The Anne Boleyn Bible

by Mickey Mayhew

The definitive bible on all things Anne Boleyn from her guilt and execution to her relationship with Jesus Christ, as well as depiction of Anne in popular culture from TV series to West End musicals.

Anne Boleyn sells, but she sells in segments; a biography here, a study over there on her guilt and something else yonder concerned with where she lived or what she liked to wear. This book, covering not just her life but her life onscreen, in theater, on TV and also the impact of the first black actress to play her, is the definitive, all-encompassing story of Anne Boleyn from 1501 (or thereabouts) to 2023. Having examined the ardent fandom of Anne Boleyn for his doctorate, Dr Mickey Mayhew is in a unique position to offer something new to say on this much-discussed 'tragic' Tudor queen and is not afraid to tackle some of the less palatable aspects of her life.

Also, this book is the first to examine with authenticity the reality of Anne's relationship with the most important man in her life, the man whose name she repeated in comfort while facing the Swordsman of Calais on the scaffold, having spent her life promulgating his doctrine; Jesus Christ himself. As for the aforementioned executioner, Dr Mayhew's research in Calais and Saint-Omer can now lift a lid on a few of the particulars of this elusive and yet essential figure of Anne Boleyn mythos; and yes, now he even has a name as well. This research stands, despite the efforts of Owen Emmerson and Amy Licence - among others - to both quash it and also to cancel the author. 

The Anne Boleyn Bible also offers a straightforward retelling of Anne's actual historical life, albeit one that outlines an entirely fresh and empowering perspective on her rise to prominence; this is followed by a series of considered arguments on the 'for' and 'against' in regard to her guilt & execution; then her entry into popular culture, firstly in plays and masques, before she went on to headline movies, TV series, cosplay, and now, with the first black woman to portray her, model and actress Jodie Turner-Smith. This book is simply what it says on the cover - The Anne Boleyn Bible - leaving no depiction, no religious aspect, no appearance in popular culture, from The Simpsons to the West End musical 'Six', overlooked; likewise, Dr Mayhew also turns his trademark brand of rather wry commentary toward the vast plethora of Anne Boleyn merchandising, tourist spots, rubber ducks, beanies and the wrangling question of who was the ultimate onscreen Anne; Geneviève Bujold or Natalie Dormer?!

Genres: Tudor Period, History, Nonfiction

302 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 18, 2024

About the author

Mickey Mayhew is an author from London, working on Mary Queen of Scots and the Tudor reign; he has a PhD focusing on the online 'cult' surrounding the 'tragic queens' Anne Boleyn and Mary Queen of Scots. He wrote 'The Little Book of Mary Queen of Scots' (published by The History Press) in 2014 and then 'I love the Tudors' (published by Pitkin Publishing) in 2016. Pen & Sword Books published 'House of Tudor - A grisly history' and 'Imprisoning Mary Queen of Scots' in 2022 and 'Rasputin and his Russian Queen' in 2023.
Previously to this, he was co-author on three books relating to Jack the Ripper, whilst fictional work includes the urban fantasy trilogy 'The Barrow Boys of Barking', beginning with 'Jack and the Lad' and concluding, for now, with 'Jamie's Big Bang'. His tongue-in-cheek memoir 'Mickeypedia' is also now available, with all proceeds going to the Anna Kennedy Online autism charity.

His latest book is The Anne Boleyn Bible, also from Pen & Sword; the work includes the discovery of the sword used at Anne Boleyn's execution; on that score, the opposition to adding anything new or fresh to Anne Boleyn lore would, however, make for a book in itself. He is currently in the process of taking legal action against several Tudor historians who - out of pure spite - tried to sabotage both the book and also the findings therein.

Reviews

[Owen Emmerson · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the offset of this review, it is essential to acknowledge that completing any book is an accomplishment that should rightly be recognised and celebrated. Any work will have commanded significant time and effort on the author's part. Ideally, a review should identify both the strength and weaknesses of the work, which I have admittedly struggled to balance because of issues with the veracity of the discoveries it promised, the poor attitude toward women it promotes, unwarranted personal attacks on historians, and because of plagiarism issues. I have little doubt that this book will find audiences who admire and object to its content and form. However, historians must be free to review work without fear or favour. Sadly, several efforts have been made on social media by the author of this work to suggest that historians who have studied Anne's life will dismiss this work because of 'jealousy' or worse because of 'homophobia' or 'ableism'. No study is beyond criticism; pre-emptive attempts to frighten honest reviewers into silence should be resisted. As a gay man with Asperger's, I hope I do not need to clarify that such prejudices don't colour this honest review. I welcome any works on this subject and have openly celebrated many such efforts by endorsing and promoting them. I have written books on this subject, but I am, first and foremost, a consumer. I sincerely hope, for the sake of those who have been libelled in this work, and on behalf of those whose work has been used without credit, that this advance preview copy is not published in its current form.

For disclosure, I came to reading this book with some prior knowledge. Mayhew solicited my expertise on several aspects of Anne's life, which I gladly provided answers to. I also came to this book with expectations based on the work's compelling marketing campaign. The 'USP' of this work has centralised on the author's discovery of the identity of the man employed to behead Anne Boleyn and the identification of the sword he used. Naturally, I was intrigued to read the process behind Mayhew's groundbreaking discoveries and was eager to discover more about the provenance of the blade. I was somewhat confused when reading in the acknowledgements section (which I will return to later) that Mayhew had been informed of the sword's existence by an unnamed "Italian scholar" at an anonymous university. It is unclear why this individual remains unidentified in the acknowledgements when they played a pivotal role in informing Mayhew of the sword's existence. I wondered if the discovery was far more complex than advertised and that more people - including this unnamed Italian scholar - should perhaps have been named co-discoverers of the sword.

I was hungry to dive straight into the details of this discovery, so I sought out the chapter(s) that detailed this groundbreaking find. I was surprised that there was no dedicated chapter for discovering the sword, but that the finding was contained in four short pages. I would typically put a 'spoiler alert' disclaimer here. Still, readers should be aware before purchasing the book that they will likely be hugely disappointed by the realities of this discovery. Having been told of the sword's existence, Mayhew travelled to Italy, where the weapon is broken in two parts. It is owned by two unnamed families who, we are told, are already fully informed that it was the sword used to behead Anne. Reasonably how Mayhew can claim to be the discoverer of this weapon when he was alerted to it by an unnamed academic and when its owners informed Mayhew of its supposed history is genuinely puzzling. What I found more troubling, however, was that no references or sources are provided to verify that this is, in fact, the sword in question. It isn't linked to documented sources, and its 'identification' is based solely on word-of-mouth family lore. This revelation does not meet any industry standard of an important historical discovery. No provenance trail for the object has been recovered. No scientific analysis of the fabric of the sword pieces by metallurgists has been completed. Sadly, until rigorous provenance work is undertaken and scientific study applied, we are left only with an (admittedly) intriguing family tale.

Mayhew's book certainly isn't the first to overstate a discovery's integrity or significance, and it sadly won't be the last. I do hope, however, that this review will prevent other readers from experiencing some of the disappointment I felt when exposed to the hollow realities of Mayhew's claim. Simply put, no evidence has been given by the author to verify that this is the sword that ended the life of Anne Boleyn. What is so frustrating to me is that there is a logical reason to test the authenticity of this family's claims. However, Mayhew appears to have made no attempt to verify the claims and hasn't shared any results of such efforts. Therefore, I am left with the feeling that this broken sword may just as well be an unverified, broken object, akin to those paraded weekly on 'The Antiques Roadshow' and which all too often have little foundation beyond a fanciful family tale. Perhaps a historian will pick up the baton to begin the extensive work necessary to make a genuine historical breakthrough here.

Mayhew attempts to explain away the lack of sources and scientific evidence in his 'discovery' by claiming that "[v]erbal histories have…been for the most part ignored; basically, if it wasn't written down then [historians believe?] it didn't happen." This statement isn't the case in history and certainly isn't in the field of Sociology, in which Mayhew received his doctorate. Studying family and oral histories can be, and are, a legitimate part of the historical process. Indeed, whole disciplines revolve around the recovery and exploration of them. However, our role as historians is also to ask how family histories, or folklore, emerged, how they relate to or work against the historical record, and why. Verbal histories are an essential part of our toolkit, but at a distance of 500 years, we must bring other instruments to the historical process too.

Returning, somewhat deflated, to the beginning of the book, we are presented with a standard, well-trodden narrative of Anne's life, which takes up less than half of the book. There aren't any original interventions discernible here. It is puzzling that we are continually told through this potted biography that other historians have long been regurgitating "the greatest hits" of Anne Boleyn when this book does nothing more than that. We are told that because of the gaps in the historical record, we "must fill in the gaps with a hearty dose of imagination": this is, of course, the novelist's prerogative, but not the historian's. We are told that "Anne engaged with her father whilst Mary [Boleyn] sat applying plum juice to her cheeks in lieu of the rouge she was too young to own". Whilst this is an attempt at humour, this inclusion is a fanciful, somewhat insulting work of fiction that has no place in a history book unless presented as fiction and not fact. We are then told that Anne had a "disconcertingly girlish laugh" - according to whom? No citation is given, and I can find no such reference to Anne's laugh. The author then confusingly condemns other historians for "using conjecture a lot". These fictional inclusions will invariably colour the audience's perceptions of these women. They are loaded judgments without any roots in the historical record. They also adhere to a pattern of very troubling, and often wildly offensive, attitudes toward women, made by the author and evidenced throughout the study. They are worth exploring in more detail.

Considering that many of those interested in Anne Boleyn are female and that many are young, Mayhew frequently shows a baffling disdain for them, repeatedly calling them Anne's "fanatical fans and groupies". The women of the past fare just as severely in Mayhew's narrative. Queen Catherine of Aragon is cruelly labelled as "dwindling rapidly into a rather unattractive dumpy middle age". Mary Boleyn, we are told, "managed to inveigle herself into Henry VIII's bedroom". Considering we know next to nothing about Mary's affair with Henry VIII, including who initiated it, it is bewildering that Mayhew has the confidence to tell his readers that it was all Mary's ploy. Anne Boleyn is accused of "gaslighting the King of England into religious revolution". I'm hoping that this is simply Mayhew not understanding the difference between 'persuasion' and 'gaslighting': a horrific interpersonal abuse aimed at causing victims (mainly women) to question their reality. Mayhew often refers to women as "broodmares" and "mother hens" and makes frankly creepy remarks about Anne "carrying within her that providential seed of reform (the King's seed would come later)". Another example of this graphic, 'Carry-On' style comments can be found when Mayhew details that Anne "bet her womb's prowess purely for [Henry's] patriarchal pleasure" and that she was "ready to ride the great English bull purely to push forward her precious Reformation." I had hoped that these degrading, ahistorical comments about women and their sexualities had been left in the 1970s. Sadly not. However, compared to how he discussed males, Mayhew's appalling comments about female historians are unforgivable.

I was disgusted to see unfounded and libellous attacks made by Mayhew upon several well-respected female historians in the field in his acknowledgements section, which is placed front and centre in his book. Mayhew cruelly chose to pervert the function of an acknowledgements page to besmirch these women's reputations, making it read like an obsessive hit list. I will not detail who these unfounded attacks were made upon out of respect for the women who have been cruelly abused and for legal reasons. I sincerely hope the publisher removes them from the physical copies that emerge from this advanced reader copy before the book goes to print. The attacks on chiefly female historians continue through the body of the work, usually ending with "but we digress," which should have been a vast red flag to both author and editor that such misogynistic outbreaks have no place in historical work.

It is essential to recognise that most books contain errata, and that almost all history books contain a few errors. However, this work includes more than one might expect or hope and would have benefitted from some fact-checking before publication. For example, we are told the "present structure" of Blickling Hall "isn't the one Anne knew". This statement overlooks the groundbreaking 2020 research by Professor Simon Thurley, which revealed that the outwardly Jacobean façade was built around significant, extant parts of Geoffrey Boleyn's manor, which Anne certainly inhabited and knew. We are informed that Hever was built in 1271 and was single-moated during the Boleyn's tenure, while Hever was built in 1383 as a double-moated castle. Hever's third floor was not added by the Astor family as claimed: the Long Gallery was added by Anne of Cleves, and the third floor of the keep was added at the time of the castle's construction in 1383, so it would have been known to and used by the Boleyns. All of these facts feature in books cited by Mayhew elsewhere. These are just examples from the first chapter. Sadly, there are many more throughout the work.

Mayhew also worryingly repeats errors surrounding Anne Boleyn's final days, such as the mythical tennis match that Anne has been proven not to have been watching during her arrest and the myth that she was buried in an arrow chest. These were expertly challenged in historian Natalie Grueninger's recent work, which Mayhew rudely dismissed as having "little new on offer here; more regurgitating of the greatest hits, really". Quite the statement to make when he repeated the myriad of myths in his text that Grueninger had forensically exposed in hers. Mayhew then repeats the myth that Elizabeth I barely spoke of her mother, Anne Boleyn, which was brilliantly challenged in Dr Tracy Borman's 2023 book on Elizabeth and Anne. At one point, Mayhew even baulks at Tracy's work as Anne and Elizabeth, he states, "barely had time to bond before Anne was beheaded". This observation rather embarrassingly ignores that Borman's work is mainly about Anne's memory during her daughter's reign, not about their short life together. I genuinely doubt that Mayhew had read either Grueninger or Borman's work before blithely dismissing them and regurgitating the very myths they so expertly challenge.

There are also, regrettably, instances of plagiarism in this work. Pages 10-11 are an almost verbatim expression of the correspondence I sent to Mayhew on 6th June 2022 but with no citation. The theory that Mayhew details about when, where and why Anne Boleyn signed her c.1527 Book of Hours is lifted from the work of historian Kate McCaffrey without citation. McCaffrey's brilliant theory is fully detailed in the books I co-authored with her in 2022 and 2023. Mayhew was gifted a copy of our first book free of charge, so there is no excuse for him to have included McCaffrey's groundbreaking research without crediting her. Another example of plagiarism comes on p.11 when Mayhew states that Anne signed this Book of Hours adjacent to a 'depiction of the Coronation of the Virgin'. Mayhew has never studied the book in question. Had he done so, he would have seen that Anne's inscription was adjacent to an illumination of the Presentation in the Temple. Indeed, it is clear that Mayhew has lifted this error from the canonical work on Anne Boleyn by the late great Eric Ives from 2004. Ives rarely made such mistakes, but this is one of the few he did make in that seminal study (p.240), and Mayhew has copied it without any citation. Another troubling aspect of this book is that plenty of primary sources have been quoted, but only from other historians' work. There does not appear to be a single citation of an archived primary record. Instead, these sources are copied from the works of the historians he gracelessly dismisses. As we have just seen, even the most revered scholars make mistakes in transcribing sources, so for Mayhew to rely only on the works of others for his research is lazy and full of unnecessary risk.

After Anne's potted biography, Mayhew attempts to chart Anne's cultural history. Sadly, unlike the groundbreaking efforts of Professor Susan Bordo, which Mayhew is inexplicably rude about, and the similarly profound work by Professor Stephanie Russo, which is absent, Mayhew offers little to no analysis of how cultural depictions of Anne shifted over time, and why. As bountiful as Mayhew's opinions about these films and TV shows are, they aren't particularly relevant here. We were promised that no cultural depiction would be overlooked, but many vital examples are missing, which is a shame since this section is little more than a list of films and TV shows. A whole chapter is dedicated to Showtimes' The Tudors'. Yet, this TV show is inexplicably referred to throughout the entirety of the biography section of Anne. The audience is presumably assumed to hold this TV series, created 16 years ago, as some gold standard depiction of Anne. In truth, some of this book's readers may never have seen the show, so repeatedly jumping from the rather spartan narrative of Anne's life in the 16th century to quips about how a 2007 TV show depicted that history is both puzzling and jarring.

The persistence in selling this book based on a more than dubious 'discovery' may prove to be the only double-edged sword Mayhew is ever likely to discover. After all, sales based on empty promises rarely lead to a satisfied audience. Not every history book needs a shiny, new discovery to break new and important ground. Some of the most profound interventions in this field have come from a close, forensic analysis of primary sources and fresh, illuminating interpretations. Sadly, Mayhew's "Bible" lacks either of these qualities. This book feels like a tragically wasted opportunity. Its commitment has been frittered away through a refusal to engage directly with primary sources, by the author making personal attacks on historians, by their guarantees of sadly empty treasure boxes, and by their plundering of the valued works of respected historians without crediting them.

Eric Ives' revered study of Anne Boleyn has long been colloquially known as 'The Anne Boleyn Bible' by many of the countless people it has inspired. It is a shame that this author has attempted to co-opt that affectionately given and much-deserved title from Ives. I am sure, however, that anyone reading this book will feel confident that Mayhew's effort doesn't come close to inheriting that moniker.

Advance Reader Copy provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher.

[Juliew. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must admit I found a lot of this book quite untrue.While some research seemed familiar other research seemed wild and outlandish at best.I have never heard of the Swordsman from Calais's family being identified much less the actual man himself and I've read widely in the Tudor sphere.As far as Anne's character here I don't subscribe to Anne being so religious that her end goal in marrying Henry VIII was to reform the entire country.While she was deeply religious that particular realm was the domain of Henry VIII.As for calling this a Bible on Anne I couldn't disagree more.

Much thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would like to thank Pen & Sword and Netgalley for the uncorrected copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Undertaking a book that examines and challenges the historical record should be commended.

However, I have absolutely no idea nearly 30% in what Mayhew’s arguments are. Repeatedly, popular ideas of Anne seem to be challenged with no real substance. This is made worse by the fact that Mayhew repeatedly says that Anne Boleyn fans get up in arms if you say anything bad about her so challenges to her image are not well received. As a reader it felt like if I didn’t agree with Mayhew’s point then I was basically being called stubborn at best or an idiot at worst.

Overall, this book felt like a mix of a Twitter argument gone awry or a historical companion to the Showtime series The Tudors. For example, the way that Thomas and Mary Boleyn were discussed for example paints a one-dimensional picture based on their portrayal in the series.

If you want a book that examines Anne Boleyn in a nuanced way I recommend finding a different book.

[Deb Lancaster · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely no. Add me to this self important author's list of 'haters'. Absymal, amateur, alarmingly shallow. I hated everything about this.

From the weird switches from first to third person when describing himself, to the atrocious repetition, grammar and sentence construction, this is really really bad.

It's the second book I've read from this publisher and both have been beyond the pale bad. At one point he cites HIMSELF. Just amazing.

Mayhew offers nothing new whatsoever about Anne, the weird swordsman bit is just embarrassing and his obvious obsession with The Tudors (of ALL depictions!) is ever present.

I started counting the uses of 'aforementioned', 'as said' , 'rather' and 'scant' but gave up at about 50.

This reads like an over enthusiastic undergrad (at best), pushing together other people's research and quotes to try and come up with something that passes for his own extrapolation.

Just extraordinarily terrible.

[Beth Younge · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is badly written, copied from other authors and a bunch of stolen and silly theories. I went in hoping to learn something new but i left this feeling like i wasted my time. It could have been a good read if the author had focused on the pop culture lense instead of what he did do. This is not worth wasting your time on as a reader and instead pick up one of the many books the author copied passages from.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

[Gail]

Our perspective on Tudor history is largely based on the work of a small group of historians. They have access to the same library of materials and make their name with assertions that are not based on fact. Anne Boleyn has been a particular victim of this type of record. Her "extra finger", extra nipple, alleged expertise in seduction, supposedly learnt in France, are all wearying examples of this.
Anne is mysterious, and that annoys historians. It's not even clear when she was born.
I enjoyed Mickey Mayhew's new approach to Anne. He doesn't shy away from the usual account of her life but he is more questioning of how we interpret it. Context is king: we have to go back to Tudor times to remember the delicate political situation, Henry's need for a male heir and Anne as a pawn - or otherwise - in her family's bid for wealth and high office.
Mayhew provides entertainment in his writing. No dry re-telling of Chapuys here. I wish he wasn't quite so obsessed with the Showtime drama The Tudors, because although it was a wonderful romp, it's not very accurate.
Mayhew achieves the impossible, finding new information on Boleyn relating to her execution. He finds out about the mysterious swordsman of Calais, and what happened to the weapon in question.
For Tudorphiles and students this is an engaging and balanced view of Anne Boleyn, and highly recommended.

[Georgi_Lvs_Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

‘Remember me when you do pray, that hope dothe lead from day to day.’

I always enjoy reading about Anne Boleyn, I often have a love/hate relationship with her.

The Anne Boleyn Bible talks about her life, her end, her daughter. We also learn about Anne Boleyn in the movies and theatre.

If you enjoy reading about the tudors and history, check this one out.

‘Anna comes, the most famous woman in all the world,
Anna comes, the shining incarnation of chastity,
In Snow White litter, just like the goddesses,
Anna the queen is here, the preservation of your future.’

Thank you to Pen & Sword for gifting me with this book :)

[Andrea Wenger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This engaging and easy-to-read book presents a brief account of Anne Boleyn's life and explores cultural depictions of her throughout history. The biographical information offers nothing new, but the look at popular portrayals of her was informative. The tone is light, sometimes with a hint of snark.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was excited when I first heard about this book and I’m even more excited now, having seen a preview copy; I followed the author’s journey across Europe to track down a lost Tudor artefact and look forward to further developments.