Anne
Boleyn, the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn
and Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk, was born in
1501. Her father had high ambitions for his daughter and when she
was only seven she was sent to Paris to be educated with the children
of the French royal family.
At
thirteen she became one of the Queen's maids of honour. There was
great competition to become a maid of honour as it offered the opportunity
of meeting members of the nobility. Parents hoped that this would
eventually lead to a good marriage. As maid of honour, Anne entertained
the Queen by playing musical instruments and singing songs. She was
also expected to make polite conversation with important guests at
the royal court.
In
1521 Sir Thomas Boleyn arranged for Anne
to be brought home because England and France were on the verge of
war. Boleyn hoped that Anne would now become a maid of honour to Catherine
of Aragon,
the wife of Henry
VIII.
However, Anne had to wait until 1526 before being granted the post.
Anne was a great success as a maid of honour. She was a good musician
and a talented singer. She was also extremely intelligent and her
time in the French court provided her with a great deal of interesting
conversation.
Henry seemed to find her
very entertaining and was often seen dancing with her. It was not
long before Henry VIII had fallen deeply
in love with Anne. Ever since 1524 Henry had been planning to divorce
Catherine of Aragon. Now he knew who
he wanted to replace her with.
Henry sent a message to
the Pope arguing that his marriage to Catherine had been invalid as
she had previously been married to his brother Arthur. When Catherine
discovered Henry's plans she informed King Charles (Carlos) of Spain
and Emperor Charles (Karl) V of the Holy Roman Empire. Unwilling to
have his aunt lose her position, Charles warned the Pope that he would
be very angry if he granted Henry a divorce. The Pope knew that once
he made a decision, he would upset one of these two powerful monarchs.
In an attempt to keep the peace, the Pope put off making a decision
about Henry's marriage..
In January 1533 Henry discovered
that Anne Boleyn was pregnant. As it was important that the child
should not be classed as illegitimate, arrangements were made for
Henry and Anne to get married. King Charles V of Spain threatened
to invade England if the marriage took place, but Henry ignored his
threats and the marriage
went ahead.
Anne had strong opinions
about religion. She tried to persuade Henry to give permission for
bibles to be published in English. Anne also introduced Henry to the
books of Protestant writers such as William
Tyndale.
It was very important to
Henry that his wife should give birth to a male child. Without a son
to take over from him when he died, Henry feared that the Tudor family
would lose control of England. Catherine had given birth to six children
but five died within a few weeks of being born. Only one child, Mary,
survived into adulthood.
Henry hoped that Anne would
provide him with a son. He was therefore disappointed when,
in September 1533, Anne gave birth to a daughter called Elizabeth.
While Henry was furious about having another daughter, the supporters
of Catherine were delighted and claimed that it proved God was punishing
Henry for his illegal marriage to Anne.
In March 1534 the Pope
eventually made his decision. He announced that Henry's marriage to
Anne Boleyn was invalid.
Henry reacted by declaring that the Pope no longer had authority in
England. In November 1534, Parliament passed an act that stated that
Henry VIII was now the Head of the Church of England.
In January 1536, Anne had
a son but unfortunately he was born dead. What is more, the baby was
badly deformed. This was a serious matter because in Tudor times Christians
believed that a deformed child was God's way of punishing parents
for committing serious sins. Henry feared that people might think
that the Pope was right when he claimed that God was angry because
Henry had divorced Catherine and married Anne.
Henry's solution to this
problem was to claim that he was not the father of this deformed child.
Soon afterwards,
five men, including Anne's brother, were accused of committing adultery
with the queen. Anne and the five men were found guilty and executed.
Ten days after Anne was beheaded, Henry married Jane
Seymour.
(1)
Henry
VIII, letter to Anne Boleyn (1526)
Seeing I cannot be present in person with you, I send you
the nearest thing to that possible, that is, my picture set in bracelets
... wishing myself in their place, when it shall please you.
(2)
Henry
VIII, letter to Anne
Boleyn (1526)
I send you this letter begging you to give me an account
of the state you are in... I send you by this bearer a buck killed
late last night by my hand, hoping, when you eat it, you will think
of the hunter.
(3)
Henry
VIII,
letter to Anne Boleyn (1528)
If only I was in your arms...
for I think it is a long time since I kissed you. Written after the
killing of a hart... with God's grace tomorrow I might kill another,
by the hand which I trust shortly shall be yours.
(4)
Raphael Holinshed, Chronicles
(1587)
On the fourteenth of November, 1532... the king married Lady
Anne Boleyn... the marriage was kept so secret that very few knew
it till Easter when it was discovered that she was with child.
(5)
Statement made by Anne Boleyn just before she was executed.
Good Christian people... according to the law I am judged
to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it... I pray God
save the King, and send him long to reign over you... for to me he
was always a good, a gentle, and sovereign Lord.
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