We have 4 prizes. I know. Amazing. I’ll do some complicated thing where the first out of the hat gets to chose, the second to chose from the remaining 3 and so on.

 A Henry VIII silver Half Groat from Halls Hammered Coins

I search for coins from time to time, and Simon Hall’s site I found the easiest to use with the best choice, best presented. I happened to send an email, and discovered that Simon listened to the podcast which was great, and then Simon sent me a bag of silver coins, all for free which was brilliant.

This coin he has also donated which is ever more lovely of him. It is an object contemporary with the time we are debating, it has passed through countless hands; maybe one of them saw Anne Boleyn, who knows?!

Claire Ridgway: her book ‘The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown’ or her online course ‘The Life of Anne Boleyn’

Claire Ridgway has very kindly donated the prize, and I am as pleased as Punch that she’s doing a guest episode on 25th October on why Anne was killed. She’s the author of a load of best-selling books including  George Boleyn, The Fall of Anne Boleyn and others. She was also involved in the English translation and editing of Edmond Bapst’s 19th century French biography of George Boleyn.

Claire’s also created  the brilliant website The Anne Boleyn Files. It’s got more information that you could dare to hope for, and I’ve referred to it throughout my podcasts – and creating  a mini index for a few topics. Claire worked in education and freelance writing before creating the website and becoming a full-time history researcher, blogger and author.

The Anne Boleyn Files is known for its historical accuracy and for Claire’s mission to get to the truth behind Anne Boleyn’s story. Her writing is easy-to-read and conversational, and readers often comment on how reading Claire’s books is like having a coffee with her and chatting about history.

Natalie Grueninger,  her book “In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn”, co-authored with Sarah Morris

Natalie Grueninger has very kindly donated this prize, PLUS she’s doing a guest episode on 18th October which I know you will enjoy. She is a researcher, writer and educator, living in Australia with her husband and two children. In 2009 she created On the Tudor Trail, a website dedicated to documenting historic sites and buildings associated with Anne Boleyn and sharing information about the life and times of Henry VIII’s second wife – which again I can heartily recommend, and have been on to many times. 

Her first non-fiction book, co-authored with Sarah Morris, ‘In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn’, was published by Amberley Publishing in the UK in September 2013. Book number two in the series, ‘In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII’, was released in the UK in March 2016.  She also completed ‘Discovering Tudor London’, which was published in the UK by The History Press in August 2017.

Lucy Churchill’s ‘The Moost Happi’ portrait medallion

In 1534, Anne was pregnant. In the excited certainty of a male heir, a medallion was designed in celebration; sadly, Anne miscarried and the project was abandoned. Then along came a stone carver, Lucy Churchill, who painstakingly reconstructed the image. This prize is therefore a copy of that original medallion, the most authentic likeness we have. Don’t take my word for it:

• ‘Lucy Churchill’s reconstruction of The Moost Happi portrait medal is the best image we are ever likely to have of Anne Boleyn.’ (Professor David Starkey)
• ‘Lucy Churchill’s brilliant achievement has brought us as close to the real Anne Boleyn  as we shall ever be able to get.’ (Professor Eric Ives)
• ‘Through meticulous research Lucy Churchill has created an authentic replica of the medal of Anne Boleyn, as it would have looked originally.  A must for anyone interested in Anne Boleyn!’ (Alison Weir)

The story of how Lucy researched and reconstructed the medallion, and the other exquisite carvings she has done, as as interesting as the medallion itself. Go and have a look at Lucy Churchill’s website