Today In History: Anne Boleyn Crown Queen of England

Today in history: June 1st 1533 Anne Boleyn was crowned Queen of England. Henry VIII moved mountains to be able to marry Anne and even before her death the marriage would be declared void leaving her only child Elizabeth a "bastard".

"Anne Boleyn's Triumphal Entry Into London"

~Lizzy~

Tudor Women: Anne Boleyn or Someone Else?

This pretty Tudor hottie is officially unnamed but... I see a lot of Anne Boleyn in her or Catherine Howard maybe. What do you think?

Lovely Tudor Lady here was made with watercolor pencils, color pencils, and lastly a bit of ink to polish her off. I hope you all like her I must admit I did this one about 6 moths ago or maybe longer and had completely spaced on posting her.  You can also click on the image for the larger version.

~Lizzy~

Today in History Anne Boleyn Loses her head

Anne Boleyn was beheaded on the tower green on May 19 1536 475 years ago today. Anne is by far leading lady of my heart because she was a smart capable woman who was way ahead of her times. I feel Anne was a victim of the men in her life including her father. I also have throw out there the Rh Negative factor in her numerous miscarriages. For more on being Rh Negative read here but basically it means the new babies blood is not compatible with the mothers and today women would receive a shot to counteract the incompatibility. It has been proven that most woman with Rh Negative can produce at least one living girl child before the incompatibility kicks in, weird I know but from what I have gathered true. Even my own mother is Rh Negative and her first born was a daughter and then the shots began with the second one. In my heart of hearts Anne was a good woman, a brave woman who even in the face of the greatest peril held her head high with the dignity she rightly deserved.

The beheading of Queen Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII Tudor, on the 19th May 1536 at Tower Green. In the background the Tower of London. On the left Henry VIII. On the right Lady Jane Seymour.

"Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul."

Amazon
Mademoiselle Boleyn, Robin Maxwell
The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, Robin Maxwell
Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn
Murder Most Royal: The Story of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard
The Boleyn Wife
The Concubine: A Novel
To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn
The Six Wives of Henry VIII

~Lizzy~
P.S. I want her cloak.

Today in History, For the love of Anne

All For the love of Anne Boleyn today in history will always be her day in my heart. I drew her in pen and color pencil then scanned her in, added a few backgrounds and a bunch of pretty butterflies. Before I shrunk her down I took a close up below.

Anne's Memorial, breath taking a glass pillow on a pedestal. On the rim of the pedestal are the seven names of the nobility that were beheaded for treason. Anne's name is right next to Margaret Pole some where on there is Jane Grey, Catherine Howard see list below. 

"Seven nobles (five of them ladies) were beheaded privately on Tower Green, inside the complex, and then buried in the "Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula" (Latin for "in chains," making him an appropriate patron saint for prisoners) next to the Green. Some of the nobles who were executed outside the Tower are also buried in that chapel. The names of the seven beheaded on Tower Green for treason alone are:

• William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings (1483)
• Anne Boleyn (1536)
• Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (1541)
• Catherine Howard (1542)
• Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford (1542)
• Lady Jane Grey (1554)  
• Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1601)"

Today In History, Anne Boleyn Marries Henry VIII

477 years ago today Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn. The marriage that rocked the world and changed the fate of England. England would never be the same after the pair married. Henry moved mountains to be with Anne including separating from Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

There is not much out there on Anne as far as art work goes since Henry had everything of her destroyed after her execution but I did happen to find a letter from Henry to Anne. Can you make out any of it? The only part I could make out is towards the bottom right "gentyile home", scary right, him offering a gentle home?






















For More on Anne and Henry:
Henry's Birthday
Tudors on ShowtimeField of Cloth and Gold
Anne Crowned Queen
Anne Boleyn by Charles Knight
Henry Marries Jane Seymour
Anne's Execution
Historical Fiction Bloggers Round Table: Marie Burton and Anne Boleyn

3:00 PM Update: Rosemary from Booking it Bus Style sent me this really cool article link about Alison Weir and her new Anne Boleyn book. Check out her cool Link!

Historical Fiction Bloggers Round Table:Featuring Marie from The Burton Review with Guest Post

The Burton Review: Q & A with Marie. Be sure to check her out today she is also having a giveaway of a Anne Boleyn book by Robin Maxwell. She also is having guest posts by Robin Maxwell (My Favorite) and Michelle Moran (hopefully a new favorite).

Q: What drew you into the world of Historical Fiction?

A co-worker gave me 'The Other Boleyn Girl' by Philippa Gregory in February of 2008. I was amazed at the fact that these were real people! I had to know more, and I then read a few of Alison Weir's books, The Wars of The Roses, and The Princes in The Tower, and the mystery of the Princes' fate and who the bad guys could be hooked me also. There was no turning back after that. I googled a lot of stuff and lived on Wikipedia for awhile, and then researched reviews to choose my next HF reads. My Amazon wish list grew by leaps and bounds! My birthday came in July and my dear father responded quite well and thus started my ever growing Tudor History collection.

Q: How did you start writing book reviews and blogging about them?

I actually wrote reviews on Facebook's application WeRead before blogging about them for a few months. I started my blog in December 2008 as a sort of creative release and distraction after my father had suddenly passed away. After several months of lame reviews that were very focused on my opinion that blended with personal garbage, I started to get a comment or two. I had probably been commenting on other blogs for a little while and then they started to check out who this weird person was, and they found my blog. My first commenter's were Amy from Passages From the Past, Arleigh from Historical-Fiction.com and Royal-intrigue.net, and Daphne from Tanzanite's Shelf and Stuff. Those three bloggers were my inspiration to start creating a more structured blog and not make it personal mumbo jumbo. No one had commented on my earlier personal stuff but when I started blogging seriously about HF Books in March/April, I started getting a following and that was when I got my groove on.

Q: What is your favorite historical period and why?

I will always be fond of the Tudor period. They were my first love, and the second is The Wars of the Roses, both English history. I do hope to expand more into the French Revolution and Napoleon. I've had Catherine Delors book 'Mistress of The Revolution' since March but still haven't had a chance to get to it.

Q:What is your favorite author and novel?

This is the question that everyone HATES to get. There are SO MANY!!

Jean Plaidy would be one favorite author as she was so prolific on ALL of the eras that I want to learn more about. So far my favorite of hers that I have read is actually under her pseudonym Victoria Holt: 'My Enemy The Queen'. I also enjoy Sharon Kay Penman for her Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy that started with 'When Christ and His Saints Slept'. I was completely enthralled by Anna Elliott's book Twilight of Avalon, if her 2nd novel is just as good than she'll officially be my favorite author.

Q: If you could choose to be one HF leading lady, who would it be and why?

Another tough question! Many of the ladies I've read about in the Tudor era have come to tragic ends due to Henry VIII, that old meanie! But his daughter Elizabeth I, was a formidable woman who overcame a lot of adversity through her lifetime to become a respected monarch, and she was a WOMAN who ruled successfully for almost half a century. Her strength, fortitude, intellectual abilities and the fact she dangled would-be lovers by their nose make her a very intriguing person to me. There are still so many books that I have in my library that I long to read about her to help shed light on her personal mind, such as 'I, Elizabeth' by Rosalind Miles, 'The Lady Elizabeth' by Alison Weir, 'Elizabeth: The Struggle for The Throne' by David Starkey and 'The Wild Irish' by Robin Maxwell, to name a few. So many fantastic historical fiction books, so little time!!

Me and Anne Boleyn

(And the Quest for GOOD Historical Fiction on Anne)

by Marie Burton of The Burton Review

As part of the Historical Fiction Bloggers Round Table Event, we've had our favorite bloggers posting interviews and guest posts across each other's blogs. Amy from Passages to the Past posted over at Hist-Fic Chick spotlighting one of her favorite royal historical figures, Elizabeth I (above, left). Today I am spotlighting Anne Boleyn (above, right), who was Elizabeth's mother. The similarities shown are amazing!

Those who read historical fiction set in England most likely know the tragic but enthralling story of Henry VIII's second wife, Anne. I am not going to post a biography of her, (you can find all sort of fun things on Anne at The Anne Boleyn Files site) but I am going to highlight key events and what I have learned along the way, so this is my journey with getting to know Anne Boleyn through the world of historical fiction.

Anne was educated in the French courts, which helped her be a bit more superior to the other courtiers in England when she returned home. Anne's sister, Mary Boleyn, was a mistress to King Henry, and bore him an illegitimate son. Some say her daughter was also one of Henry's. One books that I look forward to reading is "Mary Boleyn: The True Story of Henry VIII's Mistress" by Josephine Wilkinson, which is non-fiction released in April of 2009. Anne's frenchified ways caught the roving eye of King Henry, and they starting courting each other much to the chagrin of the king's advisers. No one wanted to see the Boleyn family rise in the court food chain, it was their Howard relations who had given them the rank they had. After seven years of a seemingly happy courtship, Henry and Anne were married in early 1533, even though the people of England did not want Henry to cast aside their Queen Catherine. But that is what he did, and the debate rages on to this day whether or not Anne had bewitched Henry into marrying her. Contemporaries certainly did not shed any favorable light on the new Queen Anne, instead they called her a witch, rumored her to have a sixth finger and a wart or devil's mark. I first met Anne Boleyn in "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory, and later watched the film, which were told more from the sister Mary's point of view. And I can't say that I liked Anne very much. I didn't feel bad for her, I did not have mixed feelings about her. But the book was my introduction to Tudor History, and I wanted to know more in general about Henry VIII. Margaret Campbell Barnes is an author of several Tudor novels, and her "Brief Gaudy Hour" was one centered on Anne. In that one she is depicted as evil and shallow, see the review on Historical-Fiction.com.

A book that has caught my eye because it is from 1957 is "Anne Boleyn" by Evelyn Anthony. This seems to tell Anne's story when she was younger and when Henry becomes smitten with her. When Anne finally gets her way and marries Henry, Anne realizes she has a long road ahead of her if she wants to win over the people. But she has indeed won over Henry, and all she has to do to keep that love is to provide him with an heir. But seven years is a long time to wait, (and be abstinent?) and Henry was not getting any younger. Anne was probably pregnant when they married, and proclamations were later being made which referred to their unborn child as "prince." Although the people loved Catherine as their Queen, they knew that England needed and heir. That book mentioned above also has mixed reviews, perhaps because of historical inaccuracies, which were more common than in today's modern times. Moving onwards to the novel of Anne Boleyn and a woman in the household, we have Suzannah Dunn's "Queen of Subtleties." With a mixed narrative between the two women, the story was lost along the way according to some reviews. I have this on my shelf and intend to read it for myself. There is a review here by author Brandy Purdy of this novel, which also addresses the problems with the modern language used in the novel.
When Anne fails to produce a living son for Henry after the birth of their daughter Elizabeth, Anne was brought up on false charges of adultery and incest, and was beheaded in 1536. Her daughter Elizabeth was about 3 at the time and probably did not have much of a memory of her. In Robin Maxwell's first novel "The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn" the premise is that Anne kept a secret diary for her daughter, Elizabeth, so she is now on the throne reading her mother's diary and we as the reader see a rare glimpse into Elizabeth's feelings. The reviews on this are also varied, but more readers rated it higher up on Amazon. The Maiden's Court gave this one a high rating, see review, and mentions that Anne is portrayed in a sympathetic light. Maxwell also wrote "Mademoiselle Boleyn" which is told from Anne's point of view, and highlights Anne's coming of age; this book received favorable reviews on Goodreads. I have the first book, and still have to acquire the other. (You can enter to win BOTH of these reads on my blog today at The Burton Review!)
Enchanted by Josephine has just reviewed A Lady Raised High: A Novel of Anne Boleyn (Tudor Women Series) by Laurien Gardner which I am also waiting to read, and she enjoyed this one as another story that is told by a lady-in-waiting of Anne. A favorite author of mine, Jean Plaidy, has written "Murder Most Royal: The Story of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard" which is another with mixed reviews. Sometimes Plaidy's reads can be dry, and others are very engrossing.
When one thinks of books on Anne Boleyn, it is inevitably about the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn. Much of the reason for the fall of Anne was Henry's advisers, because of Anne's stubborn ways, but onlookers at court could have also had a part. Anne's sister-in-law, Lady Jane Rochford, was one who was said to have testified to the fact the Anne and her brother George had sexual relations. George was beheaded for this crime before Anne was. What is the story behind Lady Jane? Did she really believe herself regarding the accused incest or was she just jealous? In a reissue of "Vengeance is Mine", author Brandy Purdy will update this book for January 2010 with an updated version titled "The Boleyn Wife", which explores Lady Jane's views as she herself finally awaits the axe, and includes the reigns of five of Henry's queens.
While I want to know all I can about Anne Boleyn, I don't mind the fudging of facts to get a story going for me. But when I want just the facts, that's what non-fiction is for. I have Eric Ives' biography "The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn", (2004) and after reading not so good reviews on Carrolly Erickson's "Mistress Anne", I think I will read Ives' book first. At 480 pages, it looks even thicker than that, so it has been sitting on my shelf for when I have a good two weeks to devote to it. But when I am looking for a wonderful book to get lost in the drama, I am going to go with some of the aforementioned novels. But where to begin? I think that all of these mentioned have merit. I would love recommendations on novels that you have read about Anne Boleyn and her family.

Today In History, Happy Birthday Elizabeth I

Happy birthday Elizabeth I born September 7Th 1533. I felt it only fitting to show this ring that had belonged to Elizabeth. It shows her and her mother Anne Boleyn.

Elizabeth, the virgin Queen never married more than likely because of the history between her father and mother. Never wanting to be controlled by a man she ruled alone. Gloriana which she has been commonly called before. She was a lover of the arts and led her realm into a golden age of thinking. I also had to include her horoscope since it is so fitting.

"The sign Virgo is symbolized by the Virgin. Your sign's element is Earth. Virgo is ruled by the planet Mercury. You enjoy helping others and being of service. Virgo is shy, and prefers working behind the scenes. You are highly discriminating and a bit puritanical. Virgo is intellectual, critical, fussy, shrewd, logical, methodical, practical and has teaching ability. Virgo can lack confidence and needs constant reassurance.
Possible negative aspects of the sign Virgo:
You can be highly critical, cynical, sarcastic, unforgiving, nervous, self centered, and ridden by fear. You may also have a tendency to be unfaithful."
"The Virgo is highly discriminating, but not necessarily as prudish at some might believe. In ancient times, a Virgin was a woman who was not the property of man, and therefore had the legal right to just say "no." Now, in modern times, you Virgos are known for your ability to be highly discriminating -- especially when it comes to matters of personal desire. When Virgo is ready, however, to say yes, the laser-like focus of your passion is anything but prudish.
You Virgos have the uncanny sense to see what's wrong with a person, a situation or your environment. It's why Virgo makes such natural critics. Virgo practical analytical abilities are second to none. Your mental process may not be the most creative, but Virgo's razor-like thinking is highly effective. Like the maiden pictured in the Virgo glyph, you separate the useful wheat from the unneeded chafe, the good from the bad. Virgo might be a "clean freak," but most Virgos have a messy closet somewhere or a disaster under their bed.
The Virgo motto could be "Perfect is almost good enough." On one hand, this trait makes you very employable, for you're not likely to do shabby work. On the other hand, you can be so finicky that you put limitations on your interactions and experiences before they happen. You'll be happier if you can learn to be selectively less critical, both of others and yourself.
Element: Earth
Earth signs are naturally practical. In this lifetime we are bound to Earth. There is no escaping the reality around us The Earth is about as real as it gets; it can be felt, weighed and it has substance. Accordingly, the earth signs base their life on what is real, not what is imagined. Sensation is valued over thoughts or feelings. Earth signs live with their feet on the ground. Others seek their advice because of their basic sensibility. For earth signs, seeing is believing.
The earth of Virgo is a changeable earth, light to the touch. It's about practical analysis -- using mental tools to discern the best use for what is around us.
Sixth House: Work
The Sixth House is about the regular performance of work-related tasks. This isn't necessarily about career. It's about the job you have that buys the bread for the table. This sector is also where we look to find out about health and healing, for it's not only work routine, but also our daily habits of hygiene.
Key Planet: MercuryMercury, the Messenger of the Gods, moves around the Sun faster than any other planet. He symbolizes our thoughts -- not only how we think, but how we communicate. In fact, Mercury is in charge of all language. Mercury is our active and rational mind. It is not only "just the facts" but also what we do with them. As the key planet of Virgo, Mercury is about intellectual discrimination. It's the binary function of the neurons in our brain. They either fire and impulse or they don't. Mercury here is about the basic "yes" or "no" decision that must be made for every piece of information that enters our consciousness.
Virgo Greatest Strength: Your ability to focus your attention, Virgo Possible Weakness: Need for perfection gets in the way of."

Sundays Art: Anne Boleyn by Charles Knight

I came across this beautiful portrait of Anne Boleyn and I just had to share with everyone. This portrait comes from a exceptionally rare book by author Charles Knight titled "Old England: A Pictorial Museum" 1845. Queen Anne Boleyn, from a Painting by Holbein.

There are two sets available on Amazon one being a trashed version for $66.49. Or you could buy the nice set for a whopping $505.24 the details are as follows:

"2 volumes, folio (35 cm. tall), viii, 392 pp., 12 color plates including the pictorial title, numerous small illustrations in text, 385 pp., 12 color plates including the pictorial title, numerous small illustrations in text; later mottled paper covered boards with leather spines and corners now rubbed, armorial book plate of Francis. L. Hawks, general light age toning, most of the plates have age spotting but usually confined to margins, some also have light damp staining at margins or corners that in a few instances touch image, still overall a good copy."

Today in History, Anne Boleyn Crowned Queen

Today in history, Anne Boleyn was crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey, followed by an elaborate dinner feast. For further reading about Anne check out a previous post here,

P.S. Happy Birthday 3rd B day J.J.

Today in History: The Execution of Anne Boleyn

Anne was executed on a scaffolding erected on the north side of the White Tower, in front of what is now the Waterloo Barracks on May 19Th, 1536. Before she was executed She spoke and was quoted saying:

"Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul"

Anne Boleyn is one of Histories most prolific women. Born ahead of her time and destined to become a doomed Queen. It has been concluded by historians that Anne did not have a sixth finger and it was quite possible she was Rh negative. For those of you who do not know what Rh negative you can read more about it here. Her body was found during renovations done by Queen Victoria and they found her hands were slim and normal.

She was highly educated and was an opinionated woman. Growing up she had spent time abroad as Margaret of Austria's maid of honour. Later she was sent to France to attend King Henry VIII's sister, Mary Tudor, for Mary's marriage to Louis XII of France. Her father recalled her back home in January 1522 for a marriage to her cousin that would never take place.

In 1526 King Henry began his pursuit, but as it happened her sister Mary was recently dismissed from being his mistress after having his children. It was even rumored that Henry had had relations with the girls mother also. King Henry VIII empowered Anne with his undying lust for her & thus she became a powerful force to be reckoned with. Henry had dismissed his pious catholic first wife Catherine of Aragon. Catherine was formally stripped of her title as Queen and banished from court. Their only child Mary was proclaimed to be a bastard. Anne was consequently crowned on June 1, 1533. She was a lavish Queen who had a taste for enjoying the finer things in life. . There were over two hundred and fifty servants to tend to her personal needs, everyone from priests to stable-boys. There were over 60 maids-of-honour who served her and accompanied her to social events.

Anne was key in the driving force behind the separation of England from Rome. It is said because of her experiences in France that she was a devote Christan in the new tradition of Renaissance humanism. While she would later hold the reformist position that the papacy was a corrupting influence on Christianity. The Catholic church at the time had laid an unbroken "cloth of Christendom" all over the known modern world. At that time men of the church only had to awnser to one man the pope, who spoke for god. Anne brought the reformist position to the table. Why should the priest not awnser to the king first, they live in his country, on his land, serve him, & yet they did not awnser to him. A bonus for Henry was the church had a lot of money & goods that could be confiscated by the crown. Then he would be supreme authority over the church of England not Rome. Parliament declared Henry "the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England". Leaving him with no one to awnser to but god himself.

Elizabeth, Anne and King Henry's only child was born on September 7Th 1533 at Greenwich palace. She was named after Henry's mother Elizabeth of York who was the only woman to be mother, wife, & daughter of the crown. Anne's downfall began around when Catherine of Aragon died and her heart was said to have been blackened by poison, Anne being blamed for her death. Modern doctors concluded she died from heart disease, which was not understood then. The King and new queen wore yellow head to toe to celebrate Catherine's passing. Anne found she was pregnant again after having up to three previous miscarriages, she was desperate to have a son. Her life depended on providing an heir to the throne. Later that month, the King was unhorsed in a joust tournament and knocked unconscious for two hours, a worrying incident that Anne believed led to her miscarriage five days later. Given Henry's desperate desire for a son, the sequence of Anne's pregnancies has attracted much interest. While Anne recovered from the miscarriage Henry declared that he had been seduced into the marriage by means of "sortilege" which is a French term for either "deception" or "spells". He quickly moved his new mistress Jane Seymour in and refused her brother George The Order of the Garter.

It all went downhill so quickly from there. Mark Smeaton was a Flemish musician in Anne's employment, he was arrested and tortured for having carnal knowledge of the queen. Followed by Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, & William Brereton were all arrested. All Innocent men used as a scape goat for king Henry to be rid of Anne. The most despicable is George, her brother. Accused of two counts of incest, treason, adultery, and he was arrested. Anne was taken to the tower of London on May 2ND 1536. Once in the tower she collapsed and went into hysterics. She and the other men were all tried and found guilty of plotting the king's death, to ostensibly marry one of them afterwards. Henry himself issued the crucial instructions: his officials, including Cromwell, carried them out. They broke Anne's moral character and although the evidence against them was unconvincing, the accused were found guilty and condemned to death. George Boleyn and the other accused men were executed on May 17Th 1536. The King commuted Anne's sentence from burning to beheading and sent for a swordsman for the execution, quick and painless, one strike only. When They came for her on the morning of May 19Th she wore a red petticoat under a loose, dark grey gown of damask trimmed in fur and a mantle of ermine to her own execution.

For further reading on Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth of York, my favorite Author Robin Maxwell has written some amazing books called Mademoiselle Boleyn, Secret Diary, Virgin Prelude to the Throne, Queens Bastard, and Tower Born.

Within the Tower of London there is a monument to commemorate the two English Queens consort and five other British nobles who were executed by beheading. It is a beautiful made glass pillow on a circular platform, Anne and the others names are etched in the rim of glass. Anne in my eyes was a heroine and I am sympathetic to her case. She did what she thought was right, even thought it might not have been right. With out her who knows what the world would have been like today if king Henry had not moved heaven and earth to be with her.

Today in History, The Execution of George Boleyn

Today George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford was executed on Tower hill on May 17th 1536. He was brought to trail with four other men for having cardinal knowledge of the Queen of England. It just happened that the queen was his sister Anne Boleyn. During the hearing his own wife testified against him that conniving Jane Parker. George was found guilty of incest by the court judges, his own father insanely being one of them. Everyone had turned their back on him and Anne. No one dared speak out for fear of the kings wrath.

Poor George entangled in a web of deceit, known as the modern day rat race but, in the court of Henry VIII it was a deadly game to play with very high stakes, your head. The higher they are raised, the harder they fall, this applies to George. He was a scape goat for king Henry, someone to blame for Queen Anne's terrible miscarriages & wild antics. George was a avid politician and henchman for Henry during his campaign urged by Anne, to the dissolution of the catholic monasteries. It was also rumored that he was gay, and one of the other men executed, a musician named Mark Smeaton was his lover. Mark is also accused of being the later Queen Elizabeth's father. A vicious slander on Anne set in place by the supporters of the catholic faith. He met a terrible end, & when I watched him executed on Tudors on showtime, I cried for him and mark.

My favorite book that has more of my view of George is The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. Also with her follow up book The Boleyn Inheritance you can follow the demise of Georges wife Jane Parker other wise known as Jane Viscount Rochford. Jane played a key role in George's down fall and later in Queen Catherine Howard's death, one of their cousins who went on to marry King Henry. But that is a whole different story for another time. I wish it were different but there is no existing or surviving portrait of George Boleyn.

Welcome! Historically Obsessed

" When young Anne Boleyn is sent to French court with her father and sister Mary, she believes she's going for an innocent adventure. But when the ambitious Ambassador Thomas Boleyn leads them into the highly sophisticated and sexually permissive court of Francois I, Anne quickly learns that they are merely pawns to be used for their father's own political purpose. Since all good English girls are expected to do their father's bidding, Mary becomes mistress to the outrageous French king and is ultimately seduced into his dangerous world by the luxuries of court. But Anne has a different fate in mind. Anne is younger, cleverer, and stronger willed than her elder sister, and with the guidance of chosen, powerful allies and unlikely friends, such as Leonardo da Vinci, she learns how to navigate the challenges, passions and betrayals of court. As she grows into a beautiful young woman, Anne undergoes her own sexual awakening, each daring exploit taking her one step closer to the life that is her destiny."

Welcome all to my historical book blog. I have always been Historically Obsessed. My latest obsession was triggered with a book that found me and it was meant to be, Mademoiselle Boleyn by Robin Maxwell. Robin brought me into a new beautiful world of Anne Boleyn in France. It light a fire in my mind. Lucky for me Mademoiselle Boleyn was only the beginning part of Anne's story. I loved every word of this book, the intricate details were amazing.This book is a must buy.

I immediately went on to read The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn also by Robin Maxwell. Since I now was on a furious crusade for the rest of Anne Boleyn's story. What I did not expect was it was her daughter Elizabeth who is reading the diary. Instead you get two intertwined stories that take place in totally different time periods. This book opened my eyes to what Anne could have been thinking realistically. I have come to view her more in what others would view as "sympathetic". Torn from her real love Henry Percy. Forced by family ambition to love the pursuing king. Anne had no chance. She realized the unattainable demands she made in trying to rebuff the king would entice the great Henry into moving the heavens and earth to be with her. But at the price of civil unrest, separation from Rome, and abruptly her own head.

"Anne was the second of Henry's six wives, doomed to be beloved, betrayed and beheaded. When Henry fell madly in love with her upon her return from an education at the lascivious French court, he was already a married man. While his passion for Anne was great enough to rock the foundation of England and of all Christendom, in the end he forsook her for another love, schemed against her, and ultimately had her sentenced to death. But unbeknownst to the king, Anne had kept a diary.

At the beginning of Elizabeth 's reign, it is pressed into her hands. In reading it, the young queen discovers a great deal about her much-maligned mother: Anne's fierce determination, her hard-won knowledge about being a woman in a world ruled by despotic men, and her deep-seated love for the infant daughter taken from her shortly after her birth. In journal's pages, Elizabeth finds an echo of her own dramatic life as a passionate young woman at the center of England 's powerful male establishment, and with the knowledge gained from them, makes a resolution that will change the course of history."