The Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society

Aaaaghhh, this month is running away with me! We will be having a members-only livestream on Saturday at the usual time, 5pm New York time / 10pm UK time. This one will be completely open, so no particular topic, just Tudor history.
I'll share the link soon.

1 hour ago | [YT] | 13

The Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society

Was Anne Boleyn really too socially inferior to marry Henry Percy, heir to the powerful Earldom of Northumberland?

For centuries, Anne Boleyn has been portrayed as an ambitious social climber, a woman of comparatively humble origins who dared to reach beyond her station. According to popular tradition, her relationship with Henry Percy was doomed because she was simply too low.

But the historical evidence tells a very different story.

In this video, I examine the truth behind one of the most persistent myths in Tudor history and reveal why Anne Boleyn was not an outsider at court, but a woman firmly embedded within England’s elite aristocratic networks.

Discover:
• Anne Boleyn’s powerful Howard and Butler ancestry
• The overlooked importance of the Ormond inheritance
• Why Anne arrived at court as a prospective countess
• How Tudor society actually viewed rank, lineage, and marriage
• Why Henry Percy’s proposed marriage was politically dangerous, not socially impossible
• How post-1536 propaganda reshaped Anne Boleyn’s reputation

Far from being a middle-class newcomer, Anne Boleyn was the granddaughter of the Duke of Norfolk and connected to one of the most influential noble dynasties in Ireland. At the very moment Percy considered marriage, royal policy itself was preparing her for an aristocratic match.

So why has history continued to describe her as “too low”?

#AnneBoleyn
#TudorHistory
#HenryPercy
#HenryVIII
#Tudors
#BritishHistory
#RoyalHistory
#HistoryDebunked
#TudorCourt
#WomenInHistory
#EnglishHistory
#historydocumentary

6 hours ago | [YT] | 5

The Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society

For those of you following my hearing loss story...

An update on how I'm doing five months after experiencing Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss, SSHL, in my right ear.
I talk about my symptoms and what happened after I was referred to be evaluated for a cochlear implant here in Spain.

#cochlearimplant #deafness #ent #hearingloss #soundsensitivity #sshl #suddenhearingloss #suddensensorineuralhearingloss #tinnitus #singlesideddeafness

2 days ago | [YT] | 26

The Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society

In May 1536, Anne Boleyn went from Queen of England to execution in just eighteen days.

It remains one of the most shocking political collapses in English history - a moment that destroyed families, reshaped the Tudor court, and sent shockwaves across Europe.

Having researched Anne Boleyn’s life and fall since 2009, I still find these events deeply affecting. Each return to the primary sources - letters, trial records, ambassadorial reports and eyewitness accounts - raises the same question:
Was Anne Boleyn’s fall truly a tragedy… or had her fate already been decided?

To mark the 490th anniversary, I’m hosting a live anniversary intensive exploring Anne Boleyn’s final weeks through contemporary evidence and Tudor political reality.

If you’d like to study these events in depth with me, you can find full details here:
claireridgway.com/events/last-18/

Early Bird Offer ends 27 February
Use code AB2026 for $20 off.

Thank you for supporting my work and for continuing to explore Tudor history with me.

5 days ago | [YT] | 57

The Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society

In 1522, Anne Boleyn returned to the English court, and within a few years, she was already at the centre of political tension, whispered promises, and poetic legend.

Long before Henry VIII began his pursuit, Anne was linked to two influential men: Henry Percy, heir to the Earl of Northumberland, and Sir Thomas Wyatt, courtier and poet.

Did Anne Boleyn and Henry Percy secretly promise to marry?
Was there a binding precontract, something that, under Tudor canon law, could have invalidated a later royal marriage?
Why did Cardinal Wolsey intervene?
And what really lies behind Wyatt’s famous poem “Whoso List to Hunt” and its haunting line: “Noli me tangere, for Caesar’s I am”?

In this episode, I explore:
Anne Boleyn’s place in the Tudor marriage market
The political implications of a precontract
The Cavendish account of Percy and Anne
The later denials in 1532 and 1536
The myths surrounding Thomas Wyatt
The Spanish Chronicle story
How Anne’s reputation began forming long before she became queen

5 days ago | [YT] | 35

The Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, which in Tudor times was a time of fasting and prayer.

But how did Tudor people mark Ash Wednesday and Lent? What else did they do? Find out all about Ash Wednesday and Lent in Tudor times from me and Teasel in this video from a few years ago...

6 days ago | [YT] | 41

The Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society

Today is Shrove Tuesday, so I thought I'd share this video I did with Teasel a few years ago on Shrovetide - Shrove Sunday, Collop Monday and Shrove Tuesday - and how it was celebrated in Tudor times.

Tim's Tudor Pancakes video can be found at https://youtu.be/ubMaeuKK3IE

1 week ago | [YT] | 47