CONTEMPORARY DESCRIPTIONS OF ANNE BOLEYN

‘THE MOST HAPPY’

By Lauren Slater

Thomas Boleyn

Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk

When ordered by Henry to return certain jewels (property of the crown) to Anne Boleyn; Katherine Replied:

“I will not give them up to a person who is the scandal of Christendom and a disgrace

to you”

Frazer reports that:

One evening in the autumn of 1531, Anne was dining at a manor house on the river Thames and was almost seized by a crowd of angry women. Anne just managed to escape by boat. (The six Wives of Henry VIII)

“The Kings Grace is ruled by one common stewed whore, Anne Boleyn, who makes all the spirituality to be beggared, and the temporality also.”

“Your Majesty must root out the Lady and her adherents... This accursed Anne has her foot in the stirrup, and will do the Queen and the Princess all the harm she can. She has boasted that she will make the Princess her lady-in-waiting, or marry her to some varlet.”

"Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne 

Let them grumble; that is how it is going to be.

"If it ever lay in my power, I will work the Cardinal as much displeasure as he has done to me."

“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.” (William Forrest)

“To us she appears inconsistent – religious yet aggressive, calculating yet emotional, with the light touch of the courtier yet the strong grip of the politician … A woman in her own right – taken on her own terms in a man’s world; a woman who mobilized her education, her style and her presence to outweigh the disadvantages of her sex; of only moderate good looks, but taking a court and a king by storm. Perhaps, in the end, it is Thomas Cromwell’s assessment that comes nearest: intelligence, spirit and courage.” [E. Ives]