn” series, I look at Philippa Gregory’s best-selling novel, “The Other Boleyn Girl”, which was also turned into a movie and adapted for television. “The Other Boleyn Girl” has brought Anne Boleyn and Mary Boleyn’s stories to life for many people, and provoked an interest in […]

To Justify or Not to Justify, That is the Theory

| April 28, 2017

To Justify or Not to Justify, That is the Theory

Thank you to Clare Cherry for writing this guest article for us today. I know Clare is very concerned about how some theories and myths crop up so regularly that they are taken as facts, and yet many of them have very little basis. Goodness knows how many times I’ve had to correct the idea […]

George Cavendish and George Boleyn

| February 17, 2017

George Cavendish and George Boleyn

Thank you to Clare Cherry, co-author of George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat for writing this guest post on George Cavendish and his poetry, Metrical Visions, which has been used by some historians and authors to paint a rather black picture of George Boleyn. If you don’t know, George Cavendish was Cardinal Thomas Wolsey’s […]

Did Mark Smeaton father Anne Boleyn’s baby?

| November 11, 2016

Did Mark Smeaton father Anne Boleyn’s baby?

Yes, that is the question that I find myself answering today. I’ve never actually had someone ask me that or even argue about it with me, but while I was researching Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s 1535 royal progress I came across an article that put forward the theory that Mark Smeaton fathered the baby […]

Correcting the myths

| August 11, 2016

Correcting the myths

Last week, I published a guest article, Fact, by Clare Cherry in which she talked about the problem of assumptions and theories becoming taken as fact. The article received lots of comments and I also received a fair few emails about it. One Anne Boleyn Files follower asked me “but why are these “notions” not […]

Fact? by Clare Cherry

| August 3, 2016

Fact? by Clare Cherry

Clare Cherry, co-author of George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat, discusses the problem of assumptions and theories becoming taken as fact. There are many ‘known’ ‘facts’ which aren’t actually facts at all. A lot of what we think we know comes from urban myth, old wives tales, mistake, assumption, exaggeration, etc. etc. There are […]

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