By Kujtim Boriçi
Memorie.al / It look like a fairy tale, but it comes under the signature of one of the most famous Italian researchers, Eucardio Momigliano. Known for several biographies of historical figures, Momigliano in his latest work talks about Anne Boleyn, the former queen of England, wife of Henry VIII. The book was given to readers some time ago in Albanian, by the famous researcher and translator, Petrit Velaj. This book about Boleyn, beyond the fact that it brings interesting historical details of “a beautiful and simple girl, who captures the heart of the English king”, for us Albanians has a special interest for the version of the origin of Queen Anne: Boleyn of Vlorës.
Initially, the author admits that Anne is not English. But her lifestyle, her typical Albanian behavior, her last debates with Henry VII before her execution and a series of other arguments, are in favor of the “Albanian version” of Anne. In favor of this version of her origin are the researcher (and translator of the book) Velaj, Dr. Makbule Çeço, historian Ruzhdi Bajrami, etc.
But decades ago, as reflected in this book, the Albanian origin of the former English queen who left behind two daughters was also affirmed by Foto Dhimitër Bala, Engjëll Çoba, Dr. Xhevat Korça, Prof. Emin Haxhiademi, Hysni Alimerko, Padër Pjetër Mëshkalla, Dom Mikel Koliqi and, up to the well-known researcher of the third decade of the 20th century, Karlo Bonardi. Is Anna Bolena Albanian? Translator Velaj, who translates “Anna Bolena, Queen of England” into Albanian, and several other researchers with the writings that accompany this book, with the arguments they bring, say; “yes”. However, it remains a thesis that requires full studies.
Henry VIII was born on June 28, 1491 in Greenwich; died on 28. January 1547 in London. Anne Boleyn was the second wife of King Henry VIII out of six wives that King Henry had, at the same time Anne Boleyn was the mother of the later Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth I was born in 1533, and died in 1603. Elizabeth I was Queen of England, in the years 1558–1603.
Excerpt from the book by Eucardio Momigliano
….Tomaso (Thoma) Boleyn that evening had accompanied his daughter Anne to the party. As soon as he saw her, the king (Henry VIII) approached her and spoke to her, and he even invited her to dance. This was not surprising. Anne had been missing the court festivities for a long time. Wosley (the first man next to the King and who ran the country) watched with pleasure how the King was joyful, cheerful and excited. He was contemplating his political projects. At that time, the most despotic lord had entered the halls of Battersea Castle unnoticed, so it was the case that with one round of the king’s dance with such a young girl, the new fate of all England began to be woven…!
The King’s Decision
One morning the King called the Cardinal. He spoke to him about the divorce from his wife. Cold sweat covered his heart and body. Wolsey was silent. Then the King added, telling Wolsey that he had already chosen the wife he would take. She was Tommaso Boleyn’s daughter, Anna. Wolsey seemed to fall head over heels before this unexpected blow. He got up and suddenly threw himself at the King’s feet and remained like that for a whole hour, weeping and begging him.
It was an absurdity and an unprecedented madness. This work means breaking all the chains of hatred of the whole of Europe, of the Emperor and the Pope, of Luther and all Catholics for a single caprice of love. The king was listening attentively. Wolsey was not obeying him.
… Henry VIII is madly in love and is happy that Anna has told him that she loves him. But for a concubine, for a king who steals hearts, this purely spiritual happiness is not enough. He prays to this woman that only her body, so much desired, can give the supreme proof of a true love… On the other hand, is the answer: “You’re beloved by no means, the cure of the cure, but your wife yes, if you wish?”…
Toward the Royal Throne
The road to the throne of England was slow; in a word, this path had to be described slowly. The name of Anne Boleyn had until now been synonymous with scandal and ambition, but Henry VIII had decided to take his little wife and slowly climb the pleasure palaces, just as she had wished.
And the fabulous journey had already begun. The name of Anne Boleyn emerged from the dubious secret of trifles and allusions in diplomatic offices, it appears in Latin letters that left Rome (Vatican) full of ominous warnings and divine vengeance and a voice that is included in the official history of the English kingdom.
But for six years now she has been the woman they talk about and against whom no one should speak. Now Anne Boleyn is presented to Europe with quite a lot of noise. Henry VII wants the presentation of his fiancée to be made personally. But above all, it was Anne herself who wanted this…! Initially, Henry gave Anne the title of Marchioness of Pembroke…!
On Anne’s dark head, amidst ceremonial luxury, through the sounds of trumpets and the call of messengers, the king placed Anne’s small crown…! So, it was the Marchioness of Pembroke who accompanied the king to Calais, France, in 1532. Calais was an English dominion on French soil, where the meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I took place.
The wedding
The wedding took place at dawn one morning, in a hall of the palace that had once been Wosley’s. Rolando Lee, the king’s confessor, had been summoned there. When he arrived at this hall that had taken the form of a church with an altar, there he found the king with Anna, two witnesses, Norris and Henix, and a friendly lady named Anna Savage… Rolando Lee, a believer, before approaching the altar, addressed the king, saying: “Sir, show me the Pope’s permission annulling the first marriage. It must be read publicly with the signature…”!
But the smiling king says to him: “How, how, how, how?! You doubt the word of your master who is me?! You are my spiritual director, you who know me and see me every day; you make me careless of my interests to expose myself to dangers that no one knows more than I do? Trust me, here I am, I give you my word”! And Rolando Lee, without answering at all, celebrated the marriage. Anne Boleyn, Marchioness of Pembroke, was now the wife of Henry VIII.
… History has sought the exact date of this marriage, and has even turned all the archives upside down to find a certain date for this ceremony….! But nothing was found. Two dates were found: they were too many, one excluded the other and each had a meaning of battles…! The problem was this: On September 7, 1533, Anne Boleyn gave birth to a daughter who was named Elizabeth. Two different dates are given for Anne’s marriage: November 14, 1532 and January 25, 1553.
If the first date were true, then Anne Boleyn’s daughter would have been conceived after the marriage and this was more than legal, but if the second were correct, it was very likely that, although physiologically uncertain, the hasty marriage was celebrated to urgently arrange the birth of the heir that Henry VIII hoped for, since even the sure signs warned of such a thing…!
Later, fate brought Anne Boleyn’s daughter to the throne and all this fate was for the glory of England and in vain was sought and is still sought to this day, the date of that mysterious morning on which a monk with gentle words celebrated Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn.…! Two days later, in the evening, the queen, dressed in royal robes, emerged from the Tower seated on a portable chair, which was covered with white satin covered with a canopy of gold sheets.
She was accompanied by 12 ladies of honor mounted on horses, also dressed in gold damask, and a retinue with the Duchess of Norfolk. Further wound this procession of hundreds of ladies, knights, ambassadors and prelates; so all the nobility that accompanied the young queen to her wedding, was present there to see the symbol of her victory. The next day of that day was Sunday.
Tragedy
…The strange adventure of Anne Boleyn came to an end. She was still queen and, it seemed, nothing had changed in her life, but since Henry VII’s hope of having a male heir to the Tudor clan from her failed for the second time, his and her fate had already been determined…!
The king’s love for Anne had already ended. That fiery flame that had filled the history of England and Europe with its illumination had ended…! But Henry wanted a death covered in shame for Anne, even if this shame affected him as a man, as a man and as a king, humiliated him…!
…That day two more arrests were made: these were Weston and Breton, the two lovers of Anne Boleyn, who now in the cell became four…! It had been 18 days since Anne’s arrest. Now from the accusation it passes to the trial and from the trial it passes to the capital punishment, that is to say in 6 capital executions, without any evidence remaining, at least to justify before world history, the drama of these three weeks. A cruel and very prudent hand, very prudent, spoiled all the cards.
One of the judges, named George Spelman, said that the evidence was found. This evidence was obtained, after the opinion of a maid of the queen, a certain Wing Field, who had died a few days before the trial began, had been filed…! But, it is not known what oath this woman took, since even George Spelman’s statement is interrupted here with only this single expression…!
Anna, after 6 days of imprisonment, writes a letter to the king…! She says: “Sir, Your Majesty’s wrath and my arrest have come so suddenly to me, so unexpectedly, that I myself have no time to write and justify myself before you…! If I must tell a single truth, it is this that never has any prince had a wife so lawful to her duties, as Anne Boleyn has been to you, who would have been very pleased with this name and the position she held, if God and Your Highness had not pleased otherwise”.
…The execution of the sentence of execution for Anne was to take place on May 18. At dawn of that day she asked for the priest to come, who would take her confession, where she repeated the protest of her innocence. Then she called the governor of Torres and said: “Kingstom! I heard you say that I will not die before noon.
I am very sorry, because I thought that you would have died long before this hour and outside this time you should not have come again”! The next day came…! As soon as dawn broke, tearing the black cloth of the night, the executioner suddenly entered the doorway of the cell and announced that the hour of execution had come.
…Before the executioner carried out the execution, Anna expressed the desire to say two words, only two words: “I am dying, I am dying solely to obey the law and I do not blame anyone, not even my judges. May God protect the king and grant him a long reign…”!
…So, the fabulous adventure of Anne Boleyn came to an end: her body was quickly buried in the tomb of the small Church of St. Peter in Vingoli, a few steps away from the place where she was executed. On the tombstone was engraved nothing other than the two initial letters of her name, expressly “A.B.”!
In the book of the Italian scholar Eucardio Mommigliano, “Anna Boleyn, Queen of England”, and especially through the opinions of some scholars accompanying the translation of this book into Albanian, light is shed on some interesting historical facts, according to which, Anne Boleyn, one of the wives of Henry VIII (mother of Elizabeth I, ancestor of today’s Elizabeth of England), is originally from the Boleyn of Vlora.
Petrit Velaj:
…Among other evidence, I would also like to mention the fact that when Henry VIII married Anne, whom he fell in love with at first sight at the Royal Court of Charles V of France, the surrounding people said to the King: “Why did you take this concubine, because she is a girl without knowledge and without a profession, a vagabond”. And when the king broke off relations with Anne, he fell in love with Jenny Seymour, thanks to her green eyes, he insulted Anne by saying: “You are not only a concubine, but to me you are a bastard, because I still have not found out where you are from, whose you are and what kind of slave you are”!?
–“I,” continued the king, “sent the professor of history Crammer, specifically to investigate whether there is a village called Boleyn in the entire English territory. The professor of history measured England from side to side, as well as the whole of Europe, but nowhere did he find a place with the name Boleyn…”!
Dr. Makbule Çeço:
…Although legends, facts and arguments speak of the origin of Anne, this woman who left her mark on the kingdom of England, I believe that this book marks an important moment in confirming her origin, but at the same time it raises the need for further deepening of research, examination, research in the archives of the Vatican, England, France, etc., by scholars, historians, researchers of scientific research institutions, the Academy of Sciences, the Institute of History, to bring other arguments and facts, to definitively “seal” the origin of the royal dynasty of England from the Boleyn of Vlora.
…Without wanting to delve into or elaborate on the content of the book, I would just briefly dwell on the portrait of Anne Boleyn, this woman with a special depth and spiritual strength, with a wisdom and beauty to perfection…! Her virtues and behaviors are one more argument in the track that Anne Boleyn is of Albanian origin…! The portrait of Anne Boleyn who brought the King of England, Henry VIII, to her knees, with her beauty and intellect, who kept until the end of her life as a surname, the name of the village of origin that she did not change and when she was crowned Queen of England, in addition to all the characters and the course of developments of this period, are not only exciting, but also make you proud of this rare woman…!
Ruzhdi Bajrami (historian):
…After the uprisings of 1465 and 1481, part of the inhabitants of Labëria, including Bolena, as a result of the destruction of the villages by the Ottoman invader, migrated to Greece, Spain and France. In these circumstances, the Bolena tribe appears to us with its life and activity. Thomas Boleyn, with his family and children, also initially immigrated to France, where they took refuge with the Bourbons. Anne worked as a maid to Charles V, then became the second wife of Henry VIII of England, and after the birth of Elizabeth, she was beheaded for treason and adultery, because she did not give birth to a son to inherit the royal throne. Her brother and four others were also executed with her. / Memorie.al
