Anne Boleyn - Historical Profile |

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Queen Anne Boleyn

INTERESTING FACTS : - Apart from Katherine of Aragon, Anne was the only one of Henry's subsequent wives to have a coronation and be crowned. - Anne was very supportive and even defended the censored writing of Protestant upstarts and yet worshipped as a Catholic until her death. - Pope Clement VII paid spies to steal Henry VIII's love letters to his fiancée, Anne Boleyn to prove that they were lovers. However, no evidence could be uncovered and even Clement VII had to grudgingly admit that all impartial evidence from England suggested that Anne Boleyn was strong-willed but morally upright - She convinced Henry that The Bible should be translated into English and be available to the common people and not just the clergy. - She distributed a fortune in charity among the English people, more that her predecessor Katherine. She even sewed clothing with her own hands to distribute to the poor & personally tended to the ill on her travels. - She had a droll sense of humour and when there were protests to Henry choosing her as queen, for a short time she changed her motto to the Latin equivalent of "Grumble all you like. This is how it's going to be" and this was emblazoned on all her livery. A few weeks later it was removed. - George Wyatt (grandson of Thomas Wyatt) said she had a "double nail" on one of her fingers and suggested she had a large Adam's apple "like a man's". - No heretics were burned during her tenure as queen and in fact she saved the life of one Nicholas Bourbon. [* See notes below] -Anne is probably the only person to have ever said "no" to the King's advances which made her a challenge when he first encountered her. [* See notes below] - When Anne was created the first Marchioness of Pembroke in 1532, she became the first female English commoner ennobled in her own right, without inheritance or marriage, and at the time became the most prestigious non-royal woman in the land. - The french swordsman was paid 23 pounds to reduce her suffering to a minimum and he took her head in one try. Executions were routinely botched and often took several strikes to sever the head. Anne was worried about this having witnessed it and it was Henry's last act of "kindness". Anne Boleyn Miniature by Lucas Horenbout / Horenbolte. This is a rare miniature portrait of Anne Boleyn in her mid-twenties, before she became queen of England. There is a definite likeness to the Holbein drawing on the right. Horenbout also painted miniatures of Henry VIII's other wives. However, Sir Roy Strong, the preeminent authority on 16th century portraiture, has identified the sitter as Anne; note, for instance, that she wears Anne's falcon badge This portrait of Anne hangs in Hever Castle and is probably not a contemporary painting but based on the Holbein drawing above right which was done "from life". Anne wearing a pendant with the entwined initials H & A painted in the Victorian Era LITERATURE Non-Fiction: "The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn" By Eric Ives "The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII" By Retha Warnicke "The Life of Anne Boleyn" by Philip W. Sergeant "Mistress Anne: The Exceptional Life of Anne Boleyn" By Carolly Erickson "Anne Boleyn: A New Life of England's Tragic Queen" By Joanna Denny "Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII" by Karen Lindsey "Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII" By David Starkey "The Wives of Henry VIII" By Lady Antonia Fraser "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" by Alison Weir "Mistress Anne" by Carolly Erickson "Ann Boleyn" by Marie Louise Bruce "The Challenge of Anne Boleyn" by Hester W. Chapman "Anne Boleyn" by Norah Lofts "Memoirs of the Life of Anne Boleyn, Queen of Henry VIII" by Miss Benger "The Politics of Marriage" by David Loades "Doomed Queen Anne" by Caroline Meyer "Lives of the Queens of England" by Agnes Strickland Fiction: "Brief Gaudy Hour" by Margaret Campbell Barnes "The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn" By Robin Maxwell "Mademoiselle Boleyn" By Robin Maxwell "The Lady in the Tower" By Jean Plaidy "The King's Secret Matter" by Jean Plaidy "Murder Most Royal" by Jean Plaidy "The Two Queen Annes" by Lozania Prole "A Tudor Story: The Return of Anne Boleyn" by Canon W.S. Pakenham-Walsh "Anne Boleyn" by E. Barrington "Anne Boleyn" by Vercors "Dear Heart, How Like You This?" by Wendy J. Dunn "Anne Boleyn" by Margaret Heys "The Concubine" by Norah Lofts "Anna Boleyns Gluck und Ende: Zwischen den Muhlsteinen der Macht" by Robert Widl "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory "Henry VIII" A Play by William Shakespeare "Anne of the Thousand Days" A Play by Maxwell Anderson

circa 1533 - 1536 Artist Unknown National Portrait Gallery, London Historian Eric Ives writes: Here is the key to the relationship between Henry and Anne. Anne was where she was because of her own character and merits, a self-made woman who saw no percentage in bloodless simpering. Submissiveness had not won the king; Anne's attraction was a challenge. When a poison pen drawing came into her hands, showing a male figure labelled 'H' and two female figures 'K' & 'A' and with 'A' having no head, she called to Anne Gainsford.: " Come hither Nan, See here a book of prophecy; thus he saith is the king, this the queen, and this is myself with my head off". The girl said sensibly. "If I thought it true, though he were an emperor, I would not myself marry him with that condition". Anne responded: "Yes Nan, I think the book a bauble, yet for the hope I have that the realm may be happy by my issue, I am resolved to have him whatsoever might become of me", [contemporary source : George Wyatt's 'Wolsey'] Henry found himself facing a person prepared to stand up to him. When in the summer of 1530, he dared to remind Anne how much she owed him and many enemies she had made him, her reply was reported as : "That matters not, for it is foretold in ancient prophecies that at this time a queen shall be burnt. But even if I were to suffer a thousand deaths, my love for you will not abate one jot." [contemporary source: Calendar State Papers. Spanish] Holbein Drawings attributed to be Anne Boleyn 1533 -1536 The one below is disputed and may have been one of her ladies in waiting either Lady Margaret Lee or her sister Anne Wyatt. This lovely portrait of Anne is set up in her home in Hever, Castle (in Edenbridge, Kent) no one is allowed to take pictures of the painting. Only copies are made in children's book at the National Portrait Gallery's Shops. 18th Century Portrait TELEVISION AND MOVIE PORTRAYALS Natalie Dormer, The Tudors -- 2007-present Natalie Portman, The Other Boleyn Girl -- 2008 Helena Bonham Carter, Henry VIII -- 2003 Jodhi May, The Other Boleyn Girl -- 2003 Julia Marsen, The Six Wives of Henry VIII -- 2001 Joan Sutherland, Anna Bolena -- 1984 Barbara Kellerman, Henry VIII -- 1979 Charlotte Rampling, Henry VIII and His Six Wives -- 1972 Dorothy Tutin , The Six Wives of Henry VIII -- 1970 Genevieve Bujold, Anne of a Thousand Days -- 1969 Vanessa Regrave, A Man for All Seasons -- 1966 Merle Oberon, The private life of Henry VIII -- 1933 Henny Portman, Anne Boleyn -- 1920 Laura Cowie, Henry VIII -- 1911

A description of Anne Boleyn’s coronation was set down in pamphlet form shortly after the festivities by the London printer Wynkin de Worde. Entitled The Noble Tryumphaunt Coronacyon of Quene Anne - Wyfe unto the Noble Kynge Henry the VIII it consisted of 11 typeset pages with a rather crude woodcut of a courtly scene on the front cover. Left: The Noble Tryumphaunt Coronacyon of Quene Anne - Wyfe unto the Noble Kynge Henry the VIII (printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1533)

The Boleyn family home - Hever Castle in Kent

Hever Castle's "Haunted House Story" The ghost of Anne Boleyn is said to return to her old home at Hever Castle, where every Christmas Eve she is seen to walk over the bridge which crosses the River Eden in the castle grounds. The great oak, under which Henry VIII courted Anne, still stands. Her ghost has been seen there as well, usually at Christmas time. Another ghost at Hever is that of a local farmer, called Humphrey, who was robbed and killed there. WATCH AN EPISODE OF "MOST HAUNTED" featuring Hever Castle in 5 parts below: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Anne Boleyn's Book of Hours at Hever Castle	Ornate Clock a Gift from Henry to Anne	Boleyn cup with the london hallmark 1535-6, this cup has a finial of the Boleyn falcon in the form borne by Queen Anne herself	One of Henry's locks which was moved to each residence he went to & this one is at Hever Castle	design for the table fountain presented by Anne Boleyn to Henry as her New Year's gift in 1534 incorporates her falcon badge
Anne Boleyn's Lute

DOWNFALL AND EXECUTION: Anne's life would soon come to end following the arrest and torture of her musician, Mark Smeaton, sometime in the last week of April, 1536. All accusations were denied (adultery) but he soon confessed under torture. He provided another name, Sir Henry Norris. Henry was arrested on May Day and being an aristocrat and could not be tortured; however, he denied any wrongdoing between himself and the Queen. Sir Francis Weston was arrested two days after Norris on the same charges as the two above-mentioned. William Brereton was arrested shortly after Weston. The final man to be arrested on charges of incest and treason was Anne's own brother, George Boleyn. Two other men were arrested and later released ; Sir Thomas Wyatt & Sir Richard Page. Anne was arrested on May 2, 1536 and taken directly to The Tower. On May 12, 1536, four of the men were tried in Westminster. Norris, Brereton, and Weston maintained their innocence. Only Smeaton confessed to the charges he was accused of committing. Anne and George were tried three days later in The Tower. She was accused of incest, adultery, high treason, and witchcraft. On May 17, 1536, George and the four other men were executed and two days later (May 19, 1536) Anne was beheaded. Her body and head was placed into an arrow chest and buried in the Chapel of St. Peter of Vincula. Anne's Final Speech: "Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul." Anne Boleyn's Burial information The Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula ("St. Peter in chains") is the parish church of the Tower of London, dating from 1520 and is a Royal Peculiar. The name refers to St. Peter's imprisonment under Herod in Jerusalem. Some of the most famous prisoners have been executed at the Tower. They include both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, the 2nd and 5th wives of Henry VIII. Along with Lady Jane Grey (who reigned for nine days in 1553). When Sir Thomas More and John Fisher incurred the wrath of King Henry VIII, they too were executed and buried here. Both were later canonised by the Roman Catholic Church. A full list of all who have been executed can be found on the west wall of the Chapel. The Chapel can be visited during a specific tour within the Tower of London. The existing building, of typical Tudor design was erected in 1519-20 for King Henry VIII. It is thought that a chapel of some type may have stood in its position since before the Norman conquest. The Chapel contains many beautiful monuments including a memorial to John Holland, Duke of Exeter, a Constable of the Tower who died 1447. Along with an effigy of Sir Richard Cholmondeley, a Lieutenant of the Tower who died 1521. In the sanctuary, there is a monument to Sir Richard Blount, who died 1564, and his son Sir Michael, died 1610, both Tudor Lieutenants of the Tower, who would have witnessed many of the executions. A Victorian rendition of Anne and her ladies in waiting in the Tower of London, by Edouard Cibot, c. 1835

Song attributed to have been written by Anne (or possibly her brother George) "Oh death rock me asleep, Bring on my quiet rest, Let pass my very guiltless ghost Out of my careful breast. Ring out the doleful knell, Let it sound my death tell; For I must die, There is no remedy, For I must die..." Hear a clip from the song "Oh Death Rock Me Asleep" Below is a Letter from Anne Boleyn to her Husband, King Henry VIII from her cell in the Tower. The original is lost and this is said to be a copy of a letter found in Thomas Cromwell's papers after his death. There is a debate over it's authenticity but if she had written a letter, it would undoubtedly read exactly like this. Your grace's displeasure and my imprisonment are things so strange to me, that what to write, or what to excuse, I am altogether ignorant. Whereas you send to me (willing me to confess a truth and so obtain your favor), by such a one, whom you know to be mine ancient professed enemy, I no sooner received this message by him, than I rightly conceived your meaning; and if, as you say, confessing a truth indeed may procure my safety, I shall with all willingness and duty, perform your duty. But let not your grace ever imagine that your poor wife will be brought to acknowledge a fault, where not so much as a thought ever proceeded. And to speak a truth, never a prince had wife more loyal in all duty, and in all true affection, than you have ever found in Anne Bulen - with which name and place I could willingly have contented myself, if God and your grace's pleasure had been so pleased. Neither did I at any time so far forget myself in my exaltation or received queenship, but that I always looked for such alteration as I now find; for the ground of my preferment being on no surer foundation than your grace's fancy, the least alteration was fit and sufficient (I knew) to draw that fancy to some other subject. You have chosen me from low estate to be your queen and companion, far beyond my desert or desire; if, then, you found me worthy of such honor, good your grace, let not any light fancy or bad counsel of my enemies withdraw your princely favor from me; neither let that stain - that unworthy stain - of a disloyal heart towards your good grace ever cast so foul a blot on me, and on the infant princess your daughter. Try me, good king, but let me have a lawful trial, and let not my sworn enemies sit as my accusers and as my judges; yea, let me receive an open trial, for my truth shall fear no open shame. Then you shall see either my innocency cleared, your suspicions and conscience satisfied, the ignominy and slander of the world stopped, or my guilt openly declared. So that, whatever God and you may determine of, your grace may be freed from an open censure; and my offense being so lawfully proved, your grace may be at liberty, both before God and man, not only to execute worthy punishment on me as an unfaithful wife but to follow your affection already settled on that party for whose sake I am now as I am, whose name I could some while since have pointed unto - your grace being not ignorant of my suspicions therein. But if you have already determined of me, and that not only my death, but an infamous slander must bring your the joying of your desired happiness, then I desire of God that he will pardon your great sin herein, and likewise my enemies, the instruments thereof; and that he will not call you to a strait account for your unprincely and cruel usage of me at his general judgment-seat, where both you and myself must shortly appear; and in whose just judgment, I doubt not (whatsoever the world may think of me), mine innocency shall be openly known and sufficiently cleared. My last and only request shall be, that myself only bear the burden of your grace's displeasure, and that it may not touch the innocent souls of those poor gentlemen, whom, as I understand, are likewise in strait imprisonment for my sake. If ever I have found favor in your sight - if ever the name of Anne Bulen have been pleasing in your ears - then let me obtain this request; and so I will leave to trouble your grace any further, with mine earnest prayer to the Trinity to have your grace in his good keeping, and to direct you in all your actions. From my doleful prison in the Tower, the 6th May.

Anne Boleyn's remains are buried directly beneath this Seal on the alter floor. Her brother George Boleyn is buried close by within the same Chapel along with Jane Boleyn (George's wife who testified against Anne & George) and their cousin Katherine Howard.

The site marked as the place of execution for Anne Boleyn and many other unfortunate yet high born people who were sentenced to an ignominious death.

Video clips: David Starkey (historian) on Anne Boleyn - Part One David Starkey (historian) on Anne Boleyn - Part Two BBC Documentary "Days that Shook the World: The Execution of Anne Boleyn", Part 1 BBC Documentary "Days that Shock the World: The Execution of Anne Boleyn", Part 2 BBC Documentary "Days that Shook the World: The Execution of Anne Boleyn", Part 3