A Coronation Book For Elizabeth I

As a follow-up to my Coronation Book For Queen Anne Boleyn, I am currently working on one for her daughter Elizabeth's crowning in 1559. Like the previous book, this is being done in ink, watercolor, gold and silver pigments, and raised gold leaf on calfskin vellum.

The transcribed text is from The Passage of our most drad Soveraigne Lady Quene Elyzabeth, printed by Richard Tottill in January 1559, combined with sections from Robert Fabyan's Concordance of Histories (1559).

Here's a preview:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anne Boleyn's arrival at the Tower of London (an illustration)

Anne Boleyn arrives at The Traitors' Gate (by John Millar Watt, 1965)

This illustration by John Millar Watt (1895 - 1975) captures the high drama of Anne Boleyn's arrival at the Tower of London on May 2, 1536.

But do notice:

• Had Anne really been standing on the ledge of the barge as she is here, the well known rhyme about the fate of Henry VIII's six wives would have gone like this instead: Divorced, drowned, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived.

• Anne was reputed to be a fashion trendsetter, but high heeled boots?!

• Sir William Kingston and his men standing under Traitors' Gate! In actuality, the river waters would have flowed into the arch, floating the barge in. We'll have to ignore the fact that Anne actually entered the Tower on foot via the Byward Tower after landing at the wharf.

Still, it's a handsome picture. You can actually purchase the original watercolor here.

 

 

The BBC production of Shakespeare's 'Henry VIII' (1979)

An excellent production of Shakespeare's play that I highly recommend.

 

Admittedly, the pageboy hairdos and bulky costumes - however historically accurate - will be disconcerting to those used to seeing Jonathan Rhys Meyers' Henry strutting around the palace with a sleek haircut and a skinny tank top!
 



Claire Bloom as Queen Katharine and John Stride as King Henry.



Barbara Kellermann as Anne Bullen.

The BBC production however, was not without its own anachronisms, though unintentional. The scene where Queen Katharine confronts Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeius was filmed on location at Hever Castle. If you look closely, its portraits of Philip II of Spain (1527-1598) and of his wife Elisabeth of Valois (1545-1568) can be seen in the background!



A portrait of Philip II can be seen above Claire Bloom on the right. On the left is a painting of Elisabeth of Valois.

 

A painting of Elisabeth of Valois hangs behind the lady-in-waiting holding a lute.



'Pride of Place': Author Marie Louise Bruce

Before Alison Weir, David Starkey, and Eric Ives, there was Marie Louise Bruce. 

Author Marie Louise Bruce at Hever Castle.

 

I am forever grateful to Ms. Bruce for her biography Anne Boleyn (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1972). It was this one particular book, checked out from my High School library, which first introduced me to the fascinating world of Tudor history.



Uh... what's Anne of Cleves doing here?!

 

 With Anne Boleyn's renaissance as a feminist icon, grrl power role model, and pop culture  heroine/rock star, it may be hard to believe that there was very little written about her by the early 1970's. Prior to the publication of Bruce's book, the most 'recent' offering was Philip W. Sargeant's Anne Boleyn from 1923!

 That said, a new study on Anne Boleyn was begging to be written. The timing seemed right, the Tudors were popular again thanks to cinema and television: A Man For All Season (1966), Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), The Six of Wives of Henry VIII (1970), Elizabeth R (1971), and Mary Queen of Scots (1971). ¹ As well, the feminist movement of the time had scholars revaluating the role of women in history and the parts they played in shaping events. What better subject than Anne Boleyn, the most famous of Henry VIII's six wives, whose love affair changed England forever.

 Anne Boleyn, though not an academic work (for that we would have to wait till Eric Ive's brilliant study in 1986), was well researched. Perhaps owing to the paucity of books about Anne Boleyn's life at the time, Bruce went digging for source material - 'a rich store', as she called it. Unlike subsequent historians writing about Anne who would simply rely on easily available secondary sources, accurate or not, Bruce consulted primary accounts. Case in point, it was generally accepted that Anne Boleyn, at her arrest in May 1536, had gone into the Tower of London via Traitor's Gate. However, Bruce correctly re-identified the entrance as the Court Gate (that is the Byward Tower) by referencing Charles Wriothesley's contemporary chronicle. As well, it had always assumed that Anne was confined in the Lieutenant's Lodgings (the present day Queen's House). But Bruce, making good use of William Kingston (Anne's jailer)'s letters, rightly placed the Queen in the royal apartments. Surprisingly, even years after Bruce's book was written, some historians still had their Anne weeping by Traitor's Gate and counting her 'thousand days' in the Queen's House. ²

 Marie Louise Bruce's attention to accuracy, coupled with a novelistic style of writing, made Anne Boleyn an informative and entertaining read. As she described Anne's infancy:

 The new baby was remarkable for three things; the opaqueness of her eyes that could never become anything but darkest brown, a large black mole on her neck and a small deformity on the right hand, where a tiny second nail grew out of one of her fingers. Later when she had grown into a woman, it was to be magnified into a sixth finger by enemies anxious to depict her physically as well as spiritually a monster. But as she lay swaddled in her solid oak cradle besides a curtained and canopied bed in a room heavy with the odours of confinement and the scent of sweet herbs, Anne Boleyn's prospects were as good as gold. ³ 

 Ok, it was like something out of Jean Plaidy, but Bruce was writing for the  'popular history' market, and she was very good at it.

 What might put off some readers - especially Anne's legion of admirers of today, was Bruce's often expressed aversion for her subject. At the time Anne Boleyn was written, there was still a prevalent notion of the Queen as a bad tempered, gold digging, home wrecking shrew whose path you wouldn't want to cross! Actress Charlotte Rampling who played Anne in the film Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972) voiced the common view. "Anne wasn't a very nice girl, I'm afraid, and had dangerous qualities of spitefulness and arrogance," Rampling opined, "but she's a fascinating character to play - the nastier types of lady so often are." ⁴ Marie Louise Bruce was equally critical. A biographer doesn't necessarily have to like her subject, and Bruce didn't pull any punches. Her Anne was often violent, hysterical, and naïve. She was "a completely disastrous choice for Henry VIII from every point of view," Bruce stated. ⁵ Still, she did recognize the Queen's more positive qualities. Whatever her faults, Anne was also courageous, accomplished, and highly intelligent. She was also innocent, Bruce believed, of the crimes she was charged with.

Not a nice girl: Charlotte Rampling as Anne Boleyn, from the film Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972).

Unfortunately, by the time Bruce's book came out, popular interest in the Tudors began to dwindle. The heyday of Tudor themed film and tv dramas was having its twilight with Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), the last in a series of such works.⁶  With this decline, Anne Boleyn, to my knowledge, saw only one edition. Though Hester W. Chapman did release her own take on the subject in 1974 (Anne Boleyn, Jonathan Cape), it was not until the end of the decade that interest in Anne was rekindled, at least in the publishing world when several books about her were written. ⁷ However, the Tudors were not to be pop culture personalities until the end of the 1990's, when filmmaker Shekhar Kapur got the ball rolling by giving them a makeover with Elizabeth (1998).

 

 



Elizabeth (1998): Revitalizing and reinventing the Tudors.



 

 

It's a shame that Bruce's book is no longer in print. But for those who do manage to track down a copy of Anne Boleyn, it is well worth the effort. The late Eric Ives, the authority of everything Anne, highly praised the author. Of Anne's most recent biographers, he wrote, 'Pride of place must go to M.L. Bruce... though broadly traditional in her assessment, she did offer an imaginative interpretation of Anne which was none the less well informed." ⁸ I'm sure you'll agree.

 

Notes

 

¹ Though less known, there was also Elizabeth the Queen (1968) and The Shadow of the Tower (1972).

² For example, Anne Boleyn, by Hester W. Chapman, Jonathan Cape, London, 1974, page 202; Anne Boleyn, by Joanna Denny, Portrait, London, 2004, page 274; The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn, by Retha M. Warnicke, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989, page 225, has Anne housed in the Beauchamp Tower.

³ Excerpt from Anne Boleyn, by Marie Louise Bruce, Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc., New York, 1972, page 9.

⁴ Pressbook for the film Henry VIII and His Six Wives, Anglo EMI Film Distributors, 1972.

 

⁵ Interview with Marie Louise Bruce: 'The story of a king's lust that changed history', The Gazette, Montreal, Canada, May 25, 1981, pages 1 and 5. 

⁶ Other than a televised version of William Shakespeare's Henry VIII in 1979, there was to be no major Tudor themed screen production until the film Lady Jane in 1986.

⁷ Anne Boleyn by Norah Lofts, Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, New York, 1979; Mistress Anne by Carolly Erickson, Summit Books, New York, 1984; Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1986, and The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn, by Retha M. Warnicke, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989.

 

⁸ Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1986, viii.

 

 

From Paintings to Pin-ups: Sexying up the Tudors

Tudor history is now hot, and I mean HOT!

Here's a look at some recent screen incarnations:






Left: 'Henry the Eighth and Anne Boleyn', engraving from a design by William Hogarth.

Right: Jonathan Rhys Meyers (as Henry VIII) and Natalie Dormer (as Anne Boleyn) from The Tudors.

 

Left: Francis II and Mary Queen of Scots, by François Clouet.
Right: Adelaide Kane (as Mary Queen of Scots) and Toby Regbo (as Francis II) from Reign.

 

Left: Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, by An Unknown Artist.
Right: Henry Cavill (as Charles Brandon) from The Tudors.

 

Left: Elizabeth I, by An Unknown Artist.
Right: Cate Blanchett (as Elizabeth I) from Elizabeth - The Golden Age.

 

Left: Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, by Nicholas Hilliard.
Right: Joseph Fiennes (as Robert Dudley) from Elizabeth.
 

Left: Anne of Cleves, by Barthel de Bruyn
Right: Jos Stone (as Anne of Cleves) from The Tudors.
 

Left: Catherine Howard(?), by Hans Holbein.
Right: Tamzin Merchant (as Catherine Howard) from The Tudors.
 

Left: Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, by An Unknown Artist. Center: Elizabeth I, by Nicholas Hilliard.

Right: Jamie Campbell Bower (as Oxford) and Joely Richardson (as Elizabeth I) from Anonymous.  

Left: Mary Queen of Scots, after Nicholas Hilliard.
Right: Samantha Morton (as Mary Queen of Scots) from Elizabeth - The Golden Age.

Left: Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, by An Unknown Artist.
Right: Hugh Dancy (as Robert Devereux) from Elizabeth I.
 

Left: Walter Ralegh, by An Unknown Artist.
Right: Clive Owen (as Walter Ralegh) from Elizabeth - The Golden Age.


 

Thumbs down!

Really?! (rolling my eyes...)

An Anne Boleyn thimble



Anne or Betty?

A friend who visited London recently, kindly picked up this necklace for me. Perfect for Halloween!

 

 

The dilemma - whether to go 'trick or treat' as Anne Boleyn or as Ugly Betty?

 

 

 

 

The Versatile Vanessa Redgrave

As Anne Boleyn in A Man For All Seasons (1966).

As Mary Stuart in Mary Queen of Scots (1971).

As Elizabeth I in Anonymous (2011).


In a less regal role, Ms. Redgrave played Sir Thomas More's wife Alice in the TV adaptation of A Man For All Seasons (1988).

 



The Choir Screen at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge

Sculptor Lucy Churchill, who had recreated Anne Boleyn's 1534 medal as mentioned in this blog, has recently compiled a thorough list of the carvings on the choir screen at King’s College Chapel.

Crowned and entwined 'H' and 'A' (for Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn) on the choir screen

Lucy's notes about the various iconographies make fascinating reading! Do take a look by clicking here.

Queen Jane the Peacemaker

 In May of 1536, Henry VIII’s courtiers were puzzled as to what to make of Jane Seymour, this inconspicuous – but remarkable young woman who was able to take down the Queen of England Anne Boleyn.

 What could the King possibly see in her, they must have thought. Being ‘that nobody thinks that she has much beauty,’ Jane was hardly competition for the alluring Anne. She was, the common opinion ran, a pallid wallflower. Her complexion was dull, and her long nose, thin lips, and double chin did little to enhance her appearance.

 Despite her shortcomings, Jane become Henry VIII's third wife within a fortnight of Anne Boleyn's execution. Whether she had triumphed through her own ambition or that of others, remains debatable. Whatever the means, there was universal rejoicing at the new royal marriage. The King, it was said, had ‘come out of hell into heaven for the gentleness in this, and the cursedness and the unhappiness in the other.’



Print depicting the execution of Anne Boleyn and the marriage of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, by Matthäus Merian (1629-1630) in 'Chronica, Beschreibung der fürnembsten Geschichten'.

 Even the Imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys jumped on the bandwagon. He had, however, been cynical at first. Being a lady of the court, Jane’s virtue was suspect, snickered the envoy. But that would have posed no obstacle to the amorous Henry. He had a great capacity for self-deception. If he wanted to believe Jane was a virgin, Chapuys supposed, Henry could easily convince himself of her purity. But should he then tire of her, he would conveniently find witnesses testifying to the looseness of her morals. Jane’s own motives were questionable as well. Her support for the Princess Mary was perhaps insincere and entire self-serving, the ambassador believed. It remained to be seen whether Jane was as truly devoted to Mary’s cause as she claimed to be. 

 To Chapuys’ delight, Jane was. She was genuinely interested in bonding with her new stepdaughter, and was set on restoring her to the King’s favour. For years, father and daughter had been estranged after Henry had separated himself from her mother Katherine of Aragon.

 Bolstered by Jane’s expressed devotion to Mary, Chapuys, in meeting with the new Queen shortly after her wedding, saluted her as the ‘peacemaker’ – she who would restore tranquillity and order to the realm and to the King’s family. The envoy’s congratulations left Jane utterly tongue-tied, and Henry, who was hovering nearby, had to intervene. He apologized for his wife’s nervousness; she had never received dignitaries before.

  Perhaps such a meeting was the inspiration for a curious portrait of Jane Seymour (Fig. 1). Copied from Hans Holbein’s famous picture of her (Fig. 2), the painting shows Jane wearing an unusual headdress. Instead of the very English gabled hood she is always depicted with, Jane wears a large Continental style hat, a fashion favoured by many ladies of the Hapsburg Imperial Court.

 

Fig. 1: Jane Seymour, by an Unknown Artist. Whereabouts unknown.
 



Fig. 2: Jane Seymour, by Hans Holbein the Younger. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. 

 

 But why the substitution?  Most probably, the portrait was redone to emphasize Jane’s political sympathies. She was, according to the Emperor's sister Mary of Hungary, 'said to be a good Imperialist'. Unlike her predecessor Anne Boleyn who was pro-French and no friend to the Princess Mary, who was the Emperor Charles V’s cousin, Jane favoured a rapprochement between England and the Empire - diplomatic relationships had been strained since Henry VIII’s divorce from Queen Katherine – along with the advancement of Mary.

  Most likely, a copy of Holbein’s portrait (of which variants still exist) had been sent to the Emperor's court, and a new version was made, showing Jane as an Imperialist supporter by way of her headdress.¹ The hat, bearing what appears to be the same hanging jewel, was copied from one very similar to that worn by Bianca Sforza, the Emperor's step-grandmother (Fig. 3).² Jane's hairstyle  was evidently modelled on Bianca's too.

Fig. 3: Bianca Sforza, by Bernhard Strigel. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

 

Unlike Henry VIII, who reputedly said that if his own hat knew his thoughts, he would throw it in the fire, Jane - or rather her Hapsburg painter - had no such concerns.




 NOTES

¹  The quality of this portrait suggests it might be a copy by a lesser hand of a lost original.

²  My gratitude to Dr. Martin Spies (University of Giessen, Germany) for referring me to the portrait of Bianca Sforza, and for pointing out the similarities.