The fall of Anne Boleyn

• Henry and Anne's Relationship

  1.Although Henry was disappointed that Anne’s first child was a girl, he was confident that she would have more children. However, this was followed by a miscarriage in 1534.
• Henry and Anne's Relationship

  2. In January 1536 Henry fell from his horse and was unconscious for two hours. Although he recovered, he spent the rest of his life in chronic pain, which made him increasingly unpredictable and bad-tempered.
• Henry and Anne's Relationship

  3. Then, at the end of that month, Anne miscarried. Henry had just turned 45; the fall from his horse made him scared he could die without having a son; and the security of his kingdom was under threat on account of the pope’s displeasure with his break from Rome.
• Henry and Anne's Relationship

  4. Once again, Henry reasoned that God disapproved of his marriage and so was refusing to provide him with a son.
• Henry and Anne's Relationship

  5. By 1536, Anne’s assertive personality was becoming irritating to Henry. Henry had instead fallen in love with Jane Seymour.
• Anne's Suspected Adultery

  1.By spring 1536 a rumour reached Henry that Anne was being unfaithful. In April he asked Cromwell to investigate.
• Anne's Suspected Adultery

  2. On 30 April a court musician, Mark Smeaton, was arrested, and probably tortured into confessing an affair with Anne. Further arrests were made, including of Sir Henry Norris, a long-term friend of Henry, and Anne’s own brother, George, although all of them apart from Smeaton denied the charges.
• Anne's Suspected Adultery

  3. Anne herself was charged with five cases of adultery and treason, although she too protested her innocence. However, Henry had already made his mind up that he wanted Anne to die.
• The Role of Cromwell

  1.On Henry’s behalf, Cromwell had already looked into rumours of whether Anne had had a former relationship with Henry Percy, which could be used as evidence that her marriage to Henry was not valid; however, Cromwell could find no concrete evidence of this.
• The Role of Cromwell

  2. He then took a leading role in building the adultery case against Anne, and personally interrogated Smeaton.
• The Role of Cromwell

  3. He collected the evidence against the other main suspects, most of which was based on court gossip.
• The Role of Cromwell

  4. He made sure the ladies-in-waiting who served the imprisoned Anne were spies, reporting back everything she said to Cromwell.
• The Role of Cromwell

  5. Some historians say that Anne’s downfall was more the role of Cromwell than Henry, and that he wanted her gone because they disagreed on foreign policy and what to do with the money from the dissolution of the monasteries.
• The Role of Cromwell

  6. However, this view is unlikely: by now, Henry was a mature and experienced leader, and Wolsey knew it would be dangerous to manipulate him in this way.
• Anne's Arrest and Execution

  1.Anne had been arrested on 2 May 1536. On 15 May, she was tried jointly with her brother. Her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, was the presiding judge. She pleaded her innocence but was found guilty and sentenced to death.
• Anne's Arrest and Execution

  2. On 17 May the Archbishop of Canterbury annulled Henry’s marriage to Anne. Princess Elizabeth was also made illegitimate.
• Anne's Arrest and Execution

  3. On 19 May Anne was executed in front of a crown of 1000 people. She used her final words to profess her love for Henry.