Anne Boleyn, Lancelot de Carle, and the uses of documentary evidence

In this project Lancelot de Carle's 1536 poem about the life and execution of Anne Boleyn was translated into English and examined in the context of its prior use by historians and other scholars. Approximately half of the extant versions of the poem along with scholarly work on textual scholarship and editing and on translation were reviewed and analyzed prior to translation. Scholarly works on medieval and renaissance diplomacy and on the author of the poem, who was a diplomat, were examined to provide a context for the poem's creation. In addition, the poem's use as documentary evidence was considered in order to determine whether a translation of the poem into English suggested different conclusions about Anne Boleyn's life or highlighted the need for additional lines of inquiry.;This translation and the broader contextual setting used for this project demonstrate the value of a scholarly edition and translation for facilitating a more balanced and consistent use of the poem as evidence by historians. It also suggests the need for a critical edition of the poem. Use of the poem as documentary evidence has been eclectic, and some assumptions and conclusions are no longer supportable within the context of what is now known about printing and publishing history, and others are inconsistent with the requirements of textual scholarship. A more complete understanding of the poem's preparation and subsequent distribution are needed for a better understanding of the poem's origins, its validity as evidence, and its place in the schema of book history. In addition, recent scholarship suggests a reexamination of the author's career may affect assumptions about his purpose in writing and the means and reasons for the poem's subsequent distribution.