Anne Boleyn: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:16, 8 February 2006

Revision as of 22:23, 8 February 2006

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==The birth controversy==

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Historians cannot agree when Anne Boleyn was born. An Italian historian, writing in 1600, suggested that she had been born in 1499; whilst Sir [[Thomas More]]’s son-in-law suggested a much later date – 1512. Nowadays the debate centres around two key dates: 1501 and 1507. Two great authorities on the period, [[Eric Ives]] and [[Retha Warnicke]] — both of whom have written biographies of Anne — disagree. Ives promotes the 1501 date, whilst Warnicke believes the later 1507 is correct. It is extremely unlikely that Anne would have been over thirty at the time of her marriage, because such an age was considered unhealthy for a first-time mother. There is, however, a letter from Anne in about 1514 which, some people believe, suggests she was a teenager when she wrote it. (see an image of that letter: [http://www.nellgavin.com/boleyn_links/boleynhandwriting.htm)]. This is hardly conclusive and a full examination of the letter is still required, as both sides currently claim it as supporting evidence. The debate may never be fully solved since parish records chronicling precise dates of birth were not kept until the time of [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]]. Some other writers, like Paul Friedmann, Norah Lofts and Hester W. Chapman, all suggested that a birthday somewhere between 1501 and 1507 might be the safest guess – such as 1505. See http://www.nellgavin.com/boleyn_links/boleynbirthyear.htm for an examination of evidence supporting both sides of the argument.

==Childhood and family==