Anne Boleyn and her story has stood out to me the most and
after my research, particularly into her death, my decision was made. It was
striking to me that she accepted her fate and acted different from Henry’s
other wives when her life was to end. In some of my research she has been
portrayed as a brave and intelligent woman. From her speech before she met the
sword, to the way she acted on the day - Anne Boleyn was a fierce and composed
woman, despite all the scandal linked to her name.
Anne captured Henry’s eyes quickly. At first there was the
intention of being a mistress but eventually she became Queen after he annulled
his previous marriage. It has been said that he wrote love letters to her, some
still remaining in the Vatican library. Their relationship progressed until she
was Queen of England and eventually broke and disintegrated as she couldn’t
conceive a son (Henry is famous for his desperate desire for this) and, as she
was accused of so many scandalous things, she fell from her position. She made
enemies at court, Particularly, Thomas Cromwell, Henry's chief minister and the
man responsible for annulling his previous marriage. Cromwell was important to
Henry, and soon helped with the downfall of Anne.
On April 30, 1536, Anne's musician and friend for several
years, Mark Smeaton, was arrested and likely tortured into making 'revelations'
about the Queen. Next, Sir Henry Norris was arrested and taken to the Tower of
London. Then the Queen's own brother, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford was
arrested. There wasn’t any coming back from that.
On May 2nd she was arrested at Greenwhich and taken to the
tower. On Monday the 15th, the Queen and her brother were put on trial at the
Great Hall of the Tower of London. Around 2000 people attended. After the research I had my key characters -
Thomas Cromwell being highly important, the other men accused and of course
Henry.
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