Anne Boleyn underwent the two most significant events in her life – her coronation and her execution – in the month of May. Here is an overview of this incredible woman’s all-too-short, but fascinating life.
Henry VIII was married to Catherine of Aragon for 17 years when he fell in love with Anne. Catherine was a royal in every sense of the word, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. She had gone through numerous pregnancies in her mission to produce a son and heir for Henry; but their only child who lived to adulthood was a girl, Mary.
Henry’s passion for Anne has been well recorded. His desire to marry her was so overpowering that it led to his break with the church and the Reformation. But clearly, one of the reasons Henry wanted Anne so badly was not simply passion; through her, he believed he would finally have a son. Catherine was beyond childbearing years, and Anne was young and vivacious, the perfect candidate.
What Was Anne Like?
Anne has been described in various ways, and her description varies according to the observer. She was an outspoken, charismatic, exciting woman -- the kind of woman people either loved or hated. Her most startling features were her long, black hair and matching black eyes. She “knew well how to use [her eyes] with effect”; a Venetian ambassador called them “black and beautiful”. She was of average height, with small breasts, and very slender. Anne was an accomplished dancer; due to her adolescence at the French court, where she was a lady in waiting, she was well trained in the art of courtly life and flirtation.
Anne’s older sister Mary had been Henry’s mistress for a time, and when Henry declared his passion for Anne, she made it clear to him that she would not be another Mary. She would not sleep with him unless they were married.
Thus began a seven-year ordeal for Henry and Anne. Lengthy battles with the church ensued, which refused to grant the divorce. Finally, Henry decided to void the issue by declaring himself head of the church in England and granting his own divorce. Catherine was callously sent packing to various manor houses. Her title as queen was stripped from her, but she never stopped loving Henry, or referring to herself as the true queen.
Secret Wedding
Henry and Anne were married secretly on January 25th, 1533. With her future as queen now assured, Anne had finally relented to Henry’s sexual pursuit, and was already pregnant with the hoped-for heir. Henry and Anne’s child was firmly within her when the first most significant event of her life occurred: her coronation, which got underway on May 29, 1533. How did Anne look, at this moment of her greatest triumph?
“Her wonderful long black hair ‘hung down’ her back like a bride’s and she carried some flowers in her hand. But her dress of crimson brocade was encrusted with precious stones, while round her neck she wore ‘a string a pearls larger than chick peas’ … and a large jewel ‘made up of diamonds of evidently great value’. A robe of royal purple velvet surmounted it all, while her ladies were similarly ‘richly clothed in crimson powdered with ermines.’” (The Wives of Henry VIII, Antonia Fraser).
Anne's Coronation
On June 1st, her large procession made its way through the city of London, on its way to Westminster Abbey. She passed several elaborate pageants paying tribute to her. People lined the pavements to watch her pass, and others watched the procession from windows. Not everyone celebrated; many of the King’s subjects hated Anne for displacing their beloved Queen Catherine, and there were just as many cries of “Whore!” as “Queen Anne prosper! Proceed! and reign!” Henry was waiting for Anne and asked her how she liked the city. She answered wryly that she liked it well enough, ‘but I saw a great many caps on heads and saw but few tongues’.
Anne received her crown ‘with all the ceremonies thererof, as thereunto belongeth’, from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. ‘Great jousts’ took place the next day, and much banqueting. Henry and Anne had finally become man and wife, and eagerly awaited the arrival of their assured son.
But it wasn’t a son. On September 7, 1533, at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, Anne gave birth to a baby girl, Elizabeth (Elizabeth I, who would become one of the longest reigning monarchs in English history). Both she and Henry were disappointed, although they both made efforts to appear happy, and immediately started working on a son.
Arrest and Trial
Anne and Henry’s relationship had started to show some cracks during her pregnancy. Henry had always had a roving eye, and when he started flirting with the young ladies of the court, Anne did not hesitate to inform Henry of her displeasure. He responded “that she must shut her eyes and endure as those who were better than herself had done”, adding “that she ought to know that he could at any time ‘lower her as much as he had raised her’ (The Wives of Henry VIII, Antonia Fraser). After a second pregnancy, which ended in a stillbirth, and a third, in which she miscarried a boy, Anne’s days were numbered. As the Spanish ambassador wrote, “She has miscarried of her saviour.”
Henry’s great passion had turned out to be rather fickle. He already had a candidate for a new bride: one of Anne’s ladies-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. Once again, Thomas Cromwell was given the task of rectifying a difficult situation. He soon came up with the perfect solution: adultery. The penalty for adultery (in this case, also treason) was death. On May Day -- May 1, 1536 – five men, including Anne’s own brother George, were arrested.
Anne was arrested on May 2nd. She had no idea what was coming. She received a summons to appear before the king’s council, and learned that she was being charged with adultery. She was too shocked to reply, and returned to her apartments under guard. At 2 o’clock that afternoon, she was taken to the Tower. By the time she arrived, she nearly collapsed with fear. She asked the Constable of the Tower, Sir William Kingston, “Mr. Kingston, do I go into a dungeon?” “No, Madam,” he answered, "you shall go into the lodging you lay in at your coronation.” “It is too good for me!” Anne reportedly replied. “Jesu, have mercy on me!” And she sank to her knees, weeping, then laughing, hysterical. This was quite a different reception than the one Anne had received on her coronation day, and the irony was obviously all too clear.
The first trial of Anne’s co-accused took place on May 12th. They were quickly all found guilty, and condemned to death. Anne and George’s trial took place on May 15th. She had recovered her composure and showed no sign of fear as the charges were read. They defended themselves admirably, both asserting that the charges were false and ridiculous, but to no avail. They were found guilty, and sentenced to die.
The men were all executed on May 17th, beheaded by axe. Anne was reported to have watched the proceedings from a window in the Tower. Her behaviour during captivity was much like when she had first arrived: fits of weeping mixed with laughter, then more weeping. She was likely reflecting on her actions, her treatment of Queen Catherine and Princess Mary, and her own ambitious nature.
Anne had been sentenced to die by axe as well, but Henry was in a merciful mood and sent for a famous swordsman from Calais. The constable of the Tower, Kingston, told her, ‘it should be no pain, it was so subtle’, to which Anne replied with her characteristic wit, ‘I have heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck.’ Then she put her hands around her neck and laughed.
Anne's Execution
At 9 o’clock in the morning of May 19th, 1536, Kingston told Anne, ‘Madam, the hour approaches, you must make yourself ready.’ She told him she had long been ready, and calmly followed him outside. It was a sunny Friday morning. Two or three thousand people had gathered around the scaffold. Black cloth had been draped around it and straw was scattered on the surface. “She wore a robe of dark grey or black damask, trimmed with fur, with a low square neck and a crimson kirtle; from her shoulders flowed a long white cape.” (The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Alison Weir). She looked exhausted, and reportedly kept looking behind her, as if she expected to see Henry appear and call a halt to the proceedings. The swordsman stood on the scaffold, wearing black clothes and a hood, his sword hidden in the straw. Anne climbed the steps calmly, and smiled at the spectators. She had asked to say a few words before she died:
"Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, according to law and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come here only to die, and thus to yield myself humbly to the will of the King, my lord. And if, in my life, I did ever offend the King’s Grace, surely with my death I do now atone. I come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that whereof I am accused, as I know full well that aught I say in my defence doth no appertain to you. I pray and beseech you all, good friends, to pray for the life of the King, my sovereign lord and yours, who is one of the best princes on the face of the earth, who has always treated me so well that better could not be, wherefore I submit to death with good will, humbly asking pardon of the world. If any person will meddle with my cause, I require them to judge the best. Thus I take my leave of the world, and of you, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me."
She told her ladies not to be sorry to see her die. After handing a prayer book to one of her ladies, she knelt to say some final prayers. She rose briefly to remove her French hood; her long, black hair was coiled up in a bun so it would not impede the swordsman. The executioner knelt and asked her forgiveness for what he was about to do; Anne gave it. Then she unclasped her necklace, gave it to one of her ladies, and knelt. A blindfold was tied around her eyes, and the spectactors knelt. Anne prayed aloud, saying over and over, “Jesu, receive my soul! O Lord God, have pity on my soul! To Christ I commend my soul!” The executioner swept off her head with one quick, easy stroke. Then he picked up her head and held it up, saying in heavily accented English, “So perish all the King’s enemies!”
The crowd dispersed quickly. Anne’s body was lifted into a chest and covered with a sheet. It was carried into the Royal Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, and buried that afternoon.
Anne Boleyn was an extraordinary woman. She was not considered traditionally beautiful; although she came from a noble family, she was not royal; yet she managed to captivate a king and convince him to renounce his wife for her, altering the entire government of a country in the process. One can only assume that it was this strength of character that enabled her to withstand her tragic end.
Sources:
- The Wives of Henry VIII, Antonia Fraser, Viking, 1992.
- Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII, David Starkey, Harper Collins, 2003.
- The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Alison Weir, Pimlico, 1991.
- Anne Boleyn, Norah Lofts, Coward, McGann & Geoghegan, Inc., 1979.
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