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.
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