Anne Boleyn the first of the beheaded wifes of Henry VIII

 Quick Preface: Yesterday marked 490 years to the day since Queen Anne Boleyn was beheaded at tower green inside the tower of London by a French swordsman. I decided to do this post as a tribute to Anne’s life.

 

Anne Boleyn Henry VIII's second wife

portrait of Anne Boleyn

Early life

A picture of Anne's childhood home; Hever Castle

Anne was born in Hever Castle to Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard in 1501, She was the middle child having been born after Mary and before George. Anne has 11 years growing up with her parents along with her siblings and gets education inside Hever. She gets shipped off to the continents to work for infamous inbred Habsburgs as maid of honour to their Queen, Margeret of Austria in Brussels in 1513.

A portait of Queen Margaret of Austria

Two years later and Anne is sent to France to work for the Queen of France, Claude as lady in waiting, Mary was also at the time working in the French court. Some debate whether Thomas wanted Anne shipped back to England. Nonetheless Anne works in France for most of Claude's reign.

A portrait of Queen Claude of France

Return to England

In 1521 she is then shipped back to the UK to marry this James Butler according to Cardinal Wolsey over some land disputes between Thomas Boleyn and Pierce butler. This wedding does not happen and instead Anne is still single. Anne and her elder sister Mary then take part in an English pageant playing major roles. in 1522, George and his father Thomas, receive offices in court, meanwhile Anne gets upgraded to becoming a servant in the household of Catherine of Aragon, Henry's first wife. 

A portait of Catherine Of Aragon

Mary happened to be working in the court having an affair with Henry. Anne becomes involved with two of Henry's courtiers, Percy, and Wyatt for about 5 years. Meanwhile Henry stops sleeping with Catherine and then two years later loses interest with Mary Boleyn as his mistress. George and Mary stay in the royal court for the rest of Anne's story.

 

The courtship and Mariage of Henry and Anne.

A prortrait of Henry VIII

In about 1526 Henry writes a bunch of love letters to Anne, she plays hard to get, Meanwhile George is appointed Royal Cup bearer. In 1528 she gets a book that explains to Henry that rulers were accountable to God and not the Pope. Two years later and Cardinal Wolsey, the Pope's English representative falls from grace. In 1531 Henry makes moves to be remembered as the sole protector of what was later known as the Anglican church. The next year in September, Anne gains the title of Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. In October, Henry takes Anne to the French court to meet with Francis I's  court, Anne finally sleeps with Henry. In January of 1533 Anne and Henry are married.

A portrait depicting the Marrige of Anne and Henry

 

The next month Anne is possibly pregnant, meanwhile George gets summoned to parliament. By the end of the month, Catherine is officially divorced from Henry.

Queen Consort of England

The procession of Anne's Coronation

On June 1st of that year Anne is crowned Queen of England. Later that year about a year after becoming a Marquess Anne gives birth to her only surviving daughter Elizabeth Tudor, the future Elizabeth I. Unfortunatley Henry feels disappointed because he desperately needs a son to secure the line of succession. In 1534 Henry becomes the supreme head of the Anglican Church, while George goes on a diplomatic mission to France. 

A stained glass portrait of Henry

Henry also sets the act of succession into place meaning Anne's kids are first in line to the English Throne. Unfortunatley for Anne she miscarries a baby in the summer and Henry starts to not feel interested in her.

The start of Anne and George's downfall.

The following October in 1535 Anne falls pregnant with her final baby. In December George and Anne are accused of committing incest. In January of 1536 Henry Becomes interested in his future third wife Jane Seymour.

A portrait of Jane Seymour

 Catherine of Aragon sadly dies a week later after losing a battle to what we now know as cancer. On the 24th of January Henry suffers a severe head injury during a Jousting match. Some debate that this accident caused some brain damage that resulted in Henry's sudden change of behavior towards Anne. Tragically Anne miscarries the only hope to reconciling, a son, a few of the Catholics in Elizabeth's reign made propaganda that alleged that the baby was deformed, we don't seem to have evidence of this. In the spring, Anne has a quarrel with one of Henry's closest confidants, Cromwell, Unfortunatley he begins to see Anne as a threat and plots to remove her from the position of Queen.

The Fall of Anne and George Boleyn.

An image of Anne Boleyn in despair

On the 24th of April that same year, an investigation is set up to investigate treason and other offences committed by some people including Anne. On April 30th, the first man is arrested and confesses after being tortured, 2 days later and 4 other people including George are arrested. On May 12th everyone but George are tried in court and luckily sentenced to only lose their heads instead of getting hanged, drawn, and quartered as a mercy act of Henry. 3 days later Anne and George are tried, they both plead not guilty, sadly they are found guilty also. Before Anne is even found guilty, Henry hires a French swordsman to execute Anne mercifully. On May 17th, the men are all executed by beheading on Tower Hill within the Tower of London.

 

An image depicting George's execution

Anne's execution

Anne was originally scheduled to lose her head on May 18th; however, her execution was postponed to the next day. Meanwhile Cromwell declares Anne's marriage void and Elizabeth illegitimate. Henry is allowed to move forward in the relationship with Jane Seymour who he has secretly been seeing now that Anne's out of the picture. The next day at Tower Green in front of a crowd Anne Boleyn is executed by beheading at the approximate age of 35. 

An image depicting where Anne Boley was executed in the modern day.

Contrary to widespread belief Anne was not executed at the monument that stands now but a bit further away. Anne's body is wrapped and buried in the church of St Peter ad Vincula. Henry is then betrothed to Jane the day after his ex-wife is executed, and ten days later Henry marries Jane.

Legacy

Unfortunatley Henry destroyed a huge chunk of Anne's Legacy by destroying a lot of Anne's belongings and banning them. Anne is the first queen in English history to be executed however she was not the last as her 1st cousin and future Queen, Katherine Howard would tragically follow in Anne's footsteps.

A portrait of Katherine Howard 

 A lot of the places where Anne lived still exist and offer tours dedicated to her memory, as well as all the websites. Anne has also been the subject of many biopics and fiction writings. Anne's biggest legacy is the fact that she gave birth to one of the only unmarried Queens in England, Elizabeth I.

A portrait of Queen Elizabeth I