Anne Boleyn
Henry Gets Rid of A Problem
Henry had a problem. After almost twenty years of marriage to his wife, Katherine, he still
had no sons. Out of nine pregnancies, only one child had lived, and she was girl, for pete's sake!
Believing that God was showing his divine displeasure at their marriage, he asked the Pope
for an annulment of his marriage to Katherine. The Pope refused. In 1532, Henry VII took matters
into his own hands by declaring the church in England seperate from the church in Rome, effectively
taking power away from Vatican. Free of Rome, Henry had his own clergy renounce his marriage to
Katherine. He and Anne Boleyn were married in 1533, with Anne already pregnant with Henry's longed for
heir.
Problem Number 2
Henry had already decided before the child was born that the baby would be named either Henry or
Edward. However, the baby turned out to be a daughter. Henry was greatly disappointed, as was Anne.
Anne had at least one more child, a male who was born dead on the same day Anne's nemesis, Katherine
of Aragon, was buried. The termination of that pregnancy resulted in her death.
The Downfall of Anne
Henry wanted Anne out of the way, and he wanted her out of the way quickly and permanently. In May
of 1563, Anne was arrested with five men, one of whom was her brother, George, and taken to the
Tower of London. She was charged with adultery, incest, 'despising her mariage' and 'entertaining
malice against the king' (Plowden 74). She and the other men, accused as her lovers, were also
charged with plotting the king's muder. There is no proof whatsoever than any of these charges
were true. Anne herself denied all charges, but it didn't matter. She was convicted and sentenced
to burning or beheading 'at the king's pleasure.' Henry was enough of a big fuzzy teddy bear to
allow the woman he had pursued relentlessly for years the decency of a beheading by sword, which
was considered much more quicl and accurate than the sometimes clumsy axe. The five men charged
with her were executed on 17 May, and two days later Anne herself was executed.
Links
King and Queens of England,
Scotland and Wales.
Cool site on the Tudors and lots of other British monarchs.
Time Line
An Overview of the English Monarchy.
Royal Genealogies
Look up all of the Tudor's ancestors and relatives.
Royal Scandals by Michael Rarquhar
A funny (but accurate) look at the scandals that have plagued the British Royal family throughout history.
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