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Anne Boleyn was Henry VIII’s second wife and mother of Elizabeth I. She was educated, devout, and attractive. She caught the attention of Henry VIII and refused to become his lover, only agreeing to be his queen. Their marriage soured after she miscarried and he took an interest in Jane Seymour. She was eventually charged with adultery and incest and sentenced to death. Her marriage to Henry was declared null and void, disinheriting Elizabeth.
Anne Boleyn was the second of Henry VIII’s six wives and a well-known figure in British history despite her rather short life and extremely short marriage. Besides being interesting in her own right, Anne Boleyn was the mother of Elizabeth Tudor, who later ascended the throne of England as Elizabeth I. She is also seen as a martyr by many Protestants, and was an important figure in church reform English.
For such a famous figure, little is known about Anne Boleyn’s early years. She was born sometime between 1501 and 1507 and was sent to the French court to be educated. In an unusual turn of events for her time, Anne Boleyn was actually quite educated, proficient in multiple languages, and familiar with politics and history. She was also supposedly quite devout, and contemporaries wrote that she was gentle and kind, engaged in acts of charity for people in lower positions.
The woman was also apparently quite attractive, albeit in an obscure way. Sir Thomas Boleyn’s daughter had long dark hair, dark eyes and a distinctive long thin neck. Later stories claimed that she had six fingers on one hand, a condition known as polydactyly; this is unlikely, as such deformities would have been considered unfortunate and she would not have married a king with a six-fingered hand. She apparently turned heads during her time in France, and she made quite a splash at the English court when she debuted in 1522. Her education and intelligence made her a popular figure at court, and Anne Boleyn also apparently had a certain fashion sense.
At the English court, he attracted the attention of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, among many others. The Earl of Northumberland was briefly engaged to Anne Boleyn, but without her father’s permission, the marriage did not proceed. Anne Boleyn also won over the king, Henry VIII, who apparently began courting her as early as 1527. Shrewdly, Boleyn refused to become her lover, although she said she would agree to be her queen. . This triggered Henry’s break with the Roman Catholic Church, as he attempted to annul his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
Early in 1533, Anne and Henry were married and their daughter Elizabeth was born in September of that year. Elizabeth’s birth was not met with much interest, since Henry wanted a male heir, but the marriage apparently continued amicably until Anne Boleyn miscarried. Suddenly, the marriage soured, as Henry took an interest in Jane Seymour, one of Queen Anne’s ladies-in-waiting. Ironically, Anne Boleyn first entered the English court as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine, whom she later deposed of her.
The exact reason for Anne’s fall from power is a matter of debate. It seems that several factions worked against the queen, eventually bringing her charges of adultery and incest. The king’s attraction to Jane Seymour was also used as a tool, in the hope that Anne Boleyn would fall out of favor with the king. The Queen was tried and convicted, despite the fact that the evidence for these allegations was extracted under torture and the men involved vigorously denied the claims. Anne Boleyn was sentenced to death in 1536.
Shortly before her death, Anne was stripped of her titles and her marriage to the king was declared null and void, disinheriting her daughter Elizabeth from any chance at the British throne. After her execution, the former queen was buried in an arrow chest, as a coffin was not available, and buried under the floor of San Pietro ad Vincula; her body was later discovered during the reign of Queen Victoria. Elizabeth’s title was later restored and she later became Queen of England.
