Compared to the dour, dutiful sewing circle serving Katherine of Aragon at the British court, the French matriarchs were pistols. “Anne found herself in a world in which women could exercise power in strikingly different ways,” write Guy and Fox. Stereotyped by convention as a conniving hustler bent on building the Boleyn brand, Thomas is positioned more interestingly here as a kind of geopolitical Zelig. It would prove the right time to catch the eye of the strapping 34-year-old king. Henry had never before encountered a woman as dazzling as Anne, with her French flair and intellectual self-confidence.

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Persons: Katherine of Aragon, “ Anne, ”, Guy, Fox, Anne’s, Thomas, Henry VIII’s, Europe’s, Emperor Charles V, Pa Boleyn, Henry, Anne, Queen Katherine, Mary Boleyn, Katherine Locations: France, Pa, England, Europe