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Biography, life story of Boleyn Anne
Anne Boleyn is the second wife of Henry VIII (King of England), mother of Elizabeth I.Childhood and early years
Anna was born between 1501 and 1507. Her father is Thomas Boleyn. He was the son of a wealthy man, William Boleyn. Anna's mother came from an old family, her name was Elizabeth Howard.
At first Anna was taught at home, but soon her father decided to send Anna and Maria (sister) to study in Paris. This happened in 1514. The girls went to France with the retinue of Princess Mary Tudor. She was to become the wife of King Louis XII. Anne Boleyn lived there for quite some time for a long time, mastering new sciences and learning life.
Anna returned home in 1520. The reasons for this were two reasons at once: firstly, relations between England and France deteriorated, and secondly, Thomas Boleyn wanted to marry his daughter to Lord Butler. True, the wedding never took place.
When Anna returned home, the British immediately noted her French elegance, grace, taste and extraordinary intelligence.
Anna and Henry VIII
Soon after returning to England, Anne began a romantic relationship with Lord Henry Percy, son of the Duke of Northumberland. Henry VIII himself prevented Anne from marrying him. The king liked young Boleyn so much that he made every effort to prevent the marriage of Anne and Henry. So, Anna was sent to a remote estate for several years, and Lord Percy immediately married the daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury.
Around 1525, Anne Boleyn returned from "exile". At home, the king's courtship awaited her. By the way, Anna didn’t really want to be a favorite, but communicating with Henry gave her pleasure. The king was married at that time to Catherine of Aragon, but since she could not bear him a son, this marriage, as Henry himself believed, was not an obstacle to his new marriage. Some time later, Henry VIII made an offer to Anne to become his wife and accept the crown of England. She agreed.
CONTINUED BELOW
Divorcing his first wife was not as easy for Henry as he had hoped. For a Spanish noble woman, divorce meant the loss of her own honor. Her family stood up for Aragonskaya.
At one point, Henry decided to no longer wait for the decision of the church and the Pope regarding his divorce and... changed his religion. This cunning move allowed the king to declare himself the head of the Church, and the marriage with the Princess of Aragon invalid. This step led to the fact that the people who loved Catherine began to desecrate Boleyn’s honor in every possible way. But this did not stop Heinrich. On January 25, 1533, Henry and Anna got married. By this time, Anna was already carrying a child under her heart.
As for Catherine of Aragon, she spent her entire life in all alone, not wanting to admit that she was abandoned. She died in 1536.
Queen Anne
When Anna became queen, she showed her husband her true face. Anna was very demanding, capricious and impatient. Henry dutifully fulfilled all the requests of his beloved wife, he even had to get rid of his best friends - the philosopher Thomas More and Cardinal Wolsey, in order to please Anna. But his submission to the reckless whims of his wife did not justify itself - in the fall of 1533, Anna gave birth to a girl for Henry.
Over the years, Anna behaved more and more outrageously - she thoughtlessly spent money, bought herself expensive jewelry, and organized lavish balls while Henry was away for a long time on business. Family life Things weren’t going well - Anna and Heinrich were constantly quarreling. As a result, Henry decided to get rid of Boleyn in order to marry his new passion- Maid of Honor Jane Seymour. He accused her of cheating. The court sentenced Anna to death penalty. Boleyn died on May 19, 1536.
No factual material has been preserved regarding the exact date of birth of Anne Boleyn. It is assumed that she was born either in 1501 or 1507. Her father was the noble courtier Thomas Boleyn, and her mother, Elizabeth Howard, was a scion of one of the oldest English families.
In 1513, Thomas Boleyn sent his daughter abroad, where she spent nine years. At first, Anna was a maid of honor to Margaret of Austria in Brabant, at a court considered the best in terms of raising future princesses and princes. Almost the entire European elite placed their own offspring in Margarita’s retinue, because only here could they learn true court manners and correct behavior. Anna easily learned to speak French and mastered the art of court intrigue. In addition to political and secular morality, Margarita explained to her ladies-in-waiting that kings, unlike plebeians, cannot marry for love, and a woman should not fall too much in love with men. From her crowned teacher, Anna also learned her life motto - “all or nothing.” Having learned the intricacies of court life, Anna left for France, where she lived for seven years. In 1521, the father recalled his daughter to England.
Anne Boleyn did not shine with bright beauty. The only thing that attracted her was beautiful eyes and gorgeous black hair. Despite her very small stature, Anna had small breasts. She stood out among other women for her purely French manners, wit, elegance in dress and grace of movement. The first at the court of the English king to appreciate the merits of Anne Boleyn was the son of the Earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy. He served under Cardinal Wolsey, the all-powerful and powerful minister to King Henry VIII. Anna reciprocated his feelings, and the young people even decided to have a secret wedding, but the cardinal found it necessary to intervene in these plans. Wolsey had an extremely bad attitude towards Anne's father, Thomas Boleyn, and in his conversations with the king he suggested that Boleyn's daughter could not become a worthy bride of such a noble aristocrat as Henry Percy. As a result, Henry VIII did not give permission for the marriage so desired by Anna. The Earl of Northumberland was also dissatisfied, even threatening his son with deprivation of his inheritance and title. But the young lover turned out to be persistent and, contrary to the will of his father, even drew up a document according to which he undertook to take Anna as his wife. This document was later annulled by the count's lawyers. Insulted, Anna vowed to take revenge on the cardinal for the humiliation and encroachment on her independence.
Not much time passed, and Thomas Wyatt fell at the feet of Anne Boleyn - one of greatest poets during the reign of the Tudors. Nature, having deprived Anna of her beauty, abundantly endowed her with sensuality, which captivated Wyatt. However, the poet was married, and although Anna was flattered by his passion, she did not intend to become the mistress of his heart alone. Moreover, in 1527, Anna became the subject of attention of the king himself. True, the king only hoped to have a short affair and give a couple of nights to a woman who was of such obvious interest to the male part of his court. The king's claims completely unexpectedly encountered Anna's resistance - she was not going to give in just like that and was ready to accept only the crown of England in payment for her favor.
Henry VIII persisted, and his claims are beautifully traced in seventeen letters to Anne Boleyn. For the king, this was a kind of record - after all, Henry hated writing letters. In his third letter, Henry literally demanded that Anna confess her love for him, but was still far from proposing her hand and heart. However, Anna was not at all satisfied with the status of a mistress, and she waited, skillfully inflaming the king’s passion. By disappearing for a while, she forced the king to experience feelings of loss and guilt that were still unfamiliar to him. By this time, the king had already found a pretext for a divorce from his wife Katerina, who was never able to produce an heir to the throne, and began divorce proceedings. Anne Boleyn practically achieved what she wanted - the king offered her legal marriage immediately after the divorce. In a reply letter with an attached gift in the form of a small boat, the intriguer said that she was ready to hand over her virginity to the king - but only after the official wedding. Undoubtedly, the king was motivated not only by the desire to obtain an heir, but also by lust. In turn, Anne Boleyn aspired to become queen.
The king's divorce proceedings lasted seven years. His wife, Catherine of Aragon, hoped until the last moment that Pope Clement VII would not give permission to dissolve the marriage. As a matter of fact, all interested parties persisted, including the king, both in attempts to divorce his wife and in seeking love pleasures from the unapproachable Anna. Anna skillfully manipulated Henry, arranging scenes, declaring that her youth was passing, and the wait was too long, and even threatening to marry someone else. In turn, the courtiers expected completely different actions from their king - the marriage of Henry VIII and the French princess was certainly politically beneficial. Alas, this was not the first case in history when a weak woman influenced big politics. Anne Boleyn even managed to create a faction of people especially close to the English monarch who supported her claims.
Through quite a short time It turned out that access to the royal mind was practically blocked and captured by his bride while his wife was alive - Anna controlled Henry even during important political meetings. The power and influence of Anne Boleyn reached the point that she opened the royal hunt. During conversations, Anna supported the king’s ideas that his position was extremely high in Europe. She even ordered anti-clerical literature for him, convincing Henry that he could rise above the Pope and lead the English Church himself.
Finally, in 1528, the king ordered his lawful wife to leave the court. It was almost a victory for Anne Boleyn in the struggle for the throne. But Cardinal Wolsey became a special target in the deeds and thoughts of Anne Boleyn. Anna hated him with all her heart and, for an old, now meaningless offense, was ready to denigrate him in the eyes of the king by any means available. It is worth noting that Cardinal Wolsey absolutely did not want to quarrel with the king and tried with all his might to quickly complete the divorce process entrusted to him. Anna accused the cardinal of not caring enough about the benefit of the king and the divorce. The king found confirmation of this in the cardinal's attempts to keep the monarch from making a categorical petition to Rome. However, under the influence of Anne Boleyn and her faction, a letter offensive to the papacy was sent. In 1530, the Pope sent Henry VIII a decree to remove Anne Boleyn from the king's person and from his court. Anna was angry, at the same time triumphant, because the king was again convinced of the supposed double play cardinal. Henry removed the cardinal from business, seized all his property in his favor and ordered Wolsey himself to be thrown into prison. On the way to his first interrogation, Cardinal Wolsey died, which in a different situation would have caused fear in Henry. But now the king declared himself the sole head and protector of the clergy and the entire English church. Well, Anne Boleyn was given the title - she became the Marchioness of Pembroke and the owner of vast lands. For the first time in all English history a similar title went to a woman.
Carefully observing the developing events, Anne Boleyn decided in the fall of 1532 that the right moment had come, and began to live with the king in a sinful marriage. It is almost impossible to hide anything at court, and besides, a few months later Anna made a “knight’s move” - at one of the court receptions she loudly declared that in Lately I started eating a lot of apples. Those around her instantly diagnosed her with pregnancy. On January 25, 1533, Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII were married secret marriage. During the wedding, the king fooled the priest - when he demanded to see written permission for the marriage from the Pope, Henry asked if the priest considered the King of England a liar. The priest hesitated and performed the sacrament of marriage - in general, illegal.
Then the king began to act rapidly. Archbishop Cranmer and the king's lawyer, Thomas Cromwell, put pressure on parliament and got both houses of parliament to declare the king's previous marriage invalid. Now Henry VIII only needed to complete the coronation procedure for Anne. He was in a hurry - after all, Anna’s pregnancy was already noticeable, and the celebrations were prepared in just seventeen days. The coronation took place on May 29, 1533 and eclipsed all previous holidays with its splendor. But the main thing for Anne Boleyn was that she received the highest prize of her life - the crown.
The king also made adequate preparations for the birth of his new wife. A knightly tournament was organized, festivities were planned and all the nuances were taken into account. However, on September 23, 1534, the queen gave birth to a girl, who received the name Elizabeth. Oddly enough, Henry took what happened quite calmly and only canceled the knightly tournament. He was sure that the queen's next child would definitely be a boy. Cromwell organized a magnificent christening, and the young mother, barely getting to her feet, began to participate in political life countries. She devoted much of her time to charity and the promotion of education, trying to win the trust of the British. For the new queen, this was simply necessary - after all, the people still considered her a thief who kidnapped the king from his lawful wife. Cromwell showed particular zeal in strengthening the power of Anne Boleyn, who mercilessly suppressed all conspiracies and even thoughts of denigrating the queen. Through his efforts, a special decree was issued requiring all men in England to take an oath of allegiance to Queen Anne. Those who did not want to do this were mercilessly handed over to the executioner. By the way, the refusal to appear at Anna’s coronation cost even Thomas More dearly - he was executed.
The queen's next pregnancy inspired Henry VIII, but there was a miscarriage. Anna immediately blamed her husband for the incident, who, while waiting for an heir, slept with one of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting. In the early days of 1536, Henry's ex-wife, Katherine of Aragon, died. Having learned about this, Anne Boleyn insisted on organizing a ball to mark the pleasant event. But by that time, the king, still waiting for an heir, was already slightly disappointed in his wife and focused his attention on Katherine’s former maid of honor, Jane Seymour.
At the end of January 1536, the king went hunting. While chasing the beast, he fell from his horse and lost consciousness for several hours. Having received this message, Anna also fainted and went into premature labor - a dead boy was born. Henry recovered from the fall from his horse, but very sad thoughts about his own inadequacy as a man. These gloomy thoughts of the king were supported by the fact that miscarriages often occurred in the Tudor family, and the birth of boys was generally rare. These thoughts led Henry to a paradoxical decision: if God does not give him an heir in marriage with Anne Boleyn, then it is necessary to annul the marriage and find new woman. All that remained was to implement the solution.
At the beginning of spring, a serious quarrel occurred between Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell, which became a turning point in the queen's fate. Cromwell had already decided for himself that Anne had no future, and therefore it was necessary to “replace” Anne under the crown with Jane Seymour. The shortest way Such a castling was accompanied by an accusation of the queen being unfaithful to her husband, and Cromwell began to prepare the ground for this. In addition, at the end of April of the same year, Anna quite loudly quarreled with Henry Norris, and Cromwell did not want to miss such a gift of fate. Literally the next day, the whole court was just discussing a very suspicious scandal, and the king was informed of Anna’s carelessly thrown phrase, which she allegedly said to Norris: “You can’t count on take your place king after his death." Later, during the trial, this phrase acquired the force of a key accusation. In addition, Anna, in order to calm down, invited the young musician Mark Smithton to her place, and as soon as he left the queen’s chambers, Cromwell ordered his capture. After a day of continuous torture, the musician admitted that he was the queen’s lover.
On May 1, the day after Smithton's arrest, a knightly tournament took place, at which the king demanded that Henry Norris and the queen's brother George Boleyn confess to adultery with the queen. Both pleaded not guilty, but were arrested and sent to the Tower. Later, Boleyn was also accused of incest with his own sister. Henry VIII, always prone to exaggeration and self-pity, generally stated that the queen had cheated on him with a hundred or even more men. A version also surfaced that Catherine of Aragon was poisoned by Anne Boleyn, and only an accident saved Princess Mary, Catherine’s daughter, and the king himself from death.
On the morning of May 2, Anne Boleyn was arrested and taken into custody to the Tower. Even her hours-long hysteria in prison did not soften the king, although he was informed about his wife’s behavior. Although Henry was no stranger to feelings of guilt - he replaced the demand to send the queen to the stake with a scaffold and even sent him from Calais for his legal wife the best French executioner. Immediately after the verdict, in anticipation of his impending execution, Henry VIII declared his marriage to Anne Boleyn null and void. Their daughter Elizabeth automatically became illegitimate.
Anne Boleyn's "lovers" were executed before hers, and without much pomp. But for his ex-wife, Henry prepared a truly royal scaffold. Due to the historical incident - this was the first execution of a queen in England - only Londoners were allowed to attend the event, and foreigners were not allowed. On May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn ascended the scaffold and was executed by sword.
Henry VIII was not present at the execution, but upon receiving news of the death of his wife, he ordered Jane Seymour to be immediately brought to the palace. Just eleven days after the execution, the king married again. By the way, Jane Seymour did not disappoint the king - but, having given birth to his son, she died of childbed fever.
One of the experts on this period of English history rightly noted that the devil smiled very willingly at all the participants in this tragedy - except for the daughter of Anne Boleyn. A completely different fate awaited her - twenty-two years later, at the request of the people, she was elevated to the throne, and Elizabeth long years ruled England.
She died 477 years ago, after the entire English nobility watched with interest her ascension to the throne. For her sake, he decided to hint at a divorce from the current Queen of England. Their union was not accepted by the public, but living together was bright, allowing us to experience the whole range of feelings from love to hate...
She…
Thanks to the favor of Henry VIII to Anne's father, a successful politician and ambitious man, the girl found a place among the ladies-in-waiting of Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands. She spent her childhood in Belgium, where people spoke warmly about her. Later, Anna and her sister will go to France to become maids of honor in the retinue of the pious Queen Claudia of Valois. Unlike her sister Mary, Anna did not succumb to the temptations of the French court - becoming just one of the mistresses of Francois I did not appeal to her. The girl had far-reaching plans. When relations between France and England became, to put it mildly, cool, among the ladies-in-waiting Queen of England Catherine of Aragon and the Boleyn sisters appeared. Anna had a fragile build, with long black hair and dark eyes, plus education, knowledge of languages and talent as a poet. She also supported the translation of the Bible into English language and patronized people of art. In addition, it was she who introduced the fashion for the French hood headdress. She was witty, charming and full of character. At the French court she was called the “mirror of fashion.” But in England at that time, the generally accepted canons of beauty had completely different parameters.
However, as soon as her engagement to the Earl of Northumberlain, Henry Percy, was a done deal, the King of England intervened...
He…
Along with the crown, after his sickly brother Arthur, Henry also received his wife, Catherine of Aragon - in 1505, an agreement was reached between the English and Spanish courts that Catherine would marry younger brother when he turns 15 years old. Pope Julius II issued a dispensation - a special permission for Catherine’s second marriage, despite the commandment of the Bible: “If anyone takes his brother’s wife, it is abominable; he has revealed his brother’s nakedness, they will be childless...”
England rejoiced - athletic, fit, charming, a first-class archer instilled hope for a bright future in his loyal subjects. He was adored by scientists and reformers for his enlightened mind. He was a polyglot (Latin, Spanish, French, Italian!) and played the lute well.
Catherine of Aragon
However, there is evidence from contemporaries that the king’s education “miraculously” coexisted with despotism and numerous vices. Alas, despite the “family castling,” the marriage of Henry and Katerina did not bring the long-awaited fruits - Katerina could not conceive, and, consequently, the throne remained without an heir. Until She appeared on the horizon...
For the first time, Henry VIII saw Anne on March 1, 1522 at the court masquerade of “The Virtues”: the King wore the costume of “Sincerity,” and Anne wore the costume of “Perseverance.” Anna went on the “offensive” immediately after Henry, in conversations with her, began to regret his childless marriage with Katerina. But for a long time the king did not dare to offer Anna anything higher than the status of “only mistress.” This, of course, did not suit her. For Henry, such relationships were new - for the first time in his life, he was independently looking for an approach to a woman. Anna disappeared from the king's sight for some time. And he decided to divorce Katerina - she had long ago lost her ability to give birth. Moreover, Heinrich found an excellent reason for him bad marriage: Pope Julius II should not have given the go-ahead for their wedding.
Anna is back. And she agreed to belong to Henry body and soul. In addition, Anna's pregnancy became an additional reason for the decisive actions of the English King. The divorce from Katerina dragged on for seven years. On January 25, 1533 - before receiving official papers from the Pope - the secret wedding Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. Anna's coronation took place on May 29 of the same year. It is noteworthy that the bow of the ship on which Boleyn went to the coronation was a dragon spitting fire. Alas, the birth of his wife brought Henry disappointment - a girl was born, the future Elizabeth I. In addition, he was extremely surprised and annoyed that Anna decided to breastfeed the child on her own. Perhaps this was the beginning of a split within the family - Anna was wayward and jealous, and she flatly refused to obey her husband (unlike the flexible Katerina). An old wound that opened after falling from a horse during a tournament in 1536 added fuel to the fire. Henry's character was rapidly deteriorating - he was bothered by his wife's claims and jealousy. In addition, young Jane Seymour appeared on the horizon - fully meeting the canons of English beauty (besides, the people did not like their new queen). Thoughts about divorce began to stir in Heinrich’s head again. And thanks to Prime Minister Thomas Cromwell, Anne was accused of treason. The process has begun.
The trial of Anne Boleyn took place in the main hall of the Tower. The king was not present. Anna calmly listened to the accusation of treason, witchcraft, and the verdict. As a “privilege”, instead of a fire for execution, the Queen of England was specially assigned an executioner from France, who executed her on May 19, 1536 by cutting off her head with a sword... The scaffold was covered with black material, and the sword was hidden between the boards. Spectators - about a thousand, only Londoners (no foreigners) - under the leadership of the mayor of the city came to witness the first execution of the queen in the history of England. She, in a dress of gray damask trimmed with fur, climbed to the first step of the scaffold and addressed the crowd: “I will die according to the law. I am not here to accuse anyone or talk about what I am accused of. But I pray to God that he will save the king and his reign, for there never was a kinder prince, and to me he has always been a most tender and worthy lord and sovereign. I say goodbye to the world and from the bottom of my heart I ask you to pray for me.” Boleyn fell to her knees and repeated: “Jesus, accept my soul. O almighty God, sorrow for my soul." Her lips were still moving when it was all over. The ladies covered the queen's body with a simple, rough sheet and carried it to St. Peter's Chapel, passing along the way the fresh graves of her “lovers” executed a few days earlier. Then they stripped her and put her in a small, carelessly put together coffin, barely able to fit the severed head there.
Henry, who received news of the execution, immediately ordered Jane Seymour to be brought to him. 11 days later, on May 30, 1536, they got married. Jane Seymour died, giving birth to the king's son, for whom he entered into a deal with the devil so many times.
And in 1558, the unexpected happened, as often happens in history - fate smiled on Elizabeth, Boleyn’s daughter, who looked like her father and fully inherited from her mother her character and ability to influence people, manipulating their thoughts and feelings. The people called the princess to the throne, and to the cheers of Londoners and the roar of the Tower artillery, Elizabeth occupied the fortress as Queen of England and remained so for many years.
In the early morning of May 19, 1536, a young woman in an ermine robe climbed onto the scaffold, erected opposite the White Tower of the Tower. This was the dethroned wife of Henry III, Anne Boleyn, whose biography became an example of how short the path is from the love of august persons to hatred and from the throne to the chopping block.
The childhood that never happened
The future queen, born in 1501, and so sadly ending her life on a platform damp from the morning dew, came from an ancient and influential family, which included the famous Plantagenets. This alone obliged her to meet the requirements that were presented to the lucky ones, whom fate had prepared to enter the circle of the highest aristocracy. That is why Anna’s childhood, spent in the family castle of Hever, was filled not with games and amusements characteristic of this happy time, but with endless classes with the best mentors of that time.
Anna was eleven years old when she and her younger sister Maria received an invitation to continue their education in Vienna, at a privileged school patronized by Empress Margaret of Austria. Having studied for two years and succeeded in learning arithmetic, grammar, foreign languages, dancing and many more obligatory for girls from high society disciplines, which also included horse riding, archery and chess, the sisters went to France.
Life at the court of Philip I
They arrived in Paris as part of the retinue of Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII. Here girls complete their education, studying not only French, but also comprehending the subtleties of court flirtation. Very soon, Anna’s sister, Maria, became so carried away by this science that she did not notice how she ended up among the mistresses of the ardent but fickle King Philip I.
There is reason to believe that Anna herself was faced with the temptation to respond to the love of the crowned seducer, but, as the future showed, she had far-reaching plans, and the role of one of the king’s countless concubines did not at all seduce her. We must pay tribute, she did not waste the years she spent in Paris. Communicating with the most enlightened people of that era, Anna not only acquired a taste for high poetry and literature, but also became imbued with the ideas of religious reformation. Subsequently, it was she who took the initiative to translate the Bible from Latin into English.
Return to London
When in 1522 in view political differences Relations between England and France deteriorated, Anna returned to London. Here she receives a marriage proposal from her cousin, the Irish aristocrat James Butler, and spends some time as his bride, but then the wedding is upset. Obviously, the reason for this was the exorbitant ambitions of the young girl. By this time, fate is preparing a sharp turn in Anna's life. At the court masquerade, held on March 1, 1522, she was invited to dance by King Henry 8 himself.
King's family problems
By this time, the English monarch was married to. Having ascended the throne after the death of his younger brother Arthur, Henry was forced for political reasons to inherit his wife, the daughter of the King of Spain. However, the marriage was not only unhappy, but also unsuccessful in dynastic terms. During the years of marriage, Catherine was unable to produce an heir to the throne. All of her children died in infancy, with the exception of only daughter- Maria, future queen England Mary I.
It is known that King Henry 8th Tudor, who received the throne after a long and bloody War of the Roses, was extremely scrupulous in the matter of succession to the throne. Therefore, even before meeting Anna, he was full of desire to retire his wife, who did not live up to expectations, and enter into a new marriage. This idea was very difficult, since according to church canons, divorce was not allowed, and the Pope would not give his blessing.
Then, having found a formal, but, in his opinion, convincing pretext, the king tried to recognize the marriage itself as illegal and to achieve its annulment. This, to put it mildly, ugly story lasted for several years, and by the time Anne Boleyn danced with him at a festive masquerade, King Henry 8 had managed to send his unfortunate wife to a distant castle and was consoled in the company of several young favorites.
Ambitious maid of honor
He intended to include Anna among them. Recently arrived from France and distinguished by graceful manners, she knew how to captivate the male gaze with the thoughtfulness of her outfit, combining puritanical stiffness with sophisticated coquetry. But, to his amazement, she rejected the gifts and did not allow him to get closer than etiquette allowed. In him, accustomed to female submissiveness, this caused amazement.
However, everything was explained simply: Anna did not want to share the fate of her younger sister Mary, who became the mistress of Philip I for a short time and was soon abandoned by him. This woman knew her worth and played big. When the king spoke to her about his wife’s childlessness, she realized that fate was giving her a chance. Poor Anna, she had no idea that she would become just another chapter of the tragedy, which can be roughly called “The Villain Henry 8 Tudor and his Wives”...
An intrigue that succeeded
Once in France, observing the morals of the Parisian court, Anna was a good student and perfectly mastered the “science of tender passion.” She understood: nothing inflames male ardor more than the visible coldness of the chosen one and the danger of losing her irrevocably. Anna takes a risky, but justified step - she secludes herself in her ancestral castle of Hever for a long time.
When she finally appears in the palace again, the king, exhausted by separation and jealousy, becomes her easy prey. Having lost hope of limiting her presence in the palace only as another favorite, the king in love makes Anna an offer to become his legal wife, and she agrees.
Illegitimate but beloved wife
However, before Henry 8 and Anne Boleyn could marry, the issue with Catherine of Aragon must be resolved. Sent by her husband to a distant estate, she still remains his legal wife and is not going to make any concessions. As mentioned above, the case of recognizing her marriage with the king as invalid dragged on for several years, and for a number of reasons could not be resolved in the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, Anna, introduced into the royal chambers, albeit on illegal grounds, behaved like the true arbiter of the destinies of the state. Having unlimited influence over Henry, she unceremoniously interfered in all state affairs, reshaping them in her own way. Letters from Spanish and French diplomats have been preserved, in which they warned their colleagues that before resolving issues in English parliament, you need to get Anna's approval.
Church Reformation and its consequences
At this stage important role her life was played by the king's newly appointed First Advisor, Thomas Cromwell. A staunch supporter Reformation of the church, he managed to convince Henry to free himself from the supremacy of the Pope and proclaim the priority of secular power over ecclesiastical power. This step had far-reaching consequences both for the state, which was no longer under the control of the Holy See, and for the king himself, who was no longer obliged to seek permission to annul the marriage in Rome. Soon the desired document was received.
After the royal marriage was officially declared invalid, Henry 8 and Anne Boleyn got married. At first, this ceremony was performed in secret from outsiders, but on January 25, 1533, when Anna announced her pregnancy to her husband, an official coronation took place, the purpose of which was to give legitimacy to their marriage. A description of the celebration left by one of its participants has been preserved. In it he tells how a wedding procession moved through the streets of London. The bride sat in a gilded palanquin, and the most noble barons held a snow-white canopy over her head.
Thirst for the heir to the throne
From that day on, Henry 8 and Anne Boleyn were busy with one thing - waiting for the birth of an heir to the British crown. In order to remove his wife from the bustle of the court as much as possible, the king settled her in his favorite residence in Greenwich, where she was surrounded by the care of numerous servants. All doctors and astrologers unanimously predicted the birth of a son, but, contrary to expectations, on September 7, 1533, Anna gave birth to a girl named Elizabeth.
This was a considerable disappointment for the spouses and the first step on Anna’s path to the terrible platform that would be built for her opposite the White Tower of the Tower. By this time, Henry’s passion that accompanied the first days of marriage had given way to satiety, followed closely by boredom and hostility towards the woman who had once occupied all his dreams. In addition, the issue with the heir to the throne remained unresolved, and this left an imprint on their relationship.
The story of Anne Boleyn and Henry 8 is entering a completely different phase. The queen understands that she will not be able to return the love of her husband, and therefore she only bets on the opportunity to give birth to his much-desired son. A year later she is pregnant again. The king surrounds her with the same care and showers her with gifts. It seemed that the best days of their love had returned. But suddenly everything ends. At the end of December 1534 she had a miscarriage.
The death of the last hopes
Having lost hope, he begins to speak openly with those close to him about the divorce. Another misfortune awaits Anna: at this time, a young lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour, appears at court, taking her place in the king’s heart. The last hope was new pregnancy, which she told her husband after they spent the summer of 1535 together. A few months later, news came of the death of Henry VIII's former wife, Catherine of Aragon.
On a cold January day, during the funeral ceremony for her predecessor, Anna suffered another miscarriage. Perhaps its reason was in the excitement she experienced when, a few days earlier, the king fell from his horse during a tournament, or in the despair that gripped her when she saw the hated Jane Seymour sitting on her husband’s lap. But in any case it was the end.
After the misfortune that happened during the funeral of Margaret of Aragon, Henry 8 and Anne Boleyn actually ceased to be spouses. She was evicted from the royal chambers, which were occupied by a happy rival. Soon Henry declared that he was forced into marriage by the power of witchcraft, and therefore considers it invalid.
Alone among countless enemies
Here it is appropriate to recall the name which, according to researchers, could provoke the fall and subsequent execution of the queen. It was he who initiated the Reformation of the Church, which was then carried out by Henry 8. England left the influence of Rome, and as a result, significant church revenues were confiscated. Anna demanded that they be used for charity, and Cromwell demanded that the money be transferred to the treasury, with significant amounts retained in his favor. On this basis, a deadly enmity arose between them.
To eliminate the disgraced queen and gain the opportunity to enter into a new marriage, Henry 8 Tudor accused his wife of treason. Since the king was the personification of the nation, in this case adultery by law it was equivalent to high treason and was punishable by death. Men from her inner circle were named as lovers. Their confessions were not the issue - they were obtained with the help of experienced executioners.
At the beginning of May 1536, Anne Boleyn was also taken to one of the Tower cells. England reacted to her arrest without sympathy, since she did not enjoy the slightest popularity among the people. The prisoner understood that the upcoming trial would be demonstrative and formal, so she had no doubt about the sentence that would be given to her.
The last morning of her life
The execution of Anne Boleyn was scheduled for May 19, but two days before that, Tower constable William Kingston reported to the king that the condemned woman was ready to humbly accept the fate in store for her. It is difficult to say whether mercy stirred in the chest of Henry VIII or whether he was guided by other feelings, but at the last moment he replaced the burning at the stake, customary in such cases, by cutting off his head with a sword. Humanity sometimes has the most unexpected manifestations.
Early in the morning of that fateful day when the sentence was to be carried out, there was excitement under the arches of the Tower. Bishop Boleyn arrived here, despite the inopportune hour, and confessed Anna in the presence of the constable. In the face of imminent death, she swore on the Bible that she had never committed adultery. But this could no longer affect her fate. Those who admitted to being her lovers in the hands of the executioner were executed two days ago. Following them, Anne Boleyn was to die. The biography of this woman was coming to its sad end.
So, let's return to the scene with which this story began. A woman in an ermine robe climbed onto the scaffold built near the White Tower of the Tower. It was, now already former queen England Anne Boleyn. The Tudors, when cutting off the heads of convicts, carried out this procedure with the ax adopted in such cases, but in this case, Henry VIII ordered chopping with a sword. I had to call a specialist from France, since there was no such skill among my executioners.
When Anna said goodbye to several ladies-in-waiting who had found the courage to escort her to last way, her robe was taken off, and her hair was tucked under her headdress. The constable blindfolded Anna and helped her to her knees. The Frenchman did not disappoint and completed his job with one swift blow. The members of the Council of State, led by Thomas Cromwell, who were present as witnesses to the execution and standing around the platform, began to silently disperse. As a contemporary wrote, some of them looked like people who had just committed a crime.
The death of the old schemer
Henry 8, whose biography is replete with marital tragedies, outlived Anne Boleyn by eleven years. In 1547 he died, suffering from excessive obesity. and the voluptuous man became so fat that he could only move with the help of special devices. They say that this was retribution for everything he had done during his life.
Henry 8 Tudor and his wives, of whom he had six, subsequently became the material for the plots of countless novels and plays. This is not surprising, because he divorced two of them, executed the other two, one died herself, but at a very strange circumstances and only the last of them was destined to outlive her husband.
Anne Boleyn was born between 1501 and 1507. Her father, Thomas Boleyn, was the son of a wealthy man, William Boleyn. Her mother Elizabeth Howard came from an old family.
Of all the wives of King Henry VIII of England, Anne Boleyn is the most famous. She bewitched the English king more than 500 years ago, but to this day her personality is subject to various characteristics and misinterpretations. She was called a whore and a destroyer of the family hearth, a soulless intriguer and a peasant who stopped at nothing for her advancement, without having any convictions of her own.
Anne Boleyn was rarely called a beauty, but even her most sworn enemies recognized her as an enchantress. Heinrich was defeated by one look, one smile. A pretty face, a lively mind, a modest but cheerful look, dark complexion and black hair - everything gave her an “exotic” look in that environment, which was accustomed to seeing beauty in milky pallor. Anna's eyes were especially striking - “black and beautiful,” like a gazelle’s. The monarch fell in love so quickly and so passionately that those around him attributed his feeling to the effects of magical spells.
For years, Anne Boleyn defended herself from the persistent advances of Henry VIII, refused to become his mistress, and was able to turn his lust into an instrument of her power. At first, Boleyn flirted with the king, believing that such flirting was safe for her. She did not want to enter into a close relationship at all, but the king, of course, wanted more. Anna was stubborn because she wanted the marriage for which she had always been prepared - a respectable, honorable marriage with a worthy nobleman
She moved away from the court and did not want to return there, even accompanied by her mother, but the king did not weaken his pressure. Anne could have cited her desire to maintain honor and chastity, but Henry VIII did not honor these virtues. She hoped that sooner or later he would be able to switch to another maid of honor, but this did not happen either. She did not have the slightest opportunity to marry successfully, since any potential chosen one knew about Henry’s attitude towards her.
At the beginning of May 1527, French ambassadors arrived in England to negotiate the marriage of the growing Princess Mary, and the king decided to organize a holiday in honor of the guests. After the tournament, which was invariable in such cases, and the masquerade that followed, Henry VIII, to the unspeakable amazement of the ambassadors, went out to the feast not with his legal wife, but with a young black-eyed woman. He had danced with her before different holidays, but this time he appeared officially for the first time, and two weeks later he took the first, still secret, steps to achieve his goal - to achieve legal marriage with Anne Boleyn.
The king thought that it would be easy to convince the Pope of the need for his new marriage, and therefore was not particularly worried about this. Anna was much more worried, because not all subjects and even courtiers could fully support Henry VIII. It was assumed that, as head of state, the king strictly observed the rules of behavior and was guided by moral principles, no matter what actually happened behind the scenes. closed doors royal chambers. But as soon as the marriage is known, there will be such public unrest that it will be difficult to calm down, and the international situation may also become more complicated.
The king was talking about divorce: Henry needed a son, and the only way to this was through a divorce from Queen Catherine of Aragon. If the queen agreed to go to a monastery, then the couple could divorce quite officially, and then the king could take for himself new wife legally.
For Catherine of Aragon, this step was not a sacrifice, since at that time there were monasteries in which people of noble birth led a solitary life, taking a break from the bustle of the world and not particularly burdening themselves with observing the rules of monastic life. They were even allowed to surround themselves with luxury inaccessible to ordinary monks, and to enjoy almost complete freedom. Such a decision could suit everyone, and Henry even decided to give ex-wife a valuable reward and leave her daughter the right to inherit the throne if the new queen has no sons.
The people had a wary attitude towards Anna, and even outright hostility. Was their king really going to leave his lawful wife for her? After all, it is known that she lived for a long time in France - this vicious and hostile country to England, and therefore does not deserve any other name than “French whore”. The situation for Anne Boleyn was worse than ever: her subjects hated her even before she became their queen. Henry could have married Anne if Pope Clement VII had considered his marriage to Catherine of Aragon illegal. But the Supreme Pontiff was clearly delaying his time in resolving this issue, and the king was burning with impatience.
The marriage between the king and Catherine of Aragon had to be officially dissolved by someone. This was done by decision of the church court, which met in the monastery of the city of Dunstable. And on May 28, 1527, Anne Boleyn officially became the Queen of England. The king made every effort to make Anne's coronation a festive event, but the birth of Princess Elizabeth was a heavy blow for Henry VIII, because the court astrologers unanimously assured that he would have a son.
Henry had already prepared a speech and ordered the organization of a tournament that would celebrate the birth of the heir. The tournament was canceled and the festivities were cut down to a level befitting the birth of a girl. But the christening took place with appropriate solemnity.
The king's passion did not fade away after this. They were not only lovers with Anna, but also allies in the fight against Catherine of Aragon and against the Pope. But the death of the unborn son put an end to this all-consuming passion. The very traits with which Anna had once captivated and bewitched Henry now became satiated with him, and he began to get carried away with other women. And then the day came when the king’s new hobby turned out to be no accidental affair. Henry decided that he was in love again - in love with Jane Seymour, who was strikingly different from Anna.
As at the beginning of his courtship with Anne, Henry did not yet think about marriage this time: his subjects still hoped that he would leave Anne Boleyn and return to Catherine of Aragon. But to reject Anna and marry again - this could cause not just a scandal, but also civil war. Moreover, he himself could become a laughing stock for all of Europe.
After the death of Catherine of Aragon, Anna had one hope left, but it was the greatest hope: she was expecting a child again. No matter what love affairs Henry indulges in, she will be safe if she bears him an heir. But this time the child was not born... Anna is not able to give him a son, which means that she, like Catherine of Aragon, is not a “real” wife. And the king decides to get rid of her and marry Jane Seymour.
Edward Seymour, brother of the new royal favorite, became close to supporters of Princess Mary (daughter of Catherine of Aragon) and quickly became involved in a conspiracy against Anne. But she did not recognize the illegality of her marriage with the king, just as Catherine of Aragon did not recognize it. She also does not recognize the announcement of her daughter as illegitimate: since there is no son, Princess Elizabeth will inherit the throne. Edward Seymour and his accomplices gave Jane instructions on how she should behave with Henry VIII, and she obediently followed their advice.
The conspiracy was expanding, and Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, had to quickly find something that would justify the king's hatred of Anne and would easily make his pliable conscience inclined to impose a death sentence. Cromwell decided that adultery might be appropriate in this case. In itself, of course, it is not punishable by death, but in the case of Henry, everything may be different: if the queen has a lover, it means that she dreams of marrying him.
And this will only be possible in the event of Henry’s death; but hoping for the death of the king is already a crime, this is already treason and conspiracy. But even here you need to be on your guard: they will begin to compare the merits of their rivals, and if the prospective lover turns out to be young and handsome, it means that the queen has turned her back on the powerless old man. If the lover is old and unattractive, it will turn out even funnier: the king was cuckolded by some kind of scarecrow. It would be good to catch Anna in connection with one of the servants who were most often with her. And it would be even better if the queen had more than one lover, so that she would appear as a real monster in her insatiable and unnatural passion. Then no one will dare to blame Henry, because he was bewitched by a woman whose depravity is akin to Satanism.
Once the queen was talking with the royal groom Henry Norris, who was one of her friends. He had long been engaged to one of her ladies-in-waiting, and Anna asked why he still didn’t get married. Henry Norris replied that he would wait a little longer, but it seemed to Anna that he was in no hurry to marry the maid of honor because the position of the queen herself was very precarious. And she attacked him with accusations that he had decided to marry... herself.
Norris was dumbfounded and began to prove that he had never even thought about anything like that. There was a noisy quarrel between Anna and him in front of everyone. Only after calming down did Anna realize what she had done - after all, the witnesses could have thought about the close relationship between them! And she ordered Norris to go to D. Skip - the royal manager for the distribution of alms - and “swear that the queen is a decent woman.” Unfortunately for both of them, Norris agreed.
Meanwhile, T. Cromwell did not stop his search and soon discovered another suitable victim - the court musician Mark Smeaton, who was clearly in love with the queen and sighed that she was unattainable and represented only a poetic dream for him. But one day the musician said that it was enough for him to just see Anna, and this was immediately included by T. Cromwell in the list of evidence against Anna. Smeaton was captured and taken to T. Cromwell’s house, where he was interrogated for a whole day: “Where did he get such beautiful clothes? Did the queen give him money? Were they alone in her chambers? Did they agree to kill the king?
They said that the confession was extracted from Smeaton under torture, because he had not previously been distinguished by perseverance, and now he had completely lost his spirit, especially after T. Cromwell called for “two strong fellows,” and they either tightened or loosened the rope around his neck . Or perhaps the musician was simply threatened with the death of a traitor: if he didn’t hang him, he would gut him alive. People of noble birth, as a rule, avoided this kind of fate, and convicts from the class of M. Smeaton, who were found guilty of treason, were punished “to the fullest extent.” And the court musician told the investigators everything they wanted to hear: yes, he knew the queen carnally, and she paid him money for it. After that, he was imprisoned in the Tower and shackled.
Some time later, Norris was accused of adultery with Anna. The astonished courtier began to deny such obvious absurdity, but also ended up in the Tower. A few hours later, Anne Boleyn was also arrested; she was accused of adultery with Norris, Smeaton and another man, whose name has not reached us. Henry ordered her to be imprisoned in the Tower - in the very chambers where she spent the night before the coronation. Her jailer testified that at first Anna fell to her knees and began to cry, “and being in such sorrow, every now and then she burst into loud laughter.”
However, Anna soon realized that she was doomed. “Mr. Kingston,” she turned to the jailer, “will I really die without justice?” To this he primly replied that “even the lowest of the king’s subjects is granted justice.” But Anna only laughed in response: shouldn’t she know what the king’s justice was like!
Meanwhile, Henry hesitated. He wanted a divorce from the queen, but was ready to allow her to drag out her life peacefully if she confessed everything. But Anna wrote the following:
Sovereign! Your Majesty’s displeasure and my arrest are so strange that I don’t know... what I should blame. I immediately understood the meaning of your offer of pardon, for it was my old sworn enemy who conveyed it to me. If, according to you, a sincere confession can ensure my safety, then I am ready to carry out your order. But don't think that your wife will ever be forced to plead guilty to anything of a crime that she never even dreamed of. In truth, not a single sovereign had such a faithful, devoted and loving wife what you found in Anne Boleyn, and she would have remained so forever, if God and you had willed...
You chose me, your loyal subject, to be the queen and friend of your life, which I did not want and was not worthy of. If you, for your part, found me worthy of such an honor, then do not refuse me your royal favor... do not allow an undeserved stain to darken your good glory faithful wife and the little princess, your daughter. Bring me to justice, good king, but let the trial be lawful, and do not allow my enemies to be my accusers and judges...
This bold demand for a legal and open trial confused the queen's enemies, because they did not have a single direct evidence against her, and there was little chance of getting it. Four women were assigned to her. They were all her enemies. But this was the plan of T. Cromwell, who expected that they would report everything to the jailer; he, in turn, will inform him, and he will whisper to the king about what he considers necessary.
Anne Boleyn's father was not arrested and was not even accused of anything, but he was so frightened by the very possibility of arrest that he did not dare to ask Henry for anything, rightly reasoning: the less they remember about him, the better. What about your daughter? Well: if she couldn’t stay on the throne, then she herself is to blame for what happened. Other courtiers did not stand up for the queen, and only Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, mourned her. He even hinted to Henry that perhaps he was making a mistake:
“I am at such a loss that my mind is in confusion, for I have not held a better opinion about any woman than about her, which prompts me to think that she is innocent.” However, the king wanted to believe in the queen’s guilt, and the archbishop did not dare to do more, lest he himself be recognized as a supporter of Anna. Henry also made sure that the queen’s friends did not bother him with requests or any information about her that could make him change his mind.
The trial took place in the Royal Hall of the Tower, where 2,000 spectators were packed. The Queen entered, maintaining calm and composure throughout the entire time while T. Cromwell read out the accusation. Anne Boleyn was accused of adultery and treason, as if she seduced men “through shameless speeches, gifts and other deeds,” and they “due to the basest incitement and enticement of the said queen succumbed and bowed to persuasion.” Subsequently, the queen and her lovers “thought and pondered the death of Henry VIII,” after which she promised to marry one of them as soon as the king died. And her miscarriages happened because the queen satisfied her lust during pregnancy.
Anne was even accused of the fact that Henry VIII, having learned about her debauchery, was very upset, and this sadness caused him bodily harm [It is not known whether it was the king’s fall from his horse during the tournament or the ulcer on his leg that bothered the king].
The queen was also accused of poisoning Queen Catherine of Aragon and plotting to poison her daughter Mary. To this Anne Boleyn responded with a categorical “No!” Many spectators who came to the trial to make fun of the queen's fall, and who had no doubt about her debauchery, were already touched by the clearly ridiculous accusations against her and the injustice of the trial. But the court and jury still found her guilty and sentenced her to death by burning or beheading - “at the discretion of the king.”
Anna's mood in the remaining days often changed: it seemed to her that the king would cancel the sentence and send her to a monastery, then she began to imagine a picture of her death, or she burst into laughter and assured that her new nickname was “Anna Sans Tete” (“Anna Headless"). She spent a lot of time praying, finding solace in religion, which always meant a lot to her.
Jailer Kingston testified: “I happened to see many men, and women too, awaiting execution, and they were sad and mournful. This same lady finds death joyful and pleasant.” Last hours The queen spent the time allotted to her for earthly life before the crucifixion. She became very weak and often fainted. But when she found out that Henry decided to execute her anyway, whether she was guilty or not, her courage returned to her again.
Death came for Anna on May 19, 1536. The jailer gently explained to her that death would be painless, since the king called for an executioner with a sword, and the sword would do its job faster than an ax. Anna ran her hands over her neck and laughed: “I heard that the executioner is a skilled person, and my neck is thin.”
T. Cromwell and some of his supporters wanted a secret execution, but, despite Taken measures, the people still gathered. Anne Boleyn wore gray dress, trimmed with ermine fur; her hair, tucked under a net, exposed her white neck. The scaffold was specially made so low that people could not see the execution in detail, but the two women were allowed to remain with the queen until her last minute. She asked for forgiveness from everyone she had once offended; and she herself forgave everyone - even the murderers who put her to death. She felt very sorry for the king, but did not reproach him for anything. The reflection of the sun flashed on the blade of the raised sword, and Anne Boleyn’s head rolled away from the block...
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