Anne Boleyn DID have an affair with her brother: The poem that 'proves' the adultery of Henry VIII's queen
Her list of supposed lovers was so outrageous that historians suspect King Henry VIII of inventing Anne Boleyn's infidelity simply to get rid of her.
But now it has emerged that there could be some truth in the stories about Anne's affairs.
Anne, Henry's second wife, was executed after being charged with having affairs with five men, one of them her own brother.
Promiscuous: Henry and his queen, as portrayed in BBC TV series, The Tudors
Some historians believe she was framed by plotters loyal to Henry's first queen, Catherine of Aragon, and her daughter Mary, while others claim that the king made up the accusations because she had failed to give him a son.
But Professor George Bernard, an authority on the Tudor period, says a French poem - written a few days after Anne was beheaded in 1536 - reveals the truth about her bedroom secrets.
The historian said the 1,000-line poem, written by Lancelot de Carles, secretary to the French ambassador to England, names three of Anne's lovers - musician Mark Smeaton, Henry Norris, a courtier who was head of the King's chamber, and her own brother, George Boleyn.
It also claims she was nothing more than a 'common whore'.
The poem was previously viewed as 'unworthy of credence' because it is a literary work, but Professor Bernard said he had found evidence to support its contents in contemporary sources such as letters.
The poem reveals that accusations of infidelity against Anne first came to light in a court quarrel between two siblings - a pregnant lady of the queen's privy chamber and the lady's brother, a privy councillor.
Ladies of the privy chamber were among those closest to the queen.
The brother accuses his sister of being promiscuous, to which she replies that the queen's behaviour is far worse because she has been committing adultery with her own brother.
In the poem the lady-in-waiting also refers to Smeaton and Norris as seduced by Anne's 'caresses'.
All three men, along with two courtiers, were charged with 'carnal love of the queen' and executed in the Tower of London on May 17, 1536.
Professor Bernard claims the pregnant lady can be identified as the Countess of Worcester - described in a 16th Century letter as being Anne's principal accuser.
The Professor, whose research will be published in April in a book called Anne Boleyn, suggests the queen took lovers because, with Henry's intermittent impotence, it was the only hope she had of producing the male heir he craved.
He said the fact that Anne's ladies-in-waiting apparently knew about the affairs made her infidelity all the more believable.
Natalie Portman and Jim Sturgess portrayed the incestuous relationship between Anne Boleyn and her brother George in 2008 film The Other Boleyn Girl
'Some scholars have claimed that the very idea that a queen could have committed adultery is preposterous,' Professor Bernard said.
'But if the queen's ladies were indeed aware and complicit, then it becomes easier to see how it could happen.
'It was not unthinkable that in some circumstances they would reveal the truth. No historian has questioned the guilt of Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth wife, who was convicted of adultery a few years later. Why should the charges against Anne not be taken equally seriously?'
Professor Bernard added: 'If things went wrong we might expect to find the ladies of the queen's household at the centre of any investigations and that is exactly what happened here.'
Professor David Starkey, author of The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, is one historian who disagrees with the idea that Anne was adulterous.
Her list of supposed lovers was so outrageous that historians suspect King Henry VIII of inventing Anne Boleyn's infidelity simply to get rid of her.
But now it has emerged that there could be some truth in the stories about Anne's affairs.
Anne, Henry's second wife, was executed after being charged with having affairs with five men, one of them her own brother.
Promiscuous: Henry and his queen, as portrayed in BBC TV series, The Tudors
Some historians believe she was framed by plotters loyal to Henry's first queen, Catherine of Aragon, and her daughter Mary, while others claim that the king made up the accusations because she had failed to give him a son.
But Professor George Bernard, an authority on the Tudor period, says a French poem - written a few days after Anne was beheaded in 1536 - reveals the truth about her bedroom secrets.
The historian said the 1,000-line poem, written by Lancelot de Carles, secretary to the French ambassador to England, names three of Anne's lovers - musician Mark Smeaton, Henry Norris, a courtier who was head of the King's chamber, and her own brother, George Boleyn.
It also claims she was nothing more than a 'common whore'.
The poem was previously viewed as 'unworthy of credence' because it is a literary work, but Professor Bernard said he had found evidence to support its contents in contemporary sources such as letters.
The poem reveals that accusations of infidelity against Anne first came to light in a court quarrel between two siblings - a pregnant lady of the queen's privy chamber and the lady's brother, a privy councillor.
Ladies of the privy chamber were among those closest to the queen.
The brother accuses his sister of being promiscuous, to which she replies that the queen's behaviour is far worse because she has been committing adultery with her own brother.
In the poem the lady-in-waiting also refers to Smeaton and Norris as seduced by Anne's 'caresses'.
All three men, along with two courtiers, were charged with 'carnal love of the queen' and executed in the Tower of London on May 17, 1536.
Professor Bernard claims the pregnant lady can be identified as the Countess of Worcester - described in a 16th Century letter as being Anne's principal accuser.
The Professor, whose research will be published in April in a book called Anne Boleyn, suggests the queen took lovers because, with Henry's intermittent impotence, it was the only hope she had of producing the male heir he craved.
He said the fact that Anne's ladies-in-waiting apparently knew about the affairs made her infidelity all the more believable.
Natalie Portman and Jim Sturgess portrayed the incestuous relationship between Anne Boleyn and her brother George in 2008 film The Other Boleyn Girl
'Some scholars have claimed that the very idea that a queen could have committed adultery is preposterous,' Professor Bernard said.
'But if the queen's ladies were indeed aware and complicit, then it becomes easier to see how it could happen.
'It was not unthinkable that in some circumstances they would reveal the truth. No historian has questioned the guilt of Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth wife, who was convicted of adultery a few years later. Why should the charges against Anne not be taken equally seriously?'
Professor Bernard added: 'If things went wrong we might expect to find the ladies of the queen's household at the centre of any investigations and that is exactly what happened here.'
Professor David Starkey, author of The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, is one historian who disagrees with the idea that Anne was adulterous.
Daily Mail
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