The Anne Boleyn Files

A while back, I came across an intriguing blog, The Anne Boleyn Files by Claire Ridgway. The author describes herself as:

...a full-time freelance writer, closet history lover, armchair historian and champion of the underdog, from England - land of the Tudors, Shakespeare, green fields and yummy fish and chips.

Of course, as a Catholic, I take Catherine of Aragon's part in the divorce controversy, and she is one of my favorite historical heroines, a great and, ultimately, I  believe, saintly Queen. Yet, Anne was certainly a pivotal figure in English history. For all her faults, she was also an elegant, intelligent, witty and brave woman. Claire Ridgway has a talent for treating controversial topics in an engaging and entertaining fashion and stimulating lively discussions. While sympathetic to Anne, she is not blindly so, and I think her efforts to grasp the truth of an enigmatic character who has inspired such violently contrasting verdicts (monster? beauty? whore? witch? Protestant martyr?) are commendable. I encourage my readers to look at this site, it is a fascinating read.