Random Firsthand Descriptions Of Historical Royals Really Looked Like (16 items)

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  (#5) Anne Boleyn

  • Dec. at 35 (1501-1536)

  Henry VIII created his own Protestant church so that he could divorce his first wife and marry Anne Boleyn in 1533. 

  But what did Boleyn - the woman who changed English history forever - actually look like? In 1532, Mario Savorgnano - a diplomat from Catholic Venice - wrote of Boleyn:

  Madam Anne is not one of the handsomest women in the world, she is of middling stature, swarthy complexion, long neck, wide mouth, bosom not much raised, and in fact has nothing but the English King's great appetite, and her eyes, which are black and beautiful, and take great effect on those who served the Queen [Catherine of Aragon] when she was on the throne.
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  (#15) Eleanor of Aquitaine

  • Dec. at 82 (1122-1204)

  At the peak of her power in the 12th century, Eleanor of Aquitaine was known as one of the best patrons of poets and artists in Europe. So it isn't surprising that the cultivator of "courtly love" poetry was also described in courtly terms.

  According to troubadour Bernard de Ventadour, Eleanor was "gracious, lovely, the embodiment of charm." She also possessed "lovely eyes and [a] noble countenance," as befits a queen.
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  (#14) Mehmed the Conqueror

  • Dec. at 49 (1432-1481)

  Mehmed II became the Ottoman sultan when only 12 - and he would keep stacking up achievements. At 21, Mehmed captured the city of Constantinople, bringing a final end to the millennium-old Byzantine Empire. From there, he pushed deeper into Europe, earning the sobriquet "The Conqueror."

  The Venetian diplomat Giacomo de' Languschi described the royal shortly after his conquest of Constantinople:

  The sovereign, the Grand Turk Mehmed Bey, is a young man of 26 years of age, well formed and of a stature rather above the average. He is skilled in the use of weapons. His appearance inspires fear rather than respect. He laughs rarely, is cautious in his judgments, and is endowed with great generosity. He shows great tenacity in all his undertakings, and bravery under all conditions. He aspires to equal the glory of Alexander the Great, and every day has histories of Rome and other nations read to him.
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  (#1) Henry VIII of England

  • Dec. at 56 (1491-1547)

  By the time King Henry VIII of England perished in 1547 at the age of 55, he weighed nearly 400 pounds. But as a young man, he was heralded as an athletic, handsome ruler who embodied kingly ideals. 

  One eyewitness to the young king's appearance was Sebastian Giustinian, the ambassador from Venice. In 1519, he wrote that 29-year-old Henry was "extremely handsome" and that "nature could not have done more for him." He continued:

  He is much handsomer than any other sovereign in Christendom; a great deal handsomer than the king of France; very fair, and his whole frame admirably proportioned. On hearing that Francis I [of France] wore a beard, he allowed his own to grow, and, as it is reddish, he has now a beard that looks like gold.
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  (#10) Ivan the Terrible

  • Dec. at 54 (1530-1584)

  Ivan IV - nicknamed Ivan the Terrible - is remembered for exhibiting paranoia and ruthlessness while he ruled as czar of Russia from 1547 to 1584. Two descriptions of Ivan reveal an imposing figure. According to Austrian ambassador Daniel von Buchau, who visited Ivan's court in the 1570s:

  He is very tall. His body is full of strength and quite thick, the large eyes that constantly run around him are watched carefully. His beard is red with a slight shade of blackness, quite long and thick, but the hair on the head, like most Russians, [he] shaves with a razor.

  Ivan Mikhailovich Katyrev-Rostovsky - husband of Ivan's daughter - characterized the czar in more explicit terms:

  Tsar Ivan was ugly in his appearance. His nose was long and sloppy. Tall, lean, he was at the same time broad-shouldered and muscular.
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  (#12) Catherine II of Russia

  • Dec. at 67 (1729-1796)

  German-born Catherine the Great became empress of Russia when she was 33 in 1762. As famous for her romantic life as for her political maneuvers, Catherine was a force of nature. 

  According to William Richardson, a British visitor to her court in the 1760s, the late-30-something empress made an impression:

  The Empress of Russia is taller than the middle size, very comely, gracefully formed, but inclined to grow corpulent; and of a fair complexion, which, like every other female in this country, she endeavours to improve by the addition of rouge. She has a fine mouth and teeth; and blue eyes, expressive of scrutiny, something not so good as observation, and not so bad as suspicion. Her features are in general regular and pleasing. Indeed, with regard to her appearance altogether, it would be doing her injustice to say it was masculine, yet it would not be doing her justice to say, it was entirely feminine.

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