Anne Boleyn holds the distinction of being the second of Henry VIII’s six wives and arguably the one who set in motion the king’s disposable attitude toward the institution of marriage in the first place. In fact, Henry’s brazen disregard for marriage as a religious institution would have far-reaching and game-changing effects on the history of England. But let’s get back to poor little Anne Boleyn, shall we? Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, failed to produce him a male heir. Restless and frustrated, the king turned his eyes on the Queen Consort’s maid of honor, a young noblewoman in her own right Anne Boleyn. Anne was quite popular at court and attracted the eye of many men given her beauty, stylish dress, fine education and sharp wit. But no one was in hotter pursuit than the king himself. Thus began Henry’s long ordeal in attempting to have his first marriage annulled so he could be free to marry Anne (Anne, it seems, was withholding her bedroom favors until then). As kings often have the power to do, Henry was able to get the Archbishop of Canterbury to null and void his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and to validate his subsequent marriage to Anne. Rome was not happy with this chain of events and the Pope promptly excommunicated both the king and the archbishop. The king retaliated by taking the Church of England under his control (thus kicking off the English Reformation and England’s break from Roman Catholicism). Shortly after the marriage, Anne gave birth to a daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I of England. Not exactly the gender-preference old Henry had in mind, so Anne dutifully kept getting pregnant…and ill-fatedly kept miscarrying. Henry apparently had the patience of a gnat because it only took three years before his wandering eye took hold of future wifey #3 (Jane Seymour). But what to do about Anne? A few trumped up charges did the trick and Anne was sent to the Tower of London on thinly veiled accusations of “high treasonâ€. She was beheaded by a single stroke of the sword after a short “thanks but no thanks†three year stint as Queen Consort. Anne’s legacy remains as the ill-fated mother of the future Queen Elizabeth I.
