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10:37 pm
September 13, 2009
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Why do some people continue to believe that Anne Boleyn had six fingers when it has been proven time and again to be false? I read that it's even in school textbooks! Also, I was just watching a video on ghosts in the Tower of London, and they talked about Anne. Some lady on the video claimed that Anne didn't just have six fingers but six toes as well! Why do people believe these lies? It really, really, really bugs me.
When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
11:47 pm
July 9, 2009
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I guess people are just as susceptible to rumors and propaganda today as they were then.
Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne.
12:28 am
June 24, 2009
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Melissa said:
I guess people are just as susceptible to rumors and propaganda today as they were then.
Great answer! Simple as that.
10:02 pm
February 16, 2009
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Melissa said:
I guess people are just as susceptible to rumors and propaganda today as they were then.
So true! It's just a shame that some books and historic attractions continue to spread this myth and so people carry on believing it.
Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn
8:33 pm
July 28, 2009
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i hear the 6 finger thing too and it def bothers me, but i use it as an opportunity to set ppl straight. we wont end the rumors but we can share our knowledge about Anne and show them; one, that she didnt have an extra finger and most importantly what a great woman she was and what a legacy she has left behind.
*Autumn*Star*
le plus heurex
9:37 am
February 16, 2009
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What's really interesting is that I've just started reading \”The Lady in the Tower\” by Alison Weir and on the first page of the prologue she says: \”she had a double nail on one of her fingers\” and George Wyatt said:
\”there was found, indeed, upon the side of her nail, upon one of her fingers, some little show of a nail, which yet was so small, by the report of those that have seen her, as the work master seemed to leave it an occasion of greater grace to her hand, which, with the tip of one of her other fingers might be, and was usually by her hidden without any blemish to it. Likewise there were said to be upon some parts of her body certain small moles incident to the clearest complexions.\”
So what do you think? Did she have an extra bit of nail and it was this \”defect\” that started the whole six finger myth or is this a load of rubbish too?!
Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn
5:56 pm
August 12, 2009
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I think it was a load of rubbish. I was under the impression that Henry was very superstitious about things like that. I don't think Anne could have concealed even a small flaw like that for… how many years before he married her?
OR… just to play Devil's advocate, maybe he discovered it about the time he suddenly accused her of bewitching him. And this was why he turned on her so suddenly and apparently never regretted it. Hmm? What do you guys think?
Didn't people back then obsess over minute flaws being some indication of sinfulness? Moles? You've been a bad girl. Ugly? Proof God doesn't favor you. It sounds so silly now, but people really did believe that rich, beautiful, powerful people were rich, beautiful and powerful because God favored them. And that they could therefore not worry about the poor, ugly, sick folk because they were being judged by God and deserved whatever hardships they had to endure.
Henry benefited from this. He was praised and marveled over from a young age for being tall, handsome, smart, etc. Maybe this was at the heart of his lifelong conviction that nothing was ever his fault. Although, to play Devil's advocate again, wouldn't Henry's failing health and looks in his last years be a sign that he was now out of step with God's will?
"Don't knock at death's door.
Ring the bell and run. He hates that."
2:38 am
October 13, 2009
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Load of rubbish! I believe the rumor was started by one of Henry's croonies, trying to gain support for him. He needed proof that Anne was a witch. There wasn't a need for the rumor anyway. Everyone with a brain in their cranium would've agreed with the king, even if he said something totally and utterly frivilous. Complete myth.
9:30 am
February 16, 2009
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I'm glad we're all agreed on it – rubbish, rubbish, rubbish!
Anne's name needed to be blackened and what better way to do it – giving her \”deformities\” or imperfections that could be linked to witchcraft. I'm still of the opinion that Henry would not have pursued her for so long if she had six fingers or even a sixth fingernail. He was convinced that his marriage to Catherine was cursed, he really didn't need any more curses!
Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn
6:00 pm
October 3, 2009
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I posted this on the other one about the sixth nail but just wanted to add it here…there is a little 8 minute video on youtube that debunked the myth saying that they they exhumed the body it had only 10 fingers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..038;hellip;..SYvhIUSikE
I am a firm believer of You can't believe everything you hear…think about the rumors about movie stars such as Richard Gere…or even the the kid that played Mikey from Life Cereal commercials (supposedly he ate pop rocks and drank a can of coke and hit tummy exploded! LOL….every one I know has heard this, though there is no merit!!)
Just my two cents!
-Gina
10:01 am
February 22, 2010
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an extra nail doesn't constitute a whole new finger; I think she may have had it. Would it be the end of the world if she did?! also, according to Norah Lofts among others, she had a mole the size of a strawberry on her neck. And before you ask, well why wasn't it in the picture? well portrait painters, esp. in royal circles, were encouraged to paint out flaws. Don't make a deity of her, she was human, and if you read enough books on her you'll see the extra nail was noticed long before anyone felt the need to 'blacken' her name
12:52 am
February 16, 2009
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Hi The Other Boleyn Boy,
I think Anne had something on her hand but not a 6th finger. I tend to believe George Wyatt, grandson of Thomas Wyatt, who would have heard stories of Anne, but I actually don't believe that she had a mole the size of a strawberry. She may have had some moles, but I think a large one would have been seen as a defect or some kind of devil's or witch's mark in those days and Henry already felt that his first marriage had been cursed and would have wanted the perfect woman for his second marriage. I don't think Anne was beautiful in Tudor terms – she had olive skin, very dark eyes and hair, as opposed to the blonde hair and blue eyes seen as beautiful – and she could have had a slight extra nail on one hand and a few moles, but I just can't see Henry accepting six fingers or huge moles or birthmarks. The sixth nail/finger is only mentioned by George Wyatt and Nicholas Sander, neither men were contemporaries of Anne.
You say:
“Don't make a deity of her, she was human, and if you read enough books on her you'll see the extra nail was noticed long before anyone felt the need to 'blacken' her name.”
What I like about this forum is that we are all friendly and respectful here, even if we have differing views, but that comment is not really in the spirit of the site. Most people here do not see Anne as a goddess to worship, more a flawed woman who suffered an incredible miscarriage of justice. She had her faults but what interests many of us is that she is a puzzle, we just don't know what she was really like and that intrigues us. I for one certainly don't out her on a pedestal and the majority of us are avid readers of history books and primary sources and use those to form our opinions and theories. Please can we be friendly and respectful. Apologies if you didn't mean it like the way it came across but I don't want full scale arguments on here!! 🙂
Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn
