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Original poster

Did Anne Boleyn shag her brother George?

88 replies

lordStrange · 09/09/2014 14:05

I have spent quite a lot of time pondering this recently Grin.

I always assumed it was a tall tale cooked up by her charming husband H VIII and his monster pals, but now I'm coming to the idea that desperation to produce an heir for H might have caused her to view her brother George as a decent sperm donor.

I'm no historian so I wonder what the view is on here?

OP posts:
LadyFlumpalot · 09/09/2014 14:20

Hi! I don't think so - I think that Lady Rochford and others were pressured into saying things whih were jumped on by the council to damn her.

I'm fascinated by the whole thing!

Original poster
lordStrange · 09/09/2014 14:47

It is intriguing isn't it. She must have been feeling pretty desperate though, after 11 yrs and just one paltry baby girl...

OP posts:
AmeliaPeabody · 09/09/2014 14:52

I've never thought so.

TipseyTorvey · 09/09/2014 14:55

I'm no expert but from the varying accounts I've read Henry had to come with a fool proof story to convince the decision makers and public that she was a total she devil so he could move into to the next breeding womb. She may have been am ambitious and clever woman and was a known flirt but doubt she boffed her own brother. Wasn't there another young lad implicated as well who was hanged?

NamesNick · 09/09/2014 14:56

Grin at paltry baby girl.

SunbathingCat · 09/09/2014 14:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TipseyTorvey · 09/09/2014 15:46

Really sunbathing, I didn't know that about the sword, can't work out if that makes it worse or not....

SunbathingCat · 09/09/2014 15:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

goshhhhhh · 09/09/2014 15:53

She was accused of having being unfaithful with Mark Smeaton (a musician)and allegedly saying treasons things against the King. The punishment for treason at the time was burning alive on a stake. She was apparently viewed to got off lightly & Henry probably had a guilty conscience (is that treasonous ?)

EElisavetaofBelsornia · 09/09/2014 16:06

I think.she definitely DTD with Mark Smeaton. He was the only one who confessed straight out without torture, and didn't retract. Her DB - possible, they were brought up apart and didn't really meet until they were adults. But unlikely I think, the blood taboo is firmly ingrained and she was religious.

Original poster
lordStrange · 09/09/2014 16:17

I can see two pluses for shaggin her brother

  1. He probably wouldn't boast about it (Shock) to anyone thereby keeping the secret safe
  1. Any resulting offspring would look like the Boleyns rather than a court random
OP posts:
goshhhhhh · 09/09/2014 16:51

"Boelyns rather than a court random" - ??

LadyFlumpalot · 09/09/2014 20:20

It's poor Katherine Howard I feel sorry for. 15 years old and shoved into bed with a 50 (?) year old man.

ChoudeBruxelles · 09/09/2014 20:23

Doubt it. She had other pregnancies but miscarried.

treaclesoda · 09/09/2014 20:53

I don't think she did, just from the books I've read about her, not because I was there or anything Grin

I also don't believe she committed adultery with anyone at all. As Queen she was never alone, always had ladies in waiting with her. They would have needed to have arranged meetings and covered for her (as happened with Katherine Howard and Lady Rochford) but none of her ladies in waiting were arrested or accused of aiding her, as far as I know.

Original poster
lordStrange · 09/09/2014 21:49

Yes, poor KH with that terrible old* lump.

*old before his time; 50 can be a very sexy age to be ;)

OP posts:
Beetlemilk · 09/09/2014 21:54

There is no real proof that she committed adultery at all. Why would she?
She was a very smart woman. She would also have been mindful of the repercussions for her daughter.

bauhausfan · 09/09/2014 22:02

Funny that between Henry and Anne that they produced the virgin queen, isn't it?

Beetlemilk · 09/09/2014 22:03

I doubt if she actually was a virgin!

WinifredTheLostDenver · 09/09/2014 22:11

No, I doubt she shagged anyone else, TBH.

ravenAK · 09/09/2014 22:16

Sounds unlikely that she'd have had the chance, given lack of privacy at a Tudor court. I think she was fitted up.

Besides, there was more than a hint that dear brother George wasn't much of one for the ladies (hence his pissed off wife testifying against him & Anne).

Original poster
lordStrange · 09/09/2014 22:29

Were her ladies in the room when Henry visited her bedroom? No privacy ever?

That is one reason why I wondered if the brother was a possibility...not so many eyebrows raised if she sent her ladies away to speak privately with her brother.

I don't think imagine it as a sexual thing, more like a ffs brother make me pregnant! A bit ick, obviously.

OP posts:
ravenAK · 09/09/2014 22:40

He'd have been escorted there with a procession, apparently.

I think it unlikely she'd not have raised eyebrows if she'd been closeted with any bloke.

Attitudes to incest were more flexible: Henry allegedly briefly considered marrying his daughter Mary to her illegitimate half brother, his son Henry Fitzroy, before Anne's possible heirs were an option.

Original poster
lordStrange · 09/09/2014 22:49

Mary I? and Henry Fitzroy? Wedded?

So incest, at times, ok, not so taboo, then. hmm.

OP posts:
Biscoff · 09/09/2014 23:21

Nah, she was faithful. Henry was a psychopath.

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