gods-have-no-mercy: History meme [2/6] Women Anne Boleyn (1501 - 19th May 1536) was Queen of England

gods-have-no-mercy:History meme [2/6] WomenAnne Boleyn (1501 - 19th May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of King Henry VIII. Henry’s marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the start of the English Reformation.She is known as the ‘Kings obsession’ due to her refusal to become his mistress, some say that Anne resisted the King’s attempts to seduce her, refusing to become his mistress, often leaving court for the seclusion of Hever Castle. But within a year, he proposed marriage to her, and she accepted. There is no evidence to suggest that they engaged in a sexual relationship until very shortly before their marriage; Henry’s love letters to Anne seem to suggest that their love affair remained unconsummated for much of their seven-year courtship.Henry and Anne married on 25th January 1533.Anne was crowned Queen of England on 1st June 1533.On 7th September, she gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I, whose gender disappointed Henry.Three miscarriages followed afterwards and Anne had still not produced a son for the King.By March 1536, Henry was seen to have grown tired of Anne and was now courting her lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour.Henry had Anne investigated for high treason in April 1536.On 2nd May she was arrested and sent to the Tower of London, where she was tried before a jury of peers – which included Henry Percy, her former betrothed, and her own uncle, Thomas Howard – and found guilty on 15th May where she was charged of adultery, incest and treason. She was beheaded four days later.Anne has been called “the most influential and important queen consort England has ever had”, since she provided the occasion for Henry VIII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and declare his independence from Rome.During her execution it was said that she did not look afraid and was rather composed, as if she had already accepted death. Anne climbed the scaffold and made a short speech to the crowd: “Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.”It has been 477 years since her death and for almost five centuries historians, authors and people who are generally passionate about Anne still argue to this very day whether Anne was innocent of the charges made against her or whether she was guilty. -- source link

More pics about