The Shoes of Anne Boleyn?

A follower recently emailed me this photograph of a pair of shoes which the owners were claiming belonged to Anne Boleyn. I was fascinated by the prospect and began to research them. Below are my findings:

The family story goes as such; Nicholas Bristowe, a favored courtier of King was riding with Henry and Anne in Hertfordshire. When the group passed Ayot St. Lawrence (a grand estate), Bristowe admired it asking the King if he knew to whom it belonged. The King replied saying it was his, but he wished to gift it to Bristowe and his family. When Bristowe tactfully asked what evidence he should produce to prove the gift, the king gave him the hat he wore upon his head and asked Queen Anne for her slippers telling the Lord to bring them to London and he would receive the title deed. Since that point the hat and slippers have been part of the Bristowe family estate.
        *Using the British Archives I found that Bristowe was not actually granted the land at Ayot St. Lawrence until 1543, a full six years after the execution of Anne Boleyn. In fact, the crown had not even been in possession of the land until 1540 making it impossible for King Henry to gift it during the lifetime of Anne.
        *Equally convincing was an appraisal completed on the shoes by antiques experts at Christie's Auction House in England. The clothing appraisers there determined that the style and construction of the shoes placed their date of construction at or around 1630, nearly a century too late to belong to Queen Anne Boleyn.

Despite the fact that these shoes surely did not belong to Anne Boleyn they are still a great example of historical fashion in Stuart England, and were undoubtedly stunning when they were produced.

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