DIGGING UP ANNE BOLEYN and others | Burials in the Chapel of St. Peter Ad Vincula | History Calling
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- čas přidán 15. 07. 2021
- In 1876, the Chapel of St. Peter Ad Vincula in the Tower of London was in need of serious repairs. This meant DIGGING UP ANNE BOLEYN and others who had been buried under its floor, including her brother, George Boleyn, sister-in-law Jane Boleyn and cousin (and fifth wife of Henry VIII) Queen Katherine Howard. In today’s History Calling video we’re going to look at what happened when the Victorians disturbed the burials in the Chapel of St. Peter Ad Vincula and at what the detailed description left of what were supposed to be Anne Boleyn’s remains can tell us about the woman herself, including some physical traits her daughter Elizabeth I may have inherited from her. In particular her skull will provide some tantalising extra details about the appearance of Anne Boleyn, for whom no contemporary portraits survive. We’ll also look at the evidence which suggests that this excavation was not the first to disturb the remains of the fallen queens and the others who lie beneath the chapel and at why no exhumation has taken place in the years since, nor is one likely. Finally we’ll consider how likely it is that the correct remains were identified and explore why Katherine Howard’s bones were not found. Other details about Anne Boleyn’s skeleton will also include a discussion of her height and even her finger bones. This video serves as a sequel to my previous videos entitled ‘Anne Boleyn’s execution: Hollywood vs History’ and ‘The death of Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn’.
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BOOKS
Doyne Courtney Bell, Notices of the Historic Persons Buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London (London, 1877). books.google.co.uk/books?id=a...
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Josephine Wilkinson, Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII's Fifth Queen (London, 2016). amzn.to/3x7MxdO (UK link) OR amzn.to/3rbFuPj (US link)
Julia Fox, Jane Boleyn: The Infamous Lady Rochford (2009). amzn.to/3hl42kc (UK link) OR amzn.to/36C5slB (US link)
Antonia Fraser, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (2nd edn, Phoenix, 2009) amzn.to/3atiEfi (UK link) OR amzn.to/36IqD5r (US link)
David Starkey, Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004) amzn.to/3k9uD4Z (UK link) OR amzn.to/3wImKIh (US link)
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Of all England’s queens, I love and respect Anne the most. If the Queen can be respectfully disinterred and identified conclusively, it would be a wonderful accomplishment. And I believe she should have a tomb built fitting of her office. As it stands, the Victorians did their best but we are not left with any firm answers. These people are historical figures but they were living beings and that fact should never be forgotten. It would be so satisfying to be able to have a facial reconstruction performed on Queen Anne, so Henry’s attempt to erase her from history will have failed miserably.
It would be great to have more information on her, and the others but,, IMO, unless there's a reason, such as restoration of some kind, they remains should be left alone.
Disenterred and I wish they'd use her as an example for domestic violence.
I wish they would exhume Elizabeth 1 to see what she died from.
I can understand the instinct to respect the remains of the dead, however, in such a significant case as this, I think the positives outweigh the negatives. The answers we could gain from having her remains examined by scientists with the technology they now have, would be significant in our understanding of her history. I’m not overly sentimental about bones from a body of someone dead for almost 500 years. In a way, we owe it to her legacy to discover the truth.
It's a difficult one. While I believe that Anne and the others should be left in peace, there is a part of me that feels that Anne deserves to be given back her identity (as it were), since Henry (is said to have) had all of her images and portraits destroyed. I would love a facial reconstruction done of her.....I thought the one done of Richard III was amazing! However, all the debate and discussions on what she may have looked like keeps us talking, thus keeps her memory alive. 🌹👑
I loved the reconstruction of Richard too. It was so like his portraits, which oddly enough I didn't quite expect as you never know how accurate those painters were, especially if you're dealing with copies of lost originals. Yes, I think Anne's memory will live on for a very long time yet.
I wish they would dig her up and a reconstruction providing they haven’t deteriorated more. I want to know exactly what she looked like.
I'm on the fence to. But my inner romantic wants to defy the pettiness of a bunch of plotting old fuddy duddies. They are part of the reason we have to piece together so much of women's history.
I feel the same; they've already been disinterred twice, as far as we know, and should be left to rest in peace - but at the same time I too would love a facial reconstruction. Of all of the available skulls, not being greedy much! I felt a great sadness while listening to the narration, of all of those lives being taken by force; and while age should not matter, it is so sad for those who died too young. Their memories at least are respected.
I fully agree. It would be great to see her face in reality but again unfair to disturb her again. Either way I pray she rests peacefully and is under God's grace. I would also like to thank her for providing her daughter Elizabeth as our queen even though she will not read this.
I think there needs to be a facial reconstruction done of her. Henry wiped all contemporary images of her from history, so the portraits we have of her are not accurate. I think she should regain some of her dignity and I think we owe it to her to see her true face. 🙏
@Sean Rooney there are DNA relatives. The current British Royal Family is descended from her sister, Mary Boleyn. They can provide DNA I believe
I wouldn’t want to be dug so they that they could create and a reconstruction to be stuck in a museum let the great lie in peace..
@XYZABC Believeit no it didn't. That was painted YEARS after Anne died, therefore, it isn't contemporary. There are no contemporary images of Anne except on the coin.
@XYZABC Believeit There are a couple sketches believed to Anne Boleyn that are attributed to Hans Holbein the Younger. But no proof these after actually her, although it's compelling, nobody can be 100% sure.
Yes, a facial reconstruction is a must.
Anne was railroaded to her death by a lot of people, including her own father. I think it would be poetic justice for her to be disinterred, put back together as much as possible, and given a queen's burial, possibly next to her daughter, Elizabeth I.
I think the Duke of Norfolk was a horrible person. That would be nice to reunite Anne and Elizabeth in that way.
Cannot change the past it is what is is
@@Cissy2cute and you knew him ?
@@arklife99 why are you being defensive over a duke 4-500 years ago? They are obviously talking based off sources lol you don’t need to be an arsehole off of a self explanatory comment you cretin
@@arklife99 is it not fair to say he was horrible when history confirms he paraded his daughters in front of narcissistic Henry to elevate his family’s status???
My father is buried next to Thomas Boleyn (Anne Boleyn's Father)in the churchyard at St Peter's Church near Hever castle, and it turns out our family is related to her. I would make me very happyto hear that one day she could be reinterred there where she grew up with a service to celebrate her life, away from the cruel and evil forces that put her and her brother in the Chapel of St. Peter Ad Vincula.
i also think Anne may have been very intelligent, as her Daughter Queen Elizabeth 1st was fluent in many languages, and a wise queen for her long reign which were difficult years in England.
I agree about Anne’s intelligence! Re-burial is difficult for archaeologists (contamination or breakages) & ethically (should one move a body),as we saw in the case of Richard III. But I think your point about her reburial is valid..
Anne Boleyn was a maur! Who are the original inhabitants of the world let alone Albion/ England!..... Anne boleyn was the mother of the real queen Elizabeth"..... unfortunately most of the so-called blacks are totally oblivious to who they really are".... unconscious/ incognizant, the misnomered/ mislabeled blacks/ are undeclared maurs"......
Very nice sentiment, but she was a Queen of England and the mother of Elizabeth I, so the chapel where she is, in the most honourary alter position is also fitting. I like that it's a smaller more intimate place, befitting for a Queen. Hundreds of thousands literally flock each year to visit. Would this place near Haver Castle be able to cope with the traffic? I think this might be an idea if we were to discover Anne requested to be buried here or with her father. The Kings and Queens share Westminster, but Anne has her own beautiful chapel really, shared with her brother and Katherine, Henry's other victims, so she is not alone and they are already away from the power that slayed them; they're tucked away yet also in the very heart of London. As she was disgraced at the time, I'm actually suprised that her resting place is so prestigious and fitting. Yes Henry got away with it in life, but he certainly has not in the history books. He wanted to be remembered, and he is, for being the tyrant King with 6 wives, 2 of whom he had killed - not quite the legacy he was after is it.
I am a decendant of her as well. I would prefer she be given honor and with those who loved her, verses a sentence being carried out.
That’s so cool ! Her story is so sad.
I'm an Archaeologist and my specific degrees are in Palaeopathology meaning I am trained to estimate demographic information and examine skeletal pathologies. I'm mostly through this video but I'll try to answer the two major questions that came up.
Carbon dating *is* pretty awesome but depending on when the materials are actually from it might not be all that specific. And we do have a ton of other methods of determining deposition dates. Coins are pretty helpful, there's also some artifacts which preserve and really nail down culturally when a deposition is from. Pottery is pretty great for that. To a degree you can also examine stratigraphy and how features cut into one another. I would imagine that is what happened in this case. It's also possible he did have some artifact that he just didn't mention.
Regarding taphonomy and development ... okay so this gets weird. Yes, certain soils do wear away at human bones and it's not unheard of to go into what is clearly a grave and find basically nothing there and no evidence of disturbance just because the soil has broken down the bones to that extent. In some cases you can also have that plus crushing or animal and plant activity. From the descriptions here it does sound like this kind of interment would be pretty destructive to skeletal remains. BUT if Katherine Howard's age was between 15 and 17 and if the adult female skeletons present were reasonably well preserved unless she was in a super acidic place it would be weird for nothing to remain. At her age she would still have likely had what we call epiphyseal scars which are where the ends of the bone have fused to the shaft but the seams aren't entirely obliterated yet, but her long bones with the exception of her medial clavicles would have been at least mostly fused. If she was at the lower end of that age range it's possible the epiphysis and diaphysis would still be distinct but both would have been bone rather than cartilage. So she would have had more cartilage than a full grown adult but it's not like teens are walking around on floppy skeletons made entirely of cartilage. What IS a contributory factor is that Bone Mineral Content (BMC) doesn't peak until about 35 years of age and most of the adult females interred here seem to be about that age. If Ann Boleyn and Jane Seymour's skeletons were present but thoroughly degraded then I can sort of buy Katherine Howard's being so fractured and taphonomically damaged as to have been missed particularly if her remains had been disturbed earlier. But it is weird that there are not even any teeth.
I also note a lot of people in the comments asking about trauma to the cervical vertebrae for Anne. And it depends. Vertebral bodies are especially spongy (lots of trabecular bone) and cervical vertebrae for anyone are typically pretty small. I have seen a few skeletons with really obvious and well preserved perimortem trauma to their cervical vertebrae, but I've also seen skeletons that are so messed up that it would be hard to tell particularly in the cervical vertebrae whether or not there was trauma. In one case I had to reassemble a spine and while what I normally do is match break to break in this case I had to methodically go through and identify each of the facets and bodies and spinous processes and so forth and which vertebrae it belonged to because there was so much taphonomic damage the breaks were obscured. In that case it would be really hard to tell if the damage was peri or post mortem even assuming you still have the relevant vertebrae to begin with.
You also sort of asked in your video about how we could determine the bones belong to a single individual and you more or less got it. Humans - barring pathology - are generally relatively symmetrical so you can use that and then - again depending on preservation - sometimes you can check if the articulation is good. If you get two individuals even when they're two of the same age, sex and stature their joints are typically just different enough that their bones aren't ... interchangeable for lack of a less creepy term. I have a friend who was able to sort out individuals from an interment that included at least three different people.
This is such a brilliant comment. I would have given it 2 hearts if I could have. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your expertise. You're exactly the sort of person I was hoping would watch and respond to those questions. I'm relieved I got the bit about symmetric bones correct, as I was worried I was making an error there and archaeologists all over the world would be throwing things at their phone/computer/ipad screens screaming 'No, that's all wrong. This is why we hate historians talking about our field'. :-) You make me wonder if Katherine's remains were removed at some point though. Hmm ... Many thanks again.
Thank you for commenting on this. Very interesting
Thank you
Ty for sharing your knowledge
I am always excited to see an actual lengthy response here in the commentary section. Why⁉️I am confident it will be informative. As well as a Genuine Concern. You did not disappoint. You surpassed my expectations. With a very thorough explanation and breakdown with your expertises. It’s important for me to Commend you. It just feel good to be recognized for your contributions. Please be Safe And Blessed to Everyone. I love the energy here 🙏🏽
I actually feel, for an accurate history of Anne, we should do a reconstruction of her image. Henry tried to wipe her off the face of the earth. Let's bring her home.
According to history she was decapitated...(while standing up)..with a sword.
His behavior is consistent with other spousal abusers. They like to obliterate their victims. Anne deserves to be seen and remembered. I would love to know what she really looked like.
@@xbjrrtc It's the Middle Ages. Silly modern opinions make no difference to the past.
It was a French execution said to show her a kindness for being his Queen.
@@jbuckley2546 I bet she knows that and doesn’t care. That’s her opinion, and so what if they acted like dressed apes? Doesn’t mean you have to hold yourself to those standards as well.
Anne was a historian herself. She was very learned, with a bright curious mind. I feel like she would have wanted us to dig her up and study her. If only to clear her name.
I have always felt that we owed it to Anne to positively identify her. After most of her images had been defaced and destroyed, I would love to see her true face to be revealed (and age worked out!) And once done, to return her to the Chapel of St Peter Ad Vincula with a PROPER funeral as opposed to the quick bundling into an arrow box and burial she got.
Even if bringing the bones to a lab would be the most effective solution, allowing for the execution of many operations and studies, I suppose that 3D laser scanning could be carried out in the grave itself. It might be enough for a reconstruction of her features. If there are experts reading my comment, I'd really appreciate knowing whether this really is an option.
My Dad is a descendant of her's
If we do that, then maybe her soul can rest and the stories of her ghost haunting the Tower of London will cease. RIP Queen Anne Boleyn 🙏🏻
@@stardustgirl2904 how? She didn’t have any grandkids
@@littlemy1773 It's through her parents!
“Anne of a Thousand Days” first got me interested in Anne Boleyn 50 years ago. What a tragic life for some royal women.
I remember the movie , “ Anne of a thousand days,” also. Excellent performance from Genevieve Bujold as Anne Boleyn .
I think Genevieve Bujold's portrayal of Anne Boleyn was the best one yet. She even had that slightly French tinged accent.
That's just Hollywood nonsense,and fictional stories that's it's not real life sorry 😔
Yes I think Anne should be given her dignity back and celebrated for who she was, in her own right. Especially since Henry murdered and humiliated her, stole her away from Elizabeth who was only a little girl at the time, and I think she deserves to be celebrated for the remarkable woman that she was, instead of just being remembered as Henry's 2nd wife he axed. (Same goes for Katherine Howard, etc.) Also, It would be nice if Anne could be laid to rest somehow near her daughter, the Great Queen Elizabeth I.
The royals deserve to be left alone in death they are hounded in life let them have peace in death
They had to beg Henry for new clothes for the Elizabeth it was his new Queen showed kindness to the girl she thought they ought to show loyalty.
@@debbiecomer594 So you're okay with what Henry did to her? I think the dead should rest in peace but with a death such as hers.. I'd be okay with her being dug back up and having a better look of who she was. Not just the beheaded wife of a man.
Isn’t Anne remembered as a remarkable woman? I rather thought she was.
Yes Elizabeth was only three years old when King Henry the 8th took away her mom Anne Belen
No mention of the injury to her neck? I would have thought that a description of that would be crucial in not just identifying her, but also in determining how efficient her executioner was in his task.
I'm no expert in Victorian etiquette, but perhaps the examiner thought that mentioning the fatal injury would have been considered rude or in poor taste.
Im not sure, but didnt they sew decapitated heads back into bodies after execution??
@@dalehoward3704 Not Anne Boleyn. Henry didn't make any provision for her body after her execution. Her ladies found the arrow chest and without her head she was small enough to fit.
Another reason they might not have mentioned the neck injury might be due to the accuracy of the executioner. We know she was decapitated with a sword and by a special executioner from outside London. If the executioner was that good he could have cut between the vertebrae leaving very little damage.
Anne also had slightly crooked front teeth,it is said.
I just wanna take a moment to appreciate how in-depth and thorough Mr Bell’s accounts are despite it being 1870. Everyone really did their best to try to identify Anne.
I’d love to see possible reconstruction of Anne and Katherine’s faces. There are several supposed portraits of them both, which look very different from the written description of these two women. Personally, I don’t find a problem with digging up people who died nearly 500 years ago as long as the remains are treated with dignity.
Well we know now Anne boleyn was black all along.
Katherine Howard's remains are sadly not there. They threw lime on her body and no bones. Unless the Victorian's were wrong and they labeled Katherine's bones as someone else.
@@salliewagenblatt5188 what do you mean by this?
@@salliewagenblatt5188 Ha ha. Good one. Tho of course an aberration of the director of that ghastly series recently.
@XYZABC Believeit Exactly. An utterly appalling tv series and so untrue. You CANNOT CHANGE HISTORY.
My vote: Dig them up, do the sciency stuff...then bury them in a more respectful way. They deserve better than crammed into boxes under a floor.
I am not trying to be difficult, but is being crammed into a box under the ground any better? I know what you mean, but does it matter?
Give them proper burial. After all think about it this way if it was you would you want to be crammed in a Box. I certainly wouldn't!
@@raynonabohrer5624 not really. I'm going for cremation, because I won't be there. I do see a value in preserving historical remains for future study, though. And yeah, a little box would suffice for that. Just save all the pieces.
@@ianbutler1983 p.s. it'd be nice for the living to have a place to visit, though.
The place under the floor where they are buried is THE most respectful and honorable place for them. It was only kings queens and nobles who were interred under the altar of a chapel. Or the extremely wealthy or someone who did something extremely heroic.
Anne Boleyn’s story always saddened me; I believe she was way ahead of her time, and Henry’s people didn’t like it. I also find it massively hypocritical that Henry slept with most women, then only a rumour comes out about Anne and he loses his mind. She deserves more respect in my opinion
And he supposedly made the entire rumor completely.
The rumor was just a guise, her downfall was carefully planned and orchestrated for many months before her arrest. Henry was behind all of it.
Henry wanted a more submissive wife.
I think Henry was insecure about her, she was smarter then him, he liked how clever she was when she was his mistress but probably hated her for it when she was his wife,
You know how it is said that Henry wanted everything of an wiped off the face of the Earth well what actually should truly happen is I think Henry the 8th needs to be wiped off the face of the Earth because he was such a disrespectful person to all six of them
It breaks my heart that there’s nothing left of Catherine Howard. But I love this video. It’s well done and very interesting!!!!
I am as well. She was set up from a young age to fail since she had been sexually abused as a child.
Both Katherine and Anne deserved better, I’ve been thinking about them and it always makes me SAD Katherine was a literal child 😭
@@brittneyperez1885 Both Catherine and Anne were related. Thomas Howard was
was an uncle of two of the wives of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom were beheaded, and played a major role in the machinations affecting these royal marriages.
Your so pretty ma'am
I would prefer them being dug up, examined in all possible ways including facial reconstruction and then burried in new individual graves so that they can be admired and visited like other royal Tudor graves.
Since there was never an actual portrait of a living Anne done, it would make her a face known if she was disinterred and had facial reconstruction done in order to give her a voice. I think she would approve especially after the way she was silenced and accused of adultery of which she was innocent.
And yet channel 5 would have us believe she was Black...Yeah just crazy.
@@bazoutofhell8293 I keep hearing about this. What happened?
@@budomk9299 ,here in the US, never saw it, but it was a crock. There could have been black people in England or other places in Europe, that doesn't mean she was black by any means. When they called the Black Prince, John of Gaunt,it just means his hair and eyes may have been dark. Black europeans would have been reffered to s Moors or Ethiopians. They certainly knew the difference.
@@hildahilpert5018 I think John of Gaunt was called the Black Prince due to the black armour he wore. Don't know if he rode a black horse, but if he did what an impression that would make.
In Tudor times I doubt if there were more than five black people in England, if that.
@@bazoutofhell8293 literally no one thinks she black
How sad that Kat Howard was so young when executed that her poor bones likely dissolved completely. I would personally love to see a reconstruction of Anne. As so many others have commented, Henry tried to erase her from his life and the court. To have an accurate representation of her face would feel like a triumph.
DAMN! Was she that awful that he wanted no reminding of her?
@@TheIndependentLens she, like all his wives, couldn't produce a male heir. The fault lay in him, but he couldn't accept it.
Reconstruction of Anne as well as others would bring history back to life. It would be a great way to show what previous generations considered attractive etc. It would put to rest many questions. I think Anne would be fascinated with today's technology & would indeed want it used on her. The intellectual & artist appreciation she had would scream for it. Her ancestors might like a better idea of her as well. My real question is this...She was in France for many years. Are there no paintings or anything of her image in their historical records? just curious
If she was so young her bones dissolved, poor child couldn't have been much older than 18 at her time if death.
@@deborah9775 *Descendants, not ancestors. An ancestor comes before you.
Sooooo happy that I got to go into this chapel inside of Tower of London!!!
Hello Carolyn, how are you doing today, hope you’re fine and safe from the COVID-19 virus??
I always thought it would be a nice ending to move the bones of Anne Boleyn together with her daughter, Elizabeth I. And those of Mary I together with Catherine of Aragon.
Considering where Mary is buried, I seriously doubt they'd ever consider it.
Yes, I like that idea too. It's interesting that Elizabeth never did anything about her mother's burial place during her reign though. I suppose she didn't want to draw attention to her scandalous end and the remaining question marks over E's legitimacy.
@@HistoryCalling Queen Mary's grave went unmarked for years. Elizabeth wasn't big on building memorials, apparently; Henry her father never got one from her, or her brother Edward either. Edward got a marker in 1966, finally. Mary was buried in a simple vault; years later, after the death of Elizabeth, James I had Elizabeth's coffin placed on top of Mary's in the vault. Only Elizabeth's effigy is visible. Mary is mentioned in only one inscription: Partners in both throne and grave, here rest we two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of the resurrection.
@@HistoryCalling I completely agree. As one studies the Tudor era, and Elizabeth specifically, her childhood was not idyllic, her status constantly was changing. One minute she's a Princess, the next no one is even mention her. Kudos to Queen Parr for her attempts to rectify some of the family squabbling. But even after Henry's death, the infighting among the political factions of Catholics and Protestants stlll used Anne as a talking point. So I think once the dust settled and Elizabeth came to power she did all she could to just keep things at a quiet mumble until her death and let the pieces fall where they may.
Not likely but it would be wonderful!
In many ways, I would like to see them disinterred, such as Richard III was, studied, accurate portraits made, then a formal reinternment such as also Richard III had. His was most respectful, and dignified.
Except he was not given an RC requiem mass
@@jandrews6254 Should have been interred in St Winifreds Catholic Church, York.
Where is her head
I agree Richard lll should have been given a Catholic funeral and burial place.
Yeah, weird they can do all that for.a guy who probably murdered his nephews, but they can't do it for Anne Boleyn!
Anne, Catherine, More, Cromwell, Lady Jane Grey, Jane Rochford.
There’s more than a few important Tudor figures under the floor of that church, it’s a shame that they didn’t get a proper burial
Bones usually solidify around ages 18-21, when the growth plates in our long bones (thigh bones, bones in the arms and lower leg) have finished growing. As kids, growth plates are really soft and cartilaginous. Around puberty, the bones would start to grow, and once they finished growing, that is the only time when the bones will solidify completely. 🙂
I'm related to Ann Boleyn! I found out through my ancestry research that my 13th great grandmother is Ann Boleyn's aunt. I was very excited to find that out!
That's amazing. I've seen some others on here saying they are related to the Boleyns/Howards, so some of your very distant relatives may be here in the comments section with you.
@@kaytow5688 haha 😂🤣
So am I related to AB. A genealogist told me years ago. I've tried to find the link but only got as far as 1597, to my direct ancestor Charles Bullin.
@@rosiebottom3870 we might be cousins then!
@@NicolesNaturals hey cuz! 😁
That shows the contempt Henry had for his queens. He was like, bye Felicia.
I know. He didn't even provide a coffin for Anne and I assume not for Katherine either.
They were tried and found guilty of treason. If you die a traitors death, your body is treated the same. Thats how it was back then.
@@Crazy-Cat-Lady-of-CA At least Anne's head wasn't on a spike. Henry was a savage psychopath.
Can you imagine how scary it would be for a young woman to realize King Henry was interested in her ? Yikes ! Time to leave England !
@@chaicrimes That had been popular for centuries. William Wallace had undergone hanging, drawing and quartering. His limbs were tarred and sent out to be put onto pikes at 4 different castles.
To me, bodies are just the vessel in which the soul travels, so I don’t see anything wrong with digging them up. Especially for scientific, historical purposes.
@SaxonThrashQueen The "soul" is the energy of your spiritual being, nothing magical about it. Energy cannot be destroyed, it just changes form.
@SaxonThrashQueen except that's exactly what it is. You're not a body, you're a soul housed within a body
@SaxonThrashQueen lol your physical DNA makes up your physical body. When your body rots and turns to dust your soul and consciousness will live on
I'm not an English women, nor have I been anywhere in Europe, but I am from a Commonwealth country, and honestly, I was never interested in learning anything about the any of the Royals in Europe until I came across one of your videos. I tapped on to the video about the Queen of Aragon by mistake, but your voice, accent and just how you speak in general kept me watching, and now I'm actually interested in learning about them. It's interesting for somebody who's half the world away to learn, although it's quiet sad how some of them came to their demise.
You now have a new subscriber 😊
I think the remains should all be disinterred examined and then given a proper burial like what happened with king Richard, not just a quick plop in the ground, also since there are living relatives of Mary Boleyn alive today surely it would be possible to do a DNA study of the remains suspected to be Anne Boleyn's to see if they are related.
I agree. I've always been a little iffy on this subject, because on the one hand, I believe they should be left to rest, but the way they were discarded after death has never set right with me. I just wish they could be given a proper burial ceremony.
I think for Anne, if she was disinterred, you could actually just do a DNA comparison with George's bones (assuming they're still there). They're the only set of siblings in the Chapel I think.
@@eyerollingintooblivion3564 yeah they deserve more respect than that, I think it's sad if we can't bury Katherine Howard as well but I feel like all those people that were beheaded on the orders of Henry deserve a more respectful resting place. And I think it's rather selfish of the modern day monarchy to dissallow this. At the very least prehaps a plaque could be put there stating who was laid to rest there
@@HistoryCalling that's true I didn't think of that, but I guess you'd still need a descendants DNA to compare it too to make sure they've got the right people
@@tsgumi Anne and Katherine, at least, do have plaques.
I feel there is no harm in studying the remains. Perhaps afterwards Anne could even be entombed nearby Queen Elizabeth the 1st. Everyone of Henrys wives deserve a Queens burial after having to put up with him.
Hi. Visited the chapel recently during my first visit to UK. So improved by listening to your channel. I would say leave them in peace. There are always new questions and the chapel affords at least some basis for a burial in keeping with their times. History and its interpretation are fascinating, but these were real people l, whomever they are, and there's no need to make spectacle of their remains.
Hello Jane, how are you doing today, hope you’re fine and safe from the COVID-19 virus??
This is an excellent report. Thank you so very much. I think most of us would love to see a reconstruction of Anne Boleyn’s face. Her story is ever fascinating.
I visited the Chapel in 2017 and saw a single stalk of red rose placed where her burial site had been. The kind beefeater guide explained that it was always replaced before it wilts as a tribute to her life.
I would personally love for the them to be dug up again and a facial reconstruction done. How amazing would it be to gaze upon the face of Queen Anne Boleyn. Giving her identity back and bringing her to life once more then given a proper burial in the matter she deserved. I dont think she was guilty of the crimes put against her and was unjustly executed. I loved your episode on the accounts of Anne's execution. To learn she went with such bravery and grace is all more credit to her. What a strong women who gave us one of our greatest monarchs.
Thanks Kirstin :-)
Agreed!
Yes bring them to life with reconstructions.
They’ve been dead a long time with no close relatives around to be upset by it.
Great video I enjoyed very much
I found your channel a couple days ago, which has sparked me to re-watch The Tudors. As many parts of the series has been dramatized for TV, your channel has been a great wealth of knowledge as I go along watching. Thank you for your hard work and deep research! 👌🏼
Not really my place to say because I'm not British, but if they can dig up Egyptian pharaohs "for research purposes," they can most certainly do the same to British royals.
Yes, someone else mentioned that too. I actually don't like digging up Egyptians though and displaying them. It seems so disrespectful to their beliefs and the burial they wanted.
@@HistoryCalling I agree wholeheartedly! It is disrespectful to dig up people's graves but if they can find a way to justify it when it comes to other peoples they should have no problem doing it to their own. Don't do to others what you don't want for yourself! Love your channel by the way! I've learned so much. I have your Elizabeth series playing right now.
I think that digging up anyone is incredibly sad, and unfortunate. But….I’d like Anne Boleyn to get a decent burial. Especially if the building is unstable. I’d like all of these people to rest properly. I don’t agree with displaying Egyptian mummies either. They’re still bodies of the dead, and should be treated with the same respect as if they passed yesterday. Times have changed….thankfully.
Exhuming a body is desecration
I don't believe those are the pharaohs I think that bit of history is fabricated. I think the pharaohs were Giants the evidence is in the buildings look at statue sizes. Look at Satan's throne and look at the footprint of Jesus on his ascension to heaven.
I would actually love, to have her respectfully disinterred, in order to give her back her lost identity. It would be a jab at old Henry, to have her image shown to the modern world, & have it last for another lifetime . Even though he tried so hard to erase her image from history. He challenged the church, beheaded his ex wife,& establish a new religion, all for the sake of marrying Anne. Yet, The bastard couldn’t bother to even provide a proper coffin for her.🤦🏻♀️
Correction: He did NOT behead his 1st wife Catherine. But for Anne, he became an even MORE asshole (pardon my French), to the poor women who birthed him a daughter, suffered several miscarriages for him, & put up with his unfaithful/promiscuous ways, for more than a decade.
he didnt actually behead his ex Catherine of Aragon for Anne but I get where you’re coming from and I agree :)
@@antonia8770 You are 100% correct, I had just finished reading about Anne of Cleves, & got the wives demises mixed up😆. I mean, technically he only had 2 of his 6 wives axed. He was still a really horrible husband, husband, king, father, etc.
@@IfAllElseFails_Ctrl_Alt_Del haha, no worries. you are absolutely right! especially what he’s done to his daughter mary. despicable!
@@IfAllElseFails_Ctrl_Alt_Del Anne was beheaded by a sword and to be beheaded by a battle axe was deemed an honour-
I agree
I think I would love to see how she really looked. Souls do not remain with the bones, so a person's soul is freed into the universe upon death. The bones were just the vehicle that housed the soul while on earth! I say let's see this brave, outspoken, smart and beautiful woman for who she was and give us a face to go with the personality! This man was a tyrant and abuser of women, we should not let him wipe someone totally out because of his mental issues!!!
What a load of old cobblers.
Oh look, another gammon is triggered..
@Bobbi Cat “hero” is a bit of a stretch
He exploded in his coffin stinking his funeral out. Toxic reality to his greedy cruel ways.
Also, did she have good teeth
We was taught in school in the 60’s about Henry viii , how great he was for England, the reality was , he was a tyrant, dictator, murderer (albeit not with his own hands) bar none. How proud would Anne of been of her daughter Elizabeth I . RIP the victims of Henry viii🙏🏻
I would love to see a proper reconstruction of Anne's face, having been so fascinated with her for years.
Perhaps one that's period correct, and one that's more contemporary, as if she were walking down the street today.
And then of course, a proper and respectful burial worthy a Queen.
Btw, you have a great voice for narration, and have gained another sub!
Thank you and welcome :-)
@OnTheFritz602 ~ You assume the executioner took her coin seriously.
And +1,000 to your voice comment.
Oh, and likely a state funeral would garner an attendance of thousands, if not tens of thousands.
i clicked on this right away because i thought the bones were about to be dug up now! lol
Same 😅
I know. I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to be click baity at all, I just couldn't think of a snappier way to phrase it that would still communicate what I meant.
Me too. The very idea of digging up Anne Boleyn, and Anne Boleyn especially (I don't know why), sends shivers down my spine but there's a great deal of intrigue also.
same!
I have a “bone” to pick with you about that comment!
I love your history pieces and your voice is nice as your talk to us. Thank you for your interesting pieces.
Thank you kindly :-)
Hello Donna, how are you doing today, hope you’re fine and safe from the COVID-19 virus??
The body of Catherine Parr went through so many indignities as a consequence of several renovations to Sudeley Castle where she was buried. At one point, her coffin was opened, and someone clipped a piece of her hair. Before she was given a final and decent burial, her coffin was found standing upside down. The body of Mary Queen of Scots was transferred from Peterborough Cathedral (where Catherine of Aragon is buried) to Westminster Abbey by order of her son King James I. (James' predecessor, Elizabeth I, ordered the execution of his mother).
These ladies, queens and gentlemen were buried there after being executed on the orders of Henry Viii because they were mostly “inconvenient”
to him and his businesses - the charges were trumped up against again most of them while little giddy Queen Catherine Howard’s adultery was
nothing compared with Henry and I do not believe in Queen Anne’s guilt at all or those gentlemen accused with her. As for the others they were inconveniences in Henry’s way. They should be properly buried in the right places and therefore honoured.
We need a facial reconstruction of Ann.
Katherine Howard was innocent as well as anne boleyn
While I do believe Anne was not sleeping with her brother I mean come on, that’s a serious charge who would do that I don’t believe she did that. I feel the most sorry for Queen Catherine of Aragon. That poor woman. Anne just walks in, seduces Henry and poor Catherine is thrown out like trash. Of course Henry could have rejected Anne’s advances, but poor Catherine of Aragon. That must’ve been horrendous. Imagine you’re sitting at home right now, you get kicked out of your home which is your castle and die alone. That’s terrible.
@@Ninnjette- you do know Anne didn’t seduce Henry right? She didn’t even want to marry him and left court to evade him and finally agreed to marry him after she really had no other option except be banished from court. It’s not about who you feel “most sorry for”, all these women were used and disposed of when Henry didn’t want them anymore, it’s not a competition between them. Anne did not make any “advances” outside flirting which was what everyone did with everyone in royal court. The idea about Anne being a scheming seductress who “stole” Henry is completely outdated and not supported by any real facts. Again, Anne did not seduce Henry, she left court for a while to get away from him.
You seem to place the blame for what happened to Catherine on Anne when she had nothing to do with it. In fact Anne cared about Catherine and Mary and was upset when Catherine died, sending a letter to comfort Mary.
So please don’t continue to spread misinformation about Anne, history has destroyed her with lies.
@@lexiright5609 Anne did flirt with Henry you said it yourself, if I don’t want to catch a man’s attention I don’t flirt. Yes it was a different time period, but it’s always poor Anne what about poor Catherine? She was thrown out like nothing. Anne didn’t seduce Henry but yet she flirted with him yes that makes so much sense. It’s not misinformation that Catherine was thrown away like trash for another women. You say flirting is not seducing, I disagree. So don’t accuse me of misinformation just because you want to take up for the husband snatcher.. And where did I say she didn’t feel sorry for Catherine’s children where did I say that? Henry went after Anne, then Anne played hard to get.. And poor Catherine, 24 years of serving a man for nothing.. at least Anne got a quick death, Poor Catherine died slowly…
I read that when the floor of the chapel was taken up there was an arrow chest with the remains of a decapitated woman, which fits exactly with the description of Anne's execution and burial.
That is not what we are told in this video. We have also been told, above, that it would not be easy to tell after 300 years whether a person had been decapitated or not.
@@craneswaterpress2831 It would if the head was by the feet! I doubt if they bothered stitching it back in place.:)) If they shoved the corpse into an arrow chest that was too small ,I doubt ifthey cared about repositioning the head.
Surely they’d be able to analyse whether or not someone was decapitated even after 300 years parts of the spinal cord connecting the neck to the head would have graze/slice marks on them am I right?
Thats what I read
@@SurroundedByClowns1926 my thought too
In 2019 I went to the tower and went on one of the Yeoman Warner tours (which are researched and written by historians but then memorised as part of their job). In the tour the Yeoman warded commented on Queen Catherine that when she was executed Henry (unlike with Queen Anne) was so incensed by her betrayal he insisted her body be covered with lime so nothing would be left of her. This would seem to be borne out by the discovery of higher quantities of lime in the report you mentioned. Maybe she isn’t there due to that.
On Queen Anne's description, I f ind this very haunting, but also beautiful. Thank you for posting this 🖤
I think they should leave them be now. The Victorians who did the renovation did try to treat them with respect and identify and organize the bones correctly . The real disrespect came when they were buried so unceremoniously at the time of their death.
The real disrespect came when they were beheaded! The way you're treated in life is much more important than the way you're treated after you body is already dead...
Having been in the Chapel I can tell you it is a light filled, beautiful place. As the Anglican Prayer book says of the Christian departed, “Let the dead Rest In Peace and rise in glory”.
It is a beautiful building, I agree. It's been years since I was in it, but I'd love to go back.
I’m very fascinated by this history, thank you for sharing and you have a peaceful and beautiful voice. 🤗
Thank you for your hard work which turned into great content for me and others to enjoy. I’ve watched all of your videos, so I’d like to go back to my favorite one and say Thank You. Best wishes! - Love from California
THANK YOU so much for your generosity Solum. I love this video too as it's my most successful one and really helped my channel to blow up. Greetings in (what I hope is a very sunny) California from what is a rather grey day here in Northern Ireland :-)
I think they should be examined again. Especially Ann. It's a beautiful legacy to see their real faces. The bones can be reunited.
I am just shocked at how the bodies were treated since they are part of the royal heritage of Great Britain. I would have thought that their burials were well documented and kept pristine over the millennia so the fact that King Richard was found under a car park and no one knows for sure about Queen Anne's body is simply remarkable. I would want them identified by DNA, restored to wholeness as much as possible, and clearly marked and preserved for posterity.
Some were considered traitors so care to corpse not required and burial in Church actually a great exception at that point. King Richard’s burial was hasty given recent battle, the war etc as I recall. They would have picked the best site they could find and evidentially it becomes a car park.
Unless you have the immense funds to do that, it's not that easy. It SHOULD be done, but not always capable
ALWAYS RESPECT THE DEAD. Ann needs her identity back, she will always be remembered due to the fact she was one of Henry's wives that was treated wrong. They all were treated wrong.
and still going on today.
I’ve been to Hampton Court and as soon as I seen this, I had to click on it. Thank you for all of the extra info!
I didnt even know Anne was disinterred in the victorian era! Thats why i love this channel, i learn so much. Many thanks 😊
You're welcome :-)
Hi, I am fascinated by the Tudors and have been for years. I would give anything to have a face to picture for Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard snd the others. It would add so much to their stories, and we have the technology to do it. I’m all for disinterring the bones!
You guys please petition the Royals and let them know we want to do it. I am serious! Your friend in the USA.
I think people have asked before, but it's always been a solid no.
@@HistoryCalling that is just so frustrating to me. I wish the Queen felt as we did and was curious to know what they looked like and other things we could find out upon studying them. I’m sure there are many reasons she has for not doing it but it would be amazing if we could have a lifelike face for them! I’m also curious about Henry, Catherine of Aragon and so many others.
Why should they be dug up just to satisfy your stupid morbid curiosity!
@@TracyW1963ful Hi, maybe they shouldn’t, but that was just my opinion. I’m just captivated by the history that I have always wanted to know what they looked like. I didn’t think that was morbid, though. I didn’t mean to offend.
Aside from this interesting information (thank you so much for doing this!), your speaking voice is so wonderful to listen to!
Thanks Julianna and you're very welcome :-)
There has been much speculation on the actual age of Catherine Howard, with some suggestions she may have been as young as 14. The fact you have mentioned her bones not being fully formed, more softer and porous , adds more weight to that ideology. I have always believed she was no more than a child, however no one knew her actual date of birth and at the end of the day.
The wax museum has her looking very child like. They had incorporated bellows that moved her chest. She is lying on a couch and looks like she is sleeping.
55
many at that time were married at 12 years of age and there are places today where 14 is an acceptable age to marry
I would love to see what Anne Boleyn and some of the others really looked like
They're already been disturbed once, and sounds like there were respectfully reburied. Let them rest in peace! God knows living around Henry VIII they experienced much hell here on earth.
Like. Diana
I think as long as the chapel is in tact, their remains should stay undisturbed. However, if the chapel is ever in need of repair, torn down or damaged beyond repair, they should be moved and then possibly reexamined (who knows what medical and forensic advances we will accomplish by then). I find it very surprising that a King's remains were found under a parking garage. Thank you for these informative videos.
Hey there! I came across your comment and I just had to reach out and say hi. Your perspective really caught my attention and I would love to get to know you better. Would you be interested in chatting sometime? Looking forward to hearing back from you!
unless the tower of london is lost which it most likely never will be this chapel will stand
there is a reason that King Richard's remains were found where they were read more on him
Omg I’m sure many of us would love a facial reconstruction, I’m so glad you mentioned it because it’s exactly what I was thinking though out.
As a professor of the humanities, I am glad to have found your channel and I thank you for the work you do. The approach to the primary sources in order to develop a sense of the character of the individual is a wonderful approach that gives life to the figures. I like to switch between broad stokes and focused studies on a person of the time and your videos are a great resource to help people understand the context through the life, times, gossip, and schemes. Thank you again for your work.
Thanks and welcome :-)
People say that digging them up again would be a bad thing because it would be “defiling” their bodies and disturbing them. I don’t agree. If I was Anne I would want people to know who I was. The whole goal of Henry erasing her portraits and killing her was to erase her from history and he is still succeeding if we just let the rest of her disintegrate! She’s already been moved several times. They found her in a heap of bones for gods sake. It would be disrespectful to leave her in the ground like that and deny her after all these years a proper burial! We could finally know what she looked like to. I think she would want that after all of her hardship and traumas she faced. Those bones aren’t her anymore. They are what was left behind. Her soul is somewhere else. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t treat her remains with respect, it just means that moving them one last time wouldn’t be as horrible as you think. As long as it was done the right way it would be perfectly fine.
Luv yr channel. My daughter is in the process of constructing our family tree found out we are direct decendants of Edward 1. Visited london tower yesterday it was really great. visited Ann grave in the church. Would be nice to see a face reconstruction of all of them.
I never could understand why Henry VIII literally destroyed everything of Anne's. She certainly did not deserve it. My only reason is he was so hurt by the fact Katherine of Aaragon was never able to give him a healthy male heir and also Katherine was a leader more so than Henry was. He never got over it I guess.
Hello Linda, how are you doing today, hope you’re fine and safe from the COVID-19 virus??
You can't understand it? If you read more of the history of H V111, you'll see that it's very typical of him. Beheading Ann and having her symbols removed from his castles was nothing, compared to the way he treated Katherine of Aragon, his closest friends, the entire English population of friars, monks, & priests, thousands of commoners, and basically anybody who displeased him. When he stepped into his reign, England was solvent due to the parsimony of his father, H VII. When he died, he had bankrupted the country from his lavish partying and failed wars against France. He had to pillage the monasteries and murder the monks in order to replenish his treasury. He was not a great king, he was a terrible king.
I would love to see a facial reconstruction of Anne and Catherine
yes! and jane grey and katherine howard!
Me too, lets do it.
The curious part of me would love to have as much information as possible and have all the bodies exhumed, studied and reburried. How amazing would it be to have an actual recreation of Anne's face seeing that the portraits of her are inconsistent (that coin makes her look hideous!!). But ultimately it is the deceased person's beliefs that should be respected and remains should be treated accordingly. Unless it is absolutely necessary to dig the bodies up again they should stay put. If they are dug up again because of renovation work etc I'd urge that the bodies are moved elsewhere where they can rest in peace.
How interesting , so much information thank you for sharing , I really enjoyed watching this 👍
Very interesting, but I was a bit puzzled by the description of Anne's jaw as "rather square", as well as her neck described as "short". If we can rely on her surviving images, including one in the Queen Elizabeth's ring, she definitely didn't have a square and heavy chin; her neck was also described by contemporaries as "long". These features fit rather better with Katherine Howard's description. The diminutive size of the skeleton also opens possibility of the bones belonging to Katherine, as she was known be be around 5 ft. We will probably never know, but the fact that the bones had already been disturbed prior to 19th century repair work indicate a possibility of a mix-up. I think they should be left to rest. The medal and Queen Elizabeth's ring give us enough information to judge how Anne looked like.
It is completely understandable that the current monarch would be against disinterring the remains.
However, they would be a treasure-trove for historians and geneticists given what we now know surrounding DNA analysis.
Might be surprising!
That may be exactly why they don’t want DNA done. The royals may not all have the fathers we think they had.
I wish the bones of the two young boys in the Tower could be studied. Even if just to put them in a certain time frame.
Just discovered your channel this week, and I love it! Can’t wait for more history 😁 As for the subject of this video, I’m always fascinated by what old bones can tell us about historical figures, and would love to see a facial reconstruction of Anne based on her skull. Knowing what people from the past looked like outside of paintings (which likely would’ve made some people look better than they did by softening or even removing certain attributes), along with the mundane facts of their existence (like knowing Anne was between 5’ and 5’3”) makes them seem more real and human.
Yes, I was fascinated by the facial reconstruction of Richard III (which actually suggested that the surviving portraits were pretty accurate).
I also just ran across your channel ilove finding out about the tudors
Disturb the remains! Well done. Very interesting and well presented.
I've visited the chapel three times and always look for their markers. The markers are small but the history is significant. I think they should remain where they were buried as it helps to tell their stories.
the markers are large and at the front of the chapel near the alter.
@@lhl9010 They were small little squares when I was there.
Henry the 8th was a real psychopath
that's what generations and generations of inbreeding does to you, just look at how degenerated Charles and William look.
@Athos Aramis Check: Henry VII was most certainly outbred. Henry VIII needed a male heir. The country had just been through a long and bloody civil war which was likely to re-erupt if there was only a female heir. It was a matter of state.
Dig them up, sample DNA and get a full forensic study and 3D scan. Then clean the bones, place them in a silk lined ossuary and re-inter somewhere they will be safe and hopefully not disturbed again.
I agree
@@bethduly3350 I agree 👍
I think if they were to be disturbed again this is the nicest way I’ve heard of handling their remains
Agreed
sounds perfect
I absolutely love your videos....thank you for the in-depth research that goes into each one....they are all an absolute pleasure to watch.....and my favourite channel......you and Grimlifecollective.... amazing stuff 👍
You are so welcome :-)
Great work. Thank you 😊 👍
Of course, we must also acknowledge the possibility that the doctor describing the bones had also read contemporary descriptions of Anne, Catherine and so on, and his description could have been coloured by his expectations.
Exactly.
I thought the same thing as I listened to the description. The phrase "confirmation bias" kept popping into my head.
One of the most intelligent comments i have read here .May i also add the docters observations would have been based on what he saw in the visual evidence found .
He wasn’t the only one looking at the bones. Also, what would be his motivation for not being impartial?
@@chrisledbetter9278 Confirmation bias doesn't require motivation. It's about how preexisting expectations can affect your interpretation of new information. If someone tells you a wine has a cherry flavor note just before you taste it, you'll taste that same thing. Motivation is irrelevant. If he had read descriptions of Anne Boleyn before examining the skeleton, his interpretation of his findings might have been unconsciously influenced by what he expected.
This doesn't mean he was incorrect in his identification. He may not have previously read what she looked like. It's just that the possibility is real enough to be cautious about accepting his interpretation at face value.
I've read many times that Henry Vlll was handsome. Did handsome have a different meaning in the 1500's. Haven't seen one picture of him that I would consider handsome.
Apparently he was very good looking in his youth and had a lot of charisma. In later years, he certainly lost his looks.
Ive heard other historians say that Henry was indeed fetching in his youth. There’s at least one portrait of him as a strapping lad. But his overindulgence caused him to quickly morph into a fat troll.
I’ve often what it was like for the lowly artist who was commissioned to paint these portraits. When your subject is completely unattractive but you need your customer to be happy. Especially Henry.
@@DavidWilliams-so2dy “Fat troll” 😹
Yeah, basically he was a good looking young man who was very active and had a lot of charisma, then he had a accident where he fell off a horse, while married to Anne Boleyn that caused him physical and mental damage. He because fatter after than and more mentally unstable, leading to a lot more beheadings including 2 of his (innocent btw) wives
It is known he changed a lot after his jousting accident and got very overweight due to a lack of physical activity and over eating
As a teacher of British literature I was always intrigued by the aspects of the Tower of London and the Tudor line. I found this video a very compelling. And while most of the research I have looked at regarding Anne Boleyn, I felt she was largely innocent of the charges which led to her execution. However, a great deal of information that is available suggests she antagonized Henry to some great degree. Thank you for posting this. Although I would like to think that the royal family would allow science to give us more insight on the early royals, I can understand why they would not grant access.
I think it was easy to antagonize Henry VIII. He was King and not used to being challenged or argued with. Anne was a strong woman who didn't put up with bullshit. That said, she should have played her hand better.
Did she antagonise him??? Or was she genuinely not interested. If she said she wouldn't be his Mistress and would only share a bed with him if she were Queen, did actually think he would/could make that happen? I highly doubt it
Anne has always been my favorite person in history and when I had the chance to visit the Tower of London I was so happy that by taking the tour we were allowed inside the chapel (something i had not known at the time of the tour). I do believe that Anne, deserves a better burial. As stated though, unless something tragic happens to the church requiring another restoration, I do not see anything happening.
I really loved the forensic archaeology angle, and the way you interweaved the history in. I am a doctor who is also in love with history, and I find documentaries like this one especially irresistible. Thank you for the amazing content, you are awesome!
Hey there! I came across your comment and I just had to reach out and say hi. Your perspective really caught my attention and I would love to get to know you better. Would you be interested in chatting sometime? Looking forward to hearing back from you!
Queen Kathryn's forensic anatomy only hits the heart harder. She was an innocent adolescent testing the waters, as most teens do. Her life, like many of women dug up in that church was cut short by a vile, privileged , egocentric male, I mean the king, my bad.
I love these- thank you.
Just found your channel. Great content and I’ve subscribed. A big thumbs up from me 👍🏼
I think they should have proper burials. They were important parts of history like Anne and Katherine were literally Queens
ONLY Katherine Howard was Queen when she was beheaded - Anne Boleyn was divorced two days prior to her death
@@randerson2525 Katherine Howard was also stripped of her title before she was executed .
@@jonldn - yes, she was but (unlike Anne Boleyn) her marriage was never annulled which means she was still technically Henry VIII's wife and Queen of England at the time of the chopping block.
@@randerson2525 never "formally" annulled but history has shown us that Henry and his supporters did not appear to need to follow any "letter of the law" in this and other areas. whatever their Status.. both Anne and Katherine were clearly pawns in a game of power. May they rest in peace.
I feel that since her husband attempted to erase her identity, that if possible, DNA testing of all her family should be done and entered into a public database.
Henry VIII was NOT her husband. She had no husband. She was a single woman who chose to have an affair with a married monarch. In the process, she took down her brother and his wife. Not to mention the rightful Queen Catherine of Aragon being put aside due to the spell that Henry VIII was under.
@@PraytheRosaryEveryDay Henry VIII was not innocent. He was a grown man and supposed to be a leader of the people. If anything, he should be held to a much higher standard. Why are you laying all of the blame on her? Also, your comment about choosing to have an affair applies to both of them.
@@PraytheRosaryEveryDay Henry VIII most certainly was her husband; she was legally married to him. Whether you agree with the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon or not is unimportant, as the law was changed to make himself head of the Church Of England and provided an annulment. It was seen as legal then (although rightfully upset catholics who didn't agree with it) and it's still seen as legal today. Just as the monarch is the head of the Church of England to this day.
@@PraytheRosaryEveryDay seriously?!? 😂😂😂😂
@@PraytheRosaryEveryDay Oh go on with yourself 🤪😢🤣🤣
I’ve always wanted Perkin Warbecks bones to be tested, to end speculation once and for all, and of course the princes in the tower…
First, may I commend the precision and beauty of your voice. It's a pleasant respite from the shrill cacophony of the modern speaking style. Then, having lived for several years in a French chateau on Loire near Orleans, I developed a keen sense and appreciation of history. It is my learned experience that leaves me to believe the royal remnants should stay as they lay with no further disturbance. I feel they have become one in the same as the building in which they reside. No amount of examination will change the fact that they are part of their own history and no good can come from adding a modern touch to their essence. Thank you for this opportunity to express myself in this regard.
I’m in no way an expert in any things you mentioned but some quick research says that bones usually solidify at around (at maximum) age 18 but they don’t reach peak bone mass until about 25. So even if Katherine’s bones were fully developed they weren’t as large as the others buried there.
Thank you :-)
I can't help thinking that Anne Boleyns head was placed into a separate coffin ....or maybe not . At the time of her execution .So does this mean that her head was placed at her burial , where it should of been normally as if she had not have been decapitated.l have seen a painting of Anne Boleyns head in a little box.
I’m a molecular biologist for a pharmaceutical company, but bear with me…the bones of an 18 yo female (Howard’s estimated age at death) are well formed and far from the age for that kind of described disintegration, even with Lyme.
My opinion is that they simply weren’t in the correct spot. Had they pulled the entire floor, much more would have been uncovered.
I'm an anthropologist, and I disagree with this to a certain extent. While it's true that most people's bones have ossified by the age of 18, that is not always the case. Some people just naturally take longer (up to mid-20's), and for others, diet and other health conditions can delay the ossification of bones. We also don't know about anything else (other than the lime) that might have been in the soil, but the condition of Anne's bones could imply that disintegration or other issues have caused the bones to erode or disappear (as my osteology teacher would say, critters like the little bones best, and we do know that these were shallow graves). I don't think we have enough information to assume that this assessment is impossible, though it admittedly isn't the best explanation, IMHO (which is where I agree with you).
Anne B was older than 18 years old
Anne Boleyn was my 14th great grand aunt and Henry VIII is my 14th great grandfather from his illegitimate daughter Mary Boleyn Carey Tudor.
I love all this. Its great information.
I think anne should have a royal burial she was queen and Elizabeth the 1st mother
@Phil Turner Neither Catherine Howard nor Jane Grey were the mothers of monarchs. Although the line ended with Elizabeth, she was among England's greatest monarchs and perhaps Anne Boleyn needs to be honoured a bit more.
I've always wondered why Elizabeth didn't try to give her mother a more proper burial, but everything I've ever read about her suggests that she rather idolized her father.
@@purrdiggle1470 Tudor politics were complex and deadly. Perhaps she thought it was better to leave the dead where they are.
@Phil Turner she did not give birth to a monarch. That was my point about Anne being special among the group.
@Phil Turner Jane Grey was a usurper but yes you can argue that Catherine Howard deserves a royal burial.
I think we should at least extract the DNA. As far as facial reconstruction, it would be fascinating to see. I think it would be an honorable way to bring back to life such a beautiful queen who deserved better than what she received.
Obtaining enough viable DNA may prove to be a problem. But it would be fascinating to find out what she probably looked like.
What a beautiful voice--angelic! Loved the video. Subscriber from Florida USA