a variety of adulterous accusations against Anne and arrested Mark Smeaton, a court musician.. In April 1536, just before Smeaton was arrested, Anne came to Henry carrying the young Eliz
Trang 1a variety of adulterous accusations against Anne and arrested Mark Smeaton, a court musician Mark confessed to the charges, very likely under torture, and gave the names of a selection of other men under the same charges, including Anne’s own brother – George
Anne was far from blind to what was going on;
she was very aware of what these investigations meant for herself In April 1536, just before Smeaton was arrested, Anne came to Henry carrying the young Elizabeth in her arms and appealed to him directly However, it seemed that her power over him had finally been extinguished On
1 May Henry left the Mayday jousts without saying goodbye to Anne, and the following day she was arrested – it would be the final time she would ever see her husband
In a cruel twist of irony, Anne’s prison cell was the very same place in the Tower of London that she had resided on her coronation night For Anne, a woman for whom control had always been of vital importance, the hopelessness
of her situation had a profound effect Within a day of imprisonment her state of mind differed from optimism and giddiness, to bouts of hysteria and extreme depression The queen would sob uncontrollably one moment, then burst into shocking laughter the next Her enemies were very cunning with the methods in which they condemned Anne; four of the men were tried and found guilty of adultery and treason before her own trial took place, making it nigh-on impossible for her to prove her innocence
Anne was forced to stand before a council of peers including her once-love Henry Percy and her own uncle in the very same room she had enjoyed her coronation feast There was very little evidence against Anne or any of the men accused, but the king had made his will known When the verdict
was announced, Anne collapsed and had to be carried out of the courtroom Guilty She had been condemned to death
On 17 May, the five condemned men were executed, including Anne’s beloved younger brother, and on 19 May Anne herself was led to the scaffold Her marriage to the king had already been deemed invalid, and he was not present to witness the final moments of the woman who had captivated him for so many years Anne’s body was buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St Peter, which adjoined the Tower Green For the surviving Boleyns, the fall was so great they could not hope to recover from
it Anne’s mother, Elizabeth, died
a year later and she was soon followed by her husband Mary died in 1542, leaving behind only a young daughter and the son that may have been Henry’s Less than eight years after Anne’s coronation every immediate member of the Boleyn family was dead Their rise had been magnificent, their fall akin to a Greek tragedy
The future for Henry was almost as stormy
11 years and four wives later, Henry’s greed and debauched lifestyle finally got the better of him and he died aged 55 The handsome, athletic and charismatic young man that he had wished to portray himself as had faded long ago, and the portrait of a lustful, violent and egotistical king remained Although he had finally produced the son he was so obsessed with obtaining, the young Edward VI died aged just 15
But unbeknownst to him, he had already produced the strong, long-lasting heir he desired Elizabeth, the daughter Anne had borne who he had been so disappointed with, went on to rule England for 45 years She became one of the most famed and celebrated rulers in the nation’s history, and Henry and Anne’s most enduring legacy
Spouse wars
Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar PERSIAN, 1772-1834
NUMBER OF MARRIAGES: 158
Mswati III SWAZI, 1968 - PRESENT DAY
NUMBER OF MARRIAGES: 15
Sobhuza II SWAZI, 1899-1982
NUMBER OF MARRIAGES: 70
Amenhotep III EGYPTIAN, ??? - 1353 BCE
NUMBER OF MARRIAGES: 317
Abdul Hamid II OTTOMAN, 1876-1909
NUMBER OF MARRIAGES: 13
Henry VIII’s six wives is a lot for British
leaders, but it pales in a worldwide context
Anne Boleyn being taken
to the Tower of London
Although she was banished from court, Catherine of Aragon referred to herself
as ‘the queen’ until her death
73
Anne Boleyn
The legend that Anne had a sixth finger on her hand was likely a vicious rumour