Was Anne Boleyn a Mistress or a Wife? Controversial Royal Marriage

From History Calling

WAS ELIZABETH I ILLEGITIMATE? The answer to that depends on whether Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII were really married in 1532/3 and if Elizabeth’s mother was a mistress or a wife. In this six wives documentary from History Calling we’ll look at this controversial royal marriage from its beginning to its end (and beyond) to ascertain if Anne Boleyn was ever really the Queen of England and if her daughter was legally a Tudor, or an illegitimate Boleyn. Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I both suffered irreparable damage at the hands of Henry VIII, but were they ever really his wife and legitimate heiress to begin with? In the course of this video we’ll look at stories of a precontract between Anne Boleyn and Henry Percy; the complications caused by Henry’s first marriage to Catherine of Aragon (widow of his brother Prince Arthur Tudor) and whether it was really annulled; the ramifications of Henry VIII’s affair with Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne; the questions of when Henry married Anne and when was Elizabeth I conceived (was it before or after her parents wed?) and how Anne’s fall affected her status as Queen and her daughter’s as Princess of England. Having cast his second wife aside and voided their marriage, Henry declared his 2 year old daughter illegitimate, but was he right to do so and what should we make of his decision, seven years later to place her back in the line of succession to the English throne without reversing that illegitimacy? Finally, we’ll think about how his sole surviving son, Edward VI, along with his big sisters, Mary and Elizabeth Tudor treated the Aragon and Boleyn marriages during their reigns and whether they undertook any actions which retroactively affected Anne and Elizabeth’s legal positions. We’ll also look at stories that Elizabeth wasn’t even a Tudor by blood, for even during her lifetime some wondered, who was Elizabeth I’s father? The story of Elizabeth I and her remarkable life and reign began in a Tudor scandal of epic proportions and it is one we’re still trying to unpack today. The History Hit documentary I discussed today was ‘Becoming Anne Boleyn’, hosted by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb.