In the early morning of May 19, 1536, a young woman in an ermine mantle climbed a scaffold erected opposite the White Tower of the Tower. This was the Queen of England toppled from the throne , the wife of Henry III Anna Boleyn, whose biography was an example of how short the path from the love of the august persons to hatred and from the throne to the block.
Childhood that was not
The future queen, born in 1501, and so sadly ending her life on a platform moist from morning dew, came from an ancient and influential family, which included the famous Plantagenets. This alone obliged her to comply with the requirements that were imposed on the lucky ones whom fate had prepared to enter the circle of the higher aristocracy. That is why Anna’s childhood spent in the Heaver family castle was filled not with games and amusements characteristic of this happy time, but with endless activities 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 sponsored by Empress Margarita of Austria. After studying for two years and succeeding in the study of arithmetic, grammar, foreign languages, dances, and many other disciplines compulsory for girls from high society, including horse riding, archery and playing 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 King Henry VIII of England . Here the girls complete their education, studying not only the French language, but also comprehending the intricacies of court flirting. Very soon, Anna's sister, Maria, became so carried away by this science that she did not notice how she was among the lovers of the ardent, but unstable king Philip I.
There is reason to believe that Anna herself was tempted to answer the love of the crowned seducer, but, as the future showed, she had far-reaching plans, and the role of one of the countless concubines of the king did not seduce her. We must pay tribute, she did not waste the years spent in Paris. Communicating with the most enlightened people of that era, Anna not only acquired a taste for high poetry and literature, but was also inspired by the ideas of religious reformism. Subsequently, it was her who initiated the translation of the Bible from Latin into English.
Return to London
When relations between England and France deteriorated in 1522 due to political differences, Anna returned to London. Here she receives a marriage proposal from her cousin, Irish aristocrat James Butler, and spends some time as his bride, but then the wedding gets upset. Obviously, the reason for this was the exorbitant ambitions of a 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 Catherine of Aragon. 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 a dynastic sense. Over the years of marriage, Catherine could not give birth to the heir to the throne. All her children died in infancy, with the exception of her only daughter, Mary, the future Queen of England, Mary I.
It is known that King Henry 8 Tudor, who received the throne after a long and bloody war of the Scarlet and White Roses, was extremely scrupulous in the matter of succession to the throne. Therefore, even before meeting Anna, he was full of desire to resign his unfulfilled spouse 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, finding a formal, but convincing, in his opinion, pretext, the king tried to invalidate the marriage itself and to achieve its annulment. This ugly story, to put it mildly, lasted for several years, and by the time that Anna Boleyn was dancing with him at the festive masquerade, King Henry 8 managed to send his unfortunate wife to a distant castle and was comforted in the company of several young favorites.
Ambitious maid of honor
Among them, he intended to include Anna. Recently arrived from France and distinguished by grace of manners, she was able to captivate the male eye with the thoughtfulness of her outfit, combining Puritan stiffness with refined coquetry. But, to his amazement, she rejected gifts and did not allow him to come closer than etiquette allowed. In him, accustomed to female humility, this was astonishing.
However, everything was explained simply: Anna did not want to share the fate of her younger sister Maria, who became for a short time the lover of Philip I and soon abandoned by him. This woman knew her worth and played big. When the king spoke to her about the childlessness of his wife, she realized that fate gives her a chance. Poor Anna, she did not realize that she would only become the next head of the tragedy, which can conditionally be called "The villain Henry 8 Tudor and his wife" ...
Successful intrigue
Once in France, observing the customs of the Paris court, Anna was a good student and perfectly mastered the "science of tender passion." She understood: nothing so inflames a man’s ardor as the apparent coldness of a chosen one and the danger of losing her forever. Anna takes a risky, but justified step - for a long time shuts herself in her ancestral castle Heaver.
When, finally, she reappears in the palace, 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.
Illegal but beloved wife
However, before Henry 8 and Anna Boleyn can be married, 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 on the recognition of her marriage with the king invalid lasted 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 a true arbiter of the fate of the state. Having unlimited influence on Henry, she unceremoniously interfered in all state affairs, redrawing them in her own manner. Letters from Spanish and French diplomats were preserved in which they warned their colleagues that before resolving issues in the English parliament, Anna needed approval.
The reformation of the church and its consequences
At this stage, the recently appointed First Advisor to the King Thomas Cromwell played an important role in her life. A staunch supporter of the Church Reformation, he managed to convince Henry to free himself from the supremacy of the Pope and proclaim the priority of secular authority over the church. This step had far-reaching consequences both for the state that got out of the control of the Holy See, and for the king himself, henceforth not obliged to seek permission to annul marriage in Rome. Soon the desired document was received.
After the royal marriage was officially declared invalid, Henry 8 and Anna Boleyn got married. At first, this ceremony was performed in secret from outsiders, but on January 25, 1533, when Anna announced her husband her pregnancy, an official coronation took place, the purpose of which was to give legitimacy to their marriage. The description of the celebration left by one of its participants has been preserved. In it, he tells how a wedding procession moved along the streets of London. The bride sat in a gilded palanquin, and the most noble barons held a snow-white canopy above her head.
Thirst for the heir to the throne
From that day on, Henry 8 and Anna Boleyn were occupied with one concern - the expectation of the birth of the heir to the British crown. To possibly remove his wife from the bustle of the court, the king settled her in his beloved residence Greenwich, where she was surrounded by the cares of a large number of 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 of 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 had a passion that accompanied the first days of marriage, replaced by satiety, which was followed on the heels of boredom and hostility to the woman who once occupied all his dreams. In addition, the issue with the successor to the throne remained unresolved, and this left an imprint on their relationship.
The story of Anna Boleyn and Henry 8 enters a completely different phase. The Queen understands that she will not be able to return the love of her husband, and therefore relies only on the opportunity to give birth to him a much-desired son. She is pregnant again a year later. The king surrounds her with the same care and showers gifts. It seemed that the best days of their love were back. But suddenly everything breaks off. At the end of December 1534, she had a miscarriage.
Death of last hopes
Having lost hope, Henry VIII begins to speak openly with his close ones about the divorce. Another trouble awaits Anna: at this time a young maid of honor Jane Seymour appears at the court, taking her place in the king’s heart. The last hope was a new pregnancy, which she informed her husband after they spent the summer of 1535 together. A few months later, news came of the death of the former wife of Henry VIII - Catherine of Aragon.
On a cold January day, during the funeral ceremony of her predecessor, Anna again had a miscarriage. Perhaps his reason is the unrest experienced by her when the king fell off the horse a few days before the tournament, or 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 Margarita of Aragon, Henry 8 and Anna Boleyn actually ceased to be spouses. She was evicted from the royal chambers occupied by a happy rival. Soon, Henry declared that he was forced into marriage by the power of witchcraft, and therefore considers it invalid.
One among countless enemies
Here it is appropriate to recall the name of Thomas Cromwell, who, 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 came out of the influence of Rome, and as a result significant church incomes were confiscated. Anna demanded to use them for charity, and Cromwell demanded the transfer of money to the treasury, withheld significant amounts in his favor. On this basis, a mortal enmity arose between them.
To eliminate the disgraced queen, and to get 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, marital infidelity was equal to treason and punishable by death. As lovers were named men from her inner circle. For their confessions, the matter did not - they were obtained with the help of experienced executioners.
At the beginning of May 1536, Anna Boleyn was delivered to one of the chambers of the Tower. 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 indicative and formal, so she did not doubt what sentence would be handed down to her.
The last morning of her life
The execution of Anna Boleyn was scheduled for May 19, but two days before that, the constable of the Tower of William Kingston reported to the king that the condemned was ready to humblely accept the fate destined for her. It is difficult to say whether mercy moved in the chest of Henry VIII or was guided by other feelings, but at the last moment he replaced her with a sword cut off her head, taken in such cases, at the stake. Humanity sometimes has the most unexpected manifestations.
In the early morning of that fateful day, when the sentence was to be carried out, revival reigned under the arches of the Tower. Here, despite an inopportune hour, Bishop Boleyn arrived and confessed Anna in the presence of the constable. In the face of imminent death, she swore on the Bible that she never violated marital fidelity. But this could no longer affect her fate. Those who, in the hands of the executioner, pleaded her lovers, were executed two days ago. Following them was to die and Anna Boleyn. The biography of this woman was coming to its sad end.
So, back to the scene with which this story began. A woman in an ermine mantle climbed the scaffold built near the White Tower of the Tower. It was, now the former Queen of England, Anna Boleyn. The Tudors, chopping off the heads of the convicts, carried out this procedure with the ax adopted in such cases, but in this case, Henry VIII ordered the sword to be cut. I had to call a specialist from France, as there was no such craftsman among my executioners.
When Anna said goodbye to several maids of honor, who found the courage to lead her on the last journey, her mantle was removed and her hair was tucked under a hat. The constable blindfolded Anna and helped her to her knees. The Frenchman did not fail and did his job with one swift blow. Members of the Council of State, who were present as witnesses to the execution and stood around the platform, led by Thomas Cromwell, began to disperse silently. As a contemporary wrote, some of them had the appearance of people who had just committed a crime.
The demise of an old schemer
Henry 8, whose biography abounds in marital tragedies, survived Anna Boleyn for eleven years. In 1547, he died, suffering from excessive obesity. This schemer and voluptuous man became so fat that he could only move with the help of special devices. They say that this was the retribution for everything that he accomplished during his lifetime.
Henry 8 Tudor and his wife, of whom he had six, subsequently became 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 under very strange circumstances and only the last of them was destined to survive her husband.