Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn. Unknown artist. (c. 1533-1536)

There is some dispute over the year in which Anne was born – most likely between 1501 and 1507. Anne's father was the courtier and diplomat Sir Thomas Boleyn and her mother, Elizabeth, was the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk.

Childhood

Anne spent some of her childhood and teenage years in Europe. She was a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Margaret in the Netherlands. In 1514, Anne's father arranged for her to be a lady-in-waiting at the French court to Queen Mary, King Henry VIII's younger sister. 

 

Mary Tudor. Queen of France. (Unkknown artist). 16th century.

She later served Queen Claude of France for almost seven years.

Claude of France (Corneille de Lion). 1535-1540

Henry VIII

On her return to England in 1522, Anne was appointed as lady-in-waiting to Henry VIII's wife Catherine of Aragon. Anne's striking looks and sophisticated manners earned her many admirers at court and by 1523 she was betrothed to Lord Henry Percy. However this relationship was cut short by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.

Lord Henry Percy

Before pursuing Anne, Henry VIII had already had an affair with her sister, Mary. Henry showered Anne and her family with titles and gifts. Anne's ambitious father was created Earl of Wiltshire and her brother, Lord George Rochford, was appointed to the Royal Privy Chamber.

Mary Boleyn.

Henry VIII had grown tired of his wife, as she had not produced a male heir. He appealed to Pope Clement VII for an annulment to his marriage so that he could marry Anne. The Pope refused to annul the marriage as he was afraid to go against the will of Catherine's nephew Charles V, The Holy Roman Emperor.

Portrait of Charles I of Spain with a Dog. (Titian). 1532-1533

Marriage

Although she resisted Henry VIII's advances, by 1533 Anne was pregnant with her first child. Henry was forced into action. In January 1533 Henry VIII and Anne were married in a secret ceremony and Henry broke with the Catholic Church. He passed the Act of Supremacy, declaring that he was the head of the English church. In June 1533 Anne was crowned Queen of England in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

The Banquet of King Henry in York Place. 1832.

Henry and Anne's daughter Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth I) was born in September 1533. Two more pregnancies ended in miscarriage, in the summer of 1534 and in January 1536. When Henry discovered the second baby had been a boy, he became convinced the marriage was cursed. Henry was still desperate for a male heir and he blamed Anne for this misfortune. He took on Anne’s lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour as his mistress and looked for a way to end his marriage.

Downfall

In April 1536, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton, Mark Smeaton, Sir Henry Norris and Anne's brother Lord Rochford were arrested on suspicion of having had relations with the Queen. Anne was investigated by a secret commission which included her father, her uncle the Duke of Norfolk and Thomas Cromwell.

Thomas Cromwell. (Hans Holbein the Younger. 1532-33)

On 2 May 1536 Anne was arrested on charges of adultery with five men including her own brother, Lord George Rochford. At the trial, presided over by the Duke of Norfolk, Anne was accused of adultery and witchcraft. She was convicted and imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Anne Boleyn in the Tower. Edouard Cibot (1835)

  Death

On 19th May Anne was led from her quarters to Tower Green where, spared the axe, she was granted the 'mercy' of beheading by a French swordsman.

Anne was the first English queen to be publicly executed. Rather than deny her guilt, she used her final moments to deliver a speech praising King Henry VIII, as she stated when she spoke her last words the day of her death, which was the 19th day of may, 1536.

" 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 any thing 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 was he 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. "

And then she knelt down saying, "To Christ I commend my soul, Jesus receive my soul" diverse times, till her head was stricken off with the sword. And on the Ascension Day following, the king wore white for mourning.

Sources:
BBC History
Wikipedia

Angelines.

Katherine of Aragon

As we said when we talked about King Henry VIII, he married six times. In turns we will have a look at the lives of these famous women and the consequences of marrying such a man.

Katherine of Aragon. (Michel Sittow)

Katherine of Aragon (1485-1536) was the daughter of the Spanish monarchs King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. She was betrothed to the English heir, Prince Arthur, when she was three years old. The wedding took place in 1501, when she was sixteen but Arthur lived a short life  as he contracted "sweating sickness"and died five months later.

Arthur around the time of his marriage (c.1501)

After her husband's death she stayed in England and was betrothed to Henry, Arthur's younger brother but the wedding didn´t take place until 1509, after receiving a dispensation from the Pope and Katherine´s marriage to Arthur was annulled. She was crowned Queen of England alongside Henry in Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey from Tothill Fields (John Barley) 1832

In January 1510 she gave birth to a daughter, but she was stillborn. A second child, Prince Henry, was born in 1511 but he died soon afterwards. She had 6 children during her marriage, three of them sons, but they all died except for one girl, born on 18 February 1516, who was called Mary after Henry´s younger sister, Mary Tudor.

As time passed and Katherine didn´t have a male heir, in 1527 Henry VIII decided to end his marriage to Catherine with the idea of getting married again. The argument he gave to the Catholic church was that Katherine had been married to his brother. The king didn´t get the support of Katherine since she argued that her marriage to Henry was legal and indisoluble as her previous marriage to Arthur had remained unconsummated. 

Katherine´s  nephew, Charles V, the holy Roman Emperor, supported his aunt's position and Pope Clement VII didn´t approve of Henry´s wishes.

As King Henry decided he didn´t need the Pope´s approval, that led to the separation of the Church of England from the Catholic Church and Parliament approved that the king would become the Head of the Church of England and not the Pope. Henry then asked Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, to annul his marriage to Catherine.

Katherine was isolated and sent far away from court and from her daughter. Katherine died in 1536. Her daughter, Mary Tudor, would become queen of England in 1553.

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/people/catherine_of_aragon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Aragon
http://www.biography.com/people/catherine-of-aragon-38666#synopsis

Angelines.