King Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn

When a Man Loves a Woman

In order to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and marry Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII of England broke with the Roman Catholic Church, joining his and England's future with the same Protestants he had been cheerfully burning at the stake a few years earlier. Along the way, he beheaded his former chancellor and longtime personal friend, Sir Thomas More; risked war with the most powerful monarch in Europe, his ex-wife's nephew, Emperor Charles V; and also risked an uprising by his own people, most of whom regarded Catherine as rightful queen and Anne as, in one popular expression, “the goggle-eyed whore.”

If the story had ended there - with Henry and Anne marrying and living happily ever after - it would still be an epic love story. Unfortunately for Anne (and a good many others), it didn't just end there.

Lady in Waiting

By 1525, Henry VIII of England was in his mid-30s, by the standards of his time entering middle age. Though no longer a handsome young athlete, Henry was far from the bloated figure we see in portraits from the 1540s, and he had the rock-star charisma of a successful king.

He was also fairly happily married to Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Like most royal marriages it was a political alliance, but with a princess Henry already knew and liked. He had a few brief affairs, but only two girlfriends are definitely known by name: Bessie Blount, who bore him an illegitimate son; and Anne Boleyn's sister Mary, “the other Boleyn girl.”

Anne was about 24 years old in 1525. Though no great beauty, she was vivacious, intelligent, and trained at the university of sophisticated charm, the French royal court. Around 1522 she became a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine, one of the very few professional careers open to a noblewoman. Like a Hollywood personal assistant, a lady-in-waiting was part servant and part friend to her royal employer, anticipating her needs or wishes while remaining elegant and unflustered amid a crowded royal court. Queens had a somewhat uneasy relationship with their staff - attractive ladies-in-waiting were essential to a stylish court, but they stocked the royal trout pond with potential mistresses.

History and romance have cast Anne Boleyn as the sexy bad girl and royal homewrecker, angling to replace the frumpy first wife. Some modern feminists have offered a different view – that Anne was a victim of workplace sexual harassment. What could a lady in waiting do if the king came on to her? Her choices were either give in to him; give up, leaving the court and abandoning her independent career; or grit her teeth and hold out, in hopes that the royal pursuer would turn his attention to someone else.

Was Anne playing for time, ambitious for a queen's crown, or a mixture of both? Not much is known; Henry wrote love letters to her (in one, he looks forward to ogling her "pretty dukkies," or breasts), and Anne wrote back, but they have vanished, so we don't know what she felt.

If she was indeed ambitious for a crown - or determined not to give in to Henry for anything less - she had reason to believe that she might get her way. Henry was not simply a man bored with his wife; he was a king with no son to succeed him. Queen Catherine had given birth half a dozen times, but all were either stillborn or died in infancy (except for daughter Mary). Henry desperately wanted a son and heir. Being king was still a hand-on-sword job; his own father, Henry VII, had won the throne by defeating Richard III in battle. Fathering a male heir was nearly the first responsibility of a king, and bearing one was certainly the first responsibility of a queen. Whatever affection Henry retained for his wife, she had failed in her most important role. His decision to dump Catherine and remarry was at least in part a matter of state – but his readiness to take the leap was surely increased by the enchanting prospect of Anne Boleyn in his bed.

The King's Great Matter

The divorce (technically an annulment) ran into snags. Queen Catherine had no intention of being dumped and fought back successfully for seven years - aided by her nephew, Emperor Charles V, the most powerful ruler in Europe. Under church law only the Pope could grant an annulment, and Charles had the Pope firmly under his thumb. No annulment would be granted.

Henry had always been a staunch supporter of the papacy. Years earlier he wrote a pamphlet – the sixteenth century equivalent of starting a blog – to support the Pope against Martin Luther, earning himself the title “Defender of the Faith,” a title still held today by British monarchs. Once the choice was between the Pope and Anne Boleyn, however, Henry changed his mind. He broke with Rome, declared himself the head of the Church of England, and appointed a church court of his own. Naturally it found in his favor, ruling that his marriage to Catherine was invalid.

Henry VIII could now marry Anne Boleyn. Their honeymoon – a trip to Calais, then ruled by England – came before the wedding: Henry and Anne were officially married in late January of 1533, and Anne gave birth on September 7. The child, however, was not the son Henry so desperately wanted, but another daughter. She was named Elizabeth.

Falling Out of Love

The marriage of Henry and Anne started to go downhill. Anne got pregnant a second time, but miscarried – an ominous hint, to Henry, that God was no happier with Henry's second marriage than with his first. Moreover, temperamental Anne, so exciting as a mistress, was annoying as a wife. She actually refused to hide her anger when Henry flirted with other women.

Anne Boleyn's fall was faster than her rise; after three years of his second marriage, Henry wanted out. This time, however, merely dumping an unwanted wife was not enough – Henry's passionate love for Anne had turned into equally passionate hatred. One reason may be that rumor got back to Henry that Anne had disparaged his performance in the royal bedchamber.

In early May of 1536, Anne was indicted, arrested, and charged with adultery, which in a queen was high treason. Charged along with her were a musician, Mark Smeaton, and her own brother, George Boleyn. Probably no one believed a word of the charges then, and certainly no one believes it now – but factual evidence was rarely needed in a Tudor treason trial. A jury of lords, including Anne's own father, did what they were expected to do. Anne was found guilty.

As a final favor, Henry allowed Anne to be beheaded with a sword, the French style of execution for nobles, rather than in the English style with an ax. Since no coffin was handy, Anne's body was buried in a chest meant for arrows, with her head tucked under her arm. The next day, Henry celebrated his engagement to soon to be his third wife, Jane Seymour.

For Want of a Son?

Anne Boleyn died mainly because of Henry VIII's enormous vanity and tendency toward childish tantrums – traits that, like his waistline, grew steadily in the later years of his reign. Yet his urgent desire for a son was not mere vanity; but grew out of real concern for the future of England. Jane Seymour gave him the son he wanted so badly – Edward VI, who died in his teens, outliving his father only by a few years. Edward was followed by Catherine of Aragon's daughter Mary...and then, ironically, by Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth - perhaps the greatest monarch England ever had.

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