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10:47 am
January 7, 2010
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Someone else has to have read this biography! I just started it and don't know if I should laugh or throw it across the room! I don't see a review on this site but I'd like to hear other opinions on this particular book! According to Denny, Catherine of Aragon had a bad temper and was arrogant, stubborn, and “even bloody-minded”…like huh?!? That sentence came from Catherine's reaction to be told by Henry that her marriage wasn't valid and Henry quoted Leviticus to her. I guess Denny expected Catherine to just say “yes dear” and meekly bow her head? And I'm gathering Denny is somewhat anti-Catholic…just a tad… 
Yikes…
12:46 pm
January 9, 2010
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It's been ages since I read Denny's biography, but if I remember rightly she was extremely pro-Anne, glossed over the more 'harsh' aspects of her personality, and painted other people in as bad a light as possible simply to make Anne look better. Its certainly not a bad thing to be an Anne fan (surely that's why all of us are here!) but in a biographical work there is a point where all the Anne love becomes extremely irritating, so I can understand your desire to throw it against the wall! Its funny that you mention Denny being a little anti-Catholic, 'cos I got that impression too which was another disappointment for me as it tends to denigrate and oversimplify what were some very complex and important issues.
On the plus side Denny (as far as I can remember) writes well and gives a good (if unbalanced) overview of Anne's life.
So in summary, keep reading (lord knows there just aren't enough books on Anne 
) but don't expect too much of a better understanding of a very complex and fascinating woman. And read Ives afterwards!
1:04 pm
December 8, 2009
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I gave up on it half way through, to be honest, and always feel a little embarrassed by having it on my bookshelf.
However, I still firmly believe that you cannot read too much around a subject, and Denny's is still a valid viewpoint, even if we do not agree with her, or her skewed view of Catholicism.
Be daly prove you shalle me fynde,nTo be to you bothe lovyng and kynde,
1:10 pm
January 7, 2010
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Lucky for me, I read Ives and Starkey first!!
1:51 pm
February 16, 2009
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I do think Denny's book is worth a read just to get another viewpoint – for example, she has a very different idea about Thomas Boleyn doesn't she? I think she sees him as someone who tried to protect his daughters, rather than someone who tried to manipulate and use them for his own gain which is how he's always seen in fiction. But, she does paint Anne as some kind of protestant saint and martyr and I think she goes too far that way.
My favourite Anne Boleyn book is the Eric Ives one but I also use the ones written by Retha Warnicke, Elizabeth Norton, Weir and Denny, as well as the Six Wives ones by Starkey and Loades. All of them have different opinions and all are interesting.
Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn
7:35 am
January 7, 2010
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I have to admit the line about Catherine of Aragon that reads “Yet she was far from meek or docile, demonstating her obstinate, unyielding nature and the imperious vanity of her Spanish heritage.” did make me laugh. Does that sentence mean that Denny is anti-Spanish as well?! Good heavens… I have a gazillion Post It flags and notes all over Weir's biography of Anne–I guess I need to do the same with Denny's. I'd love to take all the major works on Anne and do a side by side comparison of how each puts their own spin on the same episode in Anne's life.
hmmm….we're about to be snowed in again for a couple days and I have nothing else to do…!!
2:02 pm
July 9, 2009
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But Catherine was a bit bloody-minded, no? Even Starkey comments on it in his Six Queens. Her letters to Henry during Flodden/the French campaign show she was very comfortable with violence. I think it goes back to her parents and upbringing. Catherine of Aragon was of the generation immediately after the notorious Spanish Inquisition's height. The Inquisition had become an excuse in Spain to kill the Jews, but when the pope wrote to her father Ferdinand to ease up, he wrote back that the pope must be secretly working for the Jews!
I do disagree with Denny's assertion that Catherine wanted her daughter in a kind of purdah like the Muslims of Spain. Catherine had long since adopted English customs by the time Mary was born and Mary recieved a princely education. Actually there's a lot in that book we should disagree with and she is quite unfair to Catherine of Aragon, but she's right that she had an “obstinate, unyeilding nature.”
Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne.
2:22 pm
February 16, 2009
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Yes, I think she was, as Melissa puts it, “bloody-minded”, and comfortable with violence. I know “Wolf Hall” is fiction but Wolsey tells Cromwell the story about Catherine wanting to send Henry James IV's head in celebration of the English victory and says that they managed to persuade her that it would be rather un-English and so she just sent his bloodied coat instead. Not sure whether the head idea is true, but Catherine did send Henry the coat.
I definitely agree with Denny that Catherine was not meek or docile and that she was obstinate but I don't see that her traits were down to her being Spanish – how funny!
I go through books with post-it notes too and bend down the corners of pages and when I'm particularly enraged I write “WHAT???” in the margin! Have fun, Edie!
Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn
7:03 pm
January 9, 2010
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Thats one of the traits of Catherine I kinda always liked – her “obstinate, unyielding nature”! She was a woman who knew how to stick up for herself and it always amuses me that Henry hoped she'd just cave in over the divorce! Sometimes you have to wonder if he really knew her at all…
Or any of his wives for that matter
8:58 pm
August 12, 2009
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Hee. Which reminds me of the story about when Anne and Katharine were still uneasily co-existing at court, Henry got into an argument with Katharine and she basically handed him his head (metaphorically!), so Henry goes whining to Anne expecting sympathy. Only to have Anne rip on him, too, along the lines of “Didn't I tell you not to argue with her because she always wins when you argue?”
"Don't knock at death's door.
Ring the bell and run. He hates that."
12:46 am
January 9, 2010
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Yeah, you almost have to feel sorry for him, stuck between a rock and a hard place like that!
9:26 am
August 22, 2010
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Melissa said:
But Catherine was a bit bloody-minded, no? Even Starkey comments on it in his Six Queens. Her letters to Henry during Flodden/the French campaign show she was very comfortable with violence.
But everybody in 16th century Europe was comfortable with violence because it was an every-day experience and taken for granted by commoner and noble. We shouldn't be anachronistic and judge historic characters by our modern human-rights-view standards.
11:58 am
February 24, 2010
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I have been trying to get thru this Denny's book for a very long time. I am not enjoying it, and I think it is going on the bookshelf. At least now I know it is not just me. Ives' book is my go to book for anything Anne related.
Katherine of Aragon was the daughter of two warriors. Of course she is going to be a little “bloody minded.” I agree with lguaza, we can't judge these Kings and Queens by our 21st century standards. Well not when it comes to war that is. They were always at war. We at least try to prevent wars. For the most part, anyway.
