A man on a mission, Henry VIII had his second wife Anne Boleyn beheaded by the sword on May 19, 1536, for the crimes of adultery, incest, and treason. But did she do it? Probably not.
English King Henry VIII had one goal. He wanted to have a son. In his mind, only a son could carry on the lineage and throne. While young he married Catherine of Aragon. Sadly, she only had one child the survived infancy, a daughter named Mary. Henry wanted a son so he started to look elsewhere.
His gaze caught on the arresting Anne Boleyn, one of the ladies-in-waiting for his wife. He offered her the position of his mistress. She refused him. She would not settle for anything less than a wife. Henry started looking for ways to make that happen.
First, he had to remove Catherine as his wife. He tried annulling the marriage, claiming she had married his brother first and therefore would not produce a male child. The Catholic church refused. Nor would they allow Henry to divorce her. Henry did it anyways and married Anne.
Anne Boleyn
Shortly after their marriage, Anne gave birth to her daughter Elizabeth. Disappointed in the girl Henry returned to his mistresses. Except for this time his wife did not turn the other cheek. A straightforward and modern type of woman, Anne would confront Henry and ask questions. When she still did not have a son after another couple of years, Henry tired of her. Most of the people agreed with him to remove her. She had a reputation as a witch and many disliked that she replaced Catherine.
On May 2, 1536, Henry had Anne Boleyn and five men arrested. They executed the men for the accusation of sleeping with the Queen and betraying the King. Anne was accused of adultery, incest, and therefore treason. While she denied these accusations, they still convicted her. That same day on May 19, 1536, she lost her head and was buried without ceremony. Still, she had the last word as her daughter became one of the great Queens as Queen Elizabeth I.
Leave a Reply