Anne Boleyn: an Englishwoman raised at the French Court.

In France, Anne was a maid of honour to 15-year-old Queen Claude of France, with whom she stayed nearly seven years completing her study of French and developing interests in fashion and religious philosophy, and acquiring knowledge of French culture and etiquette, perhaps through acquaintance with the King Francis I's sister, Marguerite de Navarre who was also an author in her own right. Her works include elements of Christian mysticism and reform that verged on heresy. She may have encouraged Anne's interest in reform, as well as in poetry and literature. A French religious poem, by Queen Margaret of Navarre, “Le miroir de l’ame pecheresse” or “The Mirror of the Sinful Soul”, was translated by Princess Elizabeth and presented to her stepmother Catherine Parr. The original was printed in 1531 in Alencon and it is likely that Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother, possessed a copy which was passed on to her daughter. In later years Anne's education in France inspired many new trends among the artists, ladies and courtiers of England. In his play about Henry VIII Shakespeare does not endow Anne with all her historical boldness. Image and data courtesy of the Yorck Project under Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License (Wikipedia).