The Return of Anne Boleyn?

With the recent violent eruptions of Mount Etna in Sicily, one is reminded of a local legend.

According to the late 18th century traveller Patrick Brydone, those loving around the area believed that the soul of Anne Boleyn - because of her wickedness - was 'condemned to burn forever' in the volcano.

 

Photo taken on Feb. 16, 2021

 

Anne Boleyn (by an Unknown Artist) from The Dulwich Picture Gallery

 

The Royal Couple by Nicholas Hilliard

Portrait miniatures of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour by Nicholas Hilliard.

 

 

These are comparable to the likenesses made for the lost 'Bosworth Jewel' as shown below.

 

'My Lady Princess'

 

 

Designs for jewelry for 'Mi Ladi Prinsis' (the future Elizabeth I) by Hans Holbein. From The British Museum.

Made between Elizabeth's birth on Sept. 7, 1533 and Anne's downfall in May 1536 (when Elizabeth subsequently lost her royal title).

 

 

Illustration (by John Kenney) of the infant Elizabeth with Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn taken from The Story of the First Queen Elizabeth (Ladybird Books, 1958).

The Valois Royal Family of France

 

 Across the Channel from the Tudors - the Valois royal family.

 From top left, clockwise:

- Francis II with his wife Mary Queen of Scots

- Francis I with his wife Claude of France

- Charles IX with his wife Elisabeth of Austria

- Elisabeth (Isabella) of Valois (wife of Philip of Spain)

- Francis Hercules, Duke of Alençon

- Margaret of Valois (wife of Henry of Navarre)

- Claude of Valois with her husband Charles, Duke of Lorraine

-Henry III with his wife Louise of Lorraine

Center: Henry II with his wife Catherine de Medici

 

 

Katheryn Howard's Jewelry Collection

 

Certain jewels of sundry natures given by the King's Majesty unto Queen Katheryn, his most dearest wife at the time of the solemnization of Their Graces' marriages ...

 

The inventory, compiled by Nicholas Bristow, lists the treasure trove given to Katheryn, and later, the items 'taken by the King into his own hands' at her downfall in late 1541.

 

You can read what jewels Katheryn received, and what she gave to her stepdaughters, Princess Mary and Princess Elizabeth, in the summary in Letters and Papers, Henry VIII (go to 1389) by clicking here.

Katheryn Howard(?) by Hans Holbein