(© Unknown Artist – The National Portrait Gallery)
Anne Boleyn is more than just a name that causes a stir; she is a figure which for years, even during her lifetime, stirred gossip in peoples mouths, caused rumour to run wild and rampant and has become something of an icon that wouldn’t look too out of place within English myth and legend. Since her untimely and saddening execution, she has been a focal point of discussion for monarchists and historians alike; her rather unusual and dramatic rise to fame, royalty and power has allowed the aforementioned gossip and rumour to become something a little bit more concrete within our history books, they have evolved over the centuries into theories–some believable and others, and to put this politely, are poppycock.
Anne Boleyn was and still is a volatile figurehead of the Tudors, causing both those hostile to her cause and those who sympathise with it to continue to propel or dispel said theories. Due to being such a controversial figure, the gossip and theories around her and her person continue and have inspired TV dramas, scandalous books and blockbuster movies.
As Oscar Wilde once said–“There is only one thing in this world worse than being talked about, that's not being talked about.”
So what are some of these theories?
Anne was Henry VIII’s daughter
For me personally, I think this is one of the most vile and disparaging rumours and theories about Anne, which we can say beyond reasonable doubt is simply just vicious gossip by those who wished to discredit her. This theory comes from a rumour that Anne's mother; the Lady Elizabeth Boleyn, was one of Henry's mistresses in her youth. This affair between Elizabeth and Henry would have taken place before Bessie Blount if we look at timelines and the mathematics of age. It was suggested that Anne is the product of this affair. However it was Anne’s own sister; the Lady Mary Stafford, who was Henry’s mistress of Anne’s female relatives, and not her Lady Mother. As morbidly interesting as this theory is, and what a juicy splice of gossip it would be, I think we can certainly say it is not true. We have quite accurate records of Henry's lovers, both inside of the marital chambers and out of it… I think this would have been far too bombastic for irrefutable evidence to have evaded the centuries and remain beyond our grasp. Henry Viii has gone on record to have said ‘with the sister, but never with the mother’ [1].
Anne had six fingers
The thing about gossip is that it never tends to be nice, does it? Poor Anne’s reputation and appearance was dragged through so much proverbial mud, it is completely understandable that only now, centuries after her death, is her reputation starting to come up ‘clean’ again, due to the hard work of those who are Boleyn loyalists.
Anne has been described as having a swarthy complexion, and not of the days ‘beauty standards' [2]. Just like the modern day, previous periods had their ideal idea of feminine beauty and the Tudors were not an anomaly; the perfect Tudor beauty would have had a large bosom, pale skin and blue eyes, ‘an English Rose.’
The second wife of Henry VIII never seems to catch a break does she?
We are all beautiful in our own way.
However Anne apparently had six fingers on one hand [3].
Due to an almost completely stunted understanding of science around the human body or how a foetus develops within the womb and an unprecedented belief that God is responsible for everything, and if he isn’t it is the devils doing–any abnormality was viewed as the Devil’s doing and that someone must have committed a great sin, or be a witch, or in league with the Devil' [4]. Of course, we now know that this is total poppycock, and if she did have six fingers, we now rightfully understand that it would not affect the content of her character or how ‘good’ of a person she was, but in the 16th century, it was seen as an ill omen, and the mark of the Devil. So it was a fitting rumour to tarnish her reputation and ruin her good name.
Anne Boleyn played a part in her own downfall.
Sadly, this is a theory I do believe due to Anne’s tempestuous nature and how quick she was to display her temper towards Henry VIII in public. Euctace Chapuys, albeit not exactly a neutral source, stated ‘which state of things was by many a one compared to the joy and pleasure a man feels in getting rid of a thin, old, and vicious hack in the hope of getting soon a fine horse to ride’, from which we can deduce that Anne’s nature was not always that of a gentle lady of the court. The fine horse to ride, is a reference to Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s third wife [5].
Anne was not born to royalty, she had not been raised to understand the pressures a royal household would place upon her. She was fiercely intelligent and more than the intellectual match for her quickly-becoming-obese and foul tempered husband the King. This was sexy when Henry chased her, but as soon as that wedding ring was on her finger, Henry no longer found that sharp wit and political mind alluring, but annoying. I wonder if Henry felt threatened by her intelligence or if he simply couldn’t bare a woman unafraid to show him her displeasure, either way Anne’s haughty and on occasion difficult constitution certainly played a part in her downfall. By the time the crown was atop her head, her arrogance had quickly turned friend to foe [6] and when she failed to deliver on her promise of a son and Henry grew tired, those who had previously displayed politeness and respect to her, openly began to show their animosity towards his Majesty’s second wife–she was out of favour and like rats from a sinking ship her faction began to abandon her without fear of her retribution.
She attempted to have Bishop Fisher murdered, and succeeded in murdering Katherine of Aragon
This is absolutely wild, but surprisingly more believable than some of the other theories about her, although the believability of it is still as far fetched as cheese from the Moon. We know murder sadly happens often, so it's certainly more believable than her having ‘been seduced by the devil’ and being a witch. The likelihood of her being involved in a plot to end lives or ordering someone to enact said murders would certainly be more of a probability when we consider crime statistics, both contemporary and modern.
Someone poisoned Bishop Fisher's soup, luckily for the Bishop–he survived, but the cook was not so lucky. Henry VIII had the suspected cook boiled alive as punishment for his perceived sin, yet we still don’t know who slipped a dose of something nasty into Fisher's food [7].
Of course, for most of Anne’s career, Katherine of Aragon had been her nemesis. Katherine was the tightrope Anne balanced upon and while the Spanish born Queen lived, Anne’s claim to Queenship was questionable, but her death would potentially inspire Henry to put Anne aside. Putting Anne aside is something Henry would never do while Katherine lived, out of fear and pride he would have to reconcile with his ‘former’ wife. But of course, Death is inescapable and in 1536 after years of reported poor health and dank living conditions, Katherine of Aragon died heartbroken at Kimbolton Castle.
Upon Katherine of Aragon's death, a very primitive autopsy was performed and her heart is described as “completely black, with a hideous tumour” [8] about it, and this abnormality was again laid at Anne’s door through vicious gossip–and she was suspected of having her predecessor and rival murdered.
If this one is true, Anne certainly had a busy decade on her rise to power and during it. It’s not true, it can’t be, well certainly not the second charge. Maybe there is some truth to the Bishop Fisher claim, if it wasn’t Anne, which I don’t believe it was, it could have been some misguided member of her faction without her knowledge?
A murderer and a witch?
What a piece of work.
Of course, I think we can say with certainty Anne wasn’t a murderer, nor was she a witch and nor was she Henry VIII’s daughter. She was a fiercely intelligent woman–who against the odds of her birth and in a world governed and created by men–climbed to such greatness, her name will never vanish and be lost to History. Her ideas and her willingness to be authentically herself is something to be admired, not perceived as a threat. It is human nature to attack what we do not understand.
References:
(“Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's Second Wife: Life, Death & Surprising Facts”)
(Schmidt) Louise Boisen. “The Ideal Beauty.” The Times of the Tudors, 19 February 2013.
(Roberts) Roberts, Adam. “Anne Boleyn’s Sixth Finger. We’ve all heard the story.
(Bevan and Lofts) “History - Anne Boleyn and the Downfall of her Family.” BBC, 5 November 2012.
Emmerson, Dr Owen, Tallis, Dr Nicola, McCaffrey, Kate. The Retrial of Anne Boleyn; The Evidence. 2024.
“Thomas Cromwell & the Downfall of Anne Boleyn - Tracy Borman.” Tudor Times, 6 April 2015.
Hayle, Joanne. “Richard Roose: The Cook That King Henry 8th Boiled to Death.” Owlcation, 6 September 2023.
“The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Meet the Wives. Catherine of Aragon | PBS.” THIRTEEN.org.
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