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How did you first get interested in Anne?
June 20, 2009
2:21 am
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Claire
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How did you first get interested in Anne Boleyn?

For me it was through doing history at school. I did a Tudor project when I was 11 and then went on to study the Tudor period at A'level and the Reformation at Uni. I found the whole period fascinating, particularly the personalities of Anne, Henry and Sir Thomas More. My interest was then sparked off again by reading the Philippa Gregory novels and by watching the Tudors. I was hungry to know more about Anne, who she really was and passionate to educate the world(!) about her – I'm getting there!

Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn

June 26, 2009
7:47 am
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gwenne
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I've always had a fondness and a fascination for the Tudor era of British history.  I also have a deep and abiding interest in women who have been 'slandered' and labelled throughout history.  I find that digging into their historical backgrounds and putting the pieces together have given me a fuller and more interesting picture of who the woman is than any blurb in a history book.  As the mother of Elizabeth I, I wanted to know Anne in her own right, (besides the standard lines that are written).  I found a strong, opinionated, intelligent, ambitious, and fascinating woman under those layers.  I think Henry VIII was a monster, a pig, and a sadistic misogynistic jerk who used the women in his life with little or no regard for them.  I think the other 'wives' in his life were somewhat interesting, but none of them really came close to capturing my imagination like Anne Boleyn does.  I've included a link to my youtube playlist for those of you who have some time on your hands and are really into the Anne Boleyn theme.  Another reason I gravitated towards Anne (as opposed to say Kitty Howard or Jayne Seymour) is the fact that charges of witchcraft were levelled against her.  I have found through my own personal studies that anytime the word 'witch' is involved that you are dealing with a woman whom men loved and yet feared and someone who is above the intellectual norm.  (same applies to today's arena).  Also as a Neo-Pagan woman it's my personal mission to uncover what is underneath 'witch' labels and understand the woman herself and who she really was aside from the labels.  Anne Boleyn doesn't disapoint, she was and is still an icon for feminist studies.

http://www.youtube.com/my_play…..21BDD1E22E

Diem et animus scire cupio: I desire knowledge of the soul.

June 26, 2009
1:37 pm
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Sabrina
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I became interested in Tudor History in high school. I always found that period in time to be interesting. I watched David Starkey's documentary on the wives, and I was totally hooked.

I found the story of Anne very interesting. She was very intelligent and independent, and did not let the conventions of that time stand in her way. When I learned of her execution, I found it very sad. How could a woman be killed for doing nothing wrong? Although in that time, it was not known that the men decide the sex of the children, it was still wrong to accuse her of things that she did not do. How could someone who was so anxious for reform be accused of witchcraft? There is nothing evil about true witchcraft. Besides, she had people around her all the time, so there is no way she could've done anything she was accused of.

I also think Henry was a mentally damaged person, who let his own fears destroy those around him. I hope wherever he ended up, Anne found him and smacked him really hard..

Let not my enemies sit as my jury

June 28, 2009
3:44 pm
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Mademoiselle_Boleyn
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i was visiting london about 3 years ago, including the infamous tower & purchased a thin,small color book on henry's 6 wives…when i read the pages about anne 2 things stuck out for me: she was elizabeth I's mother & was, as the book said \”executed under false charges\” …i immediately thought- wait, how is this possible? how could a queen be beheaded under FALSE charges?\”

as i read more and more about her i became all the more fascinated-leading to obsession lol

Anne Boleyn: Laetissima
"for all those who meddle in my cause, i require them to judge the best"

June 28, 2009
5:40 pm
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Rochie
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I first became interested in AB because she was the mother of Elizabeth – and I am very interested in all things Elizabethan. But since discovering these web-pages I have become drawn more to the earlier period, and learning lots about those years that were just a little bit 'off my radar' – that is the first half of the 16th century. Thanks Claire for somehow managing to keep these pages fresh and alive. There is always something to see and discover with every visit. I don't know how you do it. But I guess it is all down to having a passion for something – and somehow this shines through and others immediately sense it.

SR

July 13, 2009
1:03 pm
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Melissa
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I'm bored and figured I'd revive this thread : )

I've been interested in Anne for as long as I can remember because I've always been interested in history through women's eyes-especially, as Gwenne said \”slandered women.\” I actually put off watching The Tudors until I had a lot of time on my hands because I knew it would make me obsessed with Anne Boleyn.  And I was right-of all the women I've longed to play, AB is NOT one of them because I couldn't hold a candle to Natalie Dormer's performance. 

I studied in England a few years back and spent the semester in a Tudor manor-house.  The little thatched-roof village of Wroxton surrounds the manor (belonged to a Lord North), and the villagers would have been the serfs of the Lord in Tudor times.  The basement of the manor is really creepy because the location was originally an Augustinian abbey which was demolished in the Henrician reforms, with the existing manor built right on top.  The basement, however, contains the remnants of the abbey, with marble arches and little conclaves.  There are even tunnels leading from the basement (boarded up now, unfortunately) to the local pub!  I have a bunch of pictures somewhere I can show you all if interested.   While there of course I visited London a couple times, but never went into the Tower.  I really wanted to but was very broke then (not much has changed) and couldn't afford admission.  Now if I could go back I would have begged on the street to afford to see AB's final resting place!

Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne.

July 13, 2009
4:14 pm
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Claire
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Hi Melissa,

Your time in a Tudor manor house sounds great – shame about the boarded up tunnels, could have come in very handy with the British weather because you could have enjoyed a drink without getting rained on. I would love to see your pictures too.

I'm in the midst of organising an Anne Boleyn tour for next year so watch this space for details!

Lovely to have you on here. Really must go to bed now – I keep saying that and then I find something else to do!

Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn

August 17, 2009
12:54 pm
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Lina
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Well,

I became intrested in Anne Boleyn after reading Jean Plaidy's \”The Lady in the Tower\”. I have always been a keen Historical Fiction (and Non-Fiction) reader so I just looked on the shelves of my local library and happened to find this book.

After reading it a was extremely fascinated with the woman that Anne was. I was curious to find out more about her. I read a lot about her on the internet and then ended up borrowing and reading several biographies of her. This is quite an obsession now (lol) and I am always surprised with the new facts I find out about her.

August 18, 2009
1:27 am
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Autumn Star
Ohio
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Lina, I totally get what you are saying, once get started learning about Anne, it becomes an obsession, there is so much to find out and she is such an inspriation for people everywhere!!

*Autumn*Star*
le plus heurex

August 18, 2009
7:54 am
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Claire
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Hi Lina,

I've just finished reading Jean Plaidy's \”Murder Most Royal\” and I can see why a book of hers would lead you to wanting to find out more. Plaidy really brings her charater to life!

Not a day goes by when I don't find out something new about Anne, she's a fascinating character and there are so many different thoughts, theories and opinions out there about her.

Hi Autumn,

Yes, very addictive!

Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn

August 19, 2009
1:35 am
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Autumn Star
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glorious book ms. Claire 🙂 but almost anything on the topic of Anne gets me excited haha

*Autumn*Star*
le plus heurex

September 22, 2009
10:05 pm
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ProudtobeCatholic
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My interest in Anne Boleyn and the Tudor period in general began about a year ago.  I wrote a paper on religion and politics for one of my classes.  In that paper I devoted a paragraph on Henry VIII's spilit with the Catholic Church.  The research I did  got me hooked!  Ever since I've been reading everything I could about the Turdors.

When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

September 25, 2009
11:06 pm
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Lady
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Hi

I got interested in Anne when I was 10 and watched for the first time the BBC serial \”The six wives of Henry VIII\”. I was fascinated by her and felt identified by her. Since that very day, Anne was and is my fave Queen.

February 10, 2010
3:07 pm
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Anne fan
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I'd have been about eight when my parents took me to Canterbury Cathedral. In the crypt there  was a special exhibition of the costumes used in the film Henry VIII and his Six Wives, starring Keith Michell (not sure of the spelling) and Charlotte Rampling as Anne. That film included Anne's coronation costume so it was, of course, the most magnificent of the costumes on display – the only other one I remember is the one worn by Elizabeth I as a little girl. It was a sort of tawny brown colour. A few weeks later at school we did a project on Henry VIII and his six wives and I was on the table that got Anne Boleyn. We had to make a huge poster of her and tell the rest of the class about her.

Two years later I changed schools and lo and behold found myself doing a project on Henry VIII and his six wives and being on the table that was given Anne Boleyn… It feels as if someone was making sure I knew all about her!

I identify with her because she was her own person, a leader rather than a follower but who, ultimately, was subject to the rules of the age in which she lived.

Louise

February 11, 2010
4:21 am
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Hannah
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This is really weird, but I honestly can't remember. My mother always had books relating to Henry VIII and the wives etc around the house. I remember being about 6 years old, far too young to fully appreciate the history, and thinking Boleyn was such a lovely name! So they've all been there, in the background, my whole life and I knew the basics. Mum died about three years ago, we were sorting through her old possessions and I decided to keep a few of her favourite books. One of them was an Anne Boleyn biography. Learning that Elizabeth I had lost her mother at such a young age, and under such awful circumstances (given my own recent bereavement at the time), affected me very deeply and I guess it was there, that the real interest began.

Be daly prove you shalle me fynde,nTo be to you bothe lovyng and kynde,

February 11, 2010
2:24 pm
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Bella44
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I first became obsessed (!) with Anne when I was 10 years old on a trip to Europe, Asia and the States with my family and on the second day we were in London we visited the Tower.  Listening to the beefeaters stories of Anne, Catherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey and the Princes in the Tower, I don't know, it all just really struck a chord, made a huge impression on a 10 year old girl from New Zealand!  We spent over six months travelling around the UK and any historic place we went to I always hoped it was somehow connected to Anne especially!

I remember begging my mum to go to Hever Castle, but sadly, we never made it!  I've been back to the UK since and I still haven't managed to get there!  Frown

Hannah, I know how you feel, my mum died just over two years ago and I kept some of her history books too.  It's largely thanks to her and the family trip we took that my interest in the Tudors and other periods of history began, so in a way, whenever I indulge my historical hobby I remember her too. 

February 17, 2010
3:31 pm
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AnneBoleynFan
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Hmmm…I can't remember when I first become interested in Anne Boleyn. I become interested in History since I was eight years old and I had a little interest in the French Revolution at that time. All these historical people had impressed since I was a little girl. And Joan of Arc made a impression on me since I was 13 years old. That's how I become addicted to History. 🙂

Anne Boleyn's life made a impression on me and I had done a essay on her in Year 13 at High School back in 2003. I began to read a lot about her and she had made a fanasticing impression on me now. I had done 3 wallpapers (handmade) of The Tudors, Henry VIII's six wives and of course, Joan of Arc, lol! Laugh I have a desktop wallpaper of Anne Boleyn on my laptop. Cool

My aunty had been to England before. She brought back a book on Hever Castle and a Anne Boleyn moble doll. 🙂 That's why I wanted to go to England one day and make my true wish come true, hehe. Wink

My name is Sarah. I am deaf :)

February 17, 2010
7:07 pm
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Bella44
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Your aunt has an Anne Boleyn doll?!  That would be soooo cool!!!!!!

February 18, 2010
12:22 am
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AnneBoleynFan
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Bella44 said:Your aunt has an Anne Boleyn doll?!  That would be soooo cool!!!!!!


Yeah she brought it for me including the Hever castle book for me. She knew I was interested in Anne Boleyn, lol. She gave me some post cards e.g. of The Tower of London and wax figures of Henry VIII and his six wives 🙂

My name is Sarah. I am deaf :)

February 18, 2010
11:24 am
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Bella44
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Oooh, those sound like some awesome presents!

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