Bell - Inside the Wardrobe of Anne Boleyn

Prologue:

She was the model and the mirror of those who were at court

Anne Boleyn certainly needs no introduction. She was the woman who won Henry VIIIs heart but refused to yield her body to him until he made her his wife and queen. Her triumph, however, was short-lived because she was beheaded only three years after her magnificent coronation. The King may have lost his head for Anne all those years ago and set up a whole new church to marry her, but it was Anne who lost her own head for him in the end. Hers was one of the most famous heads to roll in Henry VIIIs reign.

Despite the brevity of her marriage, the love story between Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII was not only one of the most romantic and tragic tales but also had huge political and historical ramifications. How could an Englishwoman not royal by birth supplant the Queen? Contemporary evidence suggests that Anne was not conventionally beautiful but possessed a certain charm about her. She was well educated, elegant, sophisticated andas a result of her upbringing in Francewholly French, perhaps even too French for the English court.

So what was Anne Boleyns particular attraction? She had a mane of dark, possibly black hair that fell to her hips, an oval face, swarthy skin, a long neck, full lips and fine black and beautiful eyes. Her contemporaries did not think she was a great beauty. She was not one of the handsomest women in the world, according to a Venetian diplomat who saw her in 1532, but, as one of her clerics said, she was reasonably good looking. Additionally, she was of delicate frame of body with small breasts, so different from buxom blonds, who were perceived as the perfect women of the sixteenth-century world.

In other words, Anne Boleyn had sex appeal that radiated from her. It was Annes attractive eyes, which she knew well how to use with effect, her elegance, confidence and wit that fascinated Henry VIII and singled her out from the crowd. She was probably well aware of her attractiveness despite some shortcomings, such as some little show of a nail upon one of her fingers and certain small moles covering her body.

Anne Boleyns unconventional type of beauty was not the only thing that set her apart from other ladies of the court; she spent her youth at the French-speaking court of Margaret of Austria and then in France, where she served as maid of honour to Queen Claude. Upon her return no one would ever have taken her to be English by her manners, but a native-born Frenchwoman.

As soon as Anne Boleyns name had been linked with Henry VIII, she transformed from Master Boleyns daughter into the cause of all evil. She was the woman who exerted a considerable influence on Henry VIII at the time, owned several books sympathetic to the religious reform and encouraged the King to read them. Although Henry VIII claimed that his conscience condemned him because he married his brothers widowand it was true, to some extentthe real cause of his nullity suit was his love for Anne Boleyn.

From the summer of 1527, when Anne Boleyn entered the political stage and took the court by storm , dividing opinion among the ranks of English nobility, until the spring of 1536 when she was executed within the walls of the Tower of London, she was one of the most observed women of that decade. Foreign ambassadors would not only report political proceedings but also salacious gossip, quarrels between Anne and Henry and, above all, increasing changes in Annes status visible in the way she dressed and lived.

As Anne Boleyns status increased, her style of clothing changed as well. Cardinal Wolseys secretary, George Cavendish, wrote that Anne grew very haughty and proud, having all manner of jewels or rich apparel that might be gotten with money. Even Nicholas Sander, enemy of Anne and her daughter, emphasized her sophisticated manners and elegance. She was handsome to look at, with a pretty mouth, amusing in her ways, playing well on the lute, and was a good dancer. She was the model and the mirror of those who were at court, for she was always well dressed, and every day made some change in the fashion of her garments.

Everyone recognized that Annes power of attraction lay in her charm rather than her beauty; albeit in beauty she was to many inferior, but for behaviour, manners, attire and tongue she excelled them all. Anne Boleyn acquired a reputation for stylish clothes as well as skills in dancing, gambling and hunting. She must have struck a truly glamorous figure since her friends and enemies alike commented upon her immaculate tastes.