Anna Throndsen - Possible Involvement With The Casket Letters

Possible Involvement With The Casket Letters

Anna Throndsen is most famous in English and Scots history in relation to a set of correspondence called the Casket Letters. These are a set of letters which were found on the person of the servant of Bothwell, after his flight from Scotland. These letters were used in the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, to convict her of the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley. Most of the letters comprised a series of sonnets and poetry. At least some of the sonnets were supposed to have been written by Anna. Most British historians contest this, alleging that someone of Nordic nobility would not have had sufficient knowledge of French to draft such prose. Handwriting analysis has also led to dismissal of this speculation, though rumors persist. Such historical analysis does not take into consideration the international background of the family, which regularly moved throughout Europe during her childhood, and being nobility would have spoken fluent French.