The Reign and Death of Anne Boleyn
The Last Years of the Second Wife of Henry VIII 1533-1536
Sep 23, 2009
After her coronation, Anne Boleyn found the role of Queen of England extremely precarious. Although her influence with the King was still strong, she soon found that the qualities so admired in a mistress (her intelligence, her wit and her flirtatious nature) were discouraged in a wife.
Motherhood for Anne Boleyn
Shortly after her birth, the Princess Elizabeth was moved into her official Hatfield House with her half sister Mary serving as Maid of Honour. By all accounts, Anne visited her daughter often and was openly affectionate towards her.
While the relationship between Anne and her step daughter Mary is often described as cold, with Anne actively encouraging Henry to favour her daughter over Mary, there is actually evidence that suggests Anne may have tried to make peace. Upon one visit to her daughter, Anne asked Mary to come to court and visit her as Queen, but this offer was refused
.After a rumoured miscarriage in February 1534, Anne again fell pregnant in April 1534, losing this baby in September (the baby was developed enough to determine gender- a boy). Anne fell pregnant for the last time in June 1535, also losing that baby in January 1536.
Even after the passing of the Treason Act in November 1534 (which made it a Capital offence to deny the legitimacy of Anne’s marriage or her daughter) her failure to produce a male heir placed Anne in a precarious position. While the King was still affectionate and committed to her in public, in private the couple were heard having arguments, with Anne Boleyn's tendency to correct and contradict the King shocking the court.
In an effort to strengthen her position and quash the debate over the legitimacy of her daughter, Anne encouraged the betrothal of Elizabeth to the Dauphine of France. However, the King of France, Francis I was growing weary of entering in such an arrangement, suggesting an engagement to the King's older daughter Mary.
The Death of Katharine of Aragon
In January 1536, the news of the death of Katharine of Aragon reached Henry and Anne. The couple seemed to celebrate, with both wearing yellow (the official colour of Aragon) in an apparent attempt to mock the former Queen. However, it can also be noted that yellow is the official colour of mourning in Spain.
However, the death of Katharine left Anne in a dangerous position, although she was pregnant at the time, if she failed to produce a son, Henry could rid himself of her and remarry without any of the scandal that had accompanied the marriage to Anne.
Condemnation and Execution of Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn had never been popular with the public, being frequently referred to as "the King's whore" and she was blamed openly for the King breaking with the Catholic church (despite that in private, she had openly opposed the violence employed with the dissolution of the monasteries).
On 2nd May 1536, Anne was arrested on charges of adultery, incest (with her brother George) and high treason (plotting to murder the King so she could marry one of her alleged lovers). While evidence against her was scant, the musician Mark Smeeton had admitted (albeit under torture) to having a sexual relationship with the Queen, and her sister in law Lady Jane Rochford alleged a sexual relationship between Anne and her brother.
On 19th May 1536, Anne Boleyn was beheaded by sword at the Tower of London, it was the first ever public execution of an English Queen.
Ten days later, Henry VIII married Anne's lady in waiting, Jane Seymour.
Sources:
Letters of the Queens of England, Ed. Anne Crawford, (Sutton Publishing Ltd; New edition edition,Aug 2002)
Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII, David Starkey, (Vintage; New edition edition, Mar 2004)
The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Antonia Fraser, (Phoenix; New Ed edition, Aug 2002)
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