On this day in history, Anne Boleyn would make her first appearance in the court of England, at the time headed by King Henry VIII, who was married to Catherine of Aragon. Anne Boleyn’s eventual marriage to Henry would give way to the separation between England and the Catholic Church.
Believed to have been born in 1501, Anne Boleyn was the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire and Lady Elizabeth Howard. She received her education in the Netherlands and later France, where she would act as a maid of honor to the French Queen, Claude of France. She would return to England at the age of 21, intending to marry James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond, though the marriage negotiations came to a halt for unknown reasons. Instead of marriage, Anne Boleyn would make her first appearance at court on March 4th, 1522; an event that would result in the most unexpected ramifications. During her early time at court, Anne Boleyn would secure her position as a maid of honor for the wife of King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon. Her position in court resulted in Anne Boleyn quickly becoming one of the most admired women in court, attracting the attention of the likes of Henry Percy, the 6th Earl of Northumberland. It would seem that Henry Percy had intentions of proposing to Anne Boleyn, a proposal that was quelled by the interference of Percy Henry’s father, presumably due to the fact that Henry Percy had not sought his father’s or the King’s approval. Though there are theories that suggest that the King himself ordered Percy to break off the marriage, in part due to his own infatuation with Anne Boleyn. Whatever the reason, it is known that Anne Boleyn had been introduced to King Henry around this period by her own sister, Mary, a known mistress of the King.
It is recorded that the meeting of Anne Boleyn and the King resulted in the correspondence of love letters. King Henry was so taken with Anne Boleyn that he was recorded to have offered to make her his only mistress and afford her all of his attention. Anne Boleyn refused the offer, citing her desire to be a wife and not a mistress. King Henry VIII, among other reasons, is believed to have taken mistresses in an attempt to sire a son, the Queen, Catherine of Aragon, had up until that point only borne a female heir. Henry’s deep desire to have a son gave way to Henry’s pursuit of Anne Boleyn, not as a mistress, but as a potential wife. Henry would go on to petition the Pope for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The Pope denied Henry’s petition. After six years of contentious debate around the matter, Anne Boleyn, after having courted Henry for some period of time, became pregnant with his child in 1533. Almost immediately the two were married in secret by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Within months Anne was crowned as Queen of England, and by September of 1533 she had given birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1534, the Archbishop announced the marriage between King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon to be invalid due to Catherine having previously been married to Henry’s brother. And so, Anne Boleyn became the uncontested Queen of England. The conflict caused by the divorce of Catherine of Aragon and the resulting marriage to Anne Boleyn, resulted in King Henry breaking the English attachment to the Papacy and gave way to the formation of the Church of England in 1536. Catherine of Aragon would pass away that same year. Anne Boleyn throughout her marriage to King Henry only had one child, Elizabeth; she would have miscarriages in both 1534 and 1536. In response, Henry took on multiple mistresses, one of them being Jane Seymour, a maid of honor to the Queen. Anne Boleyn quickly became infuriated by Henry’s relations with other women, which he claimed only came about with the intent of siring a male heir. Henry’s extramarital affairs and Anne Boleyn’s resentment of her husband quickly resulted in the breakdown of their marriage. After Anne Boleyn’s miscarriage in 1536, Henry moved to annul his marriage with Anne, seeking to make Jane Seymour his new wife. Anne Boleyn was detained in the Tower of London under numerous charges, one of them being acts of adultery. She was later put on trial. Recorded to have maintained a calm and level headed demeanor, Anne Boleyn was found guilty and executed on the same day in 1536. Within days of Anne Boleyn’s execution, King Henry VIII married Jane Seymour.
The life of Anne Boleyn is an incredibly upsetting story. A caring and compassionate woman who was noted to have been widely admired by her peers, the cruel and disturbed nature of King Henry VIII brought her much difficulty and a premature passing. The role Anne Boleyn played in English history was a momentous one. Her relationship with the King would bring about the break between the English monarch and the Catholic Church, eventually giving way to the rise of the Church of England. The story of Anne Boleyn is one that has been cemented in history.
Today In History 