The first meeting of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. (From 1835 by Fine Art Images / Heritage Images via Getty Images)
Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII are one of the most famous couples in British history. Their relationship was storms and sunshine for ten years until Anne’s quick and tragic fall in May 1536, when she was executed on the orders of her husband for treason and adultery. Anne died on the 19th of May 1536. She was buried in St Peter Ad Vincula, the church located inside the walls of the Tower of London.
Anne’s fall was quick and was caused by her inability to have a son as well as their constant arguments and the fact that his affair with Jane Seymour was getting serious. By the end of 1536, any sign that Anne Boleyn would remain the Queen of England was gone. The million-dollar question is, did Henry VIII believe the woman he moved heaven and earth committed adultery, incest, and treason?
Anne Boleyn was accused of adultery with five men who were Henry Norris, William Brereton, Francis Weston, Mark Smeaton, and Anne’s brother George Boleyn. It has long been debated as to how much involvement Henry had in his wife’s downfall and execution as it was Thomas Cromwell who was responsible for finding evidence of her ‘crimes’. Did he want Anne gone so much that he wanted her dead? Or was he manipulated to Thomas Cromwell’s tune?
It is hard to try and perceive how Henry truly felt, as publicly, he seemed upset by Anne’s trial and execution. We know Henry sent for the execution from Calais before Anne was arrested which shows Henry wanted Anne dead before her trial even took place. I think Henry was finished with Anne the moment she lost the baby in January 1536. Anne had disappointed him. She promised him a son and she had not delivered on that promise. From Henry’s perspective, he had changed the country for her, changed the country’s religion for her, set aside his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, for her, and all she had given him in return was another daughter, which he viewed as useless to him because he believed they could not rule a country effectively.
I think Henry wanted to believe Anne was guilty because it was easier for him, it looked better for people to think he was bewitched by a harlot rather than because he wanted to remarry for personal reasons. It suited Henry to believe Anne was capable of these horrible things. Henry appears to have found it effortless to turn his back on people as he had done this many times to the people closest to him. His first wife and his former advisors Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher, just to name a few.
In the modern eye, we find it utterly unbelievable that a man who had been obsessed with a woman for ten years could so easily discard her and then execute her. Henry was capable of being cruel to the ones he loved most. His first wife of twenty-four years, Catherine of Aragon, was tossed aside as soon as she was unwilling to go into a nunnery. It took Henry seven years to ‘divorce’ Catherine, I have put divorce in speech marks because their marriage was annulled rather than divorced. He shut her away at Kimbolton Castle so she became powerless against her new rival as well as Henry VIII. Catherine never gave up on Henry and she believed herself to be his ‘true’ wife and Queen until her death in January 1536.
Henry knew that Anne would not go easily, therefore a divorce was not a plausible way to get rid of Anne as she could be loud, outspoken, and she could be turbulent at times. Henry could not risk being humiliated like he was in 1529 at the legatine court to discuss his marriage to Catherine. He did not want Anne to be able to fight against him leaving her as she was clever and she knew how to fight. Henry wanted to remarry as soon as possible as his Jane Seymour was already lined up to be his next wife and Queen, and Henry could not afford to wait another seven years to get rid of another wife.
Henry also did not want it to look like he was admitting marrying Anne was a mistake, and if the blame for the failure of their marriage was because of Anne, public sentiment would lie with him. Henry needed it to look like he was the betrayed spouse.
During the last few months of Anne Boleyn’s life, many people wanted her to fall from grace mainly because of how highly disliked Anne was by most of the court. Anne had a sharp tongue as many court documents will tell you, but being so sharp-tongued, Anne made many enemies because of this. If Anne lost the King’s love and affection, she did not have anyone but her family to help and support her. Unlike Catherine of Aragon, Anne did not come from a dynasty of Kings and Queens, she did not have political connections like Catherine. Anne Boleyn was much more isolated in that respect and vulnerable, and she suffered tremendously because of this isolation. We know in the last year of Anne Boleyn’s life; she became increasingly paranoid and reckless because she had not birthed a son to secure her position.
While Anne was still pregnant, she was untouchable. She was still carrying the heir to the throne. When Anne lost the baby, the vultures swept in. Jane Seymour was thrown at the King’s feet and was used to lure the King away from Anne. Jane was thrown at the King’s feet by her ambitious brothers Edward and Thomas Seymour. Even though Henry and Anne’s relationship was turbulent from beginning to end, he still valued her opinion as Anne was just as intellectual as Henry, arguably even more intelligent than him.
When Anne lost the baby in January 1536, the King lamented ‘I know now god will not give me any sons by you’. Bit dramatic? Then again, that is Henry VIII. Anne knew losing the baby made her weaker than ever. It seems Anne knew that her end was near, so she started to devote much of her time towards her daughter Elizabeth and charity work. She asked her chaplain, Matthew Parker, in April of 1536, that if anything was to happen to her, could he look after Elizabeth.
Up until May of 1536, Henry was trying to show the world he was right to marry Anne. Henry was trying to conclude a peace treaty with the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V (Catherine of Aragon’s nephew), but one of the terms was that Charles had to accept Anne as his Queen. Before January 1536, Charles found this hard as he had a loyalty to his aunt, but when she died, there were no obstacles to a peace treaty any more. The only thing they still argued about was Henry needing to legitimise Mary, his only surviving child from his marriage with Catherine.
The evidence used against Anne was very weak; some of the dates that had been used could not have been plausible as she was either somewhere else entirely or the person she was accused of was not there too. Some of the dates mentioned Anne was pregnant, or recovering after the birth of Elizabeth, so she would have been heavily monitored.
Cromwell said that the ladies of Anne’s bedchamber just could not keep this information to themselves any longer. A big question about this is, why were they not punished for concealing multiple affairs for three years if this was true? We know that six years later when Katherine Howard was accused of adultery and then later executed, one of her ladies, Lady Jane Rochford, was executed alongside her for abetting her ‘affair’ with Thomas Culpepper. Why were Anne’s ladies exempt if they knew Anne was having affairs?
I think the simple answer is they knew Anne was not guilty and they were told what to say to keep their lives. Anne’s ladies were extremely loyal to Anne as she was not a cruel mistress and looked after them well. Another probable answer is they were either blackmailed or threatened. Some may have been secret Catherine and Mary supporters too, like Jane Seymour.
The truth is that Anne was set up; most of the evidence was either fabricated or something that looked innocent and was construed to be malicious. The man who was most likely culpable for Anne’s fall was Thomas Cromwell. He was born in Putney and got a trade in London as a lawyer. His intelligence and high-quality work are what caught the eye of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the advisor of the King, whom he was loyal to until he died in 1530.
Anne Boleyn and her family soon recruited Thomas Cromwell for his qualities. Like Anne Boleyn, Thomas believed the church needed reforming and that the King should be granted what he wanted if it was for the good of his realm. Anne and Thomas were both ‘new’, if you like, to be a member of the King’s inner circle at court. They were both wanting a new world, they were full of new ideas and they were both inclined to the new religion, Protestantism.
Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell had one thing in common the most; they were both under the protection of the King. If they fell, they had no powerful political connections to save them. By the time Anne was Queen, Thomas Cromwell was becoming very powerful. They were almost competing for the King’s attention; they were both strong people and had very strong ideas. With Anne losing favour with Henry, it was easier for Thomas Cromwell’s start to ascend, he was able to whisper inside the King’s ear more.
By 1535, tensions were arising between Anne and Thomas. When the monasteries started closing, Anne and Thomas were arguing about where the money should go and what it should be used for. Thomas Cromwell wanted the money to be put in the King’s coffers and Anne wanted the money to be used to better help the poor and help with education.
Things got to a point where Anne Boleyn threatened Thomas Cromwell that she would have his head struck from his shoulders. Henry was stuck in the middle, with Anne and Thomas on either side saying ‘Pick me! Pick me!’ Henry VIII chose Thomas as he was not going to take advice from a woman, primarily not his wife who was meant to do as Henry said. Isolating Thomas Cromwell was possibly one of the worst things Anne could have done. Anne needed as many allies as possible and she just seemed to be isolating herself more and more. Thomas Cromwell only showed obedience to his Queen out of duty but he was firmly the King’s man.
When Anne felt vulnerable, she often unleashed her anger on others as she often said things she would later regret. I have mentioned Anne was sharp-tongued but this sharp tongue of hers was often used when she felt vulnerable. She often quarrelled with Henry, driving him away from her instead of closer. I have also mentioned that Anne and Henry had quarrelled and made up for the majority of their relationship. Thomas Cromwell and others did not want Anne to be back in favour again, Anne was vengeful, and they could not risk Anne turning the King against them. Anne was very capable of doing that, and they all knew it.
Thomas Cromwell knew Anne was vulnerable, and he knew she often made things worse for herself by speaking out and saying the wrong thing. Thomas knew he could use this against her in the long run, so he bided his time and waited until the King was done with her. Anne was a very strong opponent, and Thomas could not risk losing the King’s favour because of Anne. Thomas was just as ambitious, just as cunning, and very willing to play the game.
As I have mentioned, I think once Anne had lost the baby, Henry was done with Anne but I think it went deeper than that. Anne caused more stress for Henry than she was worth, if she had given him a son, everything would have been worth it but in his eyes, she had not given him anything worthwhile.
So, we have a few significant factors that led up to the fall of Anne, but did Henry believe them? Could Anne have done something like that? Henry felt there was sufficient evidence to prosecute, and he signed the death warrants of six innocent people. Whilst Henry was showing up in public, he was deeply hurt by what his wife had done, at nighttime he was visiting mistress Jane Seymour at Chelsea Place, finding ‘comfort’ in her arms.
Once Anne was dead and buried, Henry moved on quickly. The day after her execution, he was betrothed to Jane Seymour, and after eleven days he was married to his third wife. When Anne was executed, Henry tried to remove every reminder of her by removing anything that could be traced back to her. Furniture, trinkets, portraits, clothing–absolutely anything he could find that reminded him of his traitorous wife. He instantly punished his daughter Elizabeth by withdrawing his affection completely. Elizabeth was tossed aside and he tried to forget his second marriage as best as he could.
It seems Henry hardly mentioned Anne again, why would he need to? In his eyes, she had done him wrong. It must have been weird for the court though; to have a woman be the centre of their lives for a decade, and she falls from Queenship and is executed within three weeks.
However, there seems to be new evidence that came to light on Henry VIII’s deathbed discovered by Sandra Vasoli, author of Anne Boleyn’s Letter from the Tower. It seems Henry might have admitted to feeling some guilt towards his treatment of his second wife and daughter.
Whilst doing some research on Henry VIII, Sandra Vasoli came across a book in the British Library concerning Henry VIII’s regret over Anne. The author of this book was a man named Bishop White who is quoting Andrè Thevet, a sixteenth-century French explorer who had connections with Henry’s courtiers. Thevet wrote the book Cosmographie Universelle, he also was a Franciscan friar that may have lived in the priory next to the Palace of Greenwich.
Sandra translated what she found from old French on a scrappy piece of paper and to quote this book:
‘The King acknowledges with great grief at his death the injuries he had done to the lady Anne Boleyn and her daughter.’
‘Several English gentlemen have confided to me that he has repented upon his deathbed of the injustices done to Queen Anne Boleyn’
‘Of her having been falsely accused, and for the punishment imposed upon her that she died in good Christian standing and is to be buried following the church of Rome.’
‘It is in association with this situation, that he – Henry – has attempted to right these injustices, and with his whole heart, signs his name to this testimony’.
I was able to find this information via the newspaper, The Express, if you would like to look for yourself.
If this evidence is true, this could be groundbreaking. However, there are some faults with this confession, Anne was not buried following the Church of Rome. Henry broke with the church for her, she was more of a reformist/Lutheran than a catholic.
Henry found it very hard to ever admit he was wrong. If he ever felt an ounce of guilt, he would lay the blame with his courtiers instead. For example, when he had Thomas Cromwell executed, he realised just how much of an efficient servant he was and blamed his council for losing him. He also did the same with Thomas Wolsey, he blamed others rather than accept it was all his doing.
I believe if Henry ever did regret executing Anne, he never showed it, especially not openly. He may have regretted leaving another child motherless, but he became very conscious for Elizabeth to grow up not as ‘wanton’ as her mother was.
Anne did have a reputation for flirting and she was a very vivacious woman, which I think made it easier for some people like Henry to believe she could be unfaithful. Anne captured the eye and heart of the King by being witty, flirty, and engaging, but I do not think Anne would have ever risked the position of Queen when it took her seven years of patiently waiting to obtain it.
I think Henry did believe Anne was unfaithful because he wanted to believe anything that could get him rid of his second wife. I also have a theory that the prospect of marrying Jane Seymour, one of eleven children, was tantalising, it should have proved Jane’s fertility.
To conclude, I do believe Henry believed Anne was unfaithful because of circumstance, ‘evidence’ he was presented with, and because I think he just wanted her gone. He had his third wife lined up, he just needed to get rid of the second one quickly.
We all love the story of Henry and Anne, and I think we will still be talking about them in another one hundred years. I also think Anne Boleyn’s downfall will always be a hot topic of debate.
I do hope you have enjoyed reading!
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