English Reformation – Sharing History

On January 25, 1533, King Henry VIII of England married his second wife, Anne Boleyn. This marriage ushered in the English Reformation, an act that would dramatically affect the future of the country. How did Anne Boleyn so capture the attention of the King that he was willing to alter the course of history to be married to her? How did she so quickly fall from favor that the King had her beheaded for treason only three years later? And, most importantly, how is it that we know so much about Anne Boleyn when the King ensured that all mentions of her were wiped from court history after her death?

Anne Boleyn was born somewhere around the year 1501. She spent her teenage years as a lady-in-waiting to the Queen of France. Her knowledge of French fashion, dancing, and language made her an interesting novelty when she returned home to England, and she, alongside her sister, Mary, became a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon, wife of King Henry VIII. The King had already taken Anne’s sister, Mary, as a mistress, and he soon became besotted with Anne as well. While she certainly encouraged the King’s affections, Anne refused to be his mistress, insisting that she would accept nothing short of marriage. The King began looking for a way out of his marriage to Catherine. Besides the fact of his obsession with Anne, the King was unhappy that Catherine had not provided him with a male heir. The two had one daughter: Mary I. He wrote to the Pope requesting an annulment of his marriage to Catherine on the grounds that it was an illegitimate marriage to begin with, as she was the widow of his brother (something expressly forbidden in certain verses of the Bible). The annulment was denied for a myriad of political reasons.

Anne was intrigued by the Protestant Reformation and encouraged the King to break with the Catholic Church. She encouraged him to appoint a Protestant, Thomas Cranmer to become the Archbishop of Canterbury. He annulled the marriage between King Henry and Queen Catherine and married Henry and Anne a few days later. Anne Boleyn was coronated as Queen of England on May 31, 1533. Soon after, King Henry VIII and Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, which made him the King the head of the Church of England. He wouldn’t need permission to divorce ever again.

Unfortunately for Anne, the child she bore first was a girl, Elizabeth I. She suffered miscarriages and stillbirths afterward. She never did have a male heir. Anne was, to the King, a shiny toy that had lost its luster. By 1535, King Henry VIII’s love had shifted from Anne to her lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. The King conspired with Thomas Cromwell to try Anne Boleyn for adultery. On May 19, 1536, just three years after her marriage to King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn was beheaded at the Tower of London. She maintained her innocence to the end. The King married Jane Seymour 11 days later. King Henry had any mention of Anne Boleyn struck from the record.

In 1547, King Henry VIII died, and his nine-year-old son, Edward VI became king. He passed in 1553, which left the throne to Queen Mary I, the first female monarch of England. She passed in 1558, and the daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth I, became ruler. While Elizabeth sat on the throne, she reintroduced Anne into the history books, having portraits done of her and celebrating her as a religious reformer. Thanks to her daughter, Anne Boleyn lives on.

Learn more here:

Tag: English Reformation

Anne Boleyn and the English Reformation