Was Anne Boleyn a WITCH who seduced Henry VIII with magic? In this six wives documentary from History Calling we look at the centuries’ old rumours that there was something supernatural about the woman who would become Henry VIII’s second wife and who was the mother of Elizabeth I. We’ll ask did Anne Boleyn have six fingers (which is a real medical condition known as polydactyly), or was this story, which was made famous by the Catholic exile, Nicholas Sander, decades after her execution, a shameless slander? I’ll even tell you what the descendants of Anne’s former paramour, the poet Thomas Wyatt, had to say about the matter and whether there was any evidence of a sixth finger on Anne Boleyn’s skeleton when she was exhumed from the Chapel of St Peter Ad Vincula in the Tower of London in 1876. We’ll consider too the other physical malformations she reportedly had and which would have been viewed as signs of a witch in 16th century England. These included welts on her neck which she supposedly hid with high-necked dresses and the very damaging story that she gave birth to a deformed foetus in January 1536. Perhaps most serious of all was the accusation seemingly made by Henry himself that Anne used sorcery to win his heart. Did the King really say this though and if so, what did he mean? Finally, I’ll take you through what the doomed Queen was actually charged with and found guilty of at her trial in May 1536, before her infamous date with a French headsman. I hope you enjoy this video and Happy Halloween 2023!

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ANNE BOLEYN PLAYLIST
   • Anne Boleyn  
THE BIRTH OF ANNE BOLEYN
   • THE BIRTH OF ANNE BOLEYN | Six wives ...  
THE LIFE OF HENRY VIII, PART 2 | THE STORY OF ANNE BOLEYN    • THE LIFE OF HENRY VIII, part 2 | The ...  
ANNE BOLEYN’S B NECKLACE
   • ANNE BOLEYN’S B NECKLACE | Anne Boley...  
DID ANNE BOLEYN HAVE A PSEUDO PREGNANCY IN 1534?    • Did ANNE BOLEYN have a PSEUDO PREGNAN...  
TUDOR ROYAL FERTILITY PROBLEMS
   • TUDOR ROYAL FERTILITY PROBLEMS. Royal...  
ANNE BOLEYN’S LAST LETTER
   • ANNE BOLEYN’S LAST LETTER? What happe...  
ANNE BOLEYN’S EXECUTION: HOLLYWOOD VS HISTORY    • ANNE BOLEYN’S EXECUTION. Hollywood ve...  
ANNE BOLEYN’S EXECUTION OUTFIT
   • ANNE BOLEYN’S EXECUTION OUTFIT | How ...  
WAS ANNE BOLEYN EXECUTED WHILST PREGNANT?
   • Was ANNE BOLEYN EXECUTED WHILST PREGN...  
DOES THE CHEQUERS’ RING SHOW A PORTRAIT OF ANNE BOLEYN AND ELIZABETH I
   • Does the CHEQUERS’ RING show a portra...  
LIFE OF JACQUETTA OF LUXEMBOURG | A real royal witch?
   • LIFE OF JACQUETTA OF LUXEMBOURG | A r...  
THE FIRST IRISH WITCH BURNING
   • The FIRST IRISH WITCH burning | Hallo...  

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LEARN MORE

Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005)
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Susan Bordo, The Creation of Anne Boleyn: In Search of the Tudors' Most Notorious Queen (One World Publications, 2014)
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Sarah Morris and Natalie Grueninger, In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn (2013)
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Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009)
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David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004)
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The Tudors, season 1
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Henry VIII and his Six Wives (2016 docu-drama)
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Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (2016 docu-drama)
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