Anna is the heroine of the reformation. Anne Boleyn: the woman who changed the history of an entire country

Anne Boleyn: a ghost with a residence permit They say that at least one ghost “lives” in every castle in Great Britain. The Tower of London is especially popular among the “ghostly brethren”, which is not surprising: after all, it is one of the most ancient buildings in England - its age

Anne Boleyn (c. 1500–1536) ...no sovereign had ever had a more devoted wife and acquired more true love, what you have found in the person of Anne Boleyn... Anne Boleyn was the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Ormonde, and Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, Duke

Anne Boleyn to Henry VIII (May 6, 1536) Sir, Your Grace's displeasure and my imprisonment came as such a surprise to me that I have no idea what to write or what to apologize for. Since you sent to me (wanting to obtain from me a confession or a plea for your indulgence)

Henry VIII - Anne Boleyn My beloved and my friend, my heart and I commit ourselves into your hands, in humble prayer for your good will and that your affection for us may not decrease while we are not around. For there will be no greater misfortune for me than

Anne Boleyn was born in 1501 according to some sources and in 1507 according to others. She was executed on May 19, 1536 in London. She was Queen of England, second wife of King Henry VIII Tudor of England from 1533-1536. Anne Boleyn is the mother of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the last of the Tudors.

Date controversy

Not installed exact date Anna's birth due to the fact that parish records from that period have not survived. The probable dates were 1501 and 1507. They were taken from surviving letters from Anne Boleyn herself - one addressed to her father, Thomas Boleyn in 1514. French, on which it was written, was not native to her, but the handwriting had managed to form well. Therefore, a version appeared that she was 13 then. This was the minimum age when a girl could be accepted into Margarita’s retinue. Another letter from the end of the 16th century has survived, testifying that the year of her birth was 1501. But based on two other sources, memoirs of friends, she was not even 29 years old at the time of her death. And in William Camden's almanac the year of her birth is indicated - 1507. Camden had access to state archives.

Family

Anne Boleyn's father became Earl of Wiltshire thanks to his daughter, and he was also Earl of Ormonde. He was a gifted diplomat who enjoyed the favor of King Henry VIII. The latter often sent him on diplomatic missions to different countries.

The mother of the future Queen Anne Boleyn is Elizabeth Howard, a woman from an old aristocratic family. She was a maid of honor for two queens - Elizabeth of York and Catherine of Aragon. Both Anne's father and mother had relatives among the Plantagenets in their family history.

At the time of Anne and Mary Boleyn's appearance, their family history was highly respected in the country. They were prominent representatives of the aristocracy of their time. They lived in Blickling. The sisters' education was most typical for girls of their position.

They studied arithmetic, family genealogy, grammar, history, reading, spelling, household management, needlework, foreign languages, dancing, singing, good manners. Like any aristocrat in England, Anne Boleyn practiced archery, horse riding, playing cards, and chess.

When the future queen was not yet 12 years old, Margaret of Austria drew attention to her and invited her to court. Anne Boleyn's life at the Tudor court began with her entry into Mary Tudor's retinue. Initially, Henry VIII's sister was supposed to marry the French king Louis XII, but he died. Mary Tudor returned to England. Subsequently, for 7 years, Anna was a maid of honor to the French Queen Claude of France. Then she completed her education.

Appearance

Contemporaries drew up the portrait of Anne Boleyn as follows: a girl of average height, slender, dark hair hers were thick. She had dark eyes, full lips, and her skin was olive in color. She was distinguished by her sharp mind, elegance and cheerfulness, while at the same time she was strong character.

Those who saw her noted that she was attractive, but they created different portraits of Anne Boleyn.

Thus, the Venetian Marino Sanudo, who met her in 1532, noted that she was “not the most beautiful woman in the world", had an average build, dark skin, long neck, wide mouth and low chest, eyes were dark and beautiful.

The French poet Lancelot de Carle called her “so graceful that she looked more like a Frenchwoman than an Englishwoman.”

Simon Greene wrote in 1531 that Anna was “young, pretty, dark.”

But descriptions of her, compiled half a century after her death by Nicholas Sanders, were as follows: “Anne Boleyn was quite tall, with black hair, an oval face of sallow color, as if after “jaundice”. They say under upper lip she had a protruding tooth, and on right hand six fingers. She had a “hair cyst” under her chin, so to hide the defect, she wore a dress with a high collar... She was attractive, with beautiful lips.” Of course, after the reburial of Anna’s remains, it became obvious that she had five fingers, but not six.

It can be seen that Boleyn was temperamental, direct, frank and prone to command. She's like anyone strong man, not everyone liked it, but adherents appeared around it. In particular, attracted by her attraction to Luther in matters of faith.

Court life

By 1522, relations between France and England had become tense. At the same time, Anne Boleyn made her first appearance at the court of Henry Tudor. And it was a performance in which the girl herself played along with other aristocrats.

She became more and more popular. Those who knew her noted the sophistication of her manners, pleasant voice, lightness and energy. Anne Boleyn's biography of this period was full of positive aspects - she enjoyed everyone's attention, but as befits real seductresses, she did not show that she cared. Also, aware of the many rumors circulating about her sister Mary at court, she kept her life a secret. Mary, as was then believed, had an affair with King Francis I, a number of court men, and also with Henry Tudor. Anne Boleyn, however, had an affair with him herself.

Disease

Anna's life in 1528 was under great threat. This year an epidemic of sweating fever broke out in London. This disease is shrouded in mystery to this day. It was difficult and took with it the lives of many, including noble persons.

Because of her, the king and Anna left the city, moving from place to place. However, Boleyn's beloved maid soon became infected. And her mistress fell ill. After leaving, the king wrote to Anna that he was sure that she would recover, since women more often recovered from the disease. He gave her the best doctors, which could only exist then.

In reality, the sick man was doomed, but he was more resilient female body in 50% of cases he prevailed over sweating fever. According to surviving descriptions, the symptoms of the disease were as follows. First there was a strong chill, and after 3 hours the person was sweating very much, then delirium began with severe pain in the heart.

This all started suddenly and developed within 24 hours. After this period, the patient often died. If he fell asleep during the day, he died instantly. However, if after 24 hours he was still alive, then he was on the road to recovery.

Anna moved to her parents' house and prepared for the unknown. The doctor sent to her by the king fought desperately for her life. The treatment methods were as follows: the patient had to be constantly warm. Therefore, in her room they always kept the fire burning, closing all the windows and doors so that the heat would not escape. The clothes in which Anna was dressed were preheated over the fire. She drank only warm water with wine, to which were added herbal tinctures that supported her heart.

Anna survived the first day. Then the doctor fed her his own potion with dozens of herbs. The thing is that in those days they believed that a medicine with less than three ingredients was ineffective. The more expensive the product, the more herbs it contained.

The entire population considered the epidemic a divine punishment due to Henry's cruelty. And he, trying to justify himself, invented his own medicines, testing them on court women. It was women who usually survived, and Henry took advantage of this, declaring that he had found a panacea. He spread the drug throughout England, but people always died.

In the end, no cure for the disease was ever found. After a while it became quiet and then disappeared completely. On at the moment sweating fever does not exist, and doctors are scratching their heads over what kind of disease it was.

Queen

For the first time, Henry and Anna met at a gala event in 1522. Henry did not express any particular sympathy for future wife until 1526, he was married to Catherine of Aragon for 17 years, cheating on her at the same time. He justified himself by the fact that he did not have a son with his wife.

During this time period, Anne was betrothed to Earl Henry Percy. But the couple's parents were against their marriage, and the wedding did not happen. According to some reports, Henry had a hand in the destruction of Anne Boleyn’s marriage: he liked the girl. She lived for several years on the family estate, and only in 1526 returned to the court as a maid of honor to Catherine of Aragon.

From this moment it began love story Anne Boleyn and Henry. He gave her a lot expensive gifts, wrote letters offering to be his mistress. However, the girl always remained at a distance from him, refusing his proposals. She aimed at being a wife, not a mistress. At that time, the king’s marriage to Catherine was falling apart. The impulsive king did not like his wife; he was indignant at her because they did not have a son, as he announced to everyone.

He needed a wife to strengthen the power of his dynasty, and he wanted a male heir. Moreover, he was unrestrained in his betrayals; he had many favorites. The wife understood all this. Next to the impulsive and dangerous king, one after another, her children were born weak and died in infancy. His subsequent wives, who lived under great stress, suffered miscarriages. Despite the fact that Henry changed many wives, he never achieved an heir with such tactics: after his death, the country was ruled by girls.

The biography of Anne Boleyn is notable for the fact that this girl influenced most important event in the history of England - independence from the Vatican. When the king became inflamed with feelings for Anna, he turned to the Vatican to annul the union with his wife. A special examination was needed so that the king would not have the consequences of this marriage. Catherine protested: such a decision would mean life in a monastery for her, deprivation of her title, and her daughter from Henry would become a bastard. Catherine persuaded her relative to take the Pope hostage, and the examination was postponed. 7 the king fought for marriage with Boleyn.

And it was precisely this move that provoked the King of England to break off relations with the Catholic Church. From now on, England did not depend on the will of the pope. Having done this, he achieved a wedding with Anna. In 1531 he moved his ex-wife Ekaterina. Henry and Anne Boleyn got married a year later. Soon they had a child. Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn, becomes a disappointment for the king. Only his love kept him in marriage. Having charmed the king, Anna preserved the alliance and protected the child from the indifferent cruelty of her father. Anna was afraid for the fate of her daughter. Elizabeth was sent to Hatfield House with her own court.

He had already deprived his first daughter from Catherine, Maria, of her title and all privileges. He recognized her as illegitimate and having no right to the throne. Thanks to the efforts of the new queen, the daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn managed to live in peace for some time.

In 1534, Rome issued a bull stating that the king's previous marriage to Catherine was valid. Rome ordered him to return to his lawful wife. However, the response from Henry was the First Act of Succession, which emphasized that Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon, was illegitimate.

Your new passion Heinrich did not refuse anything, increasing the staff of her servants in comparison with the disgraced wife to 250 people. Taking money from the country's budget, he bought many jewelry, new furniture and dresses for his beloved. This did not please the people, who blamed the queen for everything.

Anna herself begins to actively participate in political life England. She helps the king and holds meetings with a number of ambassadors and diplomats. But her reign did not last long, as a year after the birth of Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn, the queen suffered a miscarriage. The couple's relationship worsened. Once again the king sets out in search of a new wife.

Anna does not hide her emotions, she expresses her indignation, and the couple breaks up for a while. The king finds a new favorite - maid of honor Jane Seymour.

Personal life

Before her relationship with Tudor, Anne Boleyn communicated with her admirer Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. The Count fought for his marriage to Anna, but it was all in vain when the King intervened. Boleyn herself was unhappy when her independence was challenged.

Her connection with the poet Thomas Wyatt is known. He was excited by Anna's sensuality. He himself was married, and Anna did not have any special feelings for him, openly declaring that she was not interested in the role of a mistress.

Charges and execution

In 1536, news came of the death of Catherine of Aragon. The next day Anna and Heinrich put on yellow clothes. In England, this color symbolized celebration, and in Spain, the homeland of the deceased, it was considered the color of grief, complementing black. This was probably how the king and queen expressed their condolences.

The newly pregnant Anna understood that she was in an extremely dangerous position if a male heir did not appear in the family. With Catherine's death, the king could marry and divorce freely. He has also already started flirting with Jane Seymour. On the day of Catherine's funeral, probably due to strong nervous tension, Anna had a miscarriage.

A stillborn male child marked the beginning of the end of the marriage. When the woman came to her senses, the king announced that he was forced into marriage with her by witchcraft, and it was concluded against his will. At the same time, Henry gave chambers to his new favorite at court.

Historian Eric Ives has theorized that Boleyn's execution was planned by her former ally Thomas Cromwell. He argued with her over the distribution of church income, which had been confiscated. She wanted to use them for charity and the development of education in the country, and to support the alliance with France. And he planned to appropriate part of the funds for himself, and use part for an alliance with Charles V. But many historians do not agree with this version.

To join new marriage the king decides to eliminate Anna. He accuses her of treason and marital infidelity. This was punishable by death. As lovers, he put up the woman's friends - Henry Norris, William Brerton, Francis Weston, Mark Smeaton and even her brother George.

In 1536, Henry's servants arrested her musician Mark Smeaton, who denied any connection with the queen. However, he was tortured, and subsequently retracted his first testimony and confessed, most likely for the promise of freedom in having a love affair with her.

People of noble birth were not subjected to torture. All the "lovers" denied love affair with the queen. But that didn't stop anyone.

Already in May 1536, Anna was arrested and taken to the Tower. Anne Boleyn was aware of the proximity of her execution. She was aware of what was happening and was preparing for a death sentence. When Cromwell died, Anne's last letter to Henry was discovered among his papers, which he never delivered to him. Boleyn assures the king that she is devoted to him and asks for an open, fair trial in which her innocence will be proven. She asked for the release of the innocent. However, the authenticity of the letter is still disputed by historians. Its original has not survived to this day.

On May 12, 1536, 3 of the 4 accused men denied their guilt in court, and Smeaton, who was tortured, admitted his guilt. After 3 days, Anna and her brother George were accused of incest and high treason, which was considered to threaten the rights to the throne and was punishable by hanging, drawing and quartering for men and burning alive for women.

It is curious that the jury that decided on the execution of Anne Boleyn was chaired by Henry Percy, her ex-lover. When the jury's unanimous decision about Anna's guilt was announced, he lost consciousness. He died 8 months later, leaving no heirs.

On May 14, 1536, Cranmer declared that the marriage of the king and Anne was invalid. All accused were executed on May 17. Henry replaced the execution by burning alive with beheading with a sword for Anna, who was killed two days later.

According to some reports, while awaiting execution, the queen wrote a poem. But its authorship is disputed. On May 19, 1536, before dawn, Boleyn confessed and swore that she had not cheated on her husband. In the morning she said short speech on the scaffold, her robe with ermine was removed, her hair was tucked under her headdress. Having said goodbye to the ladies-in-waiting, she knelt down and was blindfolded. One blow was enough to kill her. She was buried in an unmarked grave. Her remains were discovered in 1876, then, during the reburial, and it was found out that the presence of six fingers on her hands was nothing more than a myth invented later.

Details of the sentence

Anna's trial took place in the Tower, where 2,000 spectators gathered. The Queen entered the hall calmly and calmly. She sat there the entire time while Cromwell read out the charges. She was accused of adultery, sexual relations and seducing men “through shameless speeches, gifts and other deeds”, and they “due to the basest incitement and lure of the said queen succumbed and bowed to persuasion.”

It was indicated that later Anna and her lovers “thought and pondered about the death of the king,” and then the queen agreed to become the wife of one of them immediately after Henry’s death.

The prosecution also pointed out the reasons for the queen’s miscarriages - she allegedly had sexual relations with men during pregnancy, which is why there were such consequences.

The text of the accusation even contained passages that she was guilty of the fact that when the king found out about her debauchery, he was so upset that he suffered bodily injuries. Probably, it was about the case when Henry fell from his horse at a tournament a few days before the trial, or about the ulcer that he had on his lower limb.

Boleyn was also accused of poisoning Catherine of Aragon and plotting to poison her daughter, Mary. Anna categorically denied all this.

Many of those who were in the courtroom, initially pursuing the goal of enjoying the fall of a noble person, were already touched by the absurdity of the charges and the injustice of the trial. When the verdict was read, Count Norfork, who announced it, cried.

But if the king decided to do this, he went to the end. To contradict him meant certain death for everyone along with Anna. Boleyn was sentenced to death by the court and jury.

Anna experienced mood swings in those days. She sometimes joked that her new nickname would be “Headless Anna.”

According to the story of her jailer Kingston, she prayed a lot while in captivity. “I happened to see many men, and women too, awaiting execution, and they were sad and grieved. This same lady finds death joyful and pleasant,” he said.

Rehabilitation

The queen has a 2-year-old daughter left to live. After the death of Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth began to rehabilitate the image of her mother.

The birth of Elizabeth did not make anyone happy; her father was saddened and angry at her birth. Nevertheless, a magnificent celebration was held in her honor. The parents rarely visited their daughter, who lived at Hatfield House, although Anna was attached to her. When Henry married again, Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. All the king's marriages had no legal consequences.

In 1537, the new queen Jane Seymour gave birth to the king's son Edward. She tried to reconcile Henry with his innocent daughters. But he did not want to see the Boleyn daughters.

When Jane died, Henry married three more times. He executed some of his wives and divorced others. All this was observed by Elizabeth, who survived the murder of her mother by her father. TO last wife The 9-year-old girl became especially attached to Henry, her stepmother. And her execution shook her to the core.

Elizabeth grew up as a girl who protested against marriage. She never married.

She eventually became queen. From that time on, Anne Boleyn was perceived as a heroine of the English Reformation, a martyr. All this led to her being recognized as one of the most influential queens of England.

In fact

No accusations against Anne Boleyn of adultery can be considered reliable. Henry VIII was considered an unusually cruel and extravagant monarch. He had many health problems. According to recent studies, the irreversible changes in his psyche that made him an unhealthy person were caused by a genetic disease.

The 16th century, when this king reigned, is considered a shameful page in the history of England.

Henry passed the "vagrancy law." According to him, all the ruined peasants were simply hanged. This was a simple path, following which there was no need to help people and wait until they regained material wealth.

At that time, wool prices were rising. Keeping sheep became profitable, and landowners increased rents. As a result, peasants became unable to pay for plots of land, since their cost exceeded the profit they received from the crop. For this reason, there were many ruined peasants. And their king gave the order to hang them. During the reign of the extravagant king, 72,000 people were executed.

The king indulged his desires, putting them above state interests. Cruelty extended to subjects, children, and wives. Human life was absolutely not valuable to him, and the slightest offense was enough for execution. Anne Boleyn became the wife and victim of such a person.

Memory

Although not a single original portrait of the queen has survived during her lifetime, which would not raise questions among specialists, Anna often appears in works of painting. There are many portraits of her.

The opera "Anne Boleyn" was written in 1830. It is still staged to this day. Dozens of films about Anne Boleyn were released until 2015. In them, the queen was played by Helena Bonham Carter, Natalie Dormer and many other stars. Each film repeats the story of this bright personality.

Almost 500 years later, its story excites many minds. Alison Ware wrote a book about her, Anne Boleyn: The Passion of a King. In the work, the author makes an attempt to restore justice to this dramatic figure in the history of England. The woman was hated by her subjects and slandered in front of her husband. But the book sheds a different light on her life.

Among other things, there are legends that her ghost roams England. She is seen in various buildings. The girl was so energetic and cheerful that it is believed that even after 5 centuries she is present among the living. Someone shows the ghost of Anne Boleyn in a photo.

Last wish

It is known that for the execution of his wife, Henry, “the most intolerable scoundrel, a disgrace to human nature, a bloody and greasy stain in the history of England,” according to Charles Dickens’ description, chose an executioner from France. There are several versions as to why this was done.

According to one of them, having learned that the king’s false accusation required the queen to be beheaded, the executioners were filled with horror and abandoned this role. Even money was not a convincing argument for them. And the authorities ordered otherwise, calling an executioner from another country.

According to another version, it was his mercy. Since the called executioner was a professional, famous topics, which cut off the victim's head in one fell swoop, this made death quick.

Throughout the Middle Ages, and in some places the tradition is still observed, before execution the executioner dined with the condemned. And on this score, the story concerning Anne Boleyn has survived to this day. According to her, while communicating with the executioner, she asked him to fulfill her last wish. And he fulfilled it, going through imprisonment, torture and many trials.

Legends

Stories have been preserved that the bringing of the executed Anne constantly struck fear into the Tower guards until the 19th century. Dozens of soldiers were court-martialed for leaving their posts or fainting when they saw a white silhouette holding its head in its hands.

One day, a guard noticed that the windows of the locked chapel were shining from the inside, and looked into it. In complete darkness, he saw a massive ghost - Anna with the entire retinue of the royal court, after this incident he conducted excavations in that place. The remains of Anne Boleyn were discovered under the floor. Then they were buried again with all honors, and then the ghost stopped terrorizing the guards.

Anne Boleyn's Tower Ghost is the only officially recognized ghost of this place. He is called the "White Lady". Sometimes he is seen in a funeral carriage driving by with headless horses. In addition, every year on the eve of her execution, Anna walks through the fortress in London, holding her own head in her arms.

There is another legend concerning the queen. So, according to her, her heart was removed when she died. He was taken to Suffolk County, where she lived happily for several young years. In 1837, during excavations in a chapel in this area, a heart-shaped box was discovered right in the wall, with a handful of ashes inside.

The lead casket was buried with honors and a plaque was placed at the burial site in memory of Anne Boleyn.