Claire | January 8, 2014
According to Eustace Chapuys, the Imperial ambassador, on Sunday 8th January, the day after Catherine of Aragon’s death, Henry VIII “was clad all over in yellow, from top to toe, except the white feather he had in his bonnet” and he paraded the two-year old Princess Elizabeth to mass “with trumpets and other great triumphs”.1 […]
Claire | January 5, 2014
On this day in history, 5th January 1531, Pope Clement VII wrote to Henry VIII forbidding him to remarry, and threatening him with excommunication if he took matters into his own hands and disobeyed Rome: “At the request of the Queen, forbids Henry to remarry until the decision of the case, and declares that if […]
Claire | November 27, 2013
It has been claimed, on various occasions, that Anne Boleyn ‘frenchified’ her name by changing it from ‘Bullen’ to ‘Boleyn’, making it less common and more ‘upmarket’ – “Anne Boleyn” versus “Nan Bullen”. This is a myth, however, and is actually to do with the fact that there was no standardized spelling in England at […]
Claire | August 21, 2013
On this day in history, 21st August 1535, King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn visited Nicholas Poyntz at his home, Acton Court, in South Gloucestershire, as part of their summer progress to the south-west of England. The progress also included a stay with the Walsh Family at Little Sobdury Manor. You can read more about […]
Claire | August 14, 2013
Back in early 2011, I wrote a series of posts on the “six wives’ stereotypes”, the various stereotypes, labels, myths and downright lies which surround Henry VIII’s six wives. Fiction, films, TV series and even history books have led to people having very warped ideas of these women and to some feeling that they have […]
Claire | June 3, 2013
Mickey, a long time visitor to The Anne Boleyn Files, is doing a survey as part of his doctorate and would love your help. Here is a message from Mickey with all the details: I’m a PhD student at London South Bank University writing a doctorate entitled ‘Fan Boleyn: Anne Boleyn in subculture’, on the […]
Claire | May 19, 2013
To commemorate Anne Boleyn’s execution, which took place on this day in 1536, I’m going to share the preface of my book on Anne’s fall… Dressed in an ermine-trimmed, grey damask robe, with an English style gable hood and a crimson kirtle underneath, the slight, dark-haired woman took her final walk. She went out of […]
Claire | May 17, 2013
On 17th May 1536, at Lambeth, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, in the presence of Sir Thomas Audley, the Duke of Suffolk, the Earl of Oxford and others, declared that the marriage between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was null and void.1 This sentence of “nullity” meant that it was as if the marriage had never happened […]
