'Anne of the Wicked Ways: Perceptions of Anne Boleyn as a Witch in History and in Popular Culture'

Anne Boleyn (by an Unknown Artist)

Abstract:

In life and in death, Anne Boleyn has always invited controversy. On the one hand, she was that ‘godly lady and queen’ under whom ‘the religion of Christ most happily flourished’. But to her detractors, Anne was the very ‘scandal of Christendom’. A prevailing view that commonly appears in both scholarly and popular texts is that Anne was either perceived in her time as a witch or was indeed a witch. However, this essay argues that such a perception is relatively recent - one created in the earlier part of the twentieth century, sustained by modern writers and historians, and in popular culture. It demonstrates that Anne was never regarded as such by her contemporaries or by those who were critical of her.

To read this paper, originally published in Parergon - Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (Inc.), [Volume 35, Number 1 (2018), pp. 97-118], please click here.