Ascended throne 1509.163 Originally the epitome of a medieval-style prince, Henry eventually became a Rennaissance tyrant. While his break with Rome is normally ascribed to his infatuation with Anne Boleyn, it had more to do with Henry’s growing sense that he should be able to do whatever he wanted and answer to no man. It betokened much harsher steps to come, and he eventually became a petty tyrant. His reign is red with the blood of his closest confidantes and advisors, including Cardinal Wolsey and St Thomas More. The parallels between this Henry’s interactions with this St Thomas and Henry II’s interactions with St Thomas a Becket are a fascinating historical tableau that shows how much had changed in the meantime.1

Henry declared his 20-year marriage to Katherine of Aragon invalid due to consanguinuity: she had first been the wife of his brother Arthur. Katherine steadfastly (and believably) clung to her claim that the marriage with Arthur was never consummated (they were both very young and Arthur was ill for much of their 6-month marriage before his death). Henry claimed the issue of consanguinuity had cursed their marriage, making it impossible for Katherine to bear a son. While he was married to Katherine he had two children by Mary Boleyn. When Mary faded in importance to him, he took up Mary’s sister Anne next. Years later, when he’d decided to rid himself of Anne, he trotted out the old issue again: their marriage could not posisbly be valid, since Henry had slept with Anne’s sister beforehand. While men like Thomas More went to the stake rather than submit to the concept that Henry’s marriage to Katherine was invalid (thereby disinheriting her daughter Princess Mary), no one protested by the time Henry used the same excuse to get rid of Anne. It was a sign not only of her unpopularlity but, more importantly, of the consolidation and extent of his power.1

1st Marquess of Pembroke (held the male title in her own right)554

Crowned queen 01 June 1533.544 Anne was the first queen in English history to be crowned with St Edward’s crown and sit in St Edward’s chair (the throne), events previously reserved strictly for ruling kings. Her daughter, Elizabeth I, would later be crowned in the same way. holding sovereignty in her own right.554

Pursued by Sir Henry Percy, one of the powerful Neville family in the north. Anne seems to have genuinely desired this match, but Cardinal Wolsey put the kiebash on it, which may explain part of Anne’s vitriolic hatred of Wolsey for the rest of his life.

Through skills difficult to fathom, she held off Henry VIII for years until she was sure they would be married and she crowned queen. As soon as they discovered she was pregnant, they married in secret.

Anne was always hated by the common people of England for “pushing out” Catherine of Aragon. Once Henry’s enmity matched his people’s, Anne was a dead woman. It may have been this knowledge of the power of the common people that made Anne’s daughter, Elizabeth I, cleave so steadfastly to the principle of retaining her people’s love, no matter what.1

Vernacular history holds Anne’s “womanly wiles” responsible for Henry VIII’s break with the Church and rise to tyranny, but Henry’s motives were far more complex than lust for Anne. Anne was not exceptionally attractive but by all accounts had very winning ways (every biography is careful to note she’d been raised in the French court, though scores of other ladies-in-waiting had been, too!). She was intelligent, shrewd, witty, stylish, very interested in politics and religion, and had a sharp tongue when crossed. More than anything, she was fascinated by power, and it was perhaps this more than anything that drew her and Henry together.

She behaved courageously throughout the mockery that passed as her “trial” and at her subsequent execution. She was convicted on ridiculous charges of witchcraft and adultery with multiple partners, including her own brother George. Rather than be hacked to death by an axe, she requested to be beheaded by the sword, “in the French manner,” as it was considered a cleaner, more sure death. Her execution marked Henry’s solidification of power; now nothing could stop him from doing what he wanted when he wanted.1

Henry’s execution of Anne stands in stark contrast to previous treatment of unpopular queens (of which England had many). Unpopular kings might be dethroned, imprisoned, and even murdered, but disliked queens were more uniformly banished (whether to a nunnery or to another country). Even Henry II, one of England’s most powerful monarchs, did nothing nearly so drastic with his queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor consistently plotted with her sons to overthrow Henry and was eventually put under house arrest for 13 years (similar to Mary Queen of Scots’ treatment under Elizabeth I). Eleanor’s behavior was clearly treasonous, yet the most the king could/would do was send her to a castle in the middle of nowhere. Anne’s “crimes” were entirely invented. In a classic case of projection, Henry blamed her for seducing him using sorcery and then cuckolding him with four members of the court. She was not guilty. Her predecessor, Queen Catherine of Aragon, suffered the more usual penalty of banishment.

So why was Anne executed? What had changed? In one word: Henry. Henry VIII, even knowing Anne’s power base was limited and certainly no threat to him should he put her aside, had already started on a bloody roll. His recourse to execution started during his struggles with the Church, nobility, people, and all Europe when he wanted to divorce Katherine to marry Anne. Anne herself contributed to the mighty Cardinal Wolsey’s downfall (though he died before he could reach the scaffold) and Henry’s execution of Thomas More showed he was willing to murder even close friends who dared stand in his way. One after another they fell, continuing until there were no threats to the Tudor throne by either blood or ambition. Henry’s execution of Anne was shocking, and it is perhaps the memory of this and its consequences which made it so difficult for Elizabeth, their daughter, to order the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. Henry made it clear that even crowned monarchs could be killed; Elizabeth dreaded that legacy, fearful of what it would mean for the future. And so one may connect the dots from Anne’s death to Mary Queen of Scots’ by Anne’s daughter’s orders, to the execution of Charles I and the establishment (however short-lived) of Cromwellian rule. Monarchy would never be the same again.1

Anne’s court was a merry and intelligent one; like her daughter, she preferred men and women with wit, talent in music and dance, and interest in the religious reforms of the day. Her rooms were filled with music, laughter, and blazing theological debates about the “new thinking” coming from Europeans like Luther.554

Four months after birth to Elizabeth, Anne was pregnant again. But while the pregnancy seemed to go well, after perhaps 6 months, she miscarried. Over a year later, she conceived again, but Henry’s eye had begun to wander. It was not just the loss of the love of her husband which impacted Anne, it was the changes in Henry as he became increasingly tyrannical. Nevertheless, she was advanced in pregnancy when Henry was injured in a joust at which he’d shown great favor to Jane Seymour. This shock, combined with the death of Anne’s predecessor, Katherine of Aragon, contributed to Anne’s miscarrying on the day of Katherine’s burial (an ill omen, indeed). To make matters worse, the foetus was male, the long-hoped-for prince that everyone had waited for. Henry blamed Anne and her fate was essentially sealed.554

Henry legitimized his son by Bessie Blount, Henry Fitzroy, and appears to have had another son with a different mistress.554 His obsession with having a “legitimate” male heir thus doesn’t seem compelling enough a reason for him to have instituted the revolution in England and established himself as a tyrant. History has long blamed Anne Boleyn for seducing and (implied) bewitching Henry into this despot who finally followed his father’s footsteps more ruthlessly than anyone thought possible and destroyed anyone with any possible claim to the throne. This, plus his religious revolutions that destabilized and almost destroyed his country (save for his iron fist) cannot be laid at the doorstep of Anne Boleyn. She was part of his transformation from medieval prince to Rennaissance king, but not the cause. It is unlikely she had any idea the lengths to which Henry would go; no one did.1

Another aspect of Anne Boleyn rarely commented on in history books is her dedication to helping the poor and her interest in education. It was common for the nobility to care for the needy in some way (“noblesse oblige”) but Anne followed more in the footsteps of her grandfather, desiring not to give just short-term aid (though she was prodigious with largesse) but to develop plans that would deal with poverty in a more systematic way. One of the reasons she approved of the dissolution of the small monasteries was that the funds would be brought under crown control and thus put to use in a a more systematic way (in her view). Her court was not only a center of the latest fashion and thought, but a cottage industry were her ladies joined her (by all accounts a very skilled seamstress, much prized in those days) in making high quality shirts for the poor. Likewise, she placed a high value on education and used her influence to help scholars attain and retain posts.554 It is easy to see where Elizabeth I was very much like her mother in her passions, intellect, and interests—a point rarely touched on in biographies.1