It is the 19th of May 1536, at
the Tower of London, England, a raven-haired woman, accused of high
treason, approaches the scaffold, after ascending the steps, she turns to face
the gathered crowd, and recites an immaculately prepared speech, in which she praises King
Henry and bids the people to pray for her soul, she then knees on the straw scattered on
the floor and prays herself, until silently, the French executioner approaches
from behind and with a single swing of his sword, decapitates the noble lady,
her name….. one time Queen of England, Anne Boleyn. The woman known to history as, Anne Boleyn
was born in or around 1501, at Blickling Hall in Norfolk although sometime in her
early childhood the family would move to what would become their principle
residence which was Hever* Castle in Kent. Her father was Sir Thomas Boleyn, intelligent,
well-educated and fluent in French, he was also very ambitious, promoted by
Henry VII to deputy-warden for customs at Calais, he was an influential courtier.
Anne’s great grandfather was the Lord Mayor of London in1457, Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, a
successful merchant who bought the family seats of both Blickling Hall and Hever Castle*.
Anne’s mother was Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the Earl of Surrey who would latterly become
the second Duke of Norfolk. Elizabeth Howard was a noble woman who served as Lady in Waiting to
Catherine of Aragon during the early part of the reign of Henry VIII. The Howard’s could rightfully
claim to move in Royal circles not least because Anne’s uncle, the third Duke of Norfolk, had
married the daughter of Edward IV Anne of York. Anne was educated to a high standard along
with her siblings by members of her household and it was Anne and her brother George who
were the better students, the two also sharing a particular closeness as brother and sister.
Anne would have learned the traditional lessons of the time such as reading and writing, as well
as languages and music but she would also have been taught the traditionally feminine
lessons of needlework, dancing, and singing. Only two of Anne’s siblings survived
into adulthood, they were George and Mary however their ages and even the order
of their birth is a point of contention, although the probable order was that Mary was
the oldest, as per Lord Hunsdon’s account, and that Anne was the middle child, born before
George who was born in either 1504 or 1505, making Anne’s probable birth date sometime around 1501.
Anne was considered the less attractive of the two sisters and rumours abound that she was born
with physical marks of a large mole on her neck and an extra finger on one hand, attributes that
would have arose suspicion that she carried quote: marks of the devil, Anne took care to hide these
marks and they did not appear in her portraiture, she also had black hair and dark eyes, not the
conventional picture of beauty at the time. Despite her unusual marks on her body and the
fact that she was not the oldest Boleyn girl, her intelligence meant that her ambitious father
Thomas Boleyn chose Anne to send into service as a Lady in Waiting at the court of Margaret of
Austria, Regent of the Netherlands, and so she left England for the first time in 1513, entering
the household of Margaret of Austria in Brussels. She would have set out for Brussels with a
contingent of her father’s servants, beginning the journey with anticipation and excitement
at taking up such a sought-after position, as well as with her father’s words in mind,
to make sure she made the best of herself, as the representative of the family abroad,
at one of the most cultured courts in Europe. She quickly made a good impression at the Dutch
Court and Margaret of Austria wrote to Thomas Boleyn, stating how pleased she was to receive
his daughter. Anne made good progress in learning the French language and wrote a long letter in
French to her father which is the first example of Anne’s own voice in original sources.
After the King of France, Louis XII’s wife died in 1514, he requested of Henry VIII, the
hand in marriage of his sister Mary Tudor, who travelled to France to become Queen, by this time,
Anne’s fluency in French had become well known, and her Father was asked to send her from Brussels
to France to serve under Mary Tudor, this would have been a difficult request for Thomas Boleyn
to ask of Margaret of Austria as, there were rumours that Margaret herself, may have been
the likely candidate for marriage to King Louis. Anne’s sister Mary Boleyn, travelled with Mary
Tudor to France, as she was by now part of Mary’s household, Anne travelled directly from
Brussels to France and joined the French court, and was also reunited with her sister
there, and when after their marriage, King Louis sent many of Mary Tudor’s attendants
home to England, Anne and her sister Mary were two who were spared, and so they would have
been quite close confidants* to the new Queen. However, when King Louis died only
three months after their marriage, most of Mary Tudor’s attendants returned
to England with her in May 1515, but Anne and Mary Boleyn decided to stay at the
French Court in the new Queen Claude’s household, Anne had most likely acted as an interpreter
between Mary Tudor and her stepdaughter Claude when Louis was still alive,
and so the relationship they formed, must have been a good one, since Anne stayed in
Queen Claude’s service for the next seven years. Whilst Queen Claude’s court was quiet and
demure, that of her husband Francis I was much more debauched and frivolous, and both Mary
and Anne would on occasion visit the King’s Court in the course of their duties. During this time
Mary Boleyn gained quite a reputation for being generous with her sexual favours even earning
the nickname the ‘English mare’ and becoming the mistress of both Francis I and several
other French courtiers when he discarded her, and when word reached Mary’s family in
England of her behaviour, she was sent for, to return home, ending what must have been an
embarrassing time for Anne at the French Court. Whilst Anne was at the Court of Queen Claude,
she would have spent much of her time doing needlework and playing music but also during
this time she met with the sister of Francis I, Marguerite of Angouleme, who may have
influenced Anne, with her reformist views. Anne would also have had the opportunity of seeing
her father during her time at the French Court, as Thomas Boleyn took part in several Court visits
from England, one of which was for the Christening of Francis I and Queen Claude’s son, Henry Duke
of Orleans in 1519, she would also probably have met him at the famous Field of Cloth of Gold
meeting between Francis I and Henry VIII in 1518. Although not recorded as such, Anne would almost
certainly have been present at the famous meeting between the Kings as one of the ladies in
waiting to the French Queen and this would also probably have been the first time that she set
eyes on her future husband, King Henry VIII, who was 30 at the time and in his prime, as
well as the first time that she would have seen Catherine of Aragon, the King’s older wife.
Anne would return to England after nearly 9 years abroad in 1522, after her father
requested her presence in late 1521, and by February or March 1522, she had become a
member of the household of Catherine of Aragon in Greenwich. Anne’s presence at Court caused a
stir, she was seen as somewhat of a fashion icon, as well as being possessed of considerable poise,
grace and charm, even her detractors at the time, wrote of the magnetism of her demeanour.
In March 1522, Anne was chosen to take part in a play or masque* at Court in which
8 ‘princesses’ dressed in white satin, would portray various virtues. Mary Tudor
would portray ‘beauty’ whilst Anne’s sister Mary would portray ‘kindness’ and Anne
was chosen to portray ‘perseverance’. By the time Anne returned to Court in England
her sister Mary was mistress to King Henry VIII, an involvement that would last for several years,
despite Mary’s marriage to William Carey* in 1521 which was thought a ‘cover’ to protect her
reputation, should she fall pregnant by the King. Mary’s relationship with Henry could also
be the reason for Thomas Boleyn’s progression as he was made Controller of the Household in
1520 and Treasurer of the Household in 1522, as well as being made Viscount Rochford* in 1525.
However, Mary received little from her relationship with Henry after she was discarded
in 1525, this treatment may well have warned Anne to hold out for what she wanted when
looking for marriage and love, and this, she would make sure she did.
What Anne hadn’t realised when she left France, was that she was being summoned home in order that
she should be married. Thomas Boleyn and Cardinal Wolsey in talks with King Henry, had arranged
for Anne to be married to the eldest son of Sir Piers Butler, James, to avoid a succession
disagreement over the rightful ownership of the title of the Earlship of Ormond, over which
Thomas Boleyn had a claim as did the Butlers. It seems that Anne was not keen on the
match between herself and James Butler, her delaying tactics eventually proved successful
and the marriage idea dwindled and never in fact happened, despite having the approval of the King.
Anne wanted an advantageous marriage for herself and was also known as a willful character, she
defied the conventions of the time and arranged a marriage for herself, her chosen partner was Henry
Percy, heir to the Earldom of Northumberland, it was a very good match for Anne, and Henry
Percy immediately fell deeply in love with her. It has been speculated that following their
engagement, they may have actually consummated their relationship, as Anne would have been
eager to ensure her path to becoming Countess of Northumberland, this fact could also have been
known by Lady Wingfield, who Anne wrote to quite humbly before her later marriage to Henry,
probably hoping to keep the matter a secret. The marriage never in fact happened,
as the King heard of their plans and instructed Wolsey to put a stop
to it, he summoned Percy to him, forbidding the marriage on the grounds that
Anne was beneath him in terms of rank, Anne was furious at this decision and held a grudge
against Cardinal Wolsey for the decision, Henry Percy pined for Anne and was almost continually
ill, until his death in his early thirties. Following her failed engagement, Anne returned
to Hever Castle* and became reacquainted with her next love interest, her neighbour Thomas Wyatt*,
whose family was well known by Thomas Boleyn, as Wyatt’s father Sir Henry Wyatt* had been created
a knight of the bath along with Thomas Boleyn at Henry VIII’s coronation and they shared the
office of Constable of Norwich Castle from 1511. Thomas was a handsome, athletic figure, as well as
a poet who was well respected at court, the only down side was that Wyatt was already married,
and so their relationship remained merely a flirtation, which continued when Anne was called
back to Catherine of Aragon’s court in 1525, however Wyatt’s writing made it clear
that he was highly attracted to Anne, and did in fact love her, with some
sources suggesting that their relationship may have actually been more than platonic,
however Anne’s feelings for, and extent of relationship with Wyatt, is ultimately uncertain.
Several sources claim, that Anne was not at all chaste* and virtuous, and that Thomas Wyatt was
allowed into her bed, and that she may have even entertained other lovers as well, with one writer
claiming that the first was her father’s butler, when she was a girl of only fifteen, another
more salacious*, anti-Boleyn rumour stated that Henry VIII, who had found Anne’s mother
Elizabeth Howard attractive, had fathered Anne, however this is highly unlikely, as Henry
would have been only 16 at the time, and still under the protection of his father Henry VII.
The accounts of her carrying on an affair with Wyatt also seem unlikely, as there were several
other likely candidates she could have chosen, who were not married, and as well as this, she
would hold back from sleeping with the King until they were eventually married, both arguments
point to the inaccuracy of the Wyatt affair being anything more than simple flirtation.
By the mid 1520’s Queen Catherine of Aragon’s failure to produce a son and heir, would have made
King Henry more and more impatient, and because Catherine was, more or less, constantly pregnant
for the first decade of her marriage, Henry was used to taking mistresses, even fathering
an illegitimate son, whom Henry acknowledged as his own child, the boy was named Henry
FitzRoy*, literally meaning: “son of the king”, he was born in June of 1519, his mother, Elizabeth
Blount*, one of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting. Henry had proven, that he could father a son,
and while Henry never openly blamed Catherine, for her failure to produce a boy, it is likely
that the continued absence of a legitimate heir, some ten years into his marriage, stoked
resentment, as well as anxiety in him, especially as Henry was now 27 years old, and Catherine was
33, and so the time left for her to conceive, was growing short and within a decade, Henry’s
attempts to address the absence of an heir, would change the face of England forever.
Culturally, Henry was a devout Catholic, and evidence suggests that he essentially remained
so throughout his life, however, his commitment to the Pope’s right to govern the Church, would
present him with perhaps his greatest dilemma, when his views conflicted with both his desire
to remarry, and his increasingly desperate need, for a son and heir, the one thing
that seemed to be out of his reach. By the mid-1520s, the situation became more
strained, Henry was no longer the popular teenage king, but was still a fairly young man, in
his early thirties, and never having abandoned his athletic lifestyle and pursuits, he had kept his
trim handsomeness and vigor, Catherine, however, was nearing forty, and had gained a great deal
of weight in the years since her marriage, as well as this, six pregnancies in nine
years, had wreaked havoc on her body, and Catherine, now past childbearing age, was
losing both the love and interest of her husband. When Anne Boleyn* came to the Tudor court in
1525 as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine, having recently returned from the French
court of Queen Claude, she must have been a breath of fresh air to the King, she was much
admired for her cosmopolitan air, her style, wit, and charm, and still in her mid-twenties,
she was fashionable and attractive, with dark hair and eyes, Anne commanded attention
at court, and Henry, longing for a younger, more vivacious wife who might give him
a son, fell deeply in love with her. The affair of Anne’s sister with the King ended
before 1526, and so on her return to court Anne was seemingly available and King Henry was
on the lookout for another mistress. Anne continued her flirtatious behaviour with Thomas
Wyatt* at court, Thomas at one point taking a jewel from Anne which he kept on his person,
presumably as a reminder of her. During this time both Henry and Wyatt vied* for the attention
of Anne, before Wyatt realized just how serious the King was about winning her hand.
Henry also took a ring from Anne and began wearing it on his little finger at this time, the
first indication perhaps, that his feelings for her were deepening, and in 1528 King Henry made
Wyatt, Marshall of Calais, perhaps to make sure Wyatt was absent from Court, to clear the way
for Henry to secure his relationship with Anne. Initially, for the first few months of their
courtship, there seemed to be no question of Henry casting off his wife, he frequently begged Anne
to become his mistress, which she refused to do, as although she was flattered to receive the
attention of the King, she insisted that she would give her virginity only to her husband, Henry’s
letters to Anne from 1526 and 1527, some of which survive, are full of passionate declarations of
his love and desire for her, Henry continually commissioned new jewels and trinkets for her,
and publicly showed her favour and affection. In historical terms, Anne Boleyn
has been given the reputation of “the other woman,” at worst, a grasping
political climber and conspirator, who usurped the place of a legitimate wife
and queen, much loved by the English people, however, there is no evidence that she
encouraged Henry’s interest in her initially.
Indeed, she reportedly made an abrupt departure
from court in the spring of 1527, returning to her family’s home at Hever* Castle, and the
letter that Henry wrote to Anne, soon after her departure, conveys the impression that she might
have left simply to avoid Henry’s ardour*, and avoid turning down a king, who held power over,
the livelihood and lives of the entire court. The letter from Henry reads quote: “In turning
over in my mind the contents of your last letters, I have put myself into great agony, not knowing
how to interpret them, whether to my disadvantage, as you show in some places, or to my advantage, as
I understand them in some others, beseeching you earnestly to let me know expressly your whole mind
as to the love between us two. It is absolutely necessary for me to obtain this answer, having
been for above a whole year stricken with the dart of love, and not yet sure whether I shall fail
of finding a place in your heart and affection.” While some might accuse her of playing a skillful
game of manipulation, it seems unlikely that a young woman like Anne, from a respectable
but not a powerful family, would imagine that she could be anything more than Henry’s
temporary mistress, it is difficult to believe, that Anne might be presumptuous enough to think,
that she could take Henry from his legitimate wife, or that she might emerge victorious
from a battle with the Queen of England. At the time, Anne was still set on arranging a
high-ranking marriage for herself and may have seen the status that the King’s attention gave
her, as a distinct advantage in the marriage market, making her seem all the more worthy
to would-be suitors, the alternative account, that she set out to take the King from his wife,
is unlikely, but her mixed messages confused and frustrated the King until he became besotted
by this alluring, seemingly unobtainable woman. However, it is true that a mere liaison with
the King would have no doubt placed her marriage prospects and future prosperity at great risk,
and so, it is likely that she came to love Henry, as he loved her. After her abrupt departure from
court, Henry continued writing to Anne in his own hand and sending her gifts, and in time,
Anne began to respond to Henry, with feelings and gifts of her own, and the two began carrying
on their relationship quite publicly at court. There is, of course, no way to know, whether Anne
and Henry maintained their abstinence, as Anne had insisted she must, however, the fact that Anne
did not become pregnant, throughout the nearly seven years of their courtship suggests she stayed
chaste*, methods of contraception were available at the time, but were extremely unreliable, so
while Henry and Anne were likely intimate with one another, there is no evidence which suggests,
that they slept together, prior to late 1532, at the earliest. Their intimacy is attested
to in their letters to one another, in one of which Henry mentions that he misses Anne’s
‘duckies’, an informal term for her breasts. By 1527, a year after Anne’s arrival at court,
Henry had proposed marriage to Anne and she had, after much thought, accepted. Henry decided to
seek a divorce from Catherine so he could marry Anne, Henry’s rationale for the divorce,
has been argued by some to illustrate the fundamental flaws in his personality, a tendency
towards cold abandonment and indifference, towards those he had no more use for, as well as
a willingness to interpret facts to suit himself. When Henry had first married Catherine, he
had done so against objections from all sides, because he loved her, the Pope issued a special
dispensation, to allow Henry to marry Catherine, since she had been wed first to Henry’s brother,
Arthur, and Henry and Catherine’s marriage, according to Catholic doctrine, could
otherwise have been considered incest, based on a provision in Leviticus 20:21, quote;
“If any man should take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing...they will be childless”.
And so, when the teenage Henry had wanted to marry Catherine of Aragon, he readily accepted both
the Pope’s dispensation and Catherine’s claim, that her six-month marriage to his brother
Arthur, had never actually been consummated, due to Arthur’s continual ill health, and
it was not until years later, when Henry had fallen in love with Anne, and the possibility
of having a son had become realistic again, that Henry decided that Catherine and Arthur’s
marriage may not have been consummated. He reasoned that the Pope had overreached
his own authority, and that the very reason he had no son, was because his
current marriage was a sin against God, for which divorce was the only remedy, Henry’s
ambition for love and an heir changed everything. The King would spend the next few years pursuing
the “Great Matter” of his divorce, he began with a direct appeal to Pope Clement VII*, hoping
that his noted devotion to the Catholic Church, would secure him an annulment, a prospect which,
at the time, was not as outrageous a request as it seems today, as for literally centuries, various
successive Popes had dissolved literally dozens of royal marriages, even marriages of relatively long
duration, which had already produced children, most of which were annulled for political
reasons, although official annulments always cited some biblical or doctrinal explanation,
for the dissolution of these marriages. However, Henry was about to find his dreams of
a quick and easy divorce dashed, when in 1527, Emperor Charles V sacked Rome, and took the Pope
as his prisoner, in addition to being arguably the most powerful man in Europe, Charles was also
Queen Catherine’s nephew, and by this point, even if the Pope had wished to grant Henry
his divorce, he would have been unable to. Henry then turned to Cardinal Wolsey*, who had
never failed him, and who owed literally all he had to the King, Thomas Wolsey was not born to
the nobility, like most clergymen of the day who became Archbishops, Cardinals, and Papal Legates*,
Wolsey was the son of a butcher from Ipswich, originally an obscure chaplain, until, under
Henry’s patronage, he was made Bishop, Archbishop, and Cardinal in fairly quick succession.
Wolsey had not only been Henry’s Lord Chancellor, he had also been his mentor, as a young
king still finding his way, but whatever the reason for Wolsey’s failure to procure
the divorce, whether inability or reluctance, it would lead to his ruin, the Cardinal, working
with Cardinal Campeggio*, a special legate* appointed by the Pope, set up a Legatine*
Court to determine Henry’s “Great Matter”, but the court was unable to reach a decision,
with regard to the merit of Henry’s claims for an annulment, and ruled that the matter should
be decided by the College of Cardinals in Rome. It is unclear whether Wolsey truly wanted to give
Henry his desire, or if, like his ecclesiastical counterparts, he saw the danger of allowing the
King to divorce his famously pious Catholic wife and marry Anne, who was reliably rumoured to be a
Lutheran* reformer, but whatever his intentions, the failure of the Legatine* Court, was Wolsey’s
downfall, as Henry commanded his arrest and imprisonment, citing the treasonous tone of
letters Wolsey* had written to Vatican officials, however, the Cardinal in fact died of
natural causes, on his way to London, before Henry could behead him.
Henry did not sit idly by, waiting for the College of Cardinals or the Pope, to decide the fate
of his marriage, instead he began to canvas the opinion of theologians at Europe’s universities,
asking them to study, deliberate*, and pronounce a verdict, on the merits of his case for divorce,
however, Henry would be disappointed twice more, as the majority of university theologians,
and later, the College of Cardinals, would decide in favor of Queen Catherine, declaring
the King’s first marriage valid after all. It is unclear when, Henry first began to consider
repudiating the Pope’s authority in England, thus removing the obstacle to his divorce, Anne
Boleyn’s influence as a Lutheran* sympathizer and reformer, is entirely plausible, as is the
influence of Thomas Cromwell*, another reformer, who was first Henry’s private secretary, and
later rose to become Lord Privy Seal, in fact, there were quite a few reformers in
the English Parliament, and at court, at the time, and anti-clericalism* was rife
among them, but perhaps it was his introduction, to the little-known clergyman and
theology professor from Cambridge, Thomas Cranmer* which truly
planted the seed in his mind. According to Cranmer*, who was a passionate
reformer, Kings, anointed by God, answered only to God, and therefore Henry should not have had
to pursue his divorce through legal means, this atmosphere and these ideas, may have emboldened
Henry, to formally break with the Roman Catholic Church and pursue one of the most radical bids for
power, ever made by a European monarch, the claim to the absolute powers of both King and Pope.
It would take nearly two years, for Henry to establish the fulfillment of his will, over
both Parliament and the English clergy, but by 1532, Henry had what he wanted, he was
the Supreme Head of the Church in England, and Parliament had legislated a full break with
the Pope, stopping virtually all payments to Rome, and because he wanted his “Great Matter” decided
by the English Church, which was much better, from a public relations standpoint, than declaring
it himself, he made Thomas Cranmer*, Archbishop of Canterbury, empowering him to lead the clergy
to the “right” decision, in other words, to vote in Henry’s favour, with regard to his divorce.
In April of 1533, Archbishop Cranmer* declared Henry’s marriage to Catherine invalid, but by
that time, Henry had already been remarried for three months, having wed Anne Boleyn*, in a secret
ceremony on the 25th of January 1533, as well as this, Anne had already made her first appearance
at Court as Queen and had taken up residence in what had been Catherine of Aragon’s apartments,
also taking up the motto “The Most Happy”. However controversially, some historians
suggest, that when she came to the altar, Anne was already pregnant, as on the 7th
of September 1533, just over 7 months after their marriage, Anne gave birth to Princess
Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth I of England. The King once married, had wanted Anne to be
crowned Queen speedily, due to her burgeoning pregnancy, as he wanted his expected child to
be born to a consecrated mother and so plans went ahead for Anne’s coronation. As part of
her procession Anne would take a barge and she made sure that it was Catherine of Aragon’s barge
that was commandeered* for the Royal procession, reportedly she had Catherine’s Coat of Arms not
only removed from the barge but also destroyed. The festivities began on the 29th May 1533
and lasted for 5 days, the King wanted Anne’s ceremony to reflect that she was every inch the
magnificent Queen he wanted her to be seen as, and so on the 31st May, Anne’s procession left
the Tower, consisting of Foreign ambassadors and nobles bedecked in purple robes, ermine and other
finery, followed by Anne, carried in a litter, accompanied by her ladies in waiting, also
finely attired in resplendent fashion, all to a salute of guns from the
Tower, and pageants at the roadside, the sight must have been astonishing
for the spectators lining the route. However, when Anne noticed that some of the crowd
were not dothing their caps and calling God Save the Queen, Anne had one of her attendants
approach the Lord Mayor to complain of it, he replied that quote: “He could not command people’s
hearts and that even the King could not do so”. Despite the blatant signs of her unpopularity
Anne was resolute, she would be crowned Queen and she was, on the very next morning, in
Westminster Abbey by Archbishop Cranmer*. Anne was never a popular Queen, as
papers from the time attest to subjects being taken to task over comments on the
marriage and rudeness to her personally, and in 1533 a priest was recorded as being subject
to investigation over calling Anne a harlot and a whore, and quoting a prophecy that a
Queen would be burned at Smithfield, this and similar incidents led to the King issuing
a proclamation, that anyone who came forward with information against those who spoke out
against his marriage would be offered a reward. Despite the apparent loyalty and favour the
King showed to Anne, this did not translate to the marriage bed, as although the King had
been faithful to Anne during their courtship, the same was not true of their marriage, and by
1533 Henry already had a mistress and Anne Boleyn knew of her. This must have struck Anne like a
thunderbolt, as until she gave Henry his son, her position was reliant only on his
passion for her, which was perhaps waning. When Anne reacted angrily to the news
of the affair the King rebuked her with righteous indignation, not speaking to her
again for 2 or 3 days. Her detractors at court must have reacted gleefully at this first hint of
a rift in the royal marriage and Anne decided not to raise the matter until she had given birth to
her child who she fully expected was to be a son. On the 7th September 1533, Anne gave birth
to a daughter, to both hers and Henry’s ‘great regret’. The expected son had not arrived
and the planned tournament to greet his birth was cancelled but once their initial disappointment
waned, the couple accepted the new baby happily, she was his heir after all until a son appeared, and she was happy and healthy and looked like
the King, they named their daughter Elizabeth the name of not only Henry’s mother but Anne’s also.
Baby Elizabeth was christened and Thomas Cranmer* was named as her Godfather and the Duchess
of Norfolk and the Marchioness* of Dorset were named as her Godmothers and after her
christening the baby was proclaimed Princess of England as well as heiress, supplanting*
her half-sister Mary in the line of succession. As Queen, Anne divided opinion both at home
and abroad, some loved her, but many hated her, some due to her lowly origins and some because
Catherine had always been such a popular Queen, but they hated her also because of
Anne’s reformist religious views which were alien to a great proportion
of the largely Catholic population. One person who spoke out against Anne, and was a
thorn in both hers and Henry’s side was a young woman called Elizabeth Barton, who claimed to
have been cured of an illness miraculously by God, she became a nun and claimed
to prophesise* the future, telling Henry that she had seen
a place for him prepared in hell, and that he would stop being a King a month
after his marriage to Anne. In November 1533, Henry had Barton arrested and she confessed after
questioning that all her claims had been a sham, she was executed along with 5 of her
associates on the 20th of April 1534. As a reformist Queen, Anne set an example in
her Court by reading the Bible and entreating her courtiers to be both Godly and pious, although
she would have had music and dancing at Court, she demonstrated a degree of reformist fervour, and
would read her Bible in French as well as English, she also did charitable works distributing alms to
the poor and also supporting a Cambridge scholar. In her brief time as Queen, Anne also secured
several bishoprics for reformist clergymen including Thomas Cranmer* and Hugh
Latimer who became Bishop of Worcester, she also offered sanctuary at Court to foreign
reformers who needed it, as well as this, she had a great love for her daughter as did
Henry, and it must have been a wrench for Anne, when the Princess was given her own household
in December 1533, as was usual for the time. Henry well understood the enormity of what
he had done by removing the power of Rome in order to marry Anne, and he moved
swiftly to consolidate his new powers, and impose his will implacably upon the
English people, Catherine of Aragon was still widely popular, and her replacement Queen
Anne, was widely resented, but more importantly, the majority of the English people, still
identified closely with Roman Catholicism. Henry knew he would have to establish control
quickly, before the foreign influence and support of Catholic Europe, emboldened uneasy Catholic
Englishmen to act, and his answer was the Act of Supremacy, which he proposed following
his marriage to Anne, and which Parliament passed in 1534, the Act required all the King’s
subjects to swear an oath, recognizing Henry as Supreme Head of the Church, and affirming the
legality of the King’s marriage to Anne Boleyn, refusal to swear the oath was considered
treason, the punishment for which was death. For devoted Catholics, the Oath of Supremacy was
seen as a referendum on morality, most chose to swear the oath, and escape with their lives, no
matter how painful the cost to their beliefs, others, like Henry’s old friend and
mentor, Sir Thomas More, would not. More had largely retired from court and public
life in general, following the death of Thomas Wolsey*, Henry had named More, Lord Chancellor, a
post which he resigned from, only two years later in 1532, alienated and demoralized, by the erosion
of papal authority he had witnessed at court, he had never spoken publicly against the King,
or against his marriage to Anne, but as of 1535, he remained one of only a few of Henry’s
subjects, who still had not taken the oath. More’s refusal to do so, resulted in him being
imprisoned in the Tower, and at his trial, when it was clear that he would be found guilty,
he loudly affirmed the authority of the Pope, over all matters religious, and denied the
ability of Parliament, to declare the King, head of the Church, More was immediately sentenced
to death for treason, a crime which carried the penalty of hanging, drawing, and quartering.
Henry had already demonstrated that he was not averse to removing his subjects, when they
failed to deliver, challenged his power, or acted contrary to his will, but perhaps it
is a small testament, to his remembrance of More’s friendship and service to him, that
Henry commuted his sentence to beheading. On the 6th of July 1535, Thomas More went
bravely to the scaffold, he jokingly asked the executioner to hold a moment, while he
shifted his beard from the edge of the block, saying that after all, it was he, not it, that
had committed treason, and in a loud clear voice, he declared, that he died quote: “the
King’s good servant, and God’s first.” As well as More, Queen Catherine and Mary also
refused to sign the oath which Henry and Anne saw as a direct act of defiance. That Anne
and Catherine hated each other was no secret and it could have been under pressure from Anne,
that Henry demoted Queen Catherine to the rank of Princess Dowager and had her move to a house
further from London. The Royal couple were probably not best pleased to hear, that the crowds
had cheered the old Queen on her journey there. In December 1533, Henry and Anne decided
that Catherine should move house once again, this time to Somersham, a house
surrounded by a moat and marshes and by reputation ‘a most unhealthy place’.
Catherine protested at her forced move and locked herself in her rooms refusing the
Duke of Suffolk’s attempt to remove her. Catherine had not been allowed to see her
daughter Mary since the summer of 1531 when Henry had left Catherine, but
she wrote to her daughter in September 1533 preparing her for possible troubles ahead
and warning her not to incur the King’s anger. By this time, Henry had already replaced Mary’s
livery on her household coaches with that of his own, in effect, declaring her illegitimacy,
a delegation was also sent to her requesting that she relinquish her title Princess of
England and although it may have been Anne who inspired this action against his daughter, it was
ultimately the King who ordered it carried out. In November 1533 Henry ordered that Mary’s
household should be dismantled and that she should be sent instead to serve as a Lady in
waiting to her sister Elizabeth at her court. Mary went to Elizabeth’s household but was
defiant, stating that she would not call her Princess of England but’ sister’ instead,
just as she called Henry Fitzroy, brother. Anne appointed her aunt Lady Shelton as Mary’s
governess, so she would have a direct line of information about what was going on at the court,
and in particular of how Mary was behaving. Anne was also terrified that the King would meet with
his daughter Mary, and so when Henry visited Elizabeth’s household, Mary would be confined
to her rooms, but when on one occasion Henry saw Mary at her window whilst leaving, he waved at his
daughter, but was berated* by Anne for doing so. As Anne’s attempts to make Mary behave
as she wished her to, were not working, Anne tried instead to befriend
her step-daughter. In March 1534, whilst visiting Elizabeth, Anne asked for
Mary to be brought to her. She offered her reconciliation with her father, in exchange
for her admitting that she was illegitimate and that her parents had never been married, however
Mary defiantly refused angering Anne yet again. Certain sources have stated that Anne had
told Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland that she was planning to murder her
rival Mary, by administering her poison, and that she called Catherine and Mary ‘Rebels
and Traitoresses* deserving death’, but the truth is this was probably more wishful thinking and
words spoken in anger, rather than any real plot. Indeed, there is evidence from Anne’s letters
to Mary to suggest that Anne did try to befriend her step-daughter. In one letter, in which she
refers to herself as Queen, she thanks Mary for curtseying to her after a Mass at Eltham*, and
says that she would have done the same back if she had seen her at the time, however Mary’s reply
was as defiant as ever, stating that the Queen, meaning her mother Catherine, was not
present at the time, and that she was actually curtseying to the altar, and
so, Anne’s attempts to be kind to Mary, seem to have gone unheeded, and this
response from Mary angered Anne greatly. Another incident in 1534, involving her
own family, also prompted anger from Anne, when her sister Mary appeared at Anne’s court, and
announced that she had married one of her servants William Stafford, this so angered Anne that
she banished her sister Mary from Court, also cutting her off from any financial support,
and whilst it was known that the two sisters were not close, Anne’s reaction could be seen
as quite harsh under the circumstances. Apart from the defiance from Mary, by 1534 Henry
and Anne had finally dealt with or removed, all who seemed openly opposed to the new order,
and the death of Catherine of Aragon, from natural causes, on the 7th of January 1536, appeared to
remove the last barrier to the legitimacy of their marriage, however a black cloud hovered.
Anne had become pregnant twice, following the birth of Elizabeth, but both
pregnancies had resulted in miscarriages, additionally, some historians have speculated,
that Henry and Anne’s relationship, was growing increasingly strained, due to Anne’s
failure to adjust to her new role of wife. As Henry’s mistress, she might have been allowed
a certain amount of license, to speak and act as she pleased, her prolonged refusal to sleep
with Henry, likely put her in a rather dominant position, however, as Henry’s wife, she
would be expected to be far more submissive, but of course, her lack of submissiveness would
likely have been overlooked, had she not committed the terrible sin, of failing to produce a son.
Following the miscarriage Anne suffered in the Summer of 1534, King Henry had taken another
mistress, when Anne complained to the King about this situation, his reaction was very harsh,
he stated that quote “she had good reason to be content with what he had done for her, which he
would not do now if the thing were to begin and that she should consider from what she had come’,
the King was clearly losing patience with Anne as well as perhaps regretting marrying her at all.
Anne realized that without a son, she was in a very insecure and vulnerable position, exactly
the position that Catherine had been in, ironically, and she felt she must act.
She took Lady Rochford, her sister-in-law, into her confidence and conspired to have
Henry’s latest mistress removed from court, however their plan failed and only resulted in
Lady Rochford being banished from the court. By early 1535, Anne was becoming even more
isolated at court, her confidante was now gone and she had alientated many others through
her outbursts of anger, and even her husband preferred the company of his mistress, it was
during this time that his daughter Mary started to come back into favour with Henry also, Anne
must have felt alone and isolated as time went on. However, in the Summer of 1535, a ray of hope
appeared for Anne, when the couple were briefly reconciled. Anne became more accepting of the
idea of Henry’s mistresses if not completely silent about them, and Henry made a public display
of loyalty to Anne, when in July 1535 he sent Sir Thomas More to the scaffold, for refusing to
swear the oath of supremacy and after all, if Henry wanted a legitimate son, as things
stood, it was only Anne who could provide one. They began the court’s Summer
progress of 1535 with a united front, they visited Salisbury and Portchester first also
visiting Wolf Hall in Wiltshire during this time, the family home of one of Anne’s lady’s, Jane
Seymour, reaching Windsor by November and when they arrived back in London in late 1535,
Anne was pregnant again, for the third time. On hearing the news of Catherine of Aragon’s
death in July 1535, Anne could not have been happier. Her rival was now gone, and she was
carrying another heir for Henry. There were rumours of course that Anne had arranged for
Catherine to be poisoned, especially when, on post mortem Catherine’s heart was found
to be blackened, however, this is unlikely, as if she had wanted rid of Catherine, enough to
kill her, she would surely have done so earlier. After her mother’s death, Anne made one last
attempt to befriend Mary, writing to her to say, that if she would put aside her obstinacy and obey
the King, that Anne would be the best friend to her, and she need not hold the train of Anne’s
gown on her return to court, Mary again refused and this would be the last time that Anne would
attempt a reconciliation with her step-daughter. Then on the same day as Catherine’s funeral, Anne
went into labour prematurely and after only a 3 and half month gestation, she miscarried a little
boy. Anne’s grief and frustration must have been plain for all to see, as she wept following this
tragedy for her and for Henry. However, the King’s grief soon turned to anger at Anne, and the King
confronted Anne in her rooms stating that quote: ‘he would have no more boys by her’, this was
a direct threat to Anne and she was devasted, and even more so when she heard the rumours
that the King felt that Anne had been quote: ‘seduced by witchcraft’ to induce the
miscarriage, and that he ought to find a new wife. Anne remonstrated with Henry and blamed
the loss of the child first on the news she was given by the Duke of Norfolk,
that the King had fallen from his horse, claiming the consequences of his possible
death had shocked her to such an extent, that it had resulted in the miscarriage, when
Henry dismissed her reasoning, Anne then claimed that her finding the King with Jane Seymour
sitting on his knee, had made her lose her child, as it had been such a shock to her, to see for
herself that the King had feelings for others. King Henry took little heed of Anne’s reasoning,
although he did leave Jane Seymour at her home during the next court’s progress, but
with Anne isolated at court after falling out with her ally Cromwell, and with the King
becoming further infatuated with Jane Seymour, who cleverly portrayed herself as the mirror image
of Anne in all things, Anne was at her wit’s end. The King’s patience had also finally
run out and on the 24th of April 1536, a commission led by Thomas Cromwell was
set up to investigate Anne, and by May, accusations of adultery were leveled at her,
and Henry chose to believe them, the private interrogations of the Queen’s household, elicited
fantastic claims of her degeneracy, accusing her of incest and witchcraft, as well as adultery.
Mark Smeaton, a musician in Anne’s household was held in the tower and tortured until he
confessed that he was having an affair with Anne, the King himself questioned Henry Norris over a
possible affair with Anne, after she dropped her handkerchief to him, as one of the jousters
at a tournament that she and Henry attended, and then lastly, Anne Boleyn herself was
arrested on the 2nd of May by her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk and was questioned over her
behaviour and installed in the Tower of London. Evidence was sought from her ladies in waiting
Lady Rochford and Lady Worcester* and from a deathbed note belonging to Lady Wingfield,
whom Anne had previously tried to silence, concerning her pre-marital behaviour with
Henry Percy, which suggested that Anne was morally lacking. Cromwell was rumoured
to have used all means at his disposal, including torture and bribes to bring
a devastating case against Anne. As well as this, Anne’s sister-in-law
Lady Rochford was said to have admitted that her husband George Boleyn and
Anne would openly mock the King, questioning whether he was impotent and whether
Elizabeth actually belonged to another father. As she was arrested Anne pleaded her innocence
and asked for the King, but she was denied, she was said to have lost her famous composure and
collapsed to her knees, she asked if she would be kept in a dungeon but was informed that she would
be kept in the Royal apartments, to await her trial, she reportedly alternated between laughing
and crying and spoke openly about what had brought her to such a position, and her mention of
Francis Weston in her rantings meant that he too would be arrested and brought to the Tower
where her brother George had also been taken. The fact that she spoke of Weston, her brother
George, Smeaton and Norris was used as evidence that the crimes she was accused of were true.
In addition to the men that Anne spoke of, William Brereton*, a member of the King’s
Privy council, was also taken to the Tower, along with Thomas Wyatt and Sir Richard
Page, all accused of being Anne’s lovers. On hearing of Anne’s arrest, her bishop Thomas
Cranmer* sought to distance himself from Anne, which he did in a letter to the King, whilst
privately he may have had sympathy for Anne, no one was brave enough to show it
and chance the wrath of the King, yet despite this it was only ever Smeaton who
confessed to the charges brought against the men, who had allegedly consorted with Anne.
It is unlikely that Anne would have had the time or the inclination to have slept with so many men
including her own brother, and the accusations were likely conjured up by Cromwell and Henry
to secure Henry’s freedom to marry Jane Seymour. Anne went over everything in her mind and
prepared her defense although she would have known in reality, that the outcome of the trial
would be a foregone conclusion. On the 12th of May the accused men were taken to court at Westminster
Hall, Smeaton confessed to the charges whilst the other men plead* not guilty as accused, all four
were found guilty and were sentenced to be hung, drawn, quartered as well as beheaded.
As members of the nobility Anne and her brother George were tried in the Tower and having
known of the outcome at Westminster Hall, Anne would have fully understood the ramifications for
her own trial which took place on the 15th May. No Queen of England had ever been placed on trial
before and so a large scaffold was erected in the Tower to house all the people expected to attend
the trial, Henry Percy as well as Thomas Boleyn and Anne’s uncle the Duke of Norfolk were all
expected to attend, as members of the nobility, although Henry Percy had to leave George Boleyn’s
trial part way through due to his ill health. Anne for her part, had no counsel, and called
no witnesses but prepared her own defense for the charges brought against her, which laid
out specific dates and times that Anne and the accused men had enjoyed carnal knowledge of
each other, she was also accused of conspiring to kill the King, so that she would be
free to marry one of her accused lovers. Anne stood and defended herself of all charges
eloquently, however she was found guilty by each of the nobles, who in turn stood to deliver
their verdict, each having no choice but to go along with the King’s wishes, the final
verdict was read out by her uncle the Duke of Norfolk but in a final twist he stated that the
Queen should be ‘either burned or beheaded at the King’s pleasure’, whereas the usual punishment
for treason was to be burned at the stake. At a church court in Lambeth on the 17th May,
Thomas Cranmer* annulled the marriage of Anne and the King based on the evidence of a pre-contract
that existed between Anne and Henry Percy, so that quote: ‘she was never lawful Queen of
England’, on the same day five of the men accused were put to death by beheading, which was a
sentence commuted by Henry from the usual hanging, drawing and quartering, which was the fate of
Smeaton alone as a commoner. George Boleyn, Weston, Brereton*and Norris did not
confess to any crime on the scaffold, which Anne would have been pleased to hear and
Smeaton’s only comment was that he deserved death. Anne continued to protest her innocence, but
prepared herself for her certain demise with composure, she even joked with her captor
Kingston, that she had but a small neck, laughing at the irony that she would make
the executioner’s job all the more easy, she spent her final evening, laughing and joking
that, she may well be known to history as quote: ‘Queen Anne lack-head’, this was perhaps
the last act of defiance open to her. On the 19th of May 1536, Anne Boleyn was taken
to the scaffold, in front of the gathered nobles and dignitaries, she held her composure
and walked with dignity to face the crowd and make the last speech of her life, she spoke
briefly and movingly of her love for the king, her sins of pride, and her desire,
that the people pray for her: ‘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 wherof 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 mercyfull 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. O
lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.’ The King had sent for an expert swordsman
from Calais to come to the Tower to carry out the execution of the Queen, she knelt on
the scaffold as there was no need for a block and with one swift blow of his sword, her head
was removed from her body and the first Queen of England to ever be executed was dead, and
within 24 hours of his second wife’s execution, Henry was already betrothed, to Anne’s
lady-in-waiting, and the woman who would become his third wife, Lady Jane Seymour.
In the aftermath of Anne’s death in 1536, abbeys, shrines and monasteries, throughout
England were purged of religious relics such as true fragments of the cross and vials supposedly
containing the blood of Christ, this state-wide, systematic, clampdown, was not only undertaken
for theological reasons, but also largely because the seizure of Church property brought in a
colossal amount of revenue to the Royal coffers. Following disturbances and a march against
the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry unleashed a brutal repression, and hundreds
of rebel leaders were arrested and executed, after which Henry proclaimed that quote “Our pleasure is
that dreadful execution be done on a good number of the inhabitants of every town, village and
Hamlet, that have offended in this rebellion”, indeed even his own family were not spared
Henry’s wrath, as when Jane Seymour begged him on her knees, to restore the Abbeys,
he exploded, with quote “Get up, do not presume to meddle in my affairs, remember Ann.”
Anne is well remembered, not only as the second wife of Henry VIII and a leading figure in the
reformation but also as the mother of Elizabeth, one of the most important monarchs to
grace the throne of England. She died on the scaffold with the grace and dignity which
had first drawn her to King Henry’s attention. But more than this even, Anne was unique,
she was a determined, driven woman with a strong personality, who inspired love in a King
that bordered on obsession, a truly exceptional woman of her time, who no doubt passed
on her strong character to her daughter. What do you think of Anne Boleyn? Was she a
saintly figure who inspired love and suffered because of it or was she an ambitious sinner
who manipulated her way into the King’s life for her own ends. Please let us
know in the comments section, and in the meantime, thank
you very much for watching!
