Anne Boleyn
"And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me."
The name Anne Boleyn is a well known one. Second wife of the notorious King Henry VIII, Anne's marriage to the king brought about not only her own demise, but also the beginning of the split between the Catholic Church and the Church of England. Of course, it was never her intentions to be such an influential character in history, nor even ever her intention to become queen of England.
Despite the fact that Anne plays a major role in English history, not much is known about her early years. In fact, nobody is even quite sure when exactly she was born. It is believed that she was born around 1500 or 1507, probably in Norfolk in the Spring. The exact year of her birth remains undetermined, as evidence has been found to support either date.
Daughter of Thomas Boleyn, later to become Earl of Wiltshire, and Lady Elizabeth Howard, Anne was already one of the English upper class, and as such lived in Hever Castle in Kent. Anne had two siblings. It is believed that Anne was the middle child, Mary being the oldest, and George being the youngest.
In 1513, Anne was invited to the school of Margaret Archduchess of Austria, which was a place where she would learn the common practices of women of her social standing. While she did learn some schooling that would be common in schools today, such as reading, writing, and math, much of what she learned was domestic skills, fit for a woman of the day. She would have learned things such as good manners for women, how to manage a household (which was much more difficult and extensive for English upper-class women than for American women today), various needlework, singing, dancing. She likely would have also learned how to play various card games, which could prove useful as a hostess, and things like archery and horseback riding, which were common practices for the English upper-class. Ordinarily, a girl would have to be at least 12 years old to be given the honor of such learning, but she might have been younger, given the fact that the Archduchess had taken a shine to Anne's father.
In fact, the whole reason Anne had been invited to study in the Netherlands with the Archduchess was because of Thomas Boleyn. He was a very accomplished man for the day. Being friends and a favorite of King Henry VII, he was often sent abroad on diplomatic missions. Being not only accomplished, but quite charming, Thomas captured the attention and fondness of quite a few people, the Archduchess being one of them.
By the time Anne was ready to leave Margaret in 1514, Margaret had a very high opinion of Anne as well, saying she was pleasant and very well spoken for her age. Margaret was likely a bit sad to see Anne go, as she was quoted to say "[she was] so presentable and so pleasant, considering her youthful age, that I am more beholden to you for sending her to me, than you to me"
After her stay in the Netherlands, Anne was sent by her father to France to attend Queen Mary, sister of King Henry VIII, and then betrothed to Louis the XII of France.
Anne was the maid of honor, or Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen. This did not mean she was a servant by any means, more like a constant companion. Anne would attend the Queen as a sort of hired friend, although they likely became actual friends in the process. This wasn't because Anne or her family needed money, but rather it was an honor. It was not uncommon for upper-class women to attend even higher ranking women, and who could be higher in rank than a Queen?
In addition to Queen Mary, Anne attended Mary's stepdaughter, Claude. Anne stayed there, attending the royal family, for almost 7 years.
During her stay, Anne finished her study of French (where better to learn French than in France?) and began to develop her own interests beyond her schooling. As was the case for many women of her class in that day and age, Anne had ample time to devote to her own interests, which included art, fashion, literature, music, poetry, illuminated manuscripts (which were basically just pretty books with drawings around the words), and religious philosophy. As she was becoming a young woman there, she also gained some knowledge (and no doubt practice) of flirting and the game that was courtly love. Anne also picked up on French dance, which was later noted by William Forrest in his poem about Catherine of Aragon. She was apparently quite good at it.
While Anne had inherited her father's incredible charm, there are quite a few debates on her appearance. With an olive complexion, dark hair and even darker eyes, and a very prominent and well defined nose, different people who knew her described her differently, some claiming she was a beautiful young woman with an excellent figure, and others saying she was kind of homely with sagging breasts. Either way, it is unlikely that it was her looks that won her so many admirers. Most people considered her to be an elegant and charming woman, who was extremely clever and passionate, but still sweet and cheerful generally. She liked playing cards, which no doubt made her interesting company, and enjoyed the French food and wines. She enjoyed gossiping, which made her popular among the other court gossips, and flirting, which made her popular with the men. Although it must also be noted that while Anne was generally fun to be around, she had a sharp tongue and harsh temper.
During her time in France, Anne devoted herself to being a Christian, and was heavily religious, leaning strongly towards more protestant beliefs.
In 1515, the 7th Earl of Ormond died, leaving his two daughters, Margaret Boleyn and Anne St Leger as co-heiresses to his title. Instead of the title going straight to one of them, Sir Piers Butler from Ireland, great-great-grandson to the 3rd Earl of Ormond, contested the will and tried to claim the title for himself, despite the fact that he already had Kilkenny Castle. Anne's father, feeling he had the right to the earldom, being the son of the eldest daughter to inherit the title, brought the matter to a friend, who then brought the matter before the king. Hoping to avoid a civil war in Ireland, King Henry arranged a marriage between Anne and Pier's son, James. She would inherit Ormond and bring it into the marriage as a dowry, and end the dispute. For whatever reason, the marriage didn't end up happening.
In 1522, her time in France came to an end as her father brought her back to England, for the first time in years.
Mary Boleyn, Anne's sister, had been called away from France, rumors saying because of her affair with the King of France. In February of 1520, Mary got married to William Carrey, who was a minor noble. King Henry VIII attended the wedding, and shortly after, Mary became the king's mistress (how this happened after she got married is beyond me, she must have had quite a time of it).
Anne debuted as an available young woman at Green Castle on March 4, 1522. While there, she danced alongside her sister, as well as King Henry's sister, also named Mary, along with several other ladies of the court.
She very quickly became one of the most stylish and accomplished women in the court, and before too long, a string of would-be lovers were competing for her attention.
During her time in the court, Anne began a relationship with Henry Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland. They became secretly engaged, but the match was not meant to be. According to some sources, it was because Percy's grandfather disagreed with the match and Anne was sent back to the countryside with her family for a short time after the engagement was broken off. Some say it was because the King had already taken an interest in Anne, as the two undoubtedly already knew one another, and therefore forbid the match himself. Either way, the two had to part ways.
Sometime after breaking off her engagement with Percy and before her marriage to the King, Anne had some sort of relationship with Sir Thomas Wyatt, although the exact timing and nature of their relationship is unknown. Wyatt was married but in 1525, he divorced his wife on the grounds that she cheated on him, although there is no way to be certain that this was true.
It's unsure when King Henry first made advances towards Anne, but the two had certainly known each other for quite some time, given the fact that Anne's sister was the King's mistress.
There were several love letters sent to Anne in the King's own writing, begging her to come and be his sole mistress. Anne, however, refused to accompany the King to bed, and would only be with him if she were crowned Queen and made his wife. This was likely one of the reasons the King was seeking to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, who also happened to be Henry's brother's widow. Catherine only had one child who lived, and it was a girl. The King saw this inability to have a son as a punishment from God, and believed that the Pope had no right to tell the King he couldn't divorce Catherine.
While I don't believe that Anne originally intended the King to divorce his wife to marry her, she no doubt became impatient in the long wait that would follow while the King kept her around like arm candy. Anne was very religious, and likely her reasons for not wanting to be his mistress stemmed from that, and not a plot to overthrow the Queen and take her place.
In 1528, a strange disease swept the court and forced Anne, as well as the King, to retreat to their respective homes away from the court in London. Anne managed to get the Sweating Sickness, which was an odd plague that caused the victim to sweat profusely and often die within several hours of contracting the disease. The King sent his own doctor to care for Anne, and she managed to recover. Her brother-in-law, however, did not.
Once the danger of the illness had passed, getting rid of Catherine became the King's single consuming goal. This wasn't going to be an easy task however, as the Pope disagreed with him. The King wouldn't be allowed to divorce her until a decision was reached in Rome by the Holy Roman Church. The main obstacle at that time was Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He favored Queen Catherine, and as such didn't want Anne taking her place.
While the King didn't particularly want to get on the bad side of the Church, he eventually had Wolsey arrested, and he might have had him executed for treason, except that he died in prison in 1530. A year later, the King banished his wife from court and Anne took up her residence.
Anne had been a popular person before all this, and so it was probably disheartening for her that the public didn't want her as Queen. They still preferred Catherine, who had been unfairly banished from her home and her husband.
Before Anne's marriage to the King, she still held huge political sway, as the King gave her special rights. She basically filled the role of Queen for a time without actually holding the title.
In London in early 1533, a private wedding was held between Anne and the King. While his marriage to Catherine had not been recognized as null and void yet by the Church, it is rumored that Anne was likely pregnant already, and if she were to have a son before being married and crowned as Queen, he would be seen as a bastard child and not eligible to be heir to the throne.
After this, events moved much quicker, and a few months later, Cranmer, who was now Archbishop of Canterbury, ruled that the marriage between Catherine and King Henry was void, and recognized his marriage to Anne.
On June 1, 1533, Catherine was officially stripped of her title of Queen and Anne was crowned. The public's acceptance of Anne was neither hot nor cold, but the majority still disagreed with the marriage.
By now, the Pope decided to excommunicate the King, and Cranmer as well, who had endorsed the marriage. The Pope refused to acknowledge the King's marriage to Anne and demanded that he return to Catherine, his first wife.
At this point, people had to pick a side. The Protestant Reformation was being ushered in by the King's refusal to obey the Catholic church. Anyone who would not side with the King was thrown into the Tower of London. In 1534, Parliament declared the King to be the 'only supreme head on earth of the Church of England'.
Rome no longer ruled the Church of England, and the Protestant Reformation entered in full swing. Even before she was crowned Queen, Anne protected anyone who wished to study the Tyndale Bible. Anne's marriage to the King had started a reformation that would be a power struggle for years to come.
After her coronation, Anne settled her residence at Greenwich Palace to await the birth of her child, whom she was confident was a boy.
On September 7, 1533, Anne gave birth to a girl. While this was a harsh blow on both her parents, they still celebrated her birth and her christening, naming the child Elizabeth. Anne feared that her daughter would not be given the title of Queen when the time came, as Catherine also had a daughter, Mary, who was now considered a bastard child, since the King no longer claimed her. However, Henry settled Anne's fears and the child was raised like the princess she was.
While the King and Anne enjoyed some happy times, Anne's temper and forward manners, while acceptable and even looked for in a Mistress, were unacceptable in a wife. This no doubt caused many heated arguments between the two, and after a stillborn in 1534, Henry was already trying to find a way to divorce Anne and not have to remarry Catherine.
Nothing came of this discussion of divorce, and by the next summer Anne was pregnant again and the two were patching things up.
Anne spent ridiculous amounts of money on clothes and remodeling the King's various castle's to her taste. Of course, part of her spending was to maintain the image required of her royal status, but Henry was no small spender either. Together, the two spent massive amounts of money.
On January 8, 1536, Anne and her husband received word that Catherine had died. Overjoyed, they celebrated instead of mourning. Now, the King could legitimately claim Anne as his wife, no matter what.
Unfortunately, this also meant that in the eyes of the Catholic Church, the King was not married at all. Anne was well aware of the dangers to herself if she couldn't produce a son, and quickly. I'm sure it didn't help matters that the King was beginning to show attention to Jane Seymour. Reportedly, the King gave Jane a locket with a picture of himself inside it, which Jane began to show off in the company of Anne, who responded with ripping the locket off Jane's neck.
Around the same time as he began to show interest in Jane, King Henry was knocked off his horse in a jousting tournament, which knocked him unconscious and may have done unseen damage to his brain, accounting for his harsh actions later. Anne was, needless to say, extremely worried about him after this. Between the stress of her husbands injury, his recent attentions to another woman, and the constant worry of having a son, Anne miscarried days after the King's accident. Evidence indicates that the child, at least 3 months progressed, had been a boy.
As Anne recovered from her traumatic miscarriage, the King decided that he had been tricked into marrying Anne by deception or spells. Jane Seymour, now the King's Mistress, was moved into the royal quarters while Anne was removed.
This was the beginning of the end for Anne Boleyn.
Mark Smeaton, a musician in Anne's service, was arrested. While at first he denied having been Anne's lover, he eventually confessed, although it was likely only because he was so horribly tortured.
Next, Henry Norris, an aristocrat, was arrested. He couldn't be tortured, given his status, and he also denied the accusations of being one of Anne's lovers. He stuck by her, claiming she was innocent. However, someone claimed to have overheard a conversation between him and Anne were she accused him of coming to her chambers too often.
Two days later, Sir Frances Weston and William Brereton, one of the King's attendants, were arrested and also accused of sleeping with the Queen.
Sir Thomas Wyatt, who had been in love with Anne before her marriage to the King, was also arrested under the same charges, but he was released, most likely due to his family's friendship with Cromwell. Sir Richard Page was also one of the accused, but nobody could find a scrap of evidence against him, so he was acquitted.
The last one to be arrested in this odd string of supposed lovers was Anne's own brother, George, who was not only accused of treason for sleeping with the Queen, but incest, as it was his own sister.
On May 2, 1536, Anne herself was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. Once in the Tower, she collapsed, and demanded to know where her father was, as well as what charges were brought against her, as at this point, she had no idea why she was there.
It is reported that Anne wrote a final letter to the King, which pleaded for her life, saying that she knew that the reason he wanted her out of the picture was because of Jane, but she had never been unfaithful to him. She also begged that if the King must kill her, that he would at least spare the poor men who were being dragged down with her. All in all, the letter was heart-wrenching, and Anne probably shed many a bitter tear. She might perhaps have wondered if Catherine had felt similar hatred for her as she felt for Jane Seymour, although Catherine was merely banished and not put on trial to be executed.
Four of the accused men were tried on May 12, 1536. All but Anne's musician maintained their's and Anne's innocence, but the tortured musician sided with the King and claimed to have been one of Anne's lovers.
On May 14, just one day before Anne's trial, Cranmer, who previously had recognized the royal union of Anne and King, declared their marriage to be null and void.
Three days after the first four men were tried, Anne and her brother were tried at the Tower of London. She was accused of adultery, incest, and high treason. Treason, because she was Queen, and adultery from the Queen was seen as treason. She was also accused of having plotted with her lovers to murder the King, another form of treason.
Among the Jurors, who would find Anne guilty, sat her once beloved and betrothed, Henry Percy. When the verdict was announced, and Anne sentenced to death, Percy reportedly passed out and had to be carried out of the courtroom. He died eight months later, undoubtedly of heartbreak (remember, the two had loved each other and only didn't marry because their union would have been impossible).
Even though there was very little, very shaky evidence that would be laughed at in a modern day court, all the accused were condemned to die. The men accused were all executed together on May 17, 1536, including George Boleyn.
While Anne no doubt cried often while imprisoned, on Friday, May 19, 1536, she was unusually joyful. According to William Kingston, Constable of the Tower, Anne seemed to be happy, and so tired of life she couldn't wait for it to be over.
Anne maintained her innocence to her death, and never once slandered the King.
On the morning of May 19, Anne was lead across the green to a scaffold where she would be beheaded.
Anne then gave a moving speech, which showed her true character, to those who were in attendance, which consisted of Cromwell and most of the King's court, though not the King himself. This was not a public execution, but there were still quite a few people there.
"Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the King and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle, and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. Oh Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul."
According to some, Anne's voice quivered with emotion at the start of the speech, but by the end she spoke kindly and strongly. There wasn't a dry eye among those gathered.
Perhaps in an act of mercy, King Henry had ordered a French swordsman to execute her, using a sword instead of an axe. Beheadings were often botched and horrendous experiences, as the executioner, a masked man who would remain unknown, was often drunk, and used a heavy axe. As a result, often times it would take several tries to get the head off, the executioner instead often hitting the shoulders and prolonging the person's death with painful torture.
After a brief farewell to the weeping ladies who attended her, one of her ladies tied a blindfold over her eyes. She knelt upright, in the style of a French execution. The last words to escape her lips were a prayer, commending her soul to God.
I single strike and Anne's head was severed from her body, ending her tortured time on earth.
It is said Cranmer broke down into tears after telling someone "She who has been Queen of England on earth will today be a Queen in heaven." While Cranmer may have pronounced her marriage null and void, he was astonished that the King could say such things about her, and was reportedly found weeping in a friend's garden after her death.
Anne was buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. It was only hundreds of years later, in 1876, that her skeleton was found and identified and given a burial and a marker.
After Anne's death, King Henry married Jane Seymour, who gave him a son.
Anne's life was certainly not what she had hoped it would be. She never intended to replace the still living Queen of England, and once she had, she devoted herself to the man who would eventually end her life.
I find it interesting that, while Anne was reported to have a horrible temper, she never once slandered the King. Even though the accusations against her were false, and she knew it was because he loved another woman, she still never said a word against him. Not only that, but she continued to maintain her innocence in the most gentle way possible.
Despite some of the horrible things that happened to her, and she did, Anne Boleyn seemed like the kind of person who genuinely wanted to do the right thing and follow her God. While she was a favorite of the King, and couldn't really deny him much, she never agreed to being his mistress, which was kind of a big deal. Clearly, women didn't deny King Henry VIII as it was rumored that sometimes he had several mistresses at one time.
I also find it very noble of her to never once call him out on his infidelity in front of his subjects. While she was accused of high treason for alleged adultery, the whole reason he married her was because he wanted to commit adultry with her, and she refused.
In the end, I find Anne Boleyn to be a very graceful and noble woman, despite her misfortunes and mistakes. Anne was a good wife, and a good queen.
-Anne Boleyn
The name Anne Boleyn is a well known one. Second wife of the notorious King Henry VIII, Anne's marriage to the king brought about not only her own demise, but also the beginning of the split between the Catholic Church and the Church of England. Of course, it was never her intentions to be such an influential character in history, nor even ever her intention to become queen of England.
Despite the fact that Anne plays a major role in English history, not much is known about her early years. In fact, nobody is even quite sure when exactly she was born. It is believed that she was born around 1500 or 1507, probably in Norfolk in the Spring. The exact year of her birth remains undetermined, as evidence has been found to support either date.Daughter of Thomas Boleyn, later to become Earl of Wiltshire, and Lady Elizabeth Howard, Anne was already one of the English upper class, and as such lived in Hever Castle in Kent. Anne had two siblings. It is believed that Anne was the middle child, Mary being the oldest, and George being the youngest.
In 1513, Anne was invited to the school of Margaret Archduchess of Austria, which was a place where she would learn the common practices of women of her social standing. While she did learn some schooling that would be common in schools today, such as reading, writing, and math, much of what she learned was domestic skills, fit for a woman of the day. She would have learned things such as good manners for women, how to manage a household (which was much more difficult and extensive for English upper-class women than for American women today), various needlework, singing, dancing. She likely would have also learned how to play various card games, which could prove useful as a hostess, and things like archery and horseback riding, which were common practices for the English upper-class. Ordinarily, a girl would have to be at least 12 years old to be given the honor of such learning, but she might have been younger, given the fact that the Archduchess had taken a shine to Anne's father.
In fact, the whole reason Anne had been invited to study in the Netherlands with the Archduchess was because of Thomas Boleyn. He was a very accomplished man for the day. Being friends and a favorite of King Henry VII, he was often sent abroad on diplomatic missions. Being not only accomplished, but quite charming, Thomas captured the attention and fondness of quite a few people, the Archduchess being one of them.
By the time Anne was ready to leave Margaret in 1514, Margaret had a very high opinion of Anne as well, saying she was pleasant and very well spoken for her age. Margaret was likely a bit sad to see Anne go, as she was quoted to say "[she was] so presentable and so pleasant, considering her youthful age, that I am more beholden to you for sending her to me, than you to me"
After her stay in the Netherlands, Anne was sent by her father to France to attend Queen Mary, sister of King Henry VIII, and then betrothed to Louis the XII of France.
Anne was the maid of honor, or Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen. This did not mean she was a servant by any means, more like a constant companion. Anne would attend the Queen as a sort of hired friend, although they likely became actual friends in the process. This wasn't because Anne or her family needed money, but rather it was an honor. It was not uncommon for upper-class women to attend even higher ranking women, and who could be higher in rank than a Queen?
In addition to Queen Mary, Anne attended Mary's stepdaughter, Claude. Anne stayed there, attending the royal family, for almost 7 years.
During her stay, Anne finished her study of French (where better to learn French than in France?) and began to develop her own interests beyond her schooling. As was the case for many women of her class in that day and age, Anne had ample time to devote to her own interests, which included art, fashion, literature, music, poetry, illuminated manuscripts (which were basically just pretty books with drawings around the words), and religious philosophy. As she was becoming a young woman there, she also gained some knowledge (and no doubt practice) of flirting and the game that was courtly love. Anne also picked up on French dance, which was later noted by William Forrest in his poem about Catherine of Aragon. She was apparently quite good at it.
While Anne had inherited her father's incredible charm, there are quite a few debates on her appearance. With an olive complexion, dark hair and even darker eyes, and a very prominent and well defined nose, different people who knew her described her differently, some claiming she was a beautiful young woman with an excellent figure, and others saying she was kind of homely with sagging breasts. Either way, it is unlikely that it was her looks that won her so many admirers. Most people considered her to be an elegant and charming woman, who was extremely clever and passionate, but still sweet and cheerful generally. She liked playing cards, which no doubt made her interesting company, and enjoyed the French food and wines. She enjoyed gossiping, which made her popular among the other court gossips, and flirting, which made her popular with the men. Although it must also be noted that while Anne was generally fun to be around, she had a sharp tongue and harsh temper.
During her time in France, Anne devoted herself to being a Christian, and was heavily religious, leaning strongly towards more protestant beliefs.
In 1515, the 7th Earl of Ormond died, leaving his two daughters, Margaret Boleyn and Anne St Leger as co-heiresses to his title. Instead of the title going straight to one of them, Sir Piers Butler from Ireland, great-great-grandson to the 3rd Earl of Ormond, contested the will and tried to claim the title for himself, despite the fact that he already had Kilkenny Castle. Anne's father, feeling he had the right to the earldom, being the son of the eldest daughter to inherit the title, brought the matter to a friend, who then brought the matter before the king. Hoping to avoid a civil war in Ireland, King Henry arranged a marriage between Anne and Pier's son, James. She would inherit Ormond and bring it into the marriage as a dowry, and end the dispute. For whatever reason, the marriage didn't end up happening.
In 1522, her time in France came to an end as her father brought her back to England, for the first time in years.
Mary Boleyn, Anne's sister, had been called away from France, rumors saying because of her affair with the King of France. In February of 1520, Mary got married to William Carrey, who was a minor noble. King Henry VIII attended the wedding, and shortly after, Mary became the king's mistress (how this happened after she got married is beyond me, she must have had quite a time of it).
Anne debuted as an available young woman at Green Castle on March 4, 1522. While there, she danced alongside her sister, as well as King Henry's sister, also named Mary, along with several other ladies of the court.
She very quickly became one of the most stylish and accomplished women in the court, and before too long, a string of would-be lovers were competing for her attention.
During her time in the court, Anne began a relationship with Henry Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland. They became secretly engaged, but the match was not meant to be. According to some sources, it was because Percy's grandfather disagreed with the match and Anne was sent back to the countryside with her family for a short time after the engagement was broken off. Some say it was because the King had already taken an interest in Anne, as the two undoubtedly already knew one another, and therefore forbid the match himself. Either way, the two had to part ways.
Sometime after breaking off her engagement with Percy and before her marriage to the King, Anne had some sort of relationship with Sir Thomas Wyatt, although the exact timing and nature of their relationship is unknown. Wyatt was married but in 1525, he divorced his wife on the grounds that she cheated on him, although there is no way to be certain that this was true.
It's unsure when King Henry first made advances towards Anne, but the two had certainly known each other for quite some time, given the fact that Anne's sister was the King's mistress.
There were several love letters sent to Anne in the King's own writing, begging her to come and be his sole mistress. Anne, however, refused to accompany the King to bed, and would only be with him if she were crowned Queen and made his wife. This was likely one of the reasons the King was seeking to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, who also happened to be Henry's brother's widow. Catherine only had one child who lived, and it was a girl. The King saw this inability to have a son as a punishment from God, and believed that the Pope had no right to tell the King he couldn't divorce Catherine.
While I don't believe that Anne originally intended the King to divorce his wife to marry her, she no doubt became impatient in the long wait that would follow while the King kept her around like arm candy. Anne was very religious, and likely her reasons for not wanting to be his mistress stemmed from that, and not a plot to overthrow the Queen and take her place.
In 1528, a strange disease swept the court and forced Anne, as well as the King, to retreat to their respective homes away from the court in London. Anne managed to get the Sweating Sickness, which was an odd plague that caused the victim to sweat profusely and often die within several hours of contracting the disease. The King sent his own doctor to care for Anne, and she managed to recover. Her brother-in-law, however, did not.
Once the danger of the illness had passed, getting rid of Catherine became the King's single consuming goal. This wasn't going to be an easy task however, as the Pope disagreed with him. The King wouldn't be allowed to divorce her until a decision was reached in Rome by the Holy Roman Church. The main obstacle at that time was Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He favored Queen Catherine, and as such didn't want Anne taking her place.
While the King didn't particularly want to get on the bad side of the Church, he eventually had Wolsey arrested, and he might have had him executed for treason, except that he died in prison in 1530. A year later, the King banished his wife from court and Anne took up her residence.
Anne had been a popular person before all this, and so it was probably disheartening for her that the public didn't want her as Queen. They still preferred Catherine, who had been unfairly banished from her home and her husband.
Before Anne's marriage to the King, she still held huge political sway, as the King gave her special rights. She basically filled the role of Queen for a time without actually holding the title.
In London in early 1533, a private wedding was held between Anne and the King. While his marriage to Catherine had not been recognized as null and void yet by the Church, it is rumored that Anne was likely pregnant already, and if she were to have a son before being married and crowned as Queen, he would be seen as a bastard child and not eligible to be heir to the throne.
After this, events moved much quicker, and a few months later, Cranmer, who was now Archbishop of Canterbury, ruled that the marriage between Catherine and King Henry was void, and recognized his marriage to Anne.
On June 1, 1533, Catherine was officially stripped of her title of Queen and Anne was crowned. The public's acceptance of Anne was neither hot nor cold, but the majority still disagreed with the marriage.
By now, the Pope decided to excommunicate the King, and Cranmer as well, who had endorsed the marriage. The Pope refused to acknowledge the King's marriage to Anne and demanded that he return to Catherine, his first wife.
At this point, people had to pick a side. The Protestant Reformation was being ushered in by the King's refusal to obey the Catholic church. Anyone who would not side with the King was thrown into the Tower of London. In 1534, Parliament declared the King to be the 'only supreme head on earth of the Church of England'.
Rome no longer ruled the Church of England, and the Protestant Reformation entered in full swing. Even before she was crowned Queen, Anne protected anyone who wished to study the Tyndale Bible. Anne's marriage to the King had started a reformation that would be a power struggle for years to come.
After her coronation, Anne settled her residence at Greenwich Palace to await the birth of her child, whom she was confident was a boy.
On September 7, 1533, Anne gave birth to a girl. While this was a harsh blow on both her parents, they still celebrated her birth and her christening, naming the child Elizabeth. Anne feared that her daughter would not be given the title of Queen when the time came, as Catherine also had a daughter, Mary, who was now considered a bastard child, since the King no longer claimed her. However, Henry settled Anne's fears and the child was raised like the princess she was.
While the King and Anne enjoyed some happy times, Anne's temper and forward manners, while acceptable and even looked for in a Mistress, were unacceptable in a wife. This no doubt caused many heated arguments between the two, and after a stillborn in 1534, Henry was already trying to find a way to divorce Anne and not have to remarry Catherine.
Nothing came of this discussion of divorce, and by the next summer Anne was pregnant again and the two were patching things up.
Anne spent ridiculous amounts of money on clothes and remodeling the King's various castle's to her taste. Of course, part of her spending was to maintain the image required of her royal status, but Henry was no small spender either. Together, the two spent massive amounts of money.
On January 8, 1536, Anne and her husband received word that Catherine had died. Overjoyed, they celebrated instead of mourning. Now, the King could legitimately claim Anne as his wife, no matter what.
Unfortunately, this also meant that in the eyes of the Catholic Church, the King was not married at all. Anne was well aware of the dangers to herself if she couldn't produce a son, and quickly. I'm sure it didn't help matters that the King was beginning to show attention to Jane Seymour. Reportedly, the King gave Jane a locket with a picture of himself inside it, which Jane began to show off in the company of Anne, who responded with ripping the locket off Jane's neck.
Around the same time as he began to show interest in Jane, King Henry was knocked off his horse in a jousting tournament, which knocked him unconscious and may have done unseen damage to his brain, accounting for his harsh actions later. Anne was, needless to say, extremely worried about him after this. Between the stress of her husbands injury, his recent attentions to another woman, and the constant worry of having a son, Anne miscarried days after the King's accident. Evidence indicates that the child, at least 3 months progressed, had been a boy.
As Anne recovered from her traumatic miscarriage, the King decided that he had been tricked into marrying Anne by deception or spells. Jane Seymour, now the King's Mistress, was moved into the royal quarters while Anne was removed.
This was the beginning of the end for Anne Boleyn.
Mark Smeaton, a musician in Anne's service, was arrested. While at first he denied having been Anne's lover, he eventually confessed, although it was likely only because he was so horribly tortured.
Next, Henry Norris, an aristocrat, was arrested. He couldn't be tortured, given his status, and he also denied the accusations of being one of Anne's lovers. He stuck by her, claiming she was innocent. However, someone claimed to have overheard a conversation between him and Anne were she accused him of coming to her chambers too often.
Two days later, Sir Frances Weston and William Brereton, one of the King's attendants, were arrested and also accused of sleeping with the Queen.
Sir Thomas Wyatt, who had been in love with Anne before her marriage to the King, was also arrested under the same charges, but he was released, most likely due to his family's friendship with Cromwell. Sir Richard Page was also one of the accused, but nobody could find a scrap of evidence against him, so he was acquitted.
The last one to be arrested in this odd string of supposed lovers was Anne's own brother, George, who was not only accused of treason for sleeping with the Queen, but incest, as it was his own sister.
On May 2, 1536, Anne herself was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. Once in the Tower, she collapsed, and demanded to know where her father was, as well as what charges were brought against her, as at this point, she had no idea why she was there.
It is reported that Anne wrote a final letter to the King, which pleaded for her life, saying that she knew that the reason he wanted her out of the picture was because of Jane, but she had never been unfaithful to him. She also begged that if the King must kill her, that he would at least spare the poor men who were being dragged down with her. All in all, the letter was heart-wrenching, and Anne probably shed many a bitter tear. She might perhaps have wondered if Catherine had felt similar hatred for her as she felt for Jane Seymour, although Catherine was merely banished and not put on trial to be executed.
Four of the accused men were tried on May 12, 1536. All but Anne's musician maintained their's and Anne's innocence, but the tortured musician sided with the King and claimed to have been one of Anne's lovers.
On May 14, just one day before Anne's trial, Cranmer, who previously had recognized the royal union of Anne and King, declared their marriage to be null and void.
Three days after the first four men were tried, Anne and her brother were tried at the Tower of London. She was accused of adultery, incest, and high treason. Treason, because she was Queen, and adultery from the Queen was seen as treason. She was also accused of having plotted with her lovers to murder the King, another form of treason.
Among the Jurors, who would find Anne guilty, sat her once beloved and betrothed, Henry Percy. When the verdict was announced, and Anne sentenced to death, Percy reportedly passed out and had to be carried out of the courtroom. He died eight months later, undoubtedly of heartbreak (remember, the two had loved each other and only didn't marry because their union would have been impossible).
Even though there was very little, very shaky evidence that would be laughed at in a modern day court, all the accused were condemned to die. The men accused were all executed together on May 17, 1536, including George Boleyn.
While Anne no doubt cried often while imprisoned, on Friday, May 19, 1536, she was unusually joyful. According to William Kingston, Constable of the Tower, Anne seemed to be happy, and so tired of life she couldn't wait for it to be over.
Anne maintained her innocence to her death, and never once slandered the King.
On the morning of May 19, Anne was lead across the green to a scaffold where she would be beheaded.
Anne then gave a moving speech, which showed her true character, to those who were in attendance, which consisted of Cromwell and most of the King's court, though not the King himself. This was not a public execution, but there were still quite a few people there.
"Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the King and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle, and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. Oh Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul."
According to some, Anne's voice quivered with emotion at the start of the speech, but by the end she spoke kindly and strongly. There wasn't a dry eye among those gathered.
Perhaps in an act of mercy, King Henry had ordered a French swordsman to execute her, using a sword instead of an axe. Beheadings were often botched and horrendous experiences, as the executioner, a masked man who would remain unknown, was often drunk, and used a heavy axe. As a result, often times it would take several tries to get the head off, the executioner instead often hitting the shoulders and prolonging the person's death with painful torture.
After a brief farewell to the weeping ladies who attended her, one of her ladies tied a blindfold over her eyes. She knelt upright, in the style of a French execution. The last words to escape her lips were a prayer, commending her soul to God.
I single strike and Anne's head was severed from her body, ending her tortured time on earth.
It is said Cranmer broke down into tears after telling someone "She who has been Queen of England on earth will today be a Queen in heaven." While Cranmer may have pronounced her marriage null and void, he was astonished that the King could say such things about her, and was reportedly found weeping in a friend's garden after her death.
Anne was buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. It was only hundreds of years later, in 1876, that her skeleton was found and identified and given a burial and a marker.
After Anne's death, King Henry married Jane Seymour, who gave him a son.
Anne's life was certainly not what she had hoped it would be. She never intended to replace the still living Queen of England, and once she had, she devoted herself to the man who would eventually end her life.
I find it interesting that, while Anne was reported to have a horrible temper, she never once slandered the King. Even though the accusations against her were false, and she knew it was because he loved another woman, she still never said a word against him. Not only that, but she continued to maintain her innocence in the most gentle way possible.
Despite some of the horrible things that happened to her, and she did, Anne Boleyn seemed like the kind of person who genuinely wanted to do the right thing and follow her God. While she was a favorite of the King, and couldn't really deny him much, she never agreed to being his mistress, which was kind of a big deal. Clearly, women didn't deny King Henry VIII as it was rumored that sometimes he had several mistresses at one time.
I also find it very noble of her to never once call him out on his infidelity in front of his subjects. While she was accused of high treason for alleged adultery, the whole reason he married her was because he wanted to commit adultry with her, and she refused.
In the end, I find Anne Boleyn to be a very graceful and noble woman, despite her misfortunes and mistakes. Anne was a good wife, and a good queen.
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