Retha Warnicke
Encyclopedia
Retha Marvine Warnicke (born 1939) is an American
historian
and Professor of History at Arizona State University
. Warnicke graduated with a B.A.
from Indiana University
, magna cum laude, in 1961. She then moved on to Harvard University
, where she earned her M.A.
and Ph.D.
in 1963 and 1969, respectively. During her junior year, she joined Phi Beta Kappa and in her senior year, she was granted the Listenfelt Scholarship, for outstanding Undergraduate History Major, following in 1961 with the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.
From 1965 to 1966, Professor Warnicke was an instructor at Phoenix College
. She went on to teach at Arizona State University
(ASU) as a Lecturer from 1966 to 1967. She then left to pursue her Ph.D.
before returning to ASU to continue as a Lecturer from 1969 to 1973. Warnicke rose through the ranks to Assistant Professor, then Associate Professor and finally Professor in 1973, 1976 and 1984, respectively. She was the Director of Graduate Studies at the History Department from 1987–1992, and she was Chair of the History Department from 1992-1998.
Professor Warnicke was the first woman hired in the History Department of ASU, and taught the first Women's History course ever offered there. Through her advocacy, lobbying efforts and participation in numerous search committees, the History Department began to add women and minority men to the department – and as a result, the History Department is nearly half female and has a large minority presence. In addition to her efforts in the History Department, Professor Warnicke has also devoted much of her time to affirmative action and faculty rights.
Professor Warnicke specializes on politics and protocol at the Tudor Court, Gender Issues in the Early Modern Period (1400 - c. 1700) and Jacobean Funerary Rites for Women. She authored numerous articles, including Inventing the Wicked Women of Tudor England: Alice More, Anne Boleyn
and Anne Stanhope and Sexual Heresy at the Court of Henry VIII. She is also the author of The Marrying of Anne of Cleves: Royal Protocol in Tudor England, which was published in 2000 by Cambridge. Her most recent book, Mary, Queen of Scots, which was published by Routledge in 2006, has received positive scholarly reviews.
She is best known for her controversial theories over the life of Henry VIII
's second wife, Anne Boleyn
. These theories were outlined in various articles in the mid-1980s; Anne Boleyn's Childhood and Adolescence and Sexual Heresy at the Court of Henry VIII. The theories were built on and elaborated in her 1989 book The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family politics at the court of Henry VIII.
Warnicke's theories were harshly criticised by some other historians - particularly E.W. Ives
and G.W. Bernard. She defended her arguments in a 1993 article The Fall of Anne Boleyn Revisited, although she did not insist on some points as rigorously as before. She suggested that Ives's theory on Anne's fall (that it was caused by foreign policy and palace politics) was based on an over-reliance on Spanish sources and that his theory on her youth was ridiculous. Warnicke was even harsher with G.W. Bernard's suggestion that Anne might have been guilty of adultery
in 1536. She called it a "dubious assertion" with no reliable documentary proof. She concluded:
In her "author's note" to bestseller The Other Boleyn Girl
, Philippa Gregory
said her novel's conclusion was based upon Warnicke's findings in The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn, but Warnicke has publicly distanced herself from the novel and its presentation of the Boleyns.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and Professor of History at Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
. Warnicke graduated with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, magna cum laude, in 1961. She then moved on to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where she earned her M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
and Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1963 and 1969, respectively. During her junior year, she joined Phi Beta Kappa and in her senior year, she was granted the Listenfelt Scholarship, for outstanding Undergraduate History Major, following in 1961 with the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.
From 1965 to 1966, Professor Warnicke was an instructor at Phoenix College
Phoenix College
Phoenix College is a community college located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country....
. She went on to teach at Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
(ASU) as a Lecturer from 1966 to 1967. She then left to pursue her Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
before returning to ASU to continue as a Lecturer from 1969 to 1973. Warnicke rose through the ranks to Assistant Professor, then Associate Professor and finally Professor in 1973, 1976 and 1984, respectively. She was the Director of Graduate Studies at the History Department from 1987–1992, and she was Chair of the History Department from 1992-1998.
Professor Warnicke was the first woman hired in the History Department of ASU, and taught the first Women's History course ever offered there. Through her advocacy, lobbying efforts and participation in numerous search committees, the History Department began to add women and minority men to the department – and as a result, the History Department is nearly half female and has a large minority presence. In addition to her efforts in the History Department, Professor Warnicke has also devoted much of her time to affirmative action and faculty rights.
Professor Warnicke specializes on politics and protocol at the Tudor Court, Gender Issues in the Early Modern Period (1400 - c. 1700) and Jacobean Funerary Rites for Women. She authored numerous articles, including Inventing the Wicked Women of Tudor England: Alice More, Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
and Anne Stanhope and Sexual Heresy at the Court of Henry VIII. She is also the author of The Marrying of Anne of Cleves: Royal Protocol in Tudor England, which was published in 2000 by Cambridge. Her most recent book, Mary, Queen of Scots, which was published by Routledge in 2006, has received positive scholarly reviews.
She is best known for her controversial theories over the life of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
's second wife, Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
. These theories were outlined in various articles in the mid-1980s; Anne Boleyn's Childhood and Adolescence and Sexual Heresy at the Court of Henry VIII. The theories were built on and elaborated in her 1989 book The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family politics at the court of Henry VIII.
Warnicke's Theories on Anne Boleyn
- She argued against the general theory that Anne BoleynAnne BoleynAnne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
was born around 1501. Instead, she believes that Anne was born much later - in the summer of 1507.
- The popular rumours that Anne had several small deformities—like an extra fingernail or moles—are incorrect, since rumours of deformities only began after Anne's death and no-one who met her ever commented on them; - "... the two [descriptions] cannot logically be reconciled to each other. Had there been even a hint of a deformity in Anne's appearance, the Venetian, as well as the Imperial ambassadors... would have eagerly revealed this intriguing fact to their respective governments."
- "For many historians Anne remains the lady with the extra fingernail who was too flirtatious, even if in a harmless courtly way, for her own safety and well being. The result of this interpretation is that the responsibility for her tragic death resides with her, the victim, rather than with the king and his ministers, the ones who orchestrated her execution."
- Most importantly, she argues that Anne miscarried a deformed fetus in January 1536 which fueled 16th-century fears of witchcraft and sexual deviance and led to her execution - "In an attempt to understand her by the terms of her society, information from a wide range of sources will be used to support the argument that she miscarried a defective fetus in 1536. It was because Henry VIII viewed this mishap as an evil omen, both for his lineage and his kingdom, that he had her accused of engaging in illicit sexual acts with five men and fostered rumors that she had afflicted him with impotence and had conspired to poison both his daughter MaryMary I of EnglandMary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
and his illegitimate son, Henry, duke of RichmondHenry FitzroyHenry Fitzroy may refer to:*Henry FitzRoy , illegitimate son of Henry I of England*Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, the only illegitimate child acknowledged by Henry VIII...
."
Warnicke's theories were harshly criticised by some other historians - particularly E.W. Ives
Eric Ives
Eric William Ives, OBE is a British historian and an expert on the Tudor period. He is Emeritus Professor of English History at the University of Birmingham...
and G.W. Bernard. She defended her arguments in a 1993 article The Fall of Anne Boleyn Revisited, although she did not insist on some points as rigorously as before. She suggested that Ives's theory on Anne's fall (that it was caused by foreign policy and palace politics) was based on an over-reliance on Spanish sources and that his theory on her youth was ridiculous. Warnicke was even harsher with G.W. Bernard's suggestion that Anne might have been guilty of adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
in 1536. She called it a "dubious assertion" with no reliable documentary proof. She concluded:
As long as the lurid charges against the Queen exist only in unsubstantiated indictments and contradictory diplomatic writings, historians ought to remain sceptical about factional theories of her adulterous guilt or of factional politics. At the least, they owe it to the past not to further obscure the facts.
In her "author's note" to bestseller The Other Boleyn Girl
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Other Boleyn Girl is a historical fiction novel written by British author Philippa Gregory, loosely based on the life of 16th-century aristocrat Mary Boleyn. Reviews were mixed; some said it was a brilliantly claustrophobic look at palace life in Tudor England, while others have consistently...
, Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory is an English novelist.-Early life and academic career:Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. When she was two years old, her family moved to England. She was a "rebel" at school, but managed to attend the University of Sussex...
said her novel's conclusion was based upon Warnicke's findings in The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn, but Warnicke has publicly distanced herself from the novel and its presentation of the Boleyns.