Anne Boleyn is a figure who has fascinated people for centuries. There have been countless movies about her, books both fiction and biographical and yet we in truth know very little about who the real Anne is. In her own time, she was hated. Those loyal to Catherine of Aragon viewed Anne as a seductress and a brazen usurper, Eustace Chapuys the Spanish ambassador referred to Anne unceremoniously as "the concubine". Anne Boleyns rise to anointed Queen of England to her fall as an adulteress traitor in the tower of London was one of the most shocking events of royal history, so shocking in fact that she is still talked about today more than 480 years after her death. But who is the real Anne? was she truly a seductress who sought to implant herself as queen and usurp the royal born Catherine of Aragon? Was she really a cruel manipulative woman who would do anything to succeed in life, no matter who else she had to trample over in the process? Or was she a charitable reformer who believed that all should have the right to read gods word? In my own personal opinion, I think Anne was somewhere in the middle and very much a product of her time. Anne was born into the Boleyn family in the early 1500s, there is much debate about her year of birth. She was raised and educated at the French court and this is probably where much of her reformist believes were shaped. Anne returned to the English court in the 1520s and became a lady in waiting to the the Queen, Catherine of Aragon. By this time, Henry VIII had became disillusioned with his marriage and had already been seeking advice on ways to annul his marriage to Catherine, believing it to be immoral. (Catherine had originally been married to Henrys older brother Arthur). It would not be until 1527 however that Henry would officially announce his intention to dissolve his marriage to Catherine and instead turn his intentions to Anne. During this time there are reports of Annes coldness that she displayed towards the Queen even reportedly showing strong public disdain for the Spanish. Anne of course, must have been growing frustrated, one must remember that Anne was living in a patriarchal society, her entire worth rested solely on her ability as a wife and mother and the clock was ticking. It was not until 1533 that Anne would finally have her triumphant moment, when Catherine of Aragon was stripped of her title as Queen and banished from court and Anne was crowned in her place. Of course there were those during the time who refused to acknowledge Anne as queen, and once the initial joy of victory subsided she must have felt herself in a precarious situation, and her fate rested on delivering a healthy son. This she would never do. Anne gave birth in 1533 to a child, a daughter named Elizabeth. Within the next two years Anne would find herself pregnant at least 2 times both pregnancies ending in miscarriage. I have often wondered how she felt at this time and if she truly understood the imminent danger that she was in. She had seen how Henry had discarded and banished Catherine and unlike Catherine, Anne was not a royal born princess and had no allies to protect her. I also often wonder if she ever thought of Catherine in the final weeks and months of her life, as she slowly began to lose her grip on everything around her. Henry was increasingly losing interest in Anne and had now turned his sights to Jane Seymour. Jane was the opposite of Anne in every way. It was Annes final miscarriage that would seal her fate. In 1536, she would be arrested and taken to the tower of London charged with adultery, incest and plotting to kill the king. Her trial, no more than a sham based on lies. On the 19th of May 1536, Anne Boleyn 2nd wife and Queen of Henry VIII was beheaded by swordsman on fabricated lies. She was no more than 35 years old. Annes true crime of course was failing to give birth to a healthy son. Within days her husband had already remarried to Jane Seymour. Anne was buried in an arrow box and received no funeral. After her death, Henry tried to have all memory of her erased. There exists no known contemporary portrait of Anne (besides a badly damaged coin) and so we are unsure of what she even looked like. Whether you believe her vixen or villain, you cannot deny that Anne was undoubtedly a villain of a cruel and tyrannical man, murdered for failing to provide a son. (someone get a time machine and tell henry that its the male who decides the gender pls). They tried to erase her from history, yet nearly 500 years after her death, she is one of the most loved and known figures in history. Her memory, an inspiration to millions who admire her.
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