What deformity was Anne Boleyn rumored to have?

Juggernaut314

She was rumored to have 6 fingers on a hand: After her death a number of myths sprang up about Anne. Many of these stories had their roots in anti-Anglican works written by Roman Catholics. Nicholas Sander, a Roman Catholic recusant born c. 1530, was committed to deposing Elizabeth I and re-establishing Roman Catholicism in England. In his De Origine ac Progressu schismatis Anglicani (The Rise and Growth of the Anglican Schism), published in 1585, he was the first to write that Anne had six fingers on her right hand.[111] Since physical deformities were generally interpreted as a sign of evil, it is unlikely that Anne Boleyn would have gained Henry's romantic attention had she had any. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Boleyn Jan 15 10, 4:37 PM

star_gazer

Rumor : Anne Boleyn was really a witch with six fingers, three breasts and moles all over her body. Anne Boleyn was Henry VIII's second and most famous of his six wives. Historians can't seem to agree on whether Anne was a home-wrecker (see sidebar) or a victim of Henry's changeable nature. One thing is for certain, Anne was not a witch, and she did not have six fingers. One of her biographers, George Wyatt, wrote that Anne had an extra fingernail. An extra fingernail could easily have been exaggerated to become an extra finger. Anne did have many enemies who were quick to spread rumors, and people just love to gossip about extra fingers. http://www.raucousroyals.com/lookandlearn/anneboleyn.htm Jan 15 10, 6:03 PM

Juggernaut314

Can't actually provide a link to cite it, but I happened across a question in Trivial Pursuit's original genus version yesterday after posting that asked: "How many fingers did Anne Boleyn have?" Answer: 11 Jan 16 10, 8:50 AM

guitargoddess

I don't have an actual link either, as this is something I've read in a book, but just wanted to add a bit of an interesting tidbit: the extra fingernail was rumored to be on a small nub of flesh that grew where a sixth finger would have, and her daughter Elizabeth was rumored to have the same thing, and always wore a glove to hide it. Jan 16 10, 11:34 AM