Did Anne ever really love Henry, or was it all just an act? I know toward the end when she's sitting by herself in the tower she mentions the year when they had love or happiness or something, but somehow her love for him never really seemed genuine. Or maybe it's just me, lol.
shareHi,
I think she first decided to enter into a relationship with him purely out of ambition, but as they got to know each other better(and as the divorce campaign wore on and on) I think she would have fallen for him:he was handsome, intelligent, athletic, generous, faithful, and he moved mountains to get to her. Add to that the glamour and power of being the King of England and you have a pretty lethal cocktail. I don't know, were they soulmates(Anne was also fiercely intelligent, witty, spirited, cultured and strong willed) What does anyone else think?
i have read about 20 books on Anne Boleyn, and all though none of them are 100% true, every last one does in fact say that she was with Henry Percy, who she "married" secretly with only one witness, and she only used Henry to prove to her sister she was better and to get her family one step closer to overriding the Tudors.
shareHenry Percy? That's the king, right? (sorry, I've just never eard that name used for him :).)
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Henry Percy was the 6th Earl of Northumberland not the King. He met Anne before he became Earl. It is believed that he was betrothed to Anne although most historians believe that they didn't sleep together. His father disagreed with the match and did not grant them permission to marry.
There is no solid evidence to indicate that she slept with anyone other than Henry VIII. The accusations that she slept with others came at a time when Henry wished to get rid of her. One way he could annul his marriage to her would be by claiming that she was betrothed to another before their marriage. Anne and Percy claimed that nothing occurred between them and there was no solid evidence from anyone else to disprove their claims.
she only used Henry to prove to her sister she was better and to get her family one step closer to overriding the Tudors.
Ooh whops I got my Henrys mixed up.
shareThank you little miss sunnydale!
alifewithyou15: Have you read any actual history books and NOT historical fiction by Philippa Gregory and her ilk? I can't think of a single legitimate historian who has said anything like that, not even Alison Weir and she really dislikes Boleyn.
Mary's short fling with the King was over long before Anne came back to England. Anne was intelligent, witty, charasmatic and ambitious most of all. She had far more important things to worry about than proving she was "better" than her sister, especially as Mary was regarded as rather stupid and promiscuous.
Overriding the Tudors: Where's your evidence for this? The Boleyns might have been overambitious to their detriment but they were not crazy enough to try and supplant the king's power.
Whilst I agree with little miss sunnydale that Anne and Mary didn't necessarily have a difficult relationship, everything I've read indicates that they weren't particularly close either. In fact, neither George (their brother) or Anne seemed to have much time for her; I think it says a lot for Anne that she was willing to help Mary and her children after Mary had disgraced herself.
Urania fic I agree - I think that people have to remember that Philppa Gregory is an author and not a historian. She has a good grasp of the sixteenth century, and does research into her books, but ultimately she chooses to report events the way she perceives them and often goes against the overwhelming amount of evidence. She also has the tendency to create saints out of people who did have flaws, and villains out of people who are now viewed as innocent and misinterpreted. I think the prime example is that of Anne. What's surprising is that if you look at the list of history books Gregory places at the end of 'The Other Boleyn Girl', the overwhelming majority of them agree that Anne was completely innocent of the crime she was accused of. Yet Gregory, as an author of fiction, chooses to go against this. Also we have to question the books she uses. She used Retha Warnicke's 'The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn' which has been heavily criticised by many. Warnicke has changed her opinions many times and has created many outlandish statements on the reason as to Anne's downfall, that her work is often questioned. Yet again Gregory uses her work as the truth.
Although I can get annoyed at Gregory's novels, she is a dedicated author and has attracted a wide fan base which is a really good achievement. But she doesn't intend people to use her novels as the truth but as a source of entertainment. So if anyone is interested in Anne and the reasons behind her downfall, read a piece of work by an historian who has had access to all documents surrounding Anne's life and has examined all the evidence in the search of finding out the truth. I think the most successful person to have done this is Eric Ives.
We are born princes and the civilizing process makes us frogs - Syrus
I am puzzled at the description of Henry VIII as faithful...
shareI think he was faithful in his unwavering pursuit of her. Although she didn't sleep with him for a long time, it is very impressive and a credit to her that he remained interested in her for so long, and would not give up on his goal to marry her. I also don't know if he was unfaithful to her when they were courting. I think he really felt she was his perfect match, and was not interested in any other woman. He was just so obsessed with her. I don't know if he slept with anyone when Anne was not sleeping with him. He certainly wasn't sleeping with Catherine! I don't know what he did for sex. Maybe he did nothing, maybe he had women for short enounters, maybe Anne kept him happy in other ways! Who knows. But in short, while he was an unfaithful husband to both Anne and Catherine, he may very well have been a faithful lover to Anne.
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their relationship was sexaul - involving "gratification" but not full consummation.An important distinction. It's perhaps surprising, and even shocking, for us to consider that in earlier ages prohibited sexual relationships were sometimes defined so narrowly (ie in terms of actual coitus,) that with little or no sense of guilt, people could engage in activities that we would naturally assume were included in the prohibition. Even now, people's definitions of such terms differ widely, so that "having sex" can be defined very narrowly or more broadly - as Bill Clinton could perhaps testify.
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Much of that is false. She did not "secretly" marry Henry Percy, but she did love him. Her relationship had nothing to do with her sister, TOBG is the least historically accurate movie I have ever seen, FYI.
SAVE DARFUR
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind
I've read all biographies on Anne, and it had absoutley NOTHING to do with her sister. Sorry, but TOBG is inaccurate. She also did not want to override the Tudors.
SAVE DARFUR
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind
Thank you all very much for your input on this subject- I don't really know much about any of this, and I find it rather interesting.
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She cared for him after getting over her love for Henry Percy. She was ambitious and used his lust for her to gain things for herself and her family. Later, she began to fear him, when she saw how he would flirt with women in the court, and remembering how he had treated Katherine when they were married. She became desperate for a son. He might still have strayed but most like would not have divorced the mother of his heir. Alas, that son was stillborn.
Love is a fickle emotion. Which is why I laugh when I read how much in love so and so is with their spouse. Yeah, I think, until you don't love them.