Anne Boleyn: A Woman Who Changed The History

During his reign, rumors of Henry VIII’s infidelities were always in the air at the court. Even though he was married to Catherine of Aragorn, the king had many mistresses; Anne Stafford, Elizabeth Blount, and many women that history was not written. But, one of them would be written in history with golden letters; Anne Boleyn. She was the wife of Henry VIII’s who reformed the church to marry her and the mother of the glorious Queen Elizabeth I. Although she ruled just for three years and her life ended in gallows, there is no doubt that she was one of the most important women in British history.

EARLY LIFE

Even though her birth date is unknown; some historians believe that Anne Boleyn was born in 1507  at Blickling Hall in Norfolk.
Her father, Sir Thomas Boleyn, was a minor courtier with a talent for foreign languages besides that he was eager to advance in the world. Like most men of his times, he have seen marriage as a tool to change social status. Thus, he married Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the second duke of Norfolk and sister of the third duke. Anne had two siblings whose names Mary and George. Their birthdates are also unknown, but historians thought that all three Boleyn siblings were close in age.

In 1514, Henry VIII’s sister Mary Tudor married the old king of France. During the Tudor Princess’ journey, Anne accompanied Mary Tudor as a lady-in-waiting, but the French king died when Mary Tudor returned to England. Anne spent her youth in France and she was being educated under the attentive eye of the new French queen Claude. This education includes fashion and flirtation apart from intellectual skills. By the end of the education, Anne became a successful musician, singer, and dancer.

In the years of 1521 and 1522, a war between England and France became a primary issue in the court. Everyone in the court thought that war was imminent. That’s why Anne returned home, England. In a short span of time, she established a residence at King Henry VIII’s court as a maid of honor to Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s queen consort. While she was living at Henry’s court, she drew many admirers due to her attitude.

When she impressed Henry VIII’s eye is unknown, actually before that since Mary Boleyn came to court before Anne, the king attracted her. In the early 1520s, Mary was the king’s mistress, and as a mark of favour, Henry VIII made Sir Thomas Boleyn viscount of Rochfort in 1525. Eventually, Mary would abandon court with a dull marriage and probably the illegitimate son of the king, as her compensation. Anne learned much from the example of her sister. However, by the mid-1520s, even though she was not found beautiful, Anne Boleyn had become one of the most admired ladies of the court, attracting the attention of many men. Hostile historians described her as plain, sallow, and possessing two distinct flaws. Also, she had a large mole on the side of her neck and an extra finger on her left hand. Besides those uncorroborated descriptions, some praises focused on her style, her wit, and charm; she was quick-tempered and spirited. She had large dark eyes and long black hair, which are her most remarkable physical attributes. The King was impressed not her physical attributes but her sharp and teasing manner and her oft-stated unavailability.

Those days Anne was in a relationship with Henry Percy, the son and heir of the Earl of Northumberland. Also, there were rumors of an engagement, and Henry VIII felt under the weather because of this engagement. He was jealous of Anne straightforwardly. Hence, he ordered Cardinal Thomas Wolsey to end the engagement. Cardinal Wolsey was a faithful henchman to Henry VIII, and he fulfilled this command successfully. Percy married the earl of Shrewsbury’s daughter. Anne was not a foolish woman, she understood what was going on in the court, but it was safer to blame Cardinal Wolsey than the King.

 THE PEALS OF LOVE

When Anne realized Henry’s interest in her, she avoided him; in other words, she was sullen and evasive to him. In that time, as a king, Henry had many mistresses, but the only woman he wanted to share his bed with was Anne. But, she was too smart to be taken lightly. She did not want to be an ordinary mistress. She had witnessed what happened to her sister Mary; therefore, she decided to play wisely.

In one of Henry's letters, he wrote: "If you ... give yourself up, heart, body and soul to me ... I will take you for my only mistress, rejecting from thought and affection all others save yourself, to serve only you."

But, Anne replied to him with rejection which was a rare reaction Henry encountered. She wrote: "Your wife I cannot be, both in respect of mine own unworthiness, and also because you have a queen already. Your mistress I will not be." 

She explained her demands briefly: she aimed to be married and not be a mistress.

Boleyn's response surprised Henry VIII, believed to have had several mistresses at that time; besides sexuality, his other desire was to have a son. Hi̇s wi̇fe, Catheri̇ne of Aragon had not born a living son during their marriage. Their only child was Princess Mary, but Henry wanted to have a boy heir like every king in his time.

Henry believed that he could not have a son because of his marriage to Catherine; that’s why he wanted to divorce and marry Anne. But, in catholicism, getting divorced is forbidden. In a way consistent with his Catholic faith, Henry looked for a way to end his marriage. Therefore, he asked permission from Pope Clement VII. Henry quoted an extract from the Book of Leviticus in his appeal for annulment to the pope, saying that a man who takes the wife of his brother would remain childless and stated that he and Catherine, the widow of his brother Arthur, will never have a child survived infancy because their marriage was a rejection in God's eyes. It is crucial to mention that Catherine comes from a strong family and dynasty. She was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and the aunt of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Since Pope Clement VII was a prisoner of Charles V at the time, and that's why he was powerless to stand in the way of Charles' insistence that the marriage stand. Consequently, he rejected Henry's demand. The limitation of his power as a king irritated him; that being the case, Henry started to search for a solution. Even though he was a well-known opponent of protestant reformation which took form on the continent by the effects of Martin Luther’s ideas, Henry changed his religious ideas to marry Anne. Henry, already infatuated with Anne Boleyn, considered to have taken a strong interest in Luther and the Reformation, had exhausted his church re-marriage possibilities and concluded that ex-communication was a reasonable price to pay pope's liberty and the prospect of fathering an heir. Henry issued a series of decrees removing his kingdom from papal control, ending the Catholic Church's authority, and establishing the Church of England. Although the new church was incredibly close to Roman Catholicism at first, these movements rendered absolute rulers of Henry and his successors who did not respond to the pope. After this huge change, Henry banished Catherine from the court. When Catherine leaves the court, the role of Anne at the English court steadily becomes more prominent. There were small signals at first. With her, the king could eat alone; she got luxurious gifts; she began to dress in the most trendy and expensive gowns; the king paid her gaming debts while Anne loved cards and dice, like most courtiers. Henry's special interest in Anne was noticed, and rumors of his new love spread in the court rapidly. Henry found that hiding the truth had no meaning. By 1530, Anne was publicly honored in court by the king. She was given preference over all the other women, and she sat down with the king at banquets and hunts.

She was elected Marquess of Pembroke at Windsor Castle on 4 September 1532 to placate her. She had money and property of her own, now promoted to the peerage in her own right. But when, a little time later, she followed Henry to France on a state tour, the ladies of the French court declined to receive her. Anne learned she was pregnant in early 1533; because of this, Henry and Boleyn married on 25 January 1533, without the approval of the pope, in a secret ceremony led by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. Normally, secret weddings were not common in the Tudor Dynasty, but it was an unusual situation. In the following June, the new queen was crowned with a grand coronation.

THE NEW ENGLAND AND THEIR NEW QUEEN: ANNE

Anne gave birth on 7 September 1533. The birth was easy and quick, and she recovered rapidly.

Even though all the astrologers and physicians thought that the baby would be a boy, they were wrong. It was not a prince, but a healthy baby girl and they named her Elizabeth.

Contrary to thoughts, having another daughter did not upset Henry because he had reasons to believe that they would have a prince after Elizabeth. But, after Anne miscarried two sons, he lost hope and started to question the validity of his marriage with Anne. He did not attend Elizabeth’s christening; this led to rumors that Henry lost his interest in Anne. Despite the rumors, he declared Elizabeth his heir; hence, according to her precedence over her half-sister, Princess Mary.

Despite all these heir issues, as a queen, Anne faced difficulties as well. Whatever she did, Catherine’s shadow followed her. Even though her efforts to play the traditional role of the queen during her reign were both valid and sincere, focusing on improvements for the poor, people would never warm up to Anne as a queen. She would remain disliked for the rest of her life. In the court, she caught attention with her stylish wardrobe. Henry VIII pursued and engaged in intimate affairs with two of Anne's maids-of-honor, Madge Shelton and Jane Seymour, a year after their marriage. Boleyn was enraged by Henry's promiscuity and grew increasingly jealous, unlike Queen Catherine before her, who knew about her husband's infidelity but was willing to turn the other cheek. Henry blamed his adulterous conduct on his mission to have a son and successor to the throne, as he had with Catherine, and grew increasingly irritated by the inquiries about his whereabouts and resulting responses from his wife. Permeated by bitterness and animosity, the marriage fell apart easily.

THE DOWNFALL

January 1536 was difficult for Anne. She gave birth to a stillborn male child. This disappointed her as well as Henry. He decided that it was time to take hold of his legacy; he immediately took Jane Seymour as his future wife and requested the annulment of Boleyn's marriage. Then, on many uncorroborated accusations, such as adultery, incest, and treason, he had Boleyn imprisoned at the Tower of London. Thomas Cromwell, the Chief Minister to the King and Boleyn's former friend is thought to have plotted her demise. On May 15, 1536, Boleyn went on trial. She appeared levelheaded and coherent in custody, rejecting all the allegations against her calmly and simply. Boleyn was unanimously tried by a court of peers four days later, on May 19, 1536, Henry's marriage to her was annulled and declared void. The same day, Boleyn was taken to Tower Green in London for execution by a French swordsman. After her speech finished, Anne removed her headdress and kneeled down. She wanted to die quickly and painlessly, so she was beheaded in one quick action. Her head and body were buried in an unmarked grave. Henry VIII and Jane Seymour were formally married within days of Boleyn's execution.

Although her life started beautifully and ended with execution, Anne left behind a changed England and a little girl who would be a powerful queen.

SOURCES CITED:

Ackroyd, Peter. Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I (The History of England, 2). St. Martin's Griffin,2014.

Guy, John. The Tudors: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2013.