The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn
Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII

Retha Warnicke's fascinating and controversial reinterpretation focuses on the sexual intrigues and family politics pervading the court, offering a new explanation of Anne's fall.

Retha M. Warnicke (Author)

9780521406772, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 July 1991

338 pages, 16 b/w illus.
21.6 x 13.6 x 2.2 cm, 0.43 kg

'The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn … an excellent book, clears away various misapprehensions.' The Times Higher Education Supplement

The events which led to the execution of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second queen, in 1536 have traditionally been explained by historians in terms of a factional conspiracy masterminded by Henry's minister Thomas Cromwell. Retha Warnicke's fascinating and controversial reinterpretation focuses instead on the sexual intrigues and family politics pervading the court, offering a new explanation of Anne's fall. The picture which emerges - placing Anne's life in the context of social and religious values, and superstitions about witches and the birth of deformed children - changes our perception of her role within the court, and suggests that her execution (occurring only four months after a miscarriage) was the tragic consequence of Henry's profound concern about the continuation of the Tudor dynasty.

List of illustrations
Preface
Introduction: Queen Anne
1. Boleyn origins
2. Family alliances
3. Henry's challenge
4. Papal response
5. Anne's turn
6. Queen's patronage 7. Harem politics
8. Sexual heresy
9. Royal legacy
Appendix A. The legacy of Nicholas Sander
Appendix B. The choirbook of Anne Boleyn
Appendix C. Two poems of Sir Thomas Wyatt
Notes
Index.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], British & Irish history [HBJD1]