Finding Anne Boleyn: The Treasures of a Queen

[Music] [Music] in the immediate aftermath of an Berlin's execution on the 19th of May 1536 it appears that there was a concerted effort to erase images of the late Queen repurpose her jewelry and discard of her possessions this effort had officially begun before Anne's head fell her household being dissolved on the 13th of May before Anne had even been tried obviously the Queen wasn't expected to return but what remains of Anne's belongings and where can you see them today this video will explore some of the treasures of and survive and will let you know where you can visit them our earliest artifact from Anne is this letter from around 1514 written to her father Thomas Berlin in it she writes in French and I quote sir I understand by your letter that you desire I shall be a worthy woman when I come to the court and you informed me that the Queen will take the trouble to converse with me which rejoices me much to think of talking with a person so wise and worthy this will make me have a greater desire to continue to speak French well and also to spell especially because you have enjoyed it on me and is also apologetic at the errors in her text but simultaneously proud that she has authored the letter herself and I quote sir I beg you to excuse me if my letter is badly written for I assure you that the orthography is of my own understanding alone this letter also tells us something of Anne's affection for her father when she signs off and I quote I promise you that my love is based on such great strength that it will never grow less you're very humble and obedient daughter and a balloon this letter tells us that Anne was a keen scholar and proud to be so it is a typically bold debut for a woman who will go on to great things you can view this astonishing letter at Corpus Christi College at Cambridge University it is housed in the Parker manuscripts a collection of letters from religious reformers perhaps the most famous letters that belong to Anne Boleyn are the 17 written by Henry the 8th during their courtship now housed at the Vatican archives in Rome these letters were Anne's she held them read them and likely kept them safe though perhaps not as safe as she could have it is believed they may have been stolen to order from Anne to prove to the Pope that Henry's request for an annulment was more complex than the king was allowing for and that a third woman was in the equation none of Anne's replies to Henry survive but the remaining letters show a deep and growing love and affection on Henry's part perhaps most touching Lee Henry encircled Anne's initials in a heart at the close of one of his letters the letters aren't particularly easy to see in the archive however brilliant digital copies are available for all to view via the Vatican archive website two items that are much more easily accessible and which are intimately connected to an are her books of ours on permanent display at her childhood home of Hever Castle in Kent the older of the two books was made circa 1410 to 1450 in bruges and this later one was made in 1528 in Paris quite possibly created especially for an in many ways these remarkable survivals are as as close as it is possible to get near Ann today these books were her treasured possessions and she is both inscribed and signed them in the earlier book she's written little viondra her amberlynn or the time will come I am Berlin in the later one she is written remember me when you do pray that hope doth lead from day to day and Berlin you can see them in the Book of Hours room at Hever in what was the very heart of her home another book of ours that Anna's inscribed is held at the British Library it was created circa 1500 and it played an important part in the courtship between Henry and Anne Henry has written in this book and I quote if you remember my love and your prayers as strongly as I adore you I shall hardly be forgotten for I am yours Henry are forever Henry chose to write these lines beneath an image of the wounded Christ perhaps likening his love for Anne and his inability to marry her to Christ's afflictions and responded in kind with a clever little couplet and I quote by daily proof he shall me find to be to you both loving and and chose to write her rhyming enticement under an illustration of the Annunciation when the angel Gabriel visited Mary to tell her she would have a son and here is perhaps promising to give Henry his long-form male heir it was perhaps a fateful move the British Library hold a number of items relating to you an such as this stunning version of Anne's crowned White Falcon that appears on the paintings granted to an when Henry elevated her to Marquess of Pembroke in 1532 they also hold Anne's copy of sermons on the Good Shepherd by Clem amaku which again is decorated with the Ann's falcon and concludes with compliments to King Henry and Queen Anne Boleyn one of the most astonishing survivals is this table plan for Anne's post coronation banquet in Westminster Hall and is depicted here in one of the only illustrations of her maid during her lifetime this is Anne Salter and is believed to be one of the earliest translations of the Bible to reach the English Court that would now be considered Protestant it reminds us of hands often radical religious views on this page we can see Anne's initial shaped to reveal a mat with hen Rex LS below together they reveal and loves King Henry's sovereign Lord with Anne's black Rochford lion below I believe one of the most intimate items in the British Library collection is this translation of one of Jacques lefebvre's works that was created by George Blin for his sister it tells us of the closeness between the siblings and the radical faith they shared this is an Berlin's own copy of William Tyndale's translation of the New Testament her names and titles appear on the gilt edges of the leaves especially illuminated in the book is a title page for Queen Anne with the Royal Arms of the foot of the page we know that Anne kept a copy of Tyndale's Bible open on a lectern in her Royal Apartments for her ladies to read this could very well be that copy you can also see another biblical translation by Lefevre owned by Anne Boleyn it features Henry and Anne's initials on the cover these stunning hand embroidered bed balances were most likely created for amberlynn when are now housed at the Glasgow museum's resource center as part of the Baroque collection they showed the intertwined initials of Anne and Henry and feature their motifs of honeysuckles and acorns they are incredibly intimate items to the couple and quite likely hung above their bed in a small recess and John the Baptist Church in Cirencester is housed the ambolyn cup it has and white Falken on top of the stunning silver lid and was given by queen anne boleyn to dr. richard masters physician in thanks for his care for Anne's daughter the future Elizabeth the first he was presented by dr. masters to the church in 1561 this choir screen at King's College Cambridge was commissioned by Henry the eighth for amberlynn in the early 1530s and it is covered in Anne's iconography it has Anne's Falken a bull's head which evokes the imagery used by the balloons in their heraldry a pun on their surname it also features an intertwined initials with Henry another example of Ann's initials intertwined with Henry's can be found in the Great Hall of Hampton Court Palace this song Bert was created for amberlynn and is now held in the collection of the Royal College of Music it reminds us that Ann was incredibly cultured and accomplished of music it also gives us some evidence to a darker side of an it features rather cruelly and full compacting at Katharine of Aragon's pomegranate this stunning clock is believed to have been gifted by Henry the 8th to Anne Boleyn on the occasion of their marriage it is held in the Royal Collection trust and a copy in silver can be seen at Hever Castle today this whistle is held at the Victoria and Albert Museum and is believed to be in an early gift from Henry to Anne it is shaped like a gun and it also contains a toothpick telling us about the social mores towards hygiene and also an earwax scoop telling us perhaps that Ann was an accomplished embroiderer the wax being used on the yarn an example of Anne's embroidery may be held that Hever Castle by tradition this coif is believed to have been worked on by Anne and perhaps even worn by her it is covered in Tudor roses and dragonflies these stunning designs for jewelry items of silverware and water essentially set designs for Anne's coronation pageant were created by hands Holbein the younger for Anne many of them are held in the British Museum and the sketches of plate and pageantry by her wine a held in Basel they are a fascinating insight into the style that Anne was keen to engender as Queen the British Museum also hold this unique medal from 50 34 and it is our best likeness or van Berlin from her lifetime sadly damaged it was perhaps created to celebrate the birth of a son that never materialized I would highly recommend Lucy Churchill's magnificent reconstruction of this damaged medal for a true glimpse of what an must have looked like although many paintings purporting to be an her featured in this video to our knowledge none of them date from her lifetime this is the closest likeness that we have although rands apartments don't survive you can visit the Tower of London where she stayed both before her coronation and where she was so brutally slaughtered this is where Anne is buried and you can visit her grave in the Chapel of San Peter add vinculum this engraving of Anne's White Falcon is in the Beecham Tower and may well have been carved by one of the men accused with an perhaps even by her brother George one remaining feature at the Tower of Anne are these glorious onion shaped domes on top of the White Tower turrets that were installed especially for Anne's coronation act in court near Bristol features an entire wing built for Anne Boleyn and Henry during their royal progress of 1535 you can even stay in a bedroom that Henry and Anne slept in during that progress at nearby Thornbury castle with so many traces of Anne for us to explore we may begin to question how concerted an effort there really was to erase her image of course the creation of Anne's imagery didn't die with the Queen her daughter Elizabeth was keen to champion and adopt her mother's iconography and famously wore a ring with a dual portrait of herself and her mother but this video has shown some of the key items that Anne herself would have known and loved but I would argue that the ultimate an artifact is her childhood home of Hever Castle in Kent no other existing building can lay claim to those happy years of Ann's life this is where she came back to again and again during her courtship with Henry where she recovered from the deadly pandemic of 1528 and where she made that fateful decision to marry Henry this was Anne's happy place it was perhaps here that she was most happy

Channel: Dr Owen Emmerson

Views: 56,675

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Id: 6eCoz3YggJE

Length: 14min 49sec (889 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 27 2020