Reputation
Although Anne was originally disliked by the chroniclers, there is some evidence that she became more popular in time. She was known to have been a very kind person and popular with the people of England, for example she was well known for her tireless attempts to 'intercede' on behalf of the people, procuring pardons for people in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, and numerous other pardons for wrongdoers.
She also made several high-status intercessions in front of the king. She interceded on behalf of Simon Burley, Richard II's former tutor during his minority, in the 1388 Merciless Parliament. She was also on her knees for the citizens of London in the ceremonial reconciliation of Richard and London in 1391.
On the other hand, she never fulfilled many traditional duties of queens. In particular, she did not bear children, despite 12 years of marriage, and this is perhaps emphasised in her epitaph, whereby she is mentioned as having been kind to 'pregnant women'. The Evesham chronicler said, "this queen, although she did not bear children, was still held to have contributed to the glory and wealth of the realm, as far as she was able". Nevertheless, the fact that her popular legacy seems to have been that she was "Good Queen Anne" seems to suggest that this lack of children was unimportant to many contemporaries.
Read more about this topic: Anne Of Bohemia
Famous quotes containing the word reputation:
“You know what the critics are. If you tell the truth they only say you’re cynical and it does an author no good to get a reputation for cynicism.”
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965)
“The relatives of a suicide hold it against him that out of consideration for their reputation he did not remain alive.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“A prince must be prudent enough to know how to escape the bad reputation of those vices that would lose the state for him, and must protect himself from those that will not lose it for him, if this is possible; but if he cannot, he need not concern himself unduly if he ignores these less serious vices.”
—Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527)