King Henry VIII (1491-1547) & Wives

[susan alicia]

........Blickling Hall is described as a 'magnificent Jacobean house famed for its fine tapestries and rare books'.
More to the point, it is also said to be the home of Anne Boleyn's headless ghost.
The hall was built on the site of a former manor owned by Sir Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire, and believed to be his daughter Anne's birthplace.
Henry VIII's second wife was beheaded in 1536, and her apparition is said to manifest itself every year on the anniversary of her execution with her head in her lap, sitting in a coach drawn by a headless rider. Sadly for Halloween thrill seekers, the anniversary is May 19. ...........


Britain's 10 most haunted historic homes unveiled by National Trust | the Daily Mail

Originally Posted by susan alicia

Avalon,

am reading the 6 wives of henry VIII by antonia frasier, Anne Boleyn had been Queen for nearly three and a half years when she was excecuted but it was a mere four months since the death of the King's first wife

[Russophile]

I have always wanted to see Anne Boleyn's ghost. I have a friend who has a friend who sees ghosts. She says that she has to sleep with the light on or they pester her in her sleep. Creepy!

[scooter]

Originally Posted by Russophile

I have always wanted to see Anne Boleyn's ghost. I have a friend who has a friend who sees ghosts. She says that she has to sleep with the light on or they pester her in her sleep. Creepy!

Yikes! Like in the sixth sense?

[Russophile]

Not quite that detailed. Some of them talk to her. They "Find" her. She seems to have something in her that "attracts" them to her. I told my friend she ought to record some of this from the more famous ghosts like Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard and write a book cuz Lord knows I'd be driven to drink by seeing so many ghosts!!

[ysbel]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

Anne took care of Mary and Elizabeth as best as she could while Henry was alive and during the reign of his son. Mary considered her to be her personal friend and so Anne was honoured as the third lady in rank at queen Mary's court, after the queen and princess Elizabeth, ranking higher than the Queen Dowager Catherine Parr. There are a lot of historical statements that she was well loved and had a very helpful and pleasant personality. She even became friends with Henry and was able to influence him favorable when it came to his two daughters.

Oh yes and there is the very funny account of Anne visiting Henry with his fifth wife Catherine Howard and the King couldn't take his hands off his new bride so that Anne laughed at him and said he shoudl get to bed.

[ysbel]

Originally Posted by susan alicia

yes, and she on no account wanted to go back home to her brother and was happy not to live permanently at court where the intrigues where tiring.

Henry paid her a lot of money for her willingness to a divorce and with that money she became her own mistress without having to answer to a husband or a brother. There is an account of her being driven in Edward's coronation procession. Apparently years of good eating had made her so overweight that she almost broke the litter. She was apparently very popular in England.

One of Henry's diplomats who met her and her brother apparently told Henry before the marriage that she was rather uneducated because in Germany at the time, it was considered shameful for a woman to be well educated or interested in the arts. Apparently from what I read she didn't want to go back to Germany because it was boring and I can imagine that if they frowned on women taking part in the arts and literature, then after the blossoming court of Henry VIII where learning and culture were very much en vogue for men and women, then going back to Germany would seem boring to her.

[ysbel]

Originally Posted by russophile

I would theorize that that thinking came from Ferdinand and Isabella their decendants and Spain as being the "Super Powers" of the time.

Yes and I just think the thinking in Spain was more rigid at the time. This was the era when the Inquisition was started. I did a paper on it in college and it was really weird how totally uptight and unyielding some of their religious thinking was at the time. All of the nations of the age had that to some extent but in other countries, there was more of a willingness to bend to rules to get a desired result (aka, Henry forming a Church of england, or France trying to get their favorite pope elected) but in Spain they seemed to believe in the one true way and really believe it. It was scary in a way.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by ysbel

Henry paid her a lot of money for her willingness to a divorce and with that money she became her own mistress without having to answer to a husband or a brother. There is an account of her being driven in Edward's coronation procession. Apparently years of good eating had made her so overweight that she almost broke the litter. She was apparently very popular in England.

One of Henry's diplomats who met her and her brother apparently told Henry before the marriage that she was rather uneducated because in Germany at the time, it was considered shameful for a woman to be well educated or interested in the arts. Apparently from what I read she didn't want to go back to Germany because it was boring and I can imagine that if they frowned on women taking part in the arts and literature, then after the blossoming court of Henry VIII where learning and culture were very much en vogue for men and women, then going back to Germany would seem boring to her.

One should not forget that Germany was war-torn then, the conflicts between the small principalities plus the emperor against France. Not as nice a place to stay than it was in England, when you were favoured by the king. Anne even was afraid that the king might get suspicious of her correspondence with her family in Germany, so she offered to let him read her letters and her replys. Which he did and so came to really trust her.

Henry had been interested in a Danish princess as well, niece of the emperor through her mother Isabella of Austria and widow of the duke of Milan but this marriage did not come to pass as the emperor wasn't in need of Henry as an ally, so Christina of Denmark ended up married to the duke of Lorraine. But when she became a widow of a second time, she retired to her dower estate in the dukedom of Milan because this was far safer and far more comfortable than her other options.

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by ysbel

Yes and I just think the thinking in Spain was more rigid at the time. This was the era when the Inquisition was started. I did a paper on it in college and it was really weird how totally uptight and unyielding some of their religious thinking was at the time. All of the nations of the age had that to some extent but in other countries, there was more of a willingness to bend to rules to get a desired result (aka, Henry forming a Church of england, or France trying to get their favorite pope elected) but in Spain they seemed to believe in the one true way and really believe it. It was scary in a way.

Which was too bad because they lost a lot in art work and culture by driving the Moors out. I wonder if that isn't where some of the radical Muslim hatred roots have come from.

[ysbel]

Originally Posted by Russophile

Which was too bad because they lost a lot in art work and culture by driving the Moors out. I wonder if that isn't where some of the radical Muslim hatred roots have come from.

Well the roots of the Inquisition were definitely anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish so it looks like the Spaniards of the age were rather equal opportunity in their persecutions - as long as you were not a strict gentile Catholic you were in danger of persecution. Even Jews that had converted to Christianity were tortured and burned by the Inquisition.

[ysbel]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

One should not forget that Germany was war-torn then, the conflicts between the small principalities plus the emperor against France. Not as nice a place to stay than it was in England, when you were favoured by the king. Anne even was afraid that the king might get suspicious of her correspondence with her family in Germany, so she offered to let him read her letters and her replys. Which he did and so came to really trust her.

Henry had been interested in a Danish princess as well, niece of the emperor through her mother Isabella of Austria and widow of the duke of Milan but this marriage did not come to pass as the emperor wasn't in need of Henry as an ally, so Christina of Denmark ended up married to the duke of Lorraine. But when she became a widow of a second time, she retired to her dower estate in the dukedom of Milan because this was far safer and far more comfortable than her other options.

Hmm, she must have had a really low opinion of her brother to do that. I'm really interested though in her countryman Hans Holbein from Augsburg who did her portrait. He travelled around northern Europe and Holland and caught some really unique images of people at the time. Apparently he was so homesick when he went to do Anne's portrait, that he was overjoyed at being at home again to the point where everything and everyone he painted at that time became beautiful. Henry VIII never forgave Holbein for deceiving him and he died of the plague a few years later.

Holbein also did some amazing portraits of African Negroes living in Amsterdam at the time which were the first realistic depiction of that race at the time. Holbein got an introduction to Sir Thomas More, the great lawyer and statesman through their mutual acquaintanceship with Erasmus and through Sir Thomas More, Holbein gained an introduction to Henry VIII's court.

People today don't realize how much Holbein contributed to the image of the court of Henry VIII that we have today. He painted all the major portraits, and he was copied by other artists extensively in his lifetime. He even designed the costumes and the jewels. So not only the portraits we see are of Holbein but the dresses and the jewels were designed by him also.

Here is the infamous portrait of Anne of Cleves whose clothes he did not design (she was wearing the German style of the time) and his sketches of Queen Jane Seymour, the mother of Edward VI. At the time of this early sketch, the clothes Jane is wearing had not been manufactured yet; Holbein was still in the process of designing them. By the time the painting came out though the clothes had been designed.

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by ysbel

Well the roots of the Inquisition were definitely anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish so it looks like the Spaniards of the age were rather equal opportunity in their persecutions - as long as you were not a strict gentile Catholic you were in danger of persecution. Even Jews that had converted to Christianity were tortured and burned by the Inquisition.

They drove out the Jews and the Moors by 1492.

spanish inquisition:

I have been to Granada and have seen the Alhambra and it was gorgeous! The artwork was breathtaking. Granada, I found out, was pomagranate that Isabella took as part of her coat of arms. It is too bad that F & I's religious zealotry drove out some good craftsmen.

[PrincessKoreen]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

One should not forget that Germany was war-torn then, the conflicts between the small principalities plus the emperor against France. Not as nice a place to stay than it was in England, when you were favoured by the king. Anne even was afraid that the king might get suspicious of her correspondence with her family in Germany, so she offered to let him read her letters and her replys. Which he did and so came to really trust her.

Henry had been interested in a Danish princess as well, niece of the emperor through her mother Isabella of Austria and widow of the duke of Milan but this marriage did not come to pass as the emperor wasn't in need of Henry as an ally, so Christina of Denmark ended up married to the duke of Lorraine. But when she became a widow of a second time, she retired to her dower estate in the dukedom of Milan because this was far safer and far more comfortable than her other options.

Henry was also interested in Anne's younger sister, Amelia.

Anne... or Amelia?

He possibly courted Marie de Guise.

Marie de Guise: Mother to Mary, Queen of Scots

[Verde Esmeralda]

Originally Posted by susan alicia

Henry VIII's second wife was beheaded in 1536, and her apparition is said to manifest itself every year on the anniversary of her execution with her head in her lap, sitting in a coach drawn by a headless rider. Sadly for Halloween thrill seekers, the anniversary is May 19. ...........


Britain's 10 most haunted historic homes unveiled by National Trust | the Daily Mail

In Antonia Fraser's book, it also mentions that right after the execution of A.B., some hares (similar to rabbits - they supposedly represent 'the witch') where seen running in the fields nearby, and they were seen again and again on every anniversary of her death. Let's remember that at a certain point, Henry said that he had been 'bewitched' or put under a spell by Anne Boleyn.

The book also mentions tales about the candles in the tomb of Catherine of Aragon, lighting themselves without any help or human intervention, when she was executed.

Brrrrrrrrr

[PR Princess]

Originally Posted by susan alicia

........Blickling Hall is described as a 'magnificent Jacobean house famed for its fine tapestries and rare books'.
More to the point, it is also said to be the home of Anne Boleyn's headless ghost.
The hall was built on the site of a former manor owned by Sir Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire, and believed to be his daughter Anne's birthplace.
Henry VIII's second wife was beheaded in 1536, and her apparition is said to manifest itself every year on the anniversary of her execution with her head in her lap, sitting in a coach drawn by a headless rider. Sadly for Halloween thrill seekers, the anniversary is May 19. ...........


Britain's 10 most haunted historic homes unveiled by National Trust | the Daily Mail

Thats creepy, I don't think I want to work at any of the places in the night shift. I call the ghost busters or that British lady whos famous talking with the dead.

[Verde Esmeralda]

Here a link to 'The Tudors Quizzes' to test your knowledge on each one...

Tudor England: Quizzes: Test your knowledge of Tudor England

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by Verde Esmeralda

In Antonia Fraser's book, it also mentions that right after the execution of A.B., some hares (similar to rabbits - they supposedly represent 'the witch') where seen running in the fields nearby, and they were seen again and again on every anniversary of her death. Let's remember that at a certain point, Henry said that he had been 'bewitched' or put under a spell by Anne Boleyn.

The book also mentions tales about the candles in the tomb of Catherine of Aragon, lighting themselves without any help or human intervention, when she was executed.

Brrrrrrrrr

There is such an uproar over whether or not Anne had that "extra finger". Has her body ever been exhumed?

[windsorbrides1]

I saw a show on the Discovery Channel and according to the Guard's at the Tower of London, Anne's ghost walks around with her head under her arm across the space where she was beheaded every night.

[Avalon]

Originally Posted by Russophile

There is such an uproar over whether or not Anne had that "extra finger". Has her body ever been exhumed?

The six fingers, as well as other legends of other deformities, were quite popular, however they are almost certainly untrue. They were most likely planted by Catherine of Aragon supporters to increase Anne's unpopularity, because sixth finger was considered 'mark of devil' at the time.

There is no contemporary evidence to support the legend of 6th finger. None of the many eyewitness accounts of Anne Boleyn’s appearance mention any deformities, let alone a sixth finger.

Anne was not typical beauty for her time. She was too thin and had too dark skin. Here is a detailes contemporary accounts of Anne's appearance, and it, like all other accounts, lacks mention of any deformities.

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

A poet, William Forrest (who was very much in Catherine of Aragon league, by the way, having written a poem about her), was impressed by Ann'es charisma, fashion sense.