Nuckols Raven A. - Had the queen lived : an alternative history of Anne Boleyn

Had the Quee n Lived:

An Alternative History of Anne Boleyn

Raven A. Nuckols

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2011 by Raven A. Nuckols. All rights reserved.

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First published by AuthorHouse 10/07/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4634-4580-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-4581-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-4582-9 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011914152

Printed in the United States of America

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Contents

This book is dedicated to the many historians who have spent countless hours tirelessly researching the history of the Tudor period, and to their contribution to the understanding of so controversial and influential an epoch in English history; an era whose effects still reverberate to this day. Their works have inspired this alternative history, which takes a new perspective on the story of Anne Boleyn by exploring the ramifications if certain events had not occurred, and postulating the effects of other events that could have occurred, but did not.

As a personal note of thanks I would like especially to recognize the work of Professor Eric Ives, historians Allison Weir, David Starkey, and Derek Wilson, and many others who inspired this story. I also would like to thank my family and friends for all their encouragement in making this book a reality. I dedicate this book to Jose, for without his love and support this might not have been possible.

Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful Prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.

Anne Boleyn, May th , 1536

The tragic love story of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn continues to captivate audiences around the world nearly five hundred years after its end. The years they spent together and what they accomplished revolutionized not only England, but the rest of the world. As a result of their legacy, the Anglican Church is still headed by the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II of England, and the groundwork was laid for the foundations of a British Empire and Commonwealth that would last for centuries, and whose impact continues to reverberate.

On her own, Anne Boleyn remains one of the most controversial figures in British history, revered by some, reviled by others. Henrys second wife, she defied the standards of her time and was truly a powerful force in her own right. Her life has been well chronicled over the years since her tragic endexecuted for treason on the grounds of the Tower of Londonhowever, this book is an imagining of an alternative history that might have come to pass. This book examines what might have happened had Anne given birth to the longed-for son she miscarried in the winter of January 1536; both the rewards for her, and the consequences for the whole of England.

Prologue: 1525-1536