Childhood and family

Anne was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, later 1st Earl of Wiltshire and 1st Earl of Ormonde, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Boleyn (born Lady Elizabeth Howard), daughter of the 2nd Duke of Norfolk. It is not known for certain where/when she was born, but it was either at her family's mansion, Blickling Hall in Norfolk, or at their favourite home, Hever Castle in Kent in the early 1500s.

It was later rumoured that she suffered from Polydactyly, having six fingers on her left hand (at the time considered a sign of the devil.) Although this legend is popular, it has recently been questioned on the grounds that there is no contemporary evidence to support it. None of the many eyewitness accounts of Anne Boleynâ€--s appearance – some of them meticulously detailed – mention any deformities, let alone a sixth finger. Moreover, as physical deformities were generally interpreted as a sign of evil it is difficult to believe that Anne Boleyn would have gained Henry's romantic attention had she had any deformities. On the basis of this evidence, many academics dismiss this story.

She had two siblings. As with Anne, it is not known for certain when they were born, but it seems clear that her sister, Mary, was older than she was. Maryâ€--s children clearly believed their mother had been the elder sister; as did Anneâ€--s daughter, Elizabeth.Their brother George may have been older, depending on when one believes Anne herself was born, since George was definitely born sometime around 1504.

In later life, Anne did not have a particularly close relationship with her father, but in her childhood she seemed anxious to please him. Her relationship with her sister Mary was initially affectionate, but they quarrelled over her choice of husband and were not on speaking terms at the time of her death. She enjoyed a much happier relationship with her mother and her brother, both of whom she appears to have been very close to.

At the time of Anneâ€--s birth, the Boleyn family was considered one of the most respectable families in the English aristocracy, although they had only held a title for four generations. Later, they were criticised for being social-climbers, but this was a political attack against them. In the words of one of her biographers, ‘Tradition also tells us that the Boleyns were a family of London merchants, and again tradition leads us astray. Anne Boleyn was born a great lady [of the aristocracy].â€-- Her great-grandparents included a Lord Mayor of London, a duke, an earl, two aristocratic ladies and a knight; amongst her relatives she numbered the Howards, one of the pre-eminent families in the land. She was certainly more aristocratic than either Jane Seymour or Catherine Parr, two of Henry's other English wives.

Anne's father was a respected diplomat with a gift for languages; he was also a favourite of Henry VII, who sent him on many diplomatic missions abroad. He continued his career under Henry VIII, who came to the throne in 1509. In Europe, Thomas Boleyn's professionalism and charm won many admirers, including Archduchess Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor. She was currently ruling The Netherlands on behalf of her father and she was so impressed with Boleyn that she offered his youngest daughter Anne a place in her household. Ordinarily, a girl had to be 12 years old to have such an honour, but Anne might have been somewhat younger, as Margaret affectionately referred to her as "La petite Boleyn" (it is not known, however, if the quote refers to her age or her stature). She made a good impression in The Netherlands with her manners and studiousness and lived there from the spring of 1513 until her father arranged for her to continue her education in Paris in the winter of 1514.

In France, she was a favoured lady-in-waiting to Queen Claude of France and also acted as an interpreter whenever any high-ranking English visitors came to the French court. In the queen's household, she completed her study of French and acquired a thorough knowledge of French culture and etiquette. She also developed an interest in fashion and religious philosophy that called for reform of the Church. Her European education ended in the winter of 1521 when she was summoned back to England on her father's orders. She sailed from Calais, which was then still an English possession, in January 1522.

Appearance and personality

Anne Boleyn was not conventionally beautiful for her time. She was too thin and her colouring was considered by some to be too dark. However, many observers were impressed by her dark eyes and long, dark hair. One Italian who met Anne in 1532 wrote that she was "not one of the handsomest women in the world", but others thought she was "competent belle" ("quite beautiful") and "young and good-looking. " One historian has compiled all the descriptions and concludes thus:

â€..She was never described as a great beauty, but even those who loathed her admitted that she had a dramatic allure. Her dark complexion and black hair gave her an exotic aura in a culture that saw milk-white paleness as essential to beauty. Her eyes were especially striking: â€..black and beautiful” wrote one contemporary, while another averred they were â€..always most attractive,” and that she â€..well knew how to use them with effect.”

People seemed primarily attracted by Anne's charisma. She made a good impression with her fashion sense, inspiring many new trends amongst the court ladies. In hindsight, she was probably the biggest English fashion icon of the early 16th century. William Forrest, author of a contemporary poem about Catherine of Aragon, complimented Anne's "passing excellent" skill as a dancer. "Here," he wrote, "was [a] fresh young damsel, that could trip and go."

â€..Anneâ€--s charm lay not so much in her physical appearance as in her vivacious personality, her gracefulness, her quick wit and other accomplishments. She was petite in stature, and had an appealing fragility about her… she shone at singing, making music, dancing and conversation… Not surprisingly, the young men of the court swarmed around her.”

She was a devout Christian[16] in the new tradition of Renaissance Humanism (calling her a Protestant would be an overstatement). She also gave generously to charity and sewed shirts for the poor. In her youth she was "sweet and cheerful" and enjoyed gambling, drinking wine, and gossiping. She was also brave and emotional. Yet, according to her enemies, Anne could also be extravagant, neurotic, vindictive and bad-tempered.

â€..To us she appears inconsistent – religious yet aggressive, calculating yet emotional, with the light touch of the courtier yet the strong grip of the politician … A woman in her own right – taken on her own terms in a manâ€--s world; a woman who mobilized her education, her style and her presence to outweigh the disadvantages of her sex; of only moderate good looks, but taking a court and a king by storm. Perhaps, in the end, it is Thomas Cromwellâ€--s assessment that comes nearest: intelligence, spirit and courage.”

At the time Anne Boleyn came to court, Henry's first wife Queen Catherine was popular with many people, although she had been inactive in politics and court life for some time. All her sons by Henry had died young and Henry was anxious for a male heir to his throne in order to preserve the monarchy and prevent civil war.

Boleyn made her court début at a masquerade ball in March 1522, where she performed an elaborate dance accompanying the king's younger sister, several other great ladies of the court and his mistress – Anneâ€--s sister, Mary. Within a few weeks of this performance, Boleyn was known as the most fashionable and accomplished woman at the court and she has been referred to as a "glass of fashion".

During this time, she was being courted by Henry Percy the son of the Earl of Northumberland around 1522. The exact nature of their relationship is unclear. Many novels and cinematic adaptations of Anneâ€--s life have romanticised the tale by describing how the young lovers consummated their union. However, it is worth noting that it would have been impossible to break their betrothal if it had been consummated and several of her biographers have pointed out that Anne had seen too many reputations ruined to risk hers. A Catholic author, George Cavendish, who disliked Anne but was friendly with Henry Percy, later stated categorically that the two had not been lovers. It thus seems unlikely that their relationship was sexual.

The romance was broken off in 1523 when Lord Henry's father refused to support the engagement. A romantic legend has it that the liaison was secretly broken up by Cardinal Wolsey, Henryâ€--s chief minister, because King Henry desired Anne for himself. It is impossible to say if this is true and historians are divided on the issue.

According to George Cavendish, Anne was briefly sent from court to her familyâ€--s countryside estates, but it is not known for how long. When she returned to court she gathered a clique of female friends and male admirers around herself, but became famous for her ability to keep men at arm's length. The poet Sir Thomas Wyatt, wrote about her in the poem, Whoso List to Hunt, in which he described her as unobtainable and headstrong, despite seeming demure and quiet. In 1525, Henry VIII became enamoured with her and began his pursuit.

Anne's sister, Mary, had previously been King Henry's short-term lover, during the time that she was married to Sir William Carey, a gentleman of the king's Privy Chamber. It has long been rumoured that one or both of Mary Boleyn's children were fathered by Henry. Some historians, such as Alison Weir, now question whether Henry Carey (Mary's son) was actually fathered by the King. It is believed that Henry's affair with Mary had been finished for some time when he became involved with her younger sister.

Anne resisted his attempts to seduce her and she refused to become his mistress. She rejected the kingâ€--s initial advances by saying, â€..I beseech your highness most earnestly to desist, and to this my answer in good part. I would rather lose my life than my honesty.” The king was more attracted to her because of this refusal and he pursued her relentlessly, even after she left the court to return to Kent. Historians are divided over Anneâ€--s motivations in rejecting Henry – some say it was virtue and others say it was ambition. Eventually, he proposed and she accepted. However, she decided not to sleep with Henry before their marriage, as pre-marital intercourse would mean that any children they had would be born out of legitimate wedlock. It is often thought that Henry's infatuation with her led him to seek a way to annul his existing marriage. However there is good evidence that Henry made the decision to end his marriage with Queen Catherine because she hadn't delivered a surviving male heir. Henry and his ministers applied for an annulment from the Vatican in 1527.

At first, Boleyn was kept in the background, but by 1528 it was common knowledge that Henry intended to marry her. Anneâ€--s relatives promoted her cause and they had many supporters at court. Initially, however, she kept herself out of politics. She revelled in her newfound lifestyle - Henry paid for everything, and she accumulated a large wardrobe of gowns, furs and jewels. She was given her own staff of servants, several ladies-in-waiting and new palace apartments.

In 1529, it seemed as if Pope Clement VII was no nearer to granting Henry an annulment than he had been in 1527. Anne's spies reported that part of the problem was that the Emperor Charles V, Catherine of Aragonâ€--s nephew, had taken Clement captive. Henry saw that Clement was thus unlikely to give him an annulment from the emperor's aunt. As political tension mounted overseas, the court was thrown into turmoil back home, since Cardinal Wolseyâ€--s loyalty to the Boleyns was called into question.

Convinced that he was treacherous, Boleyn maintained pressure until Wolsey was dismissed from public office in 1529. After being dismissed, the cardinal begged Boleyn to help him return to power, but she refused. He then began a secret plot to have Anne forced into exile and began communication with Queen Catherine and the Pope, to that end. When this was discovered, Henry ordered Wolsey's arrest and had it not been for his death from a terminal illness in 1530, he might have been executed for treason. A year later, Queen Catherine was banished from court and her old rooms were given to Anne.

With Wolsey gone, Anne Boleyn became the most powerful person at court. She had considerable power over government appointments and political matters.

Her exasperation with the Vaticanâ€--s refusal to make her queen also persuaded her to promote a new alternative to Henry. She suggested that he should follow the advice of religious radicals like William Tyndale, who denied Papal Authority and believed that the monarch should lead the church. When William Warham, the conservative Archbishop of Canterbury, died, Boleyn had her family's chaplain — Thomas Cranmer — appointed to the vacant position. She also supported the rise of the radical Thomas Cromwell, who became the king's favourite new adviser.

During this period, Boleyn also played an enormous role in England's international position by solidifying an alliance with France. She established an excellent rapport with the French ambassador, Giles de la Pommeraye, who was captivated by her. With his help, she arranged an international conference at Calais in the winter of 1532, in which Henry hoped he could enlist the support of Francis I of France for his new marriage.

Before going to Calais, Henry bestowed upon Anne the Marquessate of Pembroke, making her the first English female commoner known to become a noble in her own right by creation, rather than through inheritance. Anneâ€--s family also profited from the relationship; her father, already Viscount Rochford, was created Earl of Wiltshire and – by means of a deal made by the King with Anneâ€--s Irish cousins, the Butler family – Earl of Ormonde. Thanks to Anneâ€--s intervention, her widowed sister Mary received an annual pension of £100, and Mary's son, Henry Carey, received his education in a prestigious Cistercian monastery.

The conference at Calais was a political triumph, since the French government finally gave its support for Henry's re-marriage. Immediately upon returning to Dover in England, Henry and Anne went through a secret wedding service, finally enjoying a sexual relationship after seven years. She became pregnant within a few months and, as was the custom with royalty, there was a second wedding service, which took place in London on 25 January 1533.

Events now began to move at a quick pace. On 23 May 1533, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, sitting in judgment at a special court convened at Dunstable to rule on the validity of the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, declared the marriage of Henry and Catherine null and void. Five days later, on 28 May 1533, Cranmer declared the marriage of Henry and Anne to be good and valid. After seven long years, Anne was finally legally Henry's wife and Queen of England. Catherine was formally stripped of her title as queen in time for Anne's coronation, which took place on 1 June 1533. In defiance of the Pope, Cranmer now declared that the English Church was under Henryâ€--s control, not Rome's. This was the famous "Break with Rome", which signalled the end of England's history as a Roman Catholic country. Few people were aware of the significance at the time, and even fewer were prepared to defend the Pope's authority. Queen Anne was delighted at this development – although she remained a Catholic, she believed the Papacy was a corrupting influence on Christianity. Her residual Catholic tendencies can be seen in the ostentatious devotion to the Virgin Mary throughout her Coronation displays.

After her coronation, she settled into a quiet routine to prepare for the birth of her child. She was deeply distressed when Henry was infatuated with a lady of the court, which provoked their first serious fight. The affair was brief, since Henry wanted nothing to jeopardise his wife's pregnancy.

Henry and Anne's child was born slightly prematurely on 7 September 1533, at the king's favourite palace, Greenwich Palace. The child was a girl who was christened Elizabeth, in honour of Henry's mother, Elizabeth of York. She was given a splendid christening, but Anne feared that Catherine's daughter, Mary, would threaten Elizabethâ€--s position. Henry soothed his wife's fears by separating Mary from her many servants and sending her to Hatfield House, where Princess Elizabeth was living with her own magnificent staff of servants. The country air was better for the baby's health, and Anne was an affectionate mother who regularly visited her daughter.Her visits were also scenes of friction between her and her stepdaughter Princess Mary, who referred to her as "my fatherâ€--s mistress," while Anne called Mary "that cursed bastard."

Life as queen

Anne had a larger staff of servants than Catherine; there were over 250 servants to tend to her personal needs, everything from priests to stable-boys. There were also over 60 maids-of-honour who served her and accompanied her to social events. In return, their parents hoped the queen would act as a good mistress and arrange a suitable marriage for them. She maintained a strict control over her maidsâ€-- morals and spiritual well-being, chastising Margaret Shelton when she was caught writing poetry in her prayer book. She also employed several priests who acted as her confessors, chaplains, and religious advisers. Her favourite was the religious moderate Matthew Parker, who would become one of the chief architects of the modern Church of England under her daughter Elizabeth I.

Her reputation as a religious reformer spread through Europe, and she was hailed as a heroine by Protestant figures; even Martin Luther viewed her rise to the throne as a good sign.She also saved the life of the French radical Nicolas Bourbon, who was sentenced to death by the French Inquisition. She appealed to the French royal family, who spared Bourbonâ€--s life as a favour to the English queen. Bourbon would later refer to her as "the queen whom God loves". Although she championed religious reform, especially translating the Bible into English, she did not challenge the sacred Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation. She was also a generous patron of charity, distributing alms to poor relief and funds to educational foundations.

As queen, she presided over a magnificent court. In the 16th century, royals were expected to be extravagant in order to convey the strength of the monarchy. Anne spent huge sums on gowns, jewels, head-dresses, ostrich-feather fans, riding equipment, and the finest furniture and upholstery from across the world. Numerous palaces were renovated to suit her extravagant tastes.

A group of young gentlemen continued to visit the queenâ€--s quarters, where they flirted with her ladies-in-waiting and, with permission, danced with the queen. She never stepped beyond propriety, however, even going so far as to reprimand them if they became too jovial with her or her maids. There was nothing new in this, for a group of young men had also served as Catherine of Aragonâ€--s adherents in the 1510s; it was only later that this behaviour would harm Anneâ€--s reputation.[

Anne's married life was stormy; the royal couple enjoyed periods of calm and affection, but Henry's frequent infidelities greatly upset his new wife, who reacted with tears and rage to each new mistress. For his part, Henry found Anneâ€--s strident opinions about religion and politics irritating, and he saw her failure to give him a son as a betrayal. Her second pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage in the summer of 1534.

The French ambassador reported on the frosty atmosphere between the royal couple at a banquet in 1535. When he asked Anne about it later in the evening, she told him that she felt utterly lonely and that she could feel the eyes of the entire court spying on her. This pressure inflamed her temper, and she clashed with her uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, when she discovered that his loyalty to her was suspect. When her sister Mary secretly married a commoner, she exiled her from court. Both sisters refused to apologise to one another and Mary wrote a letter proclaiming her steadfast love for her new husband. Anne later relented by sending the newlyweds a magnificent wedding present, but she still refused to receive them back to court.

Anne was also blamed for the tyranny of her husbandâ€--s government. She was said to have pushed Henry to sign his old adviser Sir Thomas More's death warrant when he was beheaded in 1535 for refusing to break his oath of loyalty to Pope Paul III. Whilst Anne did not like More, there is no evidence that she advocated his death. It is unlikely she defended him, but he had acknowledged her as queen instead of Catherine so there was no reason for her to demand his death.

She was queen for only 1000 days.



On the day of Catherineâ€--s funeral, 29 January 1536, Anne miscarried a son. For most observers, this personal loss was the beginning of the end of the royal marriage. What happened next is one of the most controversial periods of English history, given that it is both a personal tragedy and indicative of larger political trends governing the Tudor monarchy at this period.

As Anne recovered from her miscarriage, Henry declared his marriage was cursed by God. Jane Seymour was moved into new quarters and Anne's brother was refused a prestigious court honour, the Order of the Garter, which was instead given to Jane Seymour's brother. On several occasions throughout these months, Anne expressed the fear that she was about to be divorced.

Downfall

In the last few days of April, a Flemish musician in Anne's service named Mark Smeaton was arrested and tortured by Thomas Cromwell. He initially denied that he was the queenâ€--s lover, but under torture he confessed. He also provided the names of another courtier — Sir Henry Norreys (or Norris) — an old friend of both Anne and the King. Norris was arrested on May Day, but since he was an aristocrat he could not be tortured. He denied his guilt and swore that Boleyn was also innocent. Sir Francis Weston was arrested two days later on the same charge. William Brereton, a groom of the king's privy chamber, was also apprehended on grounds of adultery, but it seems likely he was really the victim of an old grudge against him, held by Thomas Cromwell. The final accused was Queen Anne's own brother, arrested on charges of incest and treason, accused of having a sexual relationship with his sister over the last twelve months.

On 2 May 1536, Anne was arrested at luncheon and taken to the Tower of London. In the Tower, she suffered a minor nervous breakdown, demanding to know full details of her family's whereabouts and the charges against her.

Four of the men were tried in Westminster on 12 May 1536. Weston, Brereton and Norris publicly maintained their innocence and only the tortured Smeaton supported the Crown by pleading guilty. Three days later, Anne and George Boleyn were tried separately in the Tower of London. She was accused of adultery, incest, witchcraft and high treason. Popular suspicion against Henry and his mistress, Jane Seymour, both of whom were seen banqueting on the Thames, was widespread. Several pamphlets circulated in London mocking the trials and supporting the queen.

George Boleyn and the other accused men were executed on May 17th. Lord and Lady Kingston, the keepers of the Tower, reported that Anne seemed very happy, and ready to be done with life. She was reported to have said, when Lord Kingston brought her the news that the King had commuted her sentence from burning to beheading, and had employed a swordsman from Calais for the execution, rather than having a Queen beheaded with the common axe: "He shall not have much trouble, for I have a little neck. I shall be known as La Reine sans tête ['The Headless Queen']!"

They came for Anne on the morning of May 19th to take her to the Tower Green, where she was to be afforded the dignity of a private execution. The Constable of the Tower wrote this of her:

This morning she sent for me, that I might be with her at such time as she received the good Lord (i.e. took Communion), to the intent I should hear her speak as touching her innocency alway to be clear. And in the writing of this she sent for me, and at my coming she said, "Mr. Kingston, I hear I shall not die afore noon, and I am very sorry therefore, for I thought to be dead by this time and past my pain ". I told her it should be no pain, it was so little. And then she said, "I heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck", and then put her hands about it, laughing heartily. I have seen many men and also women executed, and that they have been in great sorrow, and to my knowledge this lady has much joy in death. Sir, her almoner is continually with her, and had been since two o'clock after midnight.

She wore a "red petticoat under a loose, dark grey gown of damask trimmed in fur". Her dark hair was bound up and she wore her customary French headdress. She made a short 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.

She then knelt upright (in French-style executions, with a sword, there was no block.) Her final prayer consisted of her repeating, "To Jesus Christ I commend my soul; Lord Jesus receive my soul." Her ladies removed the headdress and tied a blindfold over her eyes. The execution was swift, consisting of a single stroke: according to one tale, the swordsman was so taken with Anne that he said, "Where is my sword?" and then beheaded her so she would think that she had just a few moments longer to live and would not know that the sword was coming.

Across the river the Scots reformer Alesius accompanied Thomas Cranmer as he walked in the gardens of Lambeth Palace. They may have heard the cannon fire from the Tower, signalling the end, for the Archbishop looked up and proclaimed: "She who has been the Queen of England on earth will today become a Queen in Heaven". He then sat down on a bench and wept.

The government had failed to provide a proper coffin for Anne. So, her body and head were put into an arrow chest and buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. Her body was one that was identified in renovations of the chapel under the reign of Queen Victoria, so Anne's final resting place is now marked in the marble floor.