It's 1536, King Henry VIII has been on the throne for 27 years. He has divorced Queen Katherine of Aragon and has been married to Queen Anne Boleyn for three years. On 29th January 1536 Anne Boleyn lost a baby son, born dead after four months. This was her fourth child in three years but only one still lived, a girl named Elizabeth who was just 28 months old. Henry VIII was in desperate need of a male heir and the loss of a potential male heir caused him 'great distress'. It seemed that Anne was falling into the same pattern as her predecessor Queen Katherine of Aragon who produced six children all of whom died with the exception of one, a daughter named Mary.How Anne caught the King's eye
Anne Boleyn had done been Queen Katherine of Aragon's lady-in-waiting. By 1526 Henry was in love with Anne, pursuing her, writing her love letters, begging her to be his mistress. Anne refused his advances which only encouraged him further. The King was used to having what he wanted. Anne was holding out for marriage, to become Queen of England.
After a year of unsuccessfully wooing of Anne King Henry VIII wrote to the Pope asking him to end his marriage to Katherine who once had been the wife of his elder brother Arthur. For six years Henry VIII waited for the Pope's response but it never came. Katherine of Aragon's nephew was Emperor Charles V and the Pope was afraid of offending the powerful Charles V. In frustration Henry VIII historically broke from the Church of Rome and announced himself to be Head of the Church of England.
Hope for the Tudor King
Seven years after falling in love with Anne Boleyn King Henry VIII had his marriage with Katherine of Aragon declared null and void and married Anne in secret. He was 42 years old and was 32 years old and pregnant. Now the King had got what he wanted, Anne a younger Queen, and a new hope for a son and heir which he so urgently needed. In the three years that followed his amorous attentions were not only for Anne. He was now chasing after her maid, Jane Seymour.
History was repeating itself
Anne's inability to produce a male heir was not the only contributing factor to her downfall. She was not popular with the people, she was to them, a cuckoo in the place of their true Roman Catholic Queen, Queen Katherine of Aragon. There were also many at court, including Thomas Cromwell, who were doing their best to get rid of her.
Keep your friend close but your enemies closer
Thomas Cromwell had once been Anne's friend but after many disagreements they had fallen out and were now rivals at court. Cromwell built his case on the King's fear of treason and the Queen's flirtatious nature. She was well known for her temper and mood swings. She had failed to produce Henry with a male heir. Clearly, in his mind, Anne was not fit to be Queen. Cromwell found evidence against her even though little of the details are known today. The King's pride was damaged and action needed to be taken.
Queen Anne Boleyn was arrested
On 2nd May 1536 Anne Boleyn was arrested for treason at Greenwich Palace and taken by barge through the traitors gate to the Tower of London. It was rare for anyone accused of treason to escaoe death and she knew this.
While Anne was held in the Queen's Lodgings in the Palace within the Tower, the King would not see anyone nor appear in public. He already has his new love Jane Seymour comfortably lodged in a house which he had bought her by the river.
The five accused men
A week after Anne's arrest, two lists of charged were drawn up against her accusing her of adultery with five men. Three of the men were friends of the King. Another was a lute player at the court named Mark Smeaton. The final man, was George Boleyn, Anne's brother. His wife, Lady Jane Rochford provided proof of incest. Only Smeaton pleaded guilty. On the 12th May all the men, par George Boleyn, were tried in Westminster Hall and were ceremoniously condemned to death.
The trials of George and Anne Boleyn
On 15th May Queen Anne Boleyn was tried by 26 lords of whom Anne's own father seems to have been present. Anne swore she had always been true to the King but did admit to having been a proud and jealous wife. Once found guilty she asked for time to prepare her soul for death. After her trial George Boleyn was then tried and too was found guilty.
On 17th May all five men were beheaded on Tower Hill. Anne watched from a window in the Tower. It was the same day, with her consent, her marriage to Henry VIII was dissolved and her daughter Elizabeth proclaimed a bastard.
With only a guilty verdict possible the King, prior to Anne's trial, had sent to France for an expert swordsman to behead her, offering her a kinder death. This was most probably in an attempt to secure her consent to the ending of her marriage.
Anne's day of execution
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| Anne Boleyn's execution by Jan Luyken, c.1664-1712 |
Anne spent much of her last night praying. The next day a thousand people stood by the new scaffold that had been built for her in front of the 'House of Ordance' which is now the Waterloo Barracks.
Anne wore a grey robe with a white fur cape and a gable hood. Unusually for Anne she was calm and brave and she made a short speech. She prayed for the King and called him 'a most gentle prince'.
There was no wooden block on which for her to rest her head. She knelt upright, covered her eyes and prayed aloud waiting for the fatal blow. The headsman took off his shoes and came quietly up behind her, swung his sword and took her head off 'at a stroke'. It is said that her eyes and mouth were seen to move as the head fell.
It is said that Henry VIII stood on Snow Hill awaiting news of Anne Boleyn's execution which was to be signalled by gunfire from The Round Tower at Windsor Castle.
Rest in Peace Anne Boleyn
Anne's body was placed in an arrow chest and then buried in the royal chapel of St Peter in Chains in the Tower, before the altar. Anne would not be the last Queen to be beheaded and buried there.
In the course of 118 years, between 1483 - 1601, seven famous traitors were beheaded in the Tower of London. Five of these traitors were women. King Henry VIII kept the executioners busy. Three of these beheadings were ordered by him over six years:
1. Lord Hastings (1483)
2. Queen Anne Boleyn (1536)
3. Countess of Salisbury (1541)
4. Queen Katherine Howard (1542)
5. Lady Rochford (1542)
6. Lady Jane Grey (1554)
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There are a number of excellent books about the life of Queen Anne Boleyn but this one is my favourite, history told within a narrative:
