I would like to present a review of "The Tudors" :)
czwartek, 14 lipca 2011
The Tudors
If you enjoy reading my blog and you are interested in Anne Boleyn you need to see "The Tudors"!
"The Tudors" - a historical television series chronicles the period of Henry VIII's reign in which his effectiveness as King is tested by international conflicts as well as political intrigue in his own court, while the pressure of fathering a male heir compels him to reject his wives next by next.
Cast:
"The Tudors" - a historical television series chronicles the period of Henry VIII's reign in which his effectiveness as King is tested by international conflicts as well as political intrigue in his own court, while the pressure of fathering a male heir compels him to reject his wives next by next.
Cast:
środa, 13 lipca 2011
Appearance and personality
Anne Boleyn was not conventionally beautiful for her time because she was too thin and her colouring was considered by some to be too dark. However, many observers were impressed by her expressive dark brown/black eyes and long dark hair, so long she could "sit" in it during her coronation. One can conclude she had a long oval face, high and prominent cheekbones, a rather long nose, and strong chin. Certainly Elizabeth resembled her mother in terms of body and facial structure, although she inherited Henry VIII's colouring and Henry VII's deep set eyes.
One Italian who met Anne in 1532 wrote that she was "not one of the handsomest women in the world", but others thought she was "competement belle" ("quite beautiful") and "young and good-looking. " One historian has compiled all the descriptions and concludes thus: “She was never described as a great beauty, but even those who loathed her admitted that she had a dramatic allure. Her dark complexion and black hair gave her an exotic aura in a culture that saw milk-white paleness as essential to beauty. Her eyes were especially striking: “black and beautiful” wrote one contemporary, while another averred they were “always most attractive,” and that she “well knew how to use them with effect.”
People seemed primarily attracted by Anne's charisma. She made a good impression with her fashion sense, inspiring many new trends amongst the court ladies. As queen, she understood the importance of ostentatious display, as befitting a Renaissance monarch; a notion emphasized even more by her daughter Elizabeth I. William Forrest, author of a contemporary poem about Katherine of Aragon, complimented Anne's "passing excellent" skill as a dancer. "Here," he wrote, "was [a] fresh young damsel, that could trip and go." “Anne’s charm lay not so much in her physical appearance as in her vivacious personality, her gracefulness, her quick wit and other accomplishments. She was petite in stature, and had an appealing fragility about her… she shone at singing, making music, dancing and conversation… Not surprisingly, the young men of the court swarmed around her.”
She was a devout Christian in the new tradition of Renaissance Humanism, determined to reform the Catholic Church and purge it of superstition and abuse. She also gave generously to charity and sewed shirts for the poor. In her youth she was "sweet and cheerful" and enjoyed gambling, drinking wine, and gossiping. She was also fearless, determined, charming, ambitious, politically astute, highly intelligent and intellectually driven. However, under stressful circumstances, Anne could be sharp tempered, verbally aggressive and sharp tongued. Her daughter certainly exhibited a distinctly similar temperament.
One Italian who met Anne in 1532 wrote that she was "not one of the handsomest women in the world", but others thought she was "competement belle" ("quite beautiful") and "young and good-looking. " One historian has compiled all the descriptions and concludes thus: “She was never described as a great beauty, but even those who loathed her admitted that she had a dramatic allure. Her dark complexion and black hair gave her an exotic aura in a culture that saw milk-white paleness as essential to beauty. Her eyes were especially striking: “black and beautiful” wrote one contemporary, while another averred they were “always most attractive,” and that she “well knew how to use them with effect.”
People seemed primarily attracted by Anne's charisma. She made a good impression with her fashion sense, inspiring many new trends amongst the court ladies. As queen, she understood the importance of ostentatious display, as befitting a Renaissance monarch; a notion emphasized even more by her daughter Elizabeth I. William Forrest, author of a contemporary poem about Katherine of Aragon, complimented Anne's "passing excellent" skill as a dancer. "Here," he wrote, "was [a] fresh young damsel, that could trip and go." “Anne’s charm lay not so much in her physical appearance as in her vivacious personality, her gracefulness, her quick wit and other accomplishments. She was petite in stature, and had an appealing fragility about her… she shone at singing, making music, dancing and conversation… Not surprisingly, the young men of the court swarmed around her.”
She was a devout Christian in the new tradition of Renaissance Humanism, determined to reform the Catholic Church and purge it of superstition and abuse. She also gave generously to charity and sewed shirts for the poor. In her youth she was "sweet and cheerful" and enjoyed gambling, drinking wine, and gossiping. She was also fearless, determined, charming, ambitious, politically astute, highly intelligent and intellectually driven. However, under stressful circumstances, Anne could be sharp tempered, verbally aggressive and sharp tongued. Her daughter certainly exhibited a distinctly similar temperament.
Inability to Provide a Male Heir
Anne Boleyn bore only one child to her husband Henry VIII - a princess who grew up to become one of the greatest monarchs in English memory, Elizabeth I. Yet one princess and two miscarriages were not enough to secure Anne's position as Henry's queen consort. Like her predecessor Katherine of Aragon, Anne was unable to deliver a living male heir. Theories have developed over the centuries to explain Anne's predicament was more than just a case of bad luck.
- Witchcraft? Anne's last miscarriage, presumed to be a male child, occurred on January 29, 1536. Wriothesley indicated Anne believed she was approximately fifteen weeks into the pregnancy. No contemporary evidence supports any deformity: Nicholas Sander, the Catholic recusant, was the first to mention a "shapeless mass of flesh" in the 1570s. In the sixteenth century, miscarriages were blamed on the mother and 'monstrous births' were believed to be the result of the moral deviance of the parents. 'Monstrous births' were also increasing reported after times of great social and moral upheaval, such as the English Reformation. Proponents of this theory, such as historian Retha Warnicke, claim that Anne's series of miscarriages and the condition of her final miscarriage sealed her reputation as a bewitching adulteress. Other historians, such as Eric Ives, argue there is no evidence that the fetus was in fact deformed and that Anne's inability to provide a male heir was an indirect causation of her downfall.
- Bad Blood: Another theory proposed by Retha Warnicke surrounds the possibility that Anne had a rare blood abnormality which prevented her from giving birth to more than one child. Warnicke hypothesised that Anne's blood type was Rh negative (rhesus blood system) while Henry's blood was Rh positive. This genetic combination was lethal for infants who inherit the Rh antigen from their father (Rh positive) instead of their mother. The mother's antibodies attack the infant's Rh positive red blood cells as it would an infection. However neatly Anne's circumstances fit this diagnosis, it is impossible to prove Anne was indeed Rh negative and her pregnancies after Elizabeth inherited their father's Rh antigen.
- Henry Himself: As stated previously, Anne was not the only wife of Henry's who experienced difficulty equipping the royal nursery with a prince. Katherine of Aragon's six pregnancies across nine years yielded one living daughter. Historians believe that Anne's sister, Mary, became pregnant only after she returned to her husband William Carey after having been the King's mistress. Similarly, Catherine Parr, Henry's last wife, became pregnant after Henry died and she took a new husband, Thomas Seymour. According to historian Eric Ives, "This case history realizes the possibility that is was Henry and not his wives who were responsible for silence in the royal nursery". Over the years, revisionist scholars have speculated that Henry could have had a venereal disease that affected the quality of his sperm. Syphilis is a popular scapegoat, however there were no medications or remedies listed in the King's medical history that indicate he had been undergoing treatment for syphilis and no record that any of his children had congenital syphilis. Most likely, a genetic or physical reproductive disorder of Henry's was to blame for his wives inability to conceive healthy babies.
How Anne looks?
Portrait by Mark Satchwill
Natalie Dormer as Anne Boleyn in "Tudors", 2007-2011
Anne's Timeline
1502: Anne Boleyn was born at Blickling Hall, Norfolk, England
1515: Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary were sent to France to finish their education as lady-
in-waiting to Queen Claude of France, who was married to King Louis XII of France
1520: The Field of Cloth of Gold where King Francois I of France met King Henry VIII. This was probably where Anne Boleyn first saw King Henry VIII
1522: Anne Boleyn returned to England after 7 years in France where she was also taught music, dance and poetry
1522: She then took up a position at the English royal court as lady-in-waiting to Katharine of Aragon. Her first documented appearance at Court was March 1, 1522 at a masque
1522: Anne Boleyn met and fell in love with a wealthy young noble called Henry Percy. Henry Percy was a member of the Cardinal Wolsey retinue
1522: The were betrothed but the cuople were split up by Cardinal Wolsey. Henry Percy was forced into a loveless marriage and Anne never forgave Cardinal Wolsey
1525: King Henry VIII has a brief affair with Mary Boleyn
1526 March 4: Mary Boleyn gave birth to a son, called Henry - he was widely assumed to be the son of King Henry VIII although not acknowledged as such
1526: King Henry VIII became totally obsessed with Anne Boleyn with whom he fell madly in love
1527: "The King's Secret Matter" was no longer a secret. It became publicly known that Henry was seeking a divorce from Katherine of Aragon
1529: Henry VIII dismissed Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey for failing to obtain the Pope's consent to his divorce from Katherine of Aragon
1532 September 1 : Anne Boleyn created Marchioness of Pembroke
1532: Anne Boleyn accompanied King Henry VIII on a State visit to Calais in France
1532: Anne Boleyn became pregnant
1533: Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury grants the annulment of the marriage between Katharine of Aragon and Henry VIII
1533: January 25th - King Henry marries Anne Boleyn and is excommunicated by Pope Clement VII
1533 May 29: The coronation of Anne Boleyn
1533 September 7: Elizabeth, the daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn is born
1534: Act of Supremacy: Henry VIII declared Supreme Head of the Church of England
1534 March 23: Parliament passes Act of Succession. Only the children of King Henry VIII marriage to Anne Boleyn are his lawful heirs
1534 July: Birth of Stillborn child to Anne Boleyn
1535: Queen Anne Boleyn became pregnant again
1535: Anne Boleyn miscarried and King Henry VIII turned his attention to Jane Seymour
1536 January 7 - Katharine of Aragon died at Kimbolton Castle. Instead of making the marriage of Anne Boleyn completely secure it had the opposite effect. Henry could hardly have divorced his second wife whilst his first wife still lived
1536 January 29: Anne Boleyn gives birth to a stillborn son
1536 May 2nd: Anne Boleyn arrested and taken to the Tower
1536 May 15th 1536 Anne Boleyn tried for treason, adultery and incest in the Great Hall of the Tower of London
1536 May 19th: Anne Boleyn executed on Tower Green behind the walls of the Tower of London. Anne's body and head were buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula
1536 May 20th: Within 24 hours of Anne Boleyn's execution, Jane Seymour and Henry VIII were formally betrothed and they married ten days later
1515: Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary were sent to France to finish their education as lady-
in-waiting to Queen Claude of France, who was married to King Louis XII of France
1520: The Field of Cloth of Gold where King Francois I of France met King Henry VIII. This was probably where Anne Boleyn first saw King Henry VIII
1522: Anne Boleyn returned to England after 7 years in France where she was also taught music, dance and poetry
1522: She then took up a position at the English royal court as lady-in-waiting to Katharine of Aragon. Her first documented appearance at Court was March 1, 1522 at a masque
1522: Anne Boleyn met and fell in love with a wealthy young noble called Henry Percy. Henry Percy was a member of the Cardinal Wolsey retinue
1522: The were betrothed but the cuople were split up by Cardinal Wolsey. Henry Percy was forced into a loveless marriage and Anne never forgave Cardinal Wolsey
1525: King Henry VIII has a brief affair with Mary Boleyn
1526 March 4: Mary Boleyn gave birth to a son, called Henry - he was widely assumed to be the son of King Henry VIII although not acknowledged as such
1526: King Henry VIII became totally obsessed with Anne Boleyn with whom he fell madly in love
1527: "The King's Secret Matter" was no longer a secret. It became publicly known that Henry was seeking a divorce from Katherine of Aragon
1529: Henry VIII dismissed Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey for failing to obtain the Pope's consent to his divorce from Katherine of Aragon
1532 September 1 : Anne Boleyn created Marchioness of Pembroke
1532: Anne Boleyn accompanied King Henry VIII on a State visit to Calais in France
1532: Anne Boleyn became pregnant
1533: Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury grants the annulment of the marriage between Katharine of Aragon and Henry VIII
1533: January 25th - King Henry marries Anne Boleyn and is excommunicated by Pope Clement VII
1533 May 29: The coronation of Anne Boleyn
1533 September 7: Elizabeth, the daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn is born
1534: Act of Supremacy: Henry VIII declared Supreme Head of the Church of England
1534 March 23: Parliament passes Act of Succession. Only the children of King Henry VIII marriage to Anne Boleyn are his lawful heirs
1534 July: Birth of Stillborn child to Anne Boleyn
1535: Queen Anne Boleyn became pregnant again
1535: Anne Boleyn miscarried and King Henry VIII turned his attention to Jane Seymour
1536 January 7 - Katharine of Aragon died at Kimbolton Castle. Instead of making the marriage of Anne Boleyn completely secure it had the opposite effect. Henry could hardly have divorced his second wife whilst his first wife still lived
1536 January 29: Anne Boleyn gives birth to a stillborn son
1536 May 2nd: Anne Boleyn arrested and taken to the Tower
1536 May 15th 1536 Anne Boleyn tried for treason, adultery and incest in the Great Hall of the Tower of London
1536 May 19th: Anne Boleyn executed on Tower Green behind the walls of the Tower of London. Anne's body and head were buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula
1536 May 20th: Within 24 hours of Anne Boleyn's execution, Jane Seymour and Henry VIII were formally betrothed and they married ten days later
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