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3:56 am
October 3, 2009
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There is an author doing a lecture called: 1536: The Year That Changed Henry VIII by Suzannah Lipscomb (the research Curator at Hampton Court Palace, I don't know if this is a stop on the “Tour” but her website is: http://www.suzannahlipscomb.co…..annah.html).
She is coming to Fordham University College (Bronx, NY) on 11/11/09 at 6. The lecture is free and open to the public. I heard about it on a Yahoo Anne Boleyn group.
I know that there a few NY'ers on here that might be interested in going. I would love to go but it doesn't look like its gonna happen!
The person who attended the lecture at another venue said it was really riveting and included a slide show and:
“considerable quotes from actual people who “knew” Henry before and after this year”.
The poster also had an interesting question:
“she mentioned the price Henry paid to have the swordsman come from Calais, something like, memory a bit not perfect, 26 pounds and some change, comparing that to Holbien who earned 30 pounds per year as the royal artist. I have know about the Swordsman, and yet when put into that context, I simply began to wonder, what was his reason/rational for hiring such an expensive executioner? No one else received that “distinction” so was it respect or another form of torture? Had Anne ever mentioned seeing a French execution, which used the sword, and found it “better” or “worse” and this was Henry's way of “repaying” her somehow?”
Thought this was thought provoking & sent an email to the poster to join us here! I hope she joins!
If anyone from NY makes it, please let me know!
XO-Gina
4:45 pm
July 9, 2009
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I wish I could go to this : ( With my schedule I know I wouldn't be able to make it to the Bronx on a Wednesday. Gina, if anyone you know goes please post their experiences.
Also, regarding the swordsman from Calais, each source has a different take on this, with some biographers claiming Anne requested the sword and others saying it was Henry's idea, either as a mercy or to make fun of her Frenchness. I doubt Henry would have spent that kind of money just to insult Anne, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it was a mercy. ( Actually, now that I think about it, why do these biographers assume Anne could have had a choice in the matter? Karen Lindsey in Divorced Beheaded Survived muses about all the possible reasons Anne omitted the word \”legitimate\” in the documents investing her with the title Marquess of Pembroke. As if she would have written her own letters patent!) Over on The Elizabeth Files, Claire writes \”Elizabeth was spared the axe, or the sword as Elizabeth had decided on,and on May 19th (the anniversary of her mother’s execution) Elizabeth was released from the Tower…\” So it seems Elizabeth had a choice, but I'm not so sure Anne did.
Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne.
7:53 pm
October 14, 2009
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This sounds so interesting, but I won't be able to make it to the Bronx on a wednesday night either.
9:09 pm
February 16, 2009
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Over on The Elizabeth Files, Claire writes “Elizabeth was spared the axe, or the sword as Elizabeth had decided on,and on May 19th (the anniversary of her mother’s execution) Elizabeth was released from the Tower…” So it seems Elizabeth had a choice, but I'm not so sure Anne did.
Just to clear it up, Mary I wasn't giving Elizabeth a choice over sword or axe, it was just that Elizabeth was so convinced that she was going to be executed that she had decided to ask, when the time came, if she could be beheaded by sword like her mother. I suppose you would think about your death if you were imprisoned in the Tower and people like Wyatt had been executed.
I too don't think that Anne had any choice in the manner of her death and that it was either Henry's \”mercy\” or Henry trying to show Europe that he was being merciful.
Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn
8:35 pm
August 12, 2009
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What about rumors that Henry (or someone with the authority to decide that) would have had to have hired and sent for the swordsman even before Anne's trial, to get him there on time? Which calls into question (of course) the impartiality of her trial, but also implies that Anne couldn't have asked if he was hired that far in advance like that.
"Don't knock at death's door.
Ring the bell and run. He hates that."
8:36 am
February 16, 2009
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Good point! Yes, Alison Weir says that, according to the Spanish Chronicle, the swordsman was from St Omer, 20 miles from Calais, so he had to get from St Omer to Calais, cross the channel and then ride from Dover to London. The ride from Dover to London alone would have taken around 2 days so, seeing as the execution was scheduled for the 18th, he would have left on the 14th at the very latest, most probably the 12th or 13th and it could even be as early as the 9th or 10th because the Spanish Chronicle says that Henry:
\”sent a week before to St Omer for a headsman, and nine days after they sent, he arrived.\”
So, yes, he was definitely ordered the swordsman before the trial, meaning Anne did not choose the sword. Weir says:
\”Thus the King had intended all along that Anne should be beheaded, and this not only pre-empted the verdict given at her trial, but also inflicted an added refinement of cruelty in keeping her in suspense for a whole day as to whether or not she would suffer the agony of burning.\”
Weir also thinks that the promise of a swifter and more merciful death by the sword was used as a bragaining chip to get Anne to agree to the annulment.
Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn
3:36 am
August 12, 2009
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Oh, I hadn't thought about the delay in telling her she wouldn't be burned alive. That's horrible, since she had apparently made comments about some prophecy foretelling that a queen of England would be burned. He had to have known that, and for him to leave her dangling in suspense like that is one of the crueler things he's done. And he did a lot of cruel things.
"Don't knock at death's door.
Ring the bell and run. He hates that."
1:33 am
June 20, 2009
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Being as I'm on the west coast, I can't go to the lecture, although I would love too…
I think executing her was just cruel… His whole pretending to be merciful and getting a swordsman instead of the axeman routine is appalling.. He knew he was going to have her executed, and the whole act just makes it worse….
Let not my enemies sit as my jury
