I've always had a fondness and a fascination for the Tudor era of British history.  I also have a deep and abiding interest in women who have been 'slandered' and labelled throughout history.  I find that digging into their historical backgrounds and putting the pieces together have given me a fuller and more interesting picture of who the woman is than any blurb in a history book.  As the mother of Elizabeth I, I wanted to know Anne in her own right, (besides the standard lines that are written).  I found a strong, opinionated, intelligent, ambitious, and fascinating woman under those layers.  I think Henry VIII was a monster, a pig, and a sadistic misogynistic jerk who used the women in his life with little or no regard for them.  I think the other 'wives' in his life were somewhat interesting, but none of them really came close to capturing my imagination like Anne Boleyn does.  I've included a link to my youtube playlist for those of you who have some time on your hands and are really into the Anne Boleyn theme.  Another reason I gravitated towards Anne (as opposed to say Kitty Howard or Jayne Seymour) is the fact that charges of witchcraft were levelled against her.  I have found through my own personal studies that anytime the word 'witch' is involved that you are dealing with a woman whom men loved and yet feared and someone who is above the intellectual norm.  (same applies to today's arena).  Also as a Neo-Pagan woman it's my personal mission to uncover what is underneath 'witch' labels and understand the woman herself and who she really was aside from the labels.  Anne Boleyn doesn't disapoint, she was and is still an icon for feminist studies.

http://www.youtube.com/my_play…..21BDD1E22E

i was visiting london about 3 years ago, including the infamous tower & purchased a thin,small color book on henry's 6 wives…when i read the pages about anne 2 things stuck out for me: she was elizabeth I's mother & was, as the book said \”executed under false charges\” …i immediately thought- wait, how is this possible? how could a queen be beheaded under FALSE charges?\”

as i read more and more about her i became all the more fascinated-leading to obsession lol

I'm bored and figured I'd revive this thread : )

I've been interested in Anne for as long as I can remember because I've always been interested in history through women's eyes-especially, as Gwenne said \”slandered women.\” I actually put off watching The Tudors until I had a lot of time on my hands because I knew it would make me obsessed with Anne Boleyn.  And I was right-of all the women I've longed to play, AB is NOT one of them because I couldn't hold a candle to Natalie Dormer's performance. 

I studied in England a few years back and spent the semester in a Tudor manor-house.  The little thatched-roof village of Wroxton surrounds the manor (belonged to a Lord North), and the villagers would have been the serfs of the Lord in Tudor times.  The basement of the manor is really creepy because the location was originally an Augustinian abbey which was demolished in the Henrician reforms, with the existing manor built right on top.  The basement, however, contains the remnants of the abbey, with marble arches and little conclaves.  There are even tunnels leading from the basement (boarded up now, unfortunately) to the local pub!  I have a bunch of pictures somewhere I can show you all if interested.   While there of course I visited London a couple times, but never went into the Tower.  I really wanted to but was very broke then (not much has changed) and couldn't afford admission.  Now if I could go back I would have begged on the street to afford to see AB's final resting place!

Well,

I became intrested in Anne Boleyn after reading Jean Plaidy's \”The Lady in the Tower\”. I have always been a keen Historical Fiction (and Non-Fiction) reader so I just looked on the shelves of my local library and happened to find this book.

After reading it a was extremely fascinated with the woman that Anne was. I was curious to find out more about her. I read a lot about her on the internet and then ended up borrowing and reading several biographies of her. This is quite an obsession now (lol) and I am always surprised with the new facts I find out about her.

My interest in Anne Boleyn and the Tudor period in general began about a year ago.  I wrote a paper on religion and politics for one of my classes.  In that paper I devoted a paragraph on Henry VIII's spilit with the Catholic Church.  The research I did  got me hooked!  Ever since I've been reading everything I could about the Turdors.

I'd have been about eight when my parents took me to Canterbury Cathedral. In the crypt there  was a special exhibition of the costumes used in the film Henry VIII and his Six Wives, starring Keith Michell (not sure of the spelling) and Charlotte Rampling as Anne. That film included Anne's coronation costume so it was, of course, the most magnificent of the costumes on display – the only other one I remember is the one worn by Elizabeth I as a little girl. It was a sort of tawny brown colour. A few weeks later at school we did a project on Henry VIII and his six wives and I was on the table that got Anne Boleyn. We had to make a huge poster of her and tell the rest of the class about her.

Two years later I changed schools and lo and behold found myself doing a project on Henry VIII and his six wives and being on the table that was given Anne Boleyn… It feels as if someone was making sure I knew all about her!

I identify with her because she was her own person, a leader rather than a follower but who, ultimately, was subject to the rules of the age in which she lived.

Louise

I first became obsessed (!) with Anne when I was 10 years old on a trip to Europe, Asia and the States with my family and on the second day we were in London we visited the Tower.  Listening to the beefeaters stories of Anne, Catherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey and the Princes in the Tower, I don't know, it all just really struck a chord, made a huge impression on a 10 year old girl from New Zealand!  We spent over six months travelling around the UK and any historic place we went to I always hoped it was somehow connected to Anne especially!

I remember begging my mum to go to Hever Castle, but sadly, we never made it!  I've been back to the UK since and I still haven't managed to get there!  

Hannah, I know how you feel, my mum died just over two years ago and I kept some of her history books too.  It's largely thanks to her and the family trip we took that my interest in the Tudors and other periods of history began, so in a way, whenever I indulge my historical hobby I remember her too. 

Your aunt has an Anne Boleyn doll?!  That would be soooo cool!!!!!!

Oooh, those sound like some awesome presents!