Throughout the reign of King Henry VIII, 70,000 people were executed during the notorious
Tudor King’s time on the throne.
Two of the most shocking executions included two of Henry’s wives, and one of these was
of a woman that changed the face of English History forever.
Despite not being married to Henry for a significantly long time, the marriage of Henry VIII and
Anne Boleyn changed the country massively.
But Anne Boleyn met her end in bloody fashion inside the walls of the Tower of London, on
Tower Green being beheaded by a French swordsman.
Today Anne is considered a victim, and it’s believed that there was little logic or justification
for her death.
She’s perceived as one of the King’s most high profile victims, and her downfall was
crafted by Thomas Cromwell in which a web of lies was spun against Anne.
Join us today as we look at The Brutal Execution of Anne Boleyn.
Remember to support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Anne Boleyn caused uproar and chaos across England.
Henry VIII was becoming very tired and fed up with his first wife Catherine of Aragon
as she could not provide him with the son that he greatly wished for.
Catherine and Henry’s marriage produced only one child that survived, the later Queen
Mary I, or Bloody Mary.
But Henry was desperate for a male heir, and he began to have his eye caught by Anne Boleyn.
Anne arrived at court and was seen as a captivating young lady, and Henry quickly made advances
towards her despite still being married.
Anne rejected him a number of times and this was incredibly frustrating for him, and Henry
was forced to wait until he had sorted out his annulment with Catherine.
Both Anne and Henry exchanged gifts but the King’s Great Matter plagued Henry, and it
was a time where no-one got a divorce, let alone a King.
Catherine of Aragon his first wife was a proud Catholic European regent, and she believed
her marriage with Henry was sacred.
Henry tried everything to erase his and Catherine’s marriage, as he dreamed of Anne Boleyn.
Henry tried to appeal to the Pope for a divorce or an annulment, and he even said he had sinned
by marrying his dead brother’s wife.
The Pope would not give up, and he banned Henry from marrying again until the decision
came about his first marriage.
Cardinal Wolsey was ordered to get a solution, and to get the King his divorce.
But Wolsey could not do this, and he also fell from grace but passed away before he
could have been executed.
But Henry took action into his own hands, and in 1531 he banished her from court and
took her royal chambers and quarters away from her and gifted Anne Boleyn these rooms.
This was seen as disgraceful, and it caused chaos across England and Anne was almost nearly
seized by an angry mob at one point.
Henry allowed Anne to perform many of the roles a queen would even despite not being
one, and she was given a peerage which made her very rich and also benefitted her family,
with the Boleyn’s becoming incredible powerful and rich.
Anne was the apple of Henry’s eye, and she was married to the King in secret on the 14th
November 1532, and its alleged she then after became pregnant.
There was a second wedding, but then a trial decreed that Henry’s marriage to Catherine
was infact a sin and invalid.
Five days after, the marriage of Henry and Anne was declared valid, and Catherine of
Aragon was stripped of her Queenship.
Anne Boleyn was crowned Queen Consort on the 1st June 1553 in a large ceremony at Westminster
Abbey, and it was clear that Anne was pregnant.
There was hope that she would give brith to a son and a new heir, but following the ceremony
she was paraded throughout the streets but large amounts of the population disliked her.
The Pope excommunicated Henry VIII because of this, and he condemned the marriage of
Henry and Anne, and the pope tried to cause more issues.
The King forced all of his advisors and close friends to accept the Act of Succession and
also that Anne was their rightful Queen, and forced them to turn their back on the Pope.
A number of Henry’s closest friends and advisors such as Sir Thomas More could not
accept this, and they paid for this with their lives.
IT was said that Henry was also the Supreme Head of the Church and that he was the authority
on the Church within England and not the Pope.
This religious turmoil was all caused by Anne Boleyn’s marriage with the King, and Anne
also began to acknowledge protestanism and promoted this within court.
But Anne was then sent to Greenwich Palace to await the birth of her child.
There was hope that this was a son, but a daughter Elizabeth was born, and despite Elizabeth
going on to become one of the best Queens England has ever had, this was not what the
King wanted.
This disappointed Henry VIII, but he was prepared to try again for his male heir.
Anne was seen as a lavish spender at court, and she had a huge number of staff that performed
different roles and even had 60 maids of honour.
Her and the King’s relationship was happy, and she oversaw court spending large amounts
of money on luxuries and decorations.
But Henry was obsessed with his desire for a son, but following a miscarriage in 1534,
Henry discussed the idea of divorcing Anne Boleyn.
He had spoken to Cranmer and Cromwell about this, but then the idea disappeared for a
while.
Anne became pregnant again, and continued to hope for a son that would get her out of
immediate danger, but the King began to grow tired of her.
As Henry had broken from Rome, he was free to do as he pleased, and this would have made
Anne’s position rather tenuous and uneasy.
It was around this time that Henry began to look towards Jane Seymour, one of Anne’s
ladies in waiting.
He gifted Jane a locket with a portrait of them both inside, and Jane wound Anne up by
continuing to open and close this whilst in Anne’s company.
Anne was so angry she ripped this off Jane and cut her fingers doing so.
But around this time, Henry had a very horrible jousting accident at a tournament where he
was knocked out for two hours, and its believed the stress of this caused Anne to miscarry
a baby that many believed was a son.
When Henry later recovered, this was the start of the end for Anne and Henry.
Henry driven by the desire for a male heir was fed up with the miscarriages Anne had,
and he said he had fell under her witchcraft and spells, and because of this he forced
Anne out of the royal apartments.
Henry put Thomas Cromwell to task to get him a way out of his second marriage.
Cromwell crafted an expert web of lies and deceit against Anne Boleyn which saw her being
accused of treason, incest and adultery with a number of other men.
Cromwell used all his experience of Tudor politics to target Anne at court, and he interrogated
those on the periphery of Anne’s circle, and he managed to get evidence that he believed
could bring the Queen’s downfall.
A number of men were arrested, including her own brother rGeorge Boleyn.
All of the men accused were executed in bloody fashion, including her brother and Anne indicted
on the charges was taken to the Tower of London on the 2nd May 1536.
When she arrived at the prison, she broke down asking for her father.
She was tried along with her brother inside the Tower of London, and all of the accused
including Anne were sentenced to death.
Anne’s trial was a sham and all of the evidence its believed was false and manufactured.
The men accused with her were executed on the 17th May 1536 on Tower Hill, but it was
said that Anne inside the Tower was at peace with her impending death.
She could have been burned at the stake, but the King commuted her sentence to a simpler
behading, fetching a French swordsman to perform the execution as he believed it would be more
reliable.
On the day of her execution, the Constable of the Tower William Kingston wrote, ‘This
morning she sent for me, that I might be with her at such time as she received the good
lord, to the intent I should hear her speak as touching her innocency always to be clear.’
He later went on to say, ‘I heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little
neck, and then she put her hands about it laughing heartily.
I have seen many men and also women executed, and that they have been in great sorry, and
to my knowledge this lady has much joy in death.’
Before dawn on the 19th May, she had called the constable to hear mass with her and she
prayed she had never been unfaithful to the King.
She was given the sacrament, and she was then told to ready herself as the executioner was
waiting.
She left the royal apartments inside the Tower, and was surrounded by four servants who followed
Kingston to the scaffold at 9 o clock.
She was dressed in a red petticoat and was joined by two female attendants making her
final walk from the Queen’s House to the scaffold.
It was said that she seemed positive and then she made a short speech on the scaffold.
Anne Boleyn was allowed to be executed in private inside the Tower of London being spared
the eyes of the public on Tower rHill.
But there were a large number of people who were there to witness the behading of the
Queen.
Anne said to the crowd, ‘‘Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, and therefore
I will speak nothing against it.
I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that whereof I am accused
and condemned to die, but I pray God save the King and send him long to reign over you,
he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord.
This I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray
for me, O lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.’
It was said that her speech had a profound effect on the crowd, and her voice wavered
in weakness.
Anne made a number of people cry, and then her ladies prepared her for her execution.
She thanked her women for their service and told them to pray for her, and the executioner
then asked for his forgiveness and Anne handed him a sack of coins as payment.
One of her ladies then placed a blindfold over her eyes and she knelt and said her final
prayers.
She seemed dazed as she knelt on her knees in the straw, and she faced the crowd and
said ‘O Christ receive my spirit.’
She did looked scared and her women then began to cry at the scenes.
Within seconds, a few more prayers were said, and the executioner unleashed his sword from
a lump of sword to gasps in the crowd.
In one blow he struck Queen Anne Boleyn’s head clean off, and she lost her life.
Her head fell into the straw, and it was covered by a white handkerchief, and cannons along
Tower Wharf fired marking the execution of Anne Boleyn.
Thomas Cromwell was even there himself to witness the proceedings, and then her head
and body were taken by her ladies to dispose of her body.
They placed her body and head in an arrow chest, and this was taken inside the Chapel
of St Peter ad Vincula for burial.
Anne Boleyn’s death and execution was incredibly sad and was manufactured expertly by Thomas
Cromwell and it was incredibly shocking.
Her downfall was linked with failed pregnancy and the fact she could not produce the son
that Henry VIII wanted so badly.
But its ultimately the King’s wandering eye that secured her downfall and death.
Today she’s seen as the tragic second wife of King Henry VIII, and a victim of the King’s
brutal side.
Thanks for watching.
To support our channel please make sure to subscribe.
Thanks for watching.