Anne Boleyn (c.1504 - c.1536)

Portrait of Anne Boleyn, artist unknown  © Anne was the second wife of Henry VIII and the mother of Elizabeth I. Henry's desire to divorce his first wife and marry Anne was one of the complex factors which contributed to the English Reformation.

There is some dispute over the year in which Anne was born, with a date between 1501 and 1507 most likely. Anne's father was the courtier and diplomat Sir Thomas Boleyn and her mother, Elizabeth, was the daughter of the duke of Norfolk. Anne spent some of her childhood at the court of the Archduchess Margaret in the Netherlands and then at the French court. On her return to England she was appointed a lady-in-waiting to Catherine, wife of Henry VIII.

Anne's striking looks and sophisticated manners earned her many admirers at court, including the king. He had already had an affair with Anne's sister Mary when he began to pursue Anne. She and her family were given titles and gifts. But Anne resisted the king until his divorce from Katherine was imminent. When Anne and Henry were secretly married in January 1533 she was already pregnant. She was crowned queen in June. She was never popular beyond the court, partly because she was an advocate of the reformation of the church.

Their daughter Elizabeth was born in September 1533. Henry was desperate for a male heir and his interest in Anne began to cool. Two more pregnancies ended in miscarriage, in the summer of 1534 and in January 1536, when the baby was a boy. Henry became convinced the marriage was cursed.

On 2 May 1536, Anne was arrested. She was accused of adultery with her own brother and four commoners - they were all tried and convicted of treason by Anne's uncle, the duke of Norfolk. On 19 May, Anne was beheaded at the Tower of London - the first English queen to be publicly executed. Henry married his mistress Jane Seymour soon afterwards.