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2:09 pm
February 22, 2010
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I have just finished this and strongly recommend it; it's incredibly refreshing to read a biography of Anne by a female author who actually considers that Anne may have been guilty (Warnicke not withstanding), that she may have considered herself a witch, and who possesses compelling evidence that Anne may be buried at Salle Church. Seek it out if you can!
3:50 am
February 16, 2009
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Hi The Other Boleyn Boy,
I've just been given this book as a present and have not read it properly cover to cover but have read the chapters on Anne's fall and execution and I got the impression that Lofts thought Anne was innocent and framed.I really didn't get the impression that she believed Anne was guilty of adultery or incest.
She mentions witchcraft in relation to Anne being able to swear on the sacrament even if she was guilty and also in relation to Elizabeth's use of astrology, which doesn't really compute, and also in relation to the story of the hare appearing at Salle, a form which witches used – this bit is all a bit weird and I'm not sure if Lofts is really saying that Anne was a witch or that these things can be used as arguments to link her to witchcraft, not sure. The Salle Church legend is an interesting one and Lofts does say that there was opportunity for the Wyatt family to move Anne to Salle, one of those wonderful what-ifs!
Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn
2:00 am
February 22, 2010
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I was intruiged by the threat Anne made that it wouldn't rain for seven years, was it, if she was executed, which she did indeed seem to say and was one of the commenest things a witch at the time would say. I'm not saying Anne was a witch but if she believed herself as such; didn't she have a dog named Uriel, one of the names of Satan?!
2:31 pm
July 9, 2009
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The dog's name was Urian I think, not Uriel. Uriel is considered an angel in some mystical belief systems. Urian was the name of the brother of William Brereton who was executed with Anne, so at least one historian has proposed that the dog was a gift to Anne from Brereton. Regarding the seven years without rain, I always interpreted that as religious hysteria, not witchcraft. In other words, she thought her death went against the will of God and as such He would punish England for it.
Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne.
2:11 am
February 16, 2009
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Yes, her greyhound was named Urian and it was a gift from William Brereton and was named after his brother, Sir Urian Brereton, a groom of the Privy Chamber. As far as the comment about rain is concerned, like Melissa I think this is just one of those things that Anne said in her hysteria in the Tower and was simply saying that the Heavens would mourn her unjust death.
Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn
2:02 pm
February 22, 2010
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so she did have links to William Brereton, interesting…
9:43 am
February 24, 2010
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Anne knew all of the men she was accused of having affairs with. They were part of the privy council. They were friends for the most part. She had known these people for a very long time. You didn't think Cromwell would accuse Anne of the serious charges that he did if he couldn't even prove that she knew them, did you?
I always took the remark about the rain to be something Anne said to shock the women with her in the Tower. Just like the “little neck” comment. These were not people she had picked to spend her final days with, and they were not people she liked. She knew everything she said would get back to Cromwell, if not Henry. At this point, I don't think she cared what she said. But I don't believe she thought she was a witch and I don't believe her accusers thought she was a witch. If they did, they would have used it against her at her trial.
