In the early 16th century, Henry VIII ruled over england as the first protestant King of England. This meant that this king would be able to have as many wives as he wanted. The information of his ruling is really expressed through the The Last Wife of Henry VIII A Novel by Carolly Erickson. This book, even though it is mostly historically accurate, is still a work of historical fiction so the events can not be factual until they are proven to be so. In order to find out if some of the main events of this book can be proven true, three key points in the book were chosen to see how accurate this book was with its historical accuracy. The events of the book that have been chosen include, the Anne Boleyn witch controversy, the executions of Catherine …show more content…
Howard, and the raid of Thomas Seymour. These events will be used to show how accurately Carolly Erickson included them. The Anne Boleyn controversy is a confusing one, it depends largely on opinion and not so much fact, so to make this a less biased study, the question will be “Should Anne Boleyn been considered a witch?” The first mention in “The Last Wife Of Henry VIII” of the Anne Boleyn controversy is when Carolly Erickson first included when Catherine and King Henry VIII are talking in a garden at night.
Erickson makes King Henry VIII state “She has, she has. Not like the Witch.” This is comparing the kind Queen Jane to “the Witch” Anne Boleyn. Carolly then goes on to make King Henry state “She was [a witch], you know... No matter what anyone says. She put me under a spell. She forced me to love her.”The passage goes on to say “At the word “forced,” the king’s voice broke. “All that I did that was wrong, I did because she forced me.”” (Erickson, 127) At this point in the book, Erickson is very clearly showing that King Henry believes that Anne Boleyn was a witch, but the question still remains, does she deserve to be called a witch? What it is Anne did that could have gotten her accused of witchcraft? In order to find out, the book “The Reign of Henry VIII: Personalities and Politics” will shed some light on this topic. As stated by David Starkey “On the other hand, of course, though Anne handled power like a man, she got it- if not through witchcraft as Henry later professed to believe- then certainly through female wiles” (92) In other words, Anne got her power through cunning female …show more content…
ways, and Henry thought she did it by witchcraft. but this book also goes on to say that her skills were acquired throughout her life, not simply given to her through witchcraft as Henry imposed. For example when David starkey explains how Anne, in more ways than others, is a French woman and he goes on to say that while “everybody was trying to be French; she was already French” (94) perhaps explaining her advancement at the time, and her ability to manipulate people.. So what can be taken away from all this? First thing is that no, Anne Boleyn was not a witch, Anne only acquired her traits throughout her life, not through witchcraft. Second is that yes, under King Henry’s rule, Anne could have been declared a witch and executed, because he was a king after all, no matter if Anne was a witch or not she could have been executed for witchcraft. Finally King Henry did actually admit to believing Queen Anne used witchcraft to gain power, and that could have, and most likely lead to her execution. The most probable case is that Anne didn’t really deserve her execution, according to the England at that time period but a proven execution that can be backed up is the execution of Catherine Howard. In order to understand the executions of Catherine Howard, “The Last Wife of Henry VIII” will tell us who got executed, and why. Catherine howard was the first to be executed, because of her adultery obviously. Then Carolly Erickson writes “ But the headsman’s grisly work was not yet done. One by one the dead queen's chamber servants were brought to the block and executed. Among them was the old man Anne Daintry had told me about” So after Catherine's execution, came all of her chamber servants correct? Well according to “Who's Who in British History: Beginnings to 1901 (Bio Ref Bank)” that’s not what happened. “ Ultimately a 'pitiful confession' was made by Catherine, and she and Lady Rochford were executed on the same spot as had been Anne Boleyn.” The executions of Queen Catherine Howard’s bed servants, didn’t happen, there is no evidence for it. This means the part about Henry executing a old man is a lie. But why? Why would Carolly Erickson include this part if she couldn’t back it up? Well the most probable explanation, is that the author was trying to make King Henry VIII more like a “bad guy” or antagonist. Again, though, why is Erickson making King Henry VIII seem so terrible? Well the answer to that question comes from the plot. What’s happening in Catherine Parr’s life? Well, Sir Thomas Seymour and her have fallen madly in love with each other, and then King Henry VIII tries taking Catherine away Thomas Seymour and succeeds. Erickson is not just beheading the old man for no reason, she does it to make Thomas more of the hero and King Henry VIII to look like more of a villain. The hero Thomas Seymour, the man trying to stand up to the bishop and have his rule over England. The raid Thomas seymour performed while his wife was in labor, did that seem very heroic? No. So when Erickson stated all that about Thomas having the aid of all those soldiers to capture the Bishop and sayed “The I heard Tom’s voice, clear and masterful, in the courtyard below, mustering the men and sending them here and there. I felt reassured. Tom was in command. All would be well” Carolly writes this to show that Tom has abandoned her during her childbirth, one of the worst things to do to Catherine. But did this actually happen in Catherine Parr’s life? Well the simple answer is no, the huge raid Thomas had in order to overthrow the Bishop was all fiction, as you can see from a website titled The Elizabeth Files an author by the name of Claire explained “He also set out to damage his brother’s reputation by voicing his concerns over the way that Somerset was running the country and he undermined his brother’s control by using his position as Lord High Admiral of the English Navy to encourage piracy, something he was meant to stamp out.” He undermined his brothers control and spoke out against his way of ruling, but the reason for his execution was for infiltrating the King’s apartments and being accused of trying to marry his half sister Elizabeth as stated by Claire on The Elizabeth Files. This whole raid set up in “The Last Wife of Henry VIII” was most likely all set up to show how Thomas betrayed Catherine and never really loved her,and only married her for power. This could explain why Thomas was taking money from Catherine Parr for the raid, to show him gaining power, and to show that Thomas did betray Catherine, the author had to set up something in Catherine’s life time that was Thomas betraying her for power, which was of course, the raid and abandonment of Catherine Parr. The Anne Boleyn Witch accusations, the executions of Catherine Howard and her servants, and finally the raid Thomas Seymour tried to perform all have some fact and some fiction to them, which shouldn’t be too surprising since this is historical fiction.
The Anne Boleyn Witch accusations were most likely coming from Henry, but were they true? Of course not. The execution of the old man and all of Catherine Howard's bed servants were most likely set up to make King Henry VIII seem like an antagonist, because Thomas Seymour was Catherine Parr’s “true” love, and finally the raid of Thomas Seymour was all made up by Erickson to show Thomas Seymour betrayal of Catherine Parr for power in a way Catherine could have seen during her lifetime. The fact is, we shouldn't be listening to everything this historical fiction says about Catherine Parr’s
life.
My research question has to do with how puritan women are represented by the tried witches, and with background information on what Bishop was accused of as well as the fact the judge did not believe her, I am able to refute the logic of why she was executed. Bishop was not committing any actual crimes (by law) which means she was simply going against social norms. For example, Bishop was accused of murdering children, however there was not evidence found on where those bodies were, or exactly who she killed. There was no proof of any of her accusations being true, accept for the dolls she had in her house. In fact, once these “poppets” were found, “Bishop’s fate was sealed, and she was hanged in June 1692” (Associated Press A3). It seems as if the court wanted used the only source of proof they could find to hang her. The reputation Bishop gained throughout her court hearings scared the people of Salem because she never conformed to the female Puritan way of
Anne Boleyn in the spring of 1536 and the consolidation of power at court and in
Upon Googling “witch” almost all the images are of women riding on broomsticks. This is today’s pop culture view of witches, however it has it’s roots in Early Modern stereotypes of witchcraft. It was probably easy to find the old, ugly hag down the street and accuse her of being a witch, but there is more to the story. In the case of Françette Camont, the stereotype of witches helped to put suspicion on her, however she wasn’t convicted because of the stereotypes that applied to her, but rather it was personal feelings toward her and a needed catalyst for the trial to start that led to her execution and the execution of many other witches.
Throughout the book, Mortimer makes several major interpretations of the society of England. He interprets that the people of England related to Queen Elizabeth I more than they did her half-sister Mary, thus leading to her being a somewhat beloved queen. He writes that Elizabeth’s Boleyn bloodline was entirely English, while Mary’s mother was of Aragon. “By birth, [Elizabeth] is one of them” (30-31). While the elites listened to the scientific developments with educated ears, the poorer people believed in superstition and witchcraft. According to Mortimer, the English did not burn witches; this was a tradition in Scotland and Continental Europe. The English hung them. From 1547 to 1563, there also were no anti-witchcraft laws. The
Salem 1692, two girls ,Betty Parris, age nine, and her eleven year old cousin Abigail Williams, had a dream. They wanted to be the best actors in the village. They worked very hard to do that and they got twenty people killed. Betty and Abigail were Puritans and they are not supposed to lie or they would end up with the devil in the afterlife, but it seemed like they didn’t care. That’s why we ask, why were people blaming the innocent for being witches in Salem, 1692? The Salem Witch Trials were caused by two poor, young girls who acted possessed. There were also other people who took the risk of lying and accused other people. Most of the accusers were under the age of twenty and woman. The little girls caused the Salem Witch Trials hysteria by pretending to be possessed. Most of the accusers were poor and lived in the western part of the town.
Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn was a very important, if not the most important character in Anne of a Thousand Days. The way that she behaves, and the decisions that she makes, affect the way that the end. For example, Anne could have refused to marry Henry, and could have run away. These actions and decisions would have dramatically changed the outcome of the story, and for that matter history. Anne has many different personality traits which seem to change over time.
Did people really believe women were more sinful and evil than men, or were they afraid of women taking over? In the 1600’s, Witch Trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts. Many of the accused witches were in fact female. Witch accusations were mainly aimed at women due to the Puritan ideas that women were more vulnerable and evil than men, their sexuality was more obvious and sinful, and the fear of women gaining power and authority.
And to make it even worse, if something strange were to happen after the arguments, such as a cattle becoming ill, then the woman was for sure to be a witch. For example, Elizabeth Clawson confronted Abigail Wescot for accusing her of being a liar which gave reason for Wescot to accuse Clawson of being a witch. Mercy Disborough had also gotten into an argument with a townsman whom she sold kettle to. The townsman accused Disborough of being a witch because the kettle he bought from her was brand new once he bought it but once he got home it was old and spoiled. The townsman went back to Disborough and demanded that she give him his money back, but Disborough refused and denied that she had anything to do with the kettle being rotten which led to her being accused of being a witch. So we can easily see how it was so easy to accuse a woman of being a
Anne Llewellyn Barstow finds that there was a disproportionate amount of women who were accused of Witchcraft in Western Europe between 1400 and 1650. Barstow moves on to point out through the text that these Women were victims of Misogyny due to the definition of Witchcraft being so broad and actually fitting the descriptions of the lives of many women. The patriarchal society of Europe at the time also bound women to lives of a lesser class if they were not living under the protection of men. Women were also seen as sex objects, and were seen as a threat to men who viewed women as untrustworthy and whorish. The findings of her research and views led Barstow to find that women were more likely to be accused and put to death for Witchcraft than men, as they were seen as minors before the courts and could not hold high positions but, they could be accused before the court for the heinous act of Witchery. Women were blamed for every malfunction of their reproductive systems, including stillbirth and were also blamed for preventing conception. Barstow believes that the first ever accounts of Witchcraft prosecution rose in the fifteenth century Europe as a means to control women’s sexual and reproductive lives. Barstow states, that in the English county of Essex, an amazing 92 percent of those accused of Witchcraft were women. The author proves that authors of the day do not concentrate on Women as the victims. In fact Women’s issues were merely brushed o...
When reading the Bible, one should turn to Exodus 22:18 and Leviticus 20:27, in the King James Version. Exodus 22:18 reads; “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Leviticus 20:27 reads; “A man also, or woman, that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them.” These strong-worded quotes reflect upon the strong reactions to witches in Bible times. Back when the Word was the Truth, the way and the Light, religion was everything. In the religion of Christianity, witchcraft was abominable and disgraceful, and absolutely forbidden. When one believes so strongly in something, when they come across something that contradicts their beliefs and disgusts them, there is bound to be ...
In Rosalyn Schanzer’s Witches! The Absolutely True Disaster in Salem, the author discusses how the Salem Witch trials started and how the Puritans believed the witches should be tortured or killed for being a witch. Many people were accused of being witches. Many people thought the accused should die but some were somewhat nice and didn’t think they should die just in prison. Every puritan believed them because the dad was a reverend and everyone believed him so they all accused people. The causes of the Salem Witch Trials were disease, revenge, and attention.
The story of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, has been elusive to historians since her death in 1536 at the hands of her husband. This, in part, can be attributed to the destruction of almost everything she touched soon after her execution. On orders of the king, the castles that were once her home had all memory stripped of her. Portraits were destroyed, letters disappeared, their symbol of the H and A intertwined had the A ripped away. The remnants of her time on the throne are pieces of history that were overlooked in the workers haste to strip the castles in preparation for Jane Seymour to become queen. There are few hints left of what really happened during Anne’s life and how important she was during her reign which has created the widespread infatuation with Anne and who she really was. Why is Anne’s life of such interest to us then? The reasons are many and include the desire to know her role in the English reformation, being the first queen of England to ever be executed, and the impact it had on her daughter and the later Queen Elizabeth I.
When someone thinks of a witch, usually he or she thinks about Halloween or the movie The Wizard of Oz. However, during the 16th and 17th century, witches were feared by many. The accusations of witches during this time is the highest reported, more than 500,000 people were tried and more than 100,000 were executed. Many people of the modern era know and believe that witches are not real. This was not the case in the beginning of the 16th century to the end of the 17th century. Individuals were prosecuted as witches because people wanted money and to clean up their community, they were women, and the communities needed a scapegoat for their misfortune.
There have been various explanations by different historians for why the majority of Witches accused were woman. One of the first models concerning Witchcraft and gender to be produced was the ‘Witch-cult‘ idea. This theory was devised by Margaret Murray in the early 20th century and revolved around the idea of Witchcraft being an actual pre-Christian religion. This pagan woman-based religion centred around ‘The Horned God’ who from the Christian point of view was Satan. Murray writes that the ‘God of the old religion becomes the Devil of the new.’ This religion concerned woman in that it was being supressed by the Christian Church which was a male dominated organisation with an exclusively male hierarchy. In effect the whole Witch-hunt affair was a persecution of woman by men, both being polar opposites even in religion. Murray’s thesis proved very popular with radical feminists from the 1960s onwards, providing the feminist movement with a sort of rallying point, further exaggerating the sex specific elements in the Murray model. Murray’s thesis however, was attacked from day one and continues to be discredited to this day due to the lack of evidence in support of it and th...
In the end nineteen innocent people were executed to save the judges of Salems reputations. The mass hysteria that ensued is hard to believe was all a lie for them. The authorities were so resistent to believe that the girls were lying because they sent people to die on their hands. To know that was because they were unprofessional and couldn't tell a lie from a girl would make them go crazy. Judge Danforth and Hathorne are the real witches for letting innocent people die to save their