“Swooning with fear, Lady Rochford was dragged to the blood-soaked scaffold.  In her final words, she maintained her innocence as being Kathryn’s procuress, but admitted that she had  “falsely accused” her late husband “of loving in an incestuous manner, his sister, Queen Anne Boleyn. For this I deserve to die”.”

I do have to say,  I do feel she deserved her punishment.  She lies not only directly cost two people their lives, but she also left the future Queen Elizabeth motherless.  I can not help but think, what if Anne was spared her life and simply divorced.  Would Elizabeth been able to know her mother?  Would she have become the Queen she was? Would she have outlived Henry?   Would be interesting indeed.

With that said I bring you to the source of my post, a movie I found on NatGeo about the life of King Henry VIII. His court, his politics and yes his women. Enjoy

P.S. If the video player below doesnt work for you click here to visit the page

Some see Anne Boleyn as the whore who destroyed England’s relationship with the Church of Rome. The mistress that destroyed a fragile aging Queen and robbed her of not only her title, but her husband as well. But beyond the vulgar ideals that surround Anne, she was also a person. A woman of great intelligence and contrary to popular belief at the time, great values as well… what whore refuses a King until the marriage bed?

Although historians cannot seem to agree when dear Anne was born, the popular suggested date is sometime in 1504. Born to Sir Thomas Boleyn and his wife Lady Elizabeth Boleyn at Blickling Hall in Norfolk, Anne was the youngest of three children.

At a young age, Anne was sent to the Court of the Netherlands to attend Archduchess Margaret of Austria’s household. Though young for the role, Margaret’s affection of Anne was immense and referred to Anne as “la Petite Boleyn”, who displayed great manners and studiousness. Anne stayed until 1513 when her father arranged for her to continue her education in Paris as Lady in waiting to the Queen Consort of France, Mary Tudor whom Anne’s sister Mary was already a lady in waiting to.

In France, Princess Claude became quite affectionate of Anne. After Louis died and Mary Tudor had returned to England with Anne’s sister, Anne remained in France to attend to the new French Queen, Claude. She remained in France for about 6 years as Queen Claude’s favorite lady in waiting, entertaining herself with such French delights as poetry, fashion, music and learned to speak the French language fluently. While Anne preferred to stay in France, she was summoned back to England about 1521 to be married to the heir of Ormonde of Ireland, James Butler or Piers Butler, who was a distant family relative.

During this time, Anne entered the English court to attend Queen Katherine of Aragon. Anne made her first court debut in March of 1522 at a masquerade ball. She preformed an elaborate dance with the king’s younger sister and other ladies in waiting including her sister Mary. The performance marked Anne’s influence in the French court and became known as the most fashionable and accomplished woman in the English court. Unknowingly winning the desires of many men at court (including the King), Anne was secretly being courted by Henry Percy, the future 5th Earl of Northumberland, and the two were engaged.

After news spread of her affections of Henry, her arranged marriage to the heir or Ormonde was called off. He was not the only one upset with the secret engagement between the two love birds. After Henry’s father learned of the engagement, he was furious. Henry had already been betrothed to Lady Mary Talbot. The love affair was also brought to Cardinal Wolsey’s attention who intern informed the King, who told Wolsey to end the relationship. Sadly this was probably Anne’s greatest love, if they were able to be married. Instead Percy’s father forbade him to ever see Anne again, and was quickly married to Lady Mary Talbot, that proved to be a loveless relationship. Anne never forgave Wolsey for this and was the stepping stone to both of their downfalls.

After the incident, Anne was banished from the royal court to her home in Hever. During this time a cousin named Sir Thomas Wyatt had begun to court Anne. Wyatt, separated from his wife was infatuated with Anne but there was little suggestion of marriage, thus ending the affair. It is said that their love was more of a courtly love then a passionate one. During this time, 1524, Anne was to return to the court of England.

After her return to court, Anne became aware of King Henry’s interest in her (c. 1526). Her sister Mary was already the King’s mistress, but with his affection for Mary rapidly retreating, Anne’s presents at court was becoming ever more drawing to Henry. People at court assumed Anne would just end up as another one of Henry’s mistresses, but they were to be proven wrong.

Henry’s ever developing passion evoked him to seek an annulment to his marriage to Queen Katherine. Henry’s passion can be found today in 17 remaining love letters to in the Vatican Library. During her courtship with Henry Anne resisted Henry’ seduction and refused to become another one of his mistress’s. This refusal only fired the Kings desire for this brilliant cultured woman. His relentless seduction even followed Anne to Kent, where she took a break from court life.

While it is not sure if Anne refused Henry due to her broken romance with Percy or refused to end up a pregnant castaway mistress like her sister. Whatever the reason, Anne finally gave in to Henry and accepted his proposal; however she refused to sleep with Henry before their wedding night.

During this time, legal debates started over Henry’s annulment of Katherine of Aragon. For certain, this frustrated Anne and caused her to display her famous temper and argument with Henry for all the court to hear and see. By 1528 it was court and common knowledge that Henry intended to divorce his wife and marry Anne. Though she strayed away from involving herself in politics, Anne surround herself in a decadent lifestyle of rich fabrics imported from France, magnificent jewels and apartments that rivaled the King’s himself. She had her own staff and several ladies-in-waiting attending her household.

By 1529 Pope Clement VII had no intentions of granting Henry a divorce from Katherine due to the fact that the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V not only had Clement captive, but Katherine was Charles V aunt. As Anne waiting for the annulment, her station at court began to rise even further and in 1532 she was created the Marquess of Pembroke, a title she held in her own right.

This same year, Cardinal Wolsey was dismissed from public office due to pressure maintained by Anne to Henry. Wolsey begged to retain his position and even turned to Anne for help, refusing her nemesis, Wolsey secretly plotted to force Anne into exile. Henry discovering this plot ordered Wolsey’s arrest and trial. Wolsey suffered from a terminal illness in 1530 which prevented him from being executed. It is said that to the end, Wolsey confessed he was ever fateful to Henry.

Now that Wolsey was gone, Anne was the most powerful person in court and started to attend government and political affairs. Becoming all the more frustrated with the Vatican’s refusal to annul Henry’s marriage, Anne suggested to Henry a new alternative, to look to the teachings of religious radical such as Thomas Cromwell who denied the Papacy and believe a monarch should lead the church of his or her own country. Soon after, Cromwell became the King’s new favorite advisor.

Partial to the French, Anne used her growing power to setting an alliance with France and establishing a excellent rapport with Giles de la Pommerays, the French ambassador who was positively captivated with Anne. Together, they arranged an historical conference at Calais in the winter of 1532, during this conference Anne and Henry hopped to gain the French King, Francis I, to support their mirage. Due to this conference, Anne’s family befitted greatly. Her father obtained two more titles, Earl of Ormonde and Earl of Wiltshire and her sister Mary, now a widow, received an annual pension and her son a prestigious education.

With the French Kings support, Anne and Henry returned to Dover and were secretly married, and Anne, as to her promise, finally consummated their relationship after keeping Henry at bay for seven years. Shortly after this event, Anne became pregnant with what they hopped would be their first child together. Upon Anne’s pregnancy, Henry stripped Queen Katherine’s title as Queen before Anne’s official coronation in June of 1533. The English Church was now claimed under Henry’s control and his relationship with the Church of Rome was severed. This signified the end of England’s history as a Roman Catholic country. People at this time had little idea of the significance of this event and the soon to be Queen Anne couldn’t be more delighted, as she thought the Papacy was corrupting the Christian faith.

In preparation for her coronation, Anne was brought to the Tower of London dressed in fine gold cloth. Preceding her mandatory stay she left the Tower in procession to Westminster Abby where she was crowned The Queen of England. After her lavish coronation, Anne settled down to prepare for the birth of her child, but her quiet life would not last long. She became aware of Henry’s infatuation with a lady in the court, deeply hurt and distressed, this event provoked the first serious fight between her and her new husband the King. Not wanting to jeopardize his wife pregnancy, Henry dismissed the girl as a passing fancy.

On September 7, 1533 at Greenwich, the christened Princess Elizabeth was born, slightly prematurely. Fearing Katherine of Aragons’s daughter Mary’s influence and affection toward her child, Henry sent Mary and her to Hatfield House where the young Princess was to live with her own household. Anne, and ever loving mother, visited her daughter at ever chance she could, these loving visits to her daughter caused friction between her and her step daughter Mary, leaving each women to despise the other. Mary came to refer to Anne as “my father’s mistress”, and Anne to refer to Mary as “the cursed bastard”.

Life as a Queen brought Anne a larger staff then her predecessor had, this staff included 250 servants. Everything from servants to attend her personal needs, priests, stable-boys, and maids-of-honour. The Queen also started to spread Protestant through the realm and was hailed as a Protestant heroine and some to refer to her as “the Queen whom God loves”. Anne also spent her time as a patron of charity, encouraging her ladies to follow her actions.

Beyond reformation and charitable acts, Anne had a magnificently extravagant court to oversee. Anne spent money on gowns, imported fabric, gems, head-dresses, fine feather fans and furniture from across the world. She would entertain guest in her apartments who would flirt with her ladies and acquire permission from Henry, to dance with the much adored Queen. But beyond all the decadence, Anne’s marriage to Henry was a rocky one. Henry did not stay any faithful to Anne then he did Katherine, this deeply hurt Anne causing her to react with rage towards each new mistress. Although they did enjoy times of affection between them, Henry thought of her failure to give him a son as a betrayal, this caused Anne to an even greater pursuit to have a son.

In 1534 Anne was pregnant again, but the son she desperately wanted and needed was stillborn. The most devastation news was yet to hit Anne.

Soon after her failure to produce a living male heir, Henry’s fancy turned to one of her ladies-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. During this time, Anne and her sister Mary’s relationship began to become strained. Mary had thoughtlessly married a commoner, and as punishment, Anne banished her from court. Neither sister would apologize to the other; finally Mary wrote Anne a letter proclaiming her love for her new husband. Apparently the letter must have stuck a soft spot in Anne, and Anne had the newlyweds sent a present, but stood firm on their banishment from court.

With her failure to have a son and her husbands ever loving affections growing towards Jane Seymour, Anne was soon finding herself blamed for her husbands government and the death of Sir Thomas More. It is fact that Anne did not like more, but it is unlikely that she demanded his death.

In January 1536, Katherine of Aragon succumbed to Cancer. While Henry and Anne adorned themselves in bright yellow clothing, some saw this as displays of joy regarding Katherine’s demise. But, Katherine being Spanish, yellow was Spain’s national color of mourning during the time and was worn in respect to the fallen Queen. Though Henry divorced his first wife, his respect for her did not diminish. She was after all the Princess Dowager and widow of this brother. During this time, Anne became pregnant once more. But the pregnancy was not to last and 1536 she reportedly miscarried another son.

Anne blamed her miscarriage on the stress of Henry’s relationship with Jane Seymour and Henry’s near fatal jousting accident. This was essentially the beginning of the end for Anne and her marriage to Henry. After recovering from her miscarriage, Jane Seymour was moved into Anne’s old apartments and Jane’s brother was giving Anne’s brother’s court honor as Order of the Gater. Fearing divorce, Anne slipped into depression. While medicine in Anne’s time could not explain why she was not able to bring another child to term, modern medicine may have saved her life. It is thought that Anne had Rh-negative blood, while Henry had Rh-positive, leading the first child to such parents to be born healthy, while causing all other pregnancies to inevitably end in miscarriages. Without modern knowledge, all blame was placed on Anne, causing the King to find a way out of his sonless marriage.

While Anne’s enemies used the Kings affections for Jane Seymour toward their favor, the plot to bring Anne out of power began. The much loved Cormwell had turned on the Queen and in 1536 had the King sign a legal document calling for an investigation on Anne. An investigation that would result in treason and her eventual execution. Cormwell began with Mark Smeaton, a Flemish musician in Anne’s services. Under torture he confessed to being the Queen’s lover, yet denied such allegations before the torture. Smeaton also confessed the names of other lovers to the Queen, Sir Henry Norreys, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton and Anne’s own brother George Boleyn. Each was taken to the tower, and on 2 of May 1536, Anne was arrested and sent to join them.

Anne was informed of her charges: adultery, incest and murder. Suffering a nervous breakdown she was baffled how Henry could charge her with such unspeakable allegations. Ironically, the same rooms she stayed in preparation for her coronation, she once again sat in perpetration for her trial three years later.

Weston, Brereton and Wyatt were tired on May 15, 1536 and found guilty, yet they all maintained their innocence. The next day Anne and her brother George were brought to an unfair trial. Though she was supported by the people of London, Anne and all four men were found guilty and sentenced to execution. Ironically Henry Percy was attending her trial, and once her guilty verdict was read by her Uncle Thomas Howard, Percy been carried of the court room from becoming faint.

On May 17, 1536 George Boleyn, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton and Sir Thomas Wyatt were executed on Tower Hill. Anne knew her time was near, and her nerves were getting the best of her. She went into hysterics. But the morning of her execution, her keepers reported her happy and ready to be done with life. She was told a swordsman from Calais was being brought in rather then a Queen being beheaded by a common axe. She is reported to saying “He shall not have much trouble, for I have a little neck. I shall be known as La Reine san tete – The Queen without a head!”.

On May 19th, 1536 Queen Anne was brought to the Tower Green were she was given a private execution. Until the very end, Anne held her poise and dignity. Even her executioner was so taken with her, that he is reported to have said “where is my sword?” so she wouldn’t know when the sword was coming.

“She who has been the Queen of England on earth will today become a Queen in Heaven” stated Thomas Cranmer as he wept on a bench after her tragic death.

At first Anne was not given a proper burial. Her body was shoved into a narrow chest and placed in an unmarked grave. During the chapel renovations of Queen Victoria, Anne’s remains were found and moved to a final resting place is now marked in the marble floor.

It is not said how Henry truly felt after Anne’s death, but its hard to say he felt bad considering her cousin met the same faith as herself. For twenty years after her death, Anne was hardly mentioned. Through the Catholic circles created stories of her deformities, and links to the devil and witchcraft began to evolve. It was even said she was Henry’s biological daughter. She has also been known as “the whore, Anne Boleyn”, and promiscuous and immoral woman. But in 1558, Anne became a martyr for the English Protestants. During Elizabeth’s rein, English nobles displayed pictures of Anne in their homes, but this slowly diminished in the 18th and 19th centuries.

During these times, Anne was an image of the romantic victim destroyed by her husband. But fact also informs us that Anne Boleyn was one of the most ambitious, intelligent Queens of European history. Not only did she hold these valuable qualities a Queen needed to run a country, but she passed them on to her only child, Elizabeth I, the greatest Queen in English history.

For Further Reading
The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn

Mademoiselle Boleyn

The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn

The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn: Henry VIII’s Obsession

The Queen of Subtleties: A Novel of Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn: A New Life of England’s Tragic Queen

Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn