Who is the woman in this portrait?

I rarely blog about history which is strange considering I have a history degree and it is something I am most passionate about. Yet I feel compelled to today.

I think most people, even the most history averse, have heard of Anne Boleyn. Chances are you know her by the famous portrait and by the fact she was executed by her husband Henry VIII 

There is of course a lot more to her but recently I read some very interesting things. With Wolf Hall now on the screen in Britain, (A TV series adapted from the brilliant Hilary Mantel novel based on the life of Thomas Cromwell) articles about Anne have been coming thick and fast. 

Just who was she? Was she power hungry? An adulteress? A scheming nasty piece of work? Or a young woman in love? The truth is we don't really know. Though I suspect she was far less horrible than she has been made out to be from certain quarters. Aren't women who rise to power almost always portrayed in a bad light? 

But a couple of things we thought we absolutely knew it turns out we might not know at all. Above is the famous portrait. I imagine you have seen it at least once or twice, if not many times like myself. Except it turns out this may possibly not be Anne at all but rather some other woman who was not even a contemporary! 

Any contemporary portraits of Anne were most likely destroyed and this 'famous' picture was painted after both she and Henry were dead. It could of course be based on an older portrait that somehow managed to survive or it could in fact, be someone else. 

One thing that points to it being someone else is that we now consider the famous pearl necklace with the letter B to be inaccurate. It has been suggested that Anne actually wore the letter A for her first name and not a B for Boleyn. Which makes sense given that once she was married she would not have gone by the name Boleyn. Plus the initials entwined and displayed throughout Hampton Court Palace were H and A for Henry and Anne.

So it may well be that Anne looks nothing like we suspect she did. Of course we have some contemporary descriptions but many of these were made by her adversaries, men who didn't like her because she was ousting who they believed was the rightful queen. So descriptions of her being swarthy, not beautiful, having a large nose etc may well be false. She could have been an absolute stunner. Then again she may have been a woman who was charismatic and alluring rather than beautiful, as has been suggested.

We will of course never know. That is the beauty of history yet also a regret for historians.There is so much conjecture and guess work in history. Even when we think we absolutely know something, it could easily turn out we in fact, know nothing. 

If you are interested in Anne or Tudor times might I suggest you like The Anne Boleyn Files or The Tudor Dynasty on facebok. They have tonnes of fascinating articles and facts for you to enjoy. 

Some headlines you just have to click on..

There are some headlines you just have to click on. 

Some days you find yourself looking at the oddest pages on the Internet. Those days you often find the silliest or strangest stories that you cannot help clicking on. So yesterday the three stories I just had to click on I thought I would share with you. 

1. "Highway crash cooks chickens, frees bees" 

Seriously how could you not want to read further? Two trucks, one carrying bees and the other frozen chickens manage to crash and cause a huge fireball. The drivers were fine so it's ok to chuckle. Turns out the chooks got cooked, so to speak. I can't help but think of the lovely smell wafting through the air.... The bees needed rounding up so a bee keeper was quickly located. His job was made easier by the fact that the bees seemed somewhat stunned by all the smoke. Possibly too by the fact they suddenly had no idea where they were

2. "Tortoise stolen twice in one weekend." 

Who steals a tortoise? Turns out more than one person. Teo the tortoise who lived happily ( I assume) at Puxton Park Farm in the UK was pinched one Saturday. The farm put out urgent calls for his return and it seems the thief had a pang of conscience and returned Teo. Phew! Except no because a few hours later someone else ( presumably it was someone else) stole Teo again, only this time the thief nabbed Taylor the Tortoise as well! 

So many things going round my mind while reading this story. How does someone manage to disguise two tortoises and get away? Why is it that everyone gives tortoises names that start with a T? Why not Benjamin Tortoise? Or Harold? Of course the big question is why steal a tortoise ( or two?) 

Turns out the BBC is to blame, well sort of. They adapted the Roald Dahl story Esio Trot for TV and it was popular viewing. The gist of the story is that a lonely old man woos his neighbour with a scheme of using ever larger tortoises. The International Tortoise association ( yes, apparently there is such a thing...)  has warned there will be a rush on obtaining tortoises due to the shows success. 

Well let's hope Teo and Taylor find their way home soon and that stupid people don't go stealing animals because of what are obviously comedic elements to fictional stories! 

3. "Mystic Mog: Cat turns light on every time you press her nose" 

How super cool does this sound? Or look even as there is an accompanying video clip. The cat sits next to the touch lamp and its owner presses her nose and the light comes on! Of course it's not magic but simply about making a circuit and easily explained scientifically. So it really isn't all that great a story though it does look sweet. Now if touching the cats nose could turn on the ceiling light or change the TV channel then I would be impressed...

That's it for today. Stay tuned as you never know when I might aimlessly track down odd stories which could well provide for another instalment!