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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]she had 6 fingers.[/quote]

No, she didn't. She had some sort of protrusion on one of her pinkies. More like a bunion than an extra finger.

[b]Anne Boleyn is fascinating. On the one hand, you have a woman who was the pawn of her male relatives.[/b] You'd think the Duke of Norfolk (her uncle) would be disinclined to support anyone suspected of interest in reforming religion, but no. He saw Anne, and first, her sister, Mary, as a chance to undermine the powerful and corrupt Cardinal Wolsey while advancing his familial interests. Wolsey had H8 twisted around his little finger for years.

Norfolk was lucky in Anne. She was smart enough to try to take command of her future with her scheme to marry the future Duke of Northumberland, and she was attractive to men. He totally lost control of the situation, of course. She was smarter than he was. Smarter than H8, too.

So, on the other hand from the helpless pawn, she was fierce and independent. She was also manipulative, ruthless, and too quick to turn on her supporters. Norfolk was like first out the door. She helped bring Cromwell to power and turned on him after a disagreement, too. She was sort of megalomaniacal. (Sounds familiar, right?) The schism with the Catholic Church also robbed her of any support from the Vatican when H8 turned on her. The HRE would never acknowledge her. Francois I of France was noncommittal because it suited his purpose.

The ultimate issue wasn't that she couldn't bear a son. It was that she had no powerful backers. Catherine of Aragon and Princess Mary had the Holy Roman Emperor, who could have declared war on England had either woman been executed. Anne was a Johnny-come-lately Boleyn with no support. Her grandfather, while mayor of London, was a merchant. Disposing of her was easier than keeping her alive as a rallying point.

TL;DR: Very flawed hero, villainous tendencies, but ultimately a victim[/quote]

No historians dispute this. She was no one's pawn.

You've been influenced by reading or watching The Other Boleyn Girl.

Anne was an active player in her fate. [/quote]

Eventually. She was EVENTUALLY an active player in her own fate.

She didn't bring about serving the short-termed Queen of France or being recalled with the intention of being married to the Earl of Ormonde. She didn't bring about her sister's ... hmm ... tenure as mistress. But all of these things contrived to get her noticed.

Percy was her first big play. And she still didn't have control, because it didn't work out and Wolsey got her temporarily banished from court. Of course, she eventually seized what power she could. Hence the "eventually" in my opinion.

Sometimes I wonder whether the Reformation attracted her because she saw it as some sort of reflection of her own struggle.

She never really learned to be a politician, though, even though she understood the politics of the court.[/quote]

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