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Henry and Anne: C5, 8pm
woot_whoo
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Anyone watching this tonight? This is a new series charting the relationship between Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII.
I'll be watching, but I'm aware it won't have anything new to tell those of us familiar with the history of the period. I'm expecting lots of those historical reconstructions with actors wandering about in period costume and gazing at the camera, intercut with people showing Lipscombe documents and artefacts. I only hope we get an honest history here and not a pile of myths. Of course, I should keep an open mind even if it being on C5 does make me think it's going to be rather trashy and focused on the salacious and sensational aspects of this much-told story. I hope I'm wrong!
I'll be watching, but I'm aware it won't have anything new to tell those of us familiar with the history of the period. I'm expecting lots of those historical reconstructions with actors wandering about in period costume and gazing at the camera, intercut with people showing Lipscombe documents and artefacts. I only hope we get an honest history here and not a pile of myths. Of course, I should keep an open mind even if it being on C5 does make me think it's going to be rather trashy and focused on the salacious and sensational aspects of this much-told story. I hope I'm wrong!
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Not the most original format, but Lipscombe did at least try and dispel myths, eg. Anne played hard to get and played Henry, and that Henry was not a nice man. She tried to show there was a real romance there. I just could have done without half of the endless unnecessary scenes.
By all accounts her flat chest was notable, but I've yet to see an acted Anne without a full rack heaving just above that Tudor bodice.
Thanks - sounds interesting. They were definitely a love match at first. Interestingly, Henry was still trying to have Anne recognised as his lawful wife by European monarchs a few weeks before he had her killed. The most interesting part of the whole relationship (to me) is just how he turned from ardent lover to hating her enough to have her executed. I think on some level he chose to believe the trumped up charges against her, and then blamed everyone except himself for her death.
If you are interested in the story then it is worth a watch, but not the most original of formats - too much repetition of the same gazing/chasing scenes between Anne and Henry. I agree with the other poster too about how Anne was depicted in this. Lipscombe told us that Anne had great wit and intellect, and that it was a great love match, but there were very few speaking scenes between the 2 actors to back this up - just the tired stuff I have seen before.
BIB - I think Henry still carried some shame fore the way he had treated his first wife, and the way he treated his old friend Thomas Moore. His love for Anne was the cause of the treatment and the love/hate thing flipped back and forth when the guilt set in. The fact that Henry cared enough about giving Anne a "kind" execution showed to me he still remembered how he had felt about her. I think he was confused, but as you say chose to blame others, the way he blamed Anne for the treatment of Thomas Moore and Katherine.
'If you remember my love in your prayers as strongly as I adore you, I shall hardly be forgotten, for I am yours. Henry R.'
'By daily proof you shall me find To be to you both loving and kind'
I agree. He was too young for the part but still, I'm not complaining ;-)
It was surprisingly enjoyable for Ch5 and the dramatisations worked better than most I've seen.
I enjoyed the program as a whole, but didn't think it had anything new to add to what has been written endless times before, and it began to get a bit slow and tedious towards the end.
http://lucychurchill.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/anneboleynaligned-jpeg-scaled500.jpg?w=345&h=345
The downfall of Anne Boleyn has always fascinated me. I have no doubt it was heavily politically motivated by her enemies, but Henry's motivations/beliefs in it are maddeningly elusive. It's clear that the charges against her were trumped up, with Cromwell making scandal out of snippets of gossip. I've always thought that when she realised Henry's attentions were wandering to Jane Seymour, she sought to try and make him jealous by indulging in some (innocent) courtly flirting with other men to prove she was still attractive and arouse his jealousy. Unfortunately, her enemies leapt on both Henry's disenchantment and her own enagement in the game of courtly love to bring her down.
One can go into the National Archives at Kew and access early modern documents without having to wear gloves. It depends on the nature of the material on which they were written.
Considering the book of prayers was so old and written by Anne I would think it essential to wear gloves
She actually wiped her finger down one page >:(
God, yes! I told my husband surely she should have had gloves on. What were they thinking?:o
It is now thought that gloves are actually worse than bare hands as they remove the sensitivity at the fingertips leading to a greater chance of paper damage.
Yes, and it's also thought that gloves can be abrasive and damage the paper. You often see TV historians these days handle documents with naked fingers.
But boy, she was so LUCKY to get to handle that prayer book! I was green, green, green.