The Boleyns

Starting with Anne Boleyn, wife of Henry VIII, Amanda Harvey Purse looks at significant Boleyns through history, shining a spotlight on how their story has been entwined with that of the British monarchy for almost 500 years.

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Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was executed on 19 May 1536. Her sister Mary, rumoured mistress to the monarch, lived on and survived the king’s wrath. But this is not the end of the tale of the Boleyns and the British Royal family – their stories have remained entwined for almost 500 years, through countless wars, crises and triumphs.

In this book, Amanda Harvey Purse delves into the archives to tell the remarkable story of a number of individuals who form part of the Boleyn bloodline, spanning the worlds of the military, art and politics. Among those featured are Robert Devereux, executed for treason after leading an army against the government in the early seventeenth century; Lettice Knollys, banished from the court of Elizabeth I after marrying the wrong man; and Cecilia Nina Bowes‑Lyon, the grandmother of and godmother to Elizabeth II, who married Claude Bowes-Lyon and played a significant role in the convalescence of soldiers during the First World War.