Who is Anne Boleyn?

A Look into the Woman behind the Crown

By Haylee Cardinal

Anne Boleyn is a well-known historical figure who has been continuously dissected by historians trying to understand her life and time as the Queen of England. Anne Boleyn’s story is one full of many mysteries and unanswered questions because King Henry VIII destroyed most evidence of her existence. There are hundreds of books out now by historians trying to capture who Anne Boleyn was and what she did as one of the most notorious English queens. Anne Boleyn is a woman of many faces who, despite being written about, is still a mystery to most. Throughout all of the books written about her, each author has a different idea of why Anne rose to the throne, what she did as Queen of England, and why she was executed by King Henry VIII. There seems to be no one consensus answer, no matter the sources or authors.

The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn by Retha M. Warnicke, released in 1991, paints Anne Boleyn as a woman caught up in court politics before and during her marriage to King Henry VIII. Warnick wrote this book to analyze monumental moments in Anne’s life and how the rules of society at the time played a part. Warnicke discusses how Anne grew up in a world of court politics in France and how it helped to prepare her for the world she would be walking into in the English court. Warnicke described Anne Boleyn as a very independent lady when making decisions for her own life. Warnicke wrote, “She was once again marking an independent course in her drive to marry well for her family and her lineage. It was a course that would ultimately bring her to the throne and would bring great power and influence to her relatives.”^[1] This shows that Warnicke believes that Anne Boleyn was making choices for herself when she met King Henry and was not influenced by anyone around her. Warnicke then goes on to describe Anne and Henry’s relationship as a quick-paced romance where Henry fell quickly for Anne Boleyn. Warnicke wrote, “He fell deeply in love with a young lady some sixteen years his junior, … and, as he was soon to discover, his feelings were reciprocated.”^[2] This shows that Warnicke believed that there were true romantic feelings between King Henry and Anne Boleyn, and it wasn’t just an attempt to gain more power from Anne. She shows their romance as true and not a grab for power. Warnicke dissected Anne’s time as queen through her pregnancies and religious ideas. Warnicke wrote, “The dispensing of her patronage and the governance of her household were backdrops to the more serious business of motherhood that Anne had agreed to undertake when she became the queen of England.”^[3] This shows that Warnicke believes that Anne’s pregnancies were the most notable parts of Anne’s time as queen. Warnicke follows the traditional route of thinking about a queen's place by dissecting her contribution to the continuation of the bloodline. Lastly, Warnicke described Anne’s downfall from being Queen due to the stillbirth of a male child from her second pregnancy, rather than the allegations that Anne had slept with five men. Warnicke wrote, “Henry considered a miscarriage or stillborn an ill omen for his kingdom as well as his dynasty.”^[4] Warnicke uses Henry’s thoughts on stillborns to reason why Anne Boleyn was beheaded instead of following the normal idea of adultery. Reatha Warnicke’s book deconstructs a lot of normal ideas surrounding Anne Boleyn’s life and, in its place, uses documents from other people in the court to reconstruct new theories. This differs from other books because Warnicke goes against what every other historian has written about Anne Boleyn and gives a unique approach to studying Anne Boleyn through a more feminist approach. Warnicke shows how Anne was an independent lady who rose to the throne and was a queen trying to produce an heir, and then was executed for not producing an heir.

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn: “The Most Happy” by Eric Ives, published in 2006, paints Anne as an intelligent woman who fell in love with a king. Ives wrote this book to try to answer questions that had arisen at the time as more sources were found involving Anne. Ives writes extensively about the English education Anne received and how it prepared her for a life in court politics when King Henry started to pursue her. Ives wrote, “Anne was being chary of the king’s attention. It was her place to be the servant, and the king had to capitulate in the hope that the relationship could continue.”^[5] Ives shows how the king was attracted to Anne and how he pursued her even though it went against all traditions. The relationship between Anne and Henry is why Ives believes she became queen rather than any political moves. Ives focused on all the work that Anne accomplished in her short time as queen rather than her failures. Ives wrote, “There are nevertheless sufficient signs that her influence remained, even though exercised behind the scenes.”^[6] This shows that Ives viewed Anne as a powerful queen who made an impact in a short time. Ives, like Warnicke, believes that Anne was innocent of all adultery crimes she was accused of committing. Ives wrote, “Innocent but a prisoner, guiltless but condemned, Anne awaited her fate.”^[7] Ives is clearly showing he sees her as entirely innocent, but executed because it was easier for the King to move on with his mistress. In this book, Ives is adding more details to a story he has already told, with new information he has found changing some of his original arguments. This book is at the center of everything that is now written about Anne Boleyn and has become one of the most used sources. Ives used sources that others did by going through art, like poems from the court, that give a different perspective. Ives shows very strong opinions about how Anne became queen and what she accomplished, as well as how unfair her death was.

Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions by G.W. Bernard, published in 2011, paints Anne Boleyn as more of a mastermind in her relationship with King Henry VIII. Bernard’s book focuses strictly on Anne Boleyn and her relationships throughout her life. Bernard believes Anne was a very sexual woman who waited for Henry to get what she wanted, to be the queen. Bernard wrote, “What Anne wanted was for Henry to divorce Catherine and make Anne his queen.”^[8] This shows how Bernard paints Anne Boleyn as more manipulative than any of the other sources. As Bernard focuses on relationships, he does not focus a lot on Anne as the queen, but rather on when their relationship takes a turn for the worse. Bernard wrote, “He had married Anne, seduced and constrained by spells.”^[9] This shows that Bernard focused on the bad of their relationship and why it never truly worked. Bernard is also the only book that has said the adultery claims were true and that it is why Anne was executed. Bernard wrote, “And so it remains my own hunch that Anne had indeed committed adultery.”^[10] Bernard’s book takes a very different approach to Anne’s life by focusing on her relationships instead. Bernard used mainly letters as sources to keep the personal element through his writing. Overall, Bernard focuses on Anne’s rise to the throne as a sexual relationship with Henry, and focuses on her relationships as they caused Anne’s downfall and execution.

Lastly, The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England’s Most Notorious Queen by Susan Bordo, released in 2014, tries to paint Anne as a real person rather than a figurehead. Bordo’s book follows Anne through the stages of being a queen, through how Anne became a modern legend. Bordo believes that Anne’s rise to the throne happened through a real relationship with King Henry rather than a manipulation attempt. Bordo wrote, “Which began with such a powerful attraction.”^[11] This shows that Bordo believes that their relationship is a powerful one based on attraction rather than manipulation. Bordo does not talk a lot about what Anne did as queen, but rather that Anne had an abundance of bad luck while queen and had no chance of surviving longer in court. Bordo describes Anne’s execution as an attempt to erase her and her impact by King Henry because there was no factual reason for Anne to be executed. Bordo’s book is a very unique look at Anne Boleyn as more than a historical figure. Bordo uses a lot of sources from different periods to show the life of Anne Boleyn and the creation of the myths about Anne. Bordo shows Anne’s rise to the throne through romance, her time as queen through bad luck, and her execution as an eraser of her life.

Anne Boleyn is a historical figure who has been reviewed and dissected in countless ways throughout the years. There is so much research on her life and what she accomplished as the Queen of England. I believe the field of researching Anne Boleyn is going in the right direction because there is still so much left to discover about this mysterious queen. The gaps in the historical research of Anne Boleyn are mainly why she became so popular in English history. Anne Boleyn was queen for a thousand days, leaving a small impact on England, but she is one of the most talked-about Queens. There is a large gap missing as to where her importance came from, which gave her a lasting legacy that needs to be researched more in-depth. As long as historians keep questioning everything about Anne’s life and stay immune to the myths that have been spread about her life, I believe that more could be discovered about her life and her execution. Overall, historical studies on Anne Boleyn have given different perspectives on Anne’s rise to the throne, her time as Queen of England, and why she was executed by King Henry VIII.

^[1] Retha M. Warnicke, The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII (New York, NY: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009), 47.

^[2]  Warnicke, The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn, 57.

^[3]  Warnicke, The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn, 163.

^[4]  Warnicke, The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn,  176.

^[5] Ives, Eric William. The life and death of Anne Boleyn: “The most happy.” (Malden, Mass: Blackwell, 2006), 83.

^[6] Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, 205.

^[7] Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, 352.

^[8]Bernard, G. W. Anne Boleyn: Fatal attractions.(New Haven Conn.: Yale University Press, 2011),, 27.

^[9] Bernard, Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions, 126.

^[10] Bernard, Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions, 192.

^[11]Bordo, Susan. The creation of Anne Boleyn: A new look at England’s most notorious queen. (Boston,

Massachusetts: Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), 10.