Anne Boleyn Guilty or Innocent?
Part 3
On May 19th at 9am, or perhaps a little
before, Anne was to leave her chambers in the Queen’s lodgings for the last
time. Three years ago she had stayed in the very same lodgings on the night
before her coronation. As she left the Queen’s lodgings Anne was accompanied by
four ladies in waiting. Leaving her chambers Anne walked down the stairs from
the Queen’s lodgings to the courtyard between the Jewel House and the King’s
Hall. Two hundred Yeomen were there to lead Anne, her ladies in waiting, Sir
Kingston and several others to the scaffold that had been erected. She walked
through the courtyard and then through the twin towers of the Coldharbour Gate
(which no longer stands) to the scaffold that awaited her. It has been reported
that approximately a thousand people surrounded the scaffold upon Tower Green
to watch the execution of Anne Boleyn, Queen of England.
Despite thousands of eyes staring at her Anne is
said to have looked composed and dignified. One report states that Anne ‘has never looked more beautiful’ (Fraser
2002, pg. 315). It is great credit to the type of woman that Anne Boleyn was,
that in her final moments knowing she was about to die, that she could hold
herself with such composure and beauty.
The scaffold was draped in black cloth and had straw
scattered across it. Upon the scaffold waited the French executioner whom was
dressed like all the other men to conceal his identity. His sword was hidden
under the straw to save Anne seeing the tool that would soon end her life.
Slowly Anne took the four steps that lead up to the scaffold and took her place
in the centre. She turned and ‘begged
leave to speak to the people, promising she would not speak a word that was not
good’ (Weir 2009, pg. 266). She then asked Kingston ‘not to hasten the signal for her death till she had spoken that which
she had mind to say’ (Weir 2009, pg. 266).
Turning back to the crowd that was staring so
intently at Anne, she took a deep breath and with a voice that wavered at first
but grew stronger as she continued Anne spoke…
‘Good
Christian people, I am come hither to die, according to the law, for by the law
I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I come here
only to die, and thus to yield myself humbly to the will of the King, my lord.
And if, in my life, I did ever offend the King’s Grace, surely with my death I
do now atone. I come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that
whereof I am accused, as I know full well that aught I say in my defence doth
not appertain to you. I pray and beseech you all, good friends, to pray for the
life of the King, my sovereign lord and yours, who is one of the best princes
on the face of the earth, who has always treated me so well that better could
not be, wherefore I submit to death with good will, humbly asking pardon of all
the world. If any person will meddle with my cause, I require them to judge the
best. Thus I take my leave of the world, and of you, and I heartily desire you
all to pray for me. Oh Lord, have mercy on me! To God I commend my soul’
(Weir 2009, pg. 266 – 267).
We can see in her speech that Anne never admits to
being guilty of the charges she was condemned for. She admits that she has been
found guilty and because of that she will die willingly. She also states that
there is no point trying to argue her case because that will not change
anything now. She asks people to judge the best of her and then asks for them
to pray for her. I think this speech, even following a format and protecting
her daughter, shows how clever Anne Boleyn was. In a subtle way Anne never
admits her guilt which, without directly saying so, says everything that needs
to be said.
Knowing that the Queen’s end was drawing to a close
the executioner stepped forward and asked that Anne forgive him for what he was
about to do. She willingly forgave him and then he asked her to kneel and say
her prayers. Anne knelt and tucked her dress underneath her so that it would
not fly about her legs. Some accounts from those who watched the execution say
that one of Anne’s ladies in waiting stepped forward to cover her eyes while
other reports state that Anne refused to have her eyes covered.
As a thousand pairs of eyes looked at her Anne
repeated over and over the prayer: ‘Jesu,
have pity on my soul! My God, have pity on my soul, To Jesus Christ I commend
my soul…’ (Weir 2009, pg. 270). It
was only now, in the last few minutes of her life that Anne’s resolve began to
falter. It is said that nervously she kept looking over her shoulder waiting
for the executioners blow to come. The executioner seeing this turned to his
assistant and called ‘bring me the sword’
(Weir 2009, pg. 271). Anne turned her head to look at the steps where the
assistant presumably was. In this moment the executioner pulled out his sword
from beneath the straw. Lifting it high above his head he swung it several
times to built up momentum and then with one swift blow he brought it down
severing Anne Boleyn’s neck, her lips still moving in prayer.
And so it was done, Anne Boleyn, Queen of England,
was dead. Anne’s head fell onto the scaffold, her body tumbling after.
A depiction of Anne Boleyn’s execution
by Jan Luyken, c.1664-1712.
What
I also find incredibly laughable about all of this, all of these accusations
and so called evidence is that for nearly three years Anne Boleyn was able to
get away with adultery, incest and treason! For a woman who was almost never
allowed to be alone it is extremely hard to believe that she would have found
so much free time to come and go with a number of men as she pleased! Anne was
the Queen of England; she was a busy woman with many matters to attend to. She
was watched constantly by members of court and always had her ladies in waiting
about her. There is just far too much evidence to suggest that Anne was not
guilty of the charges brought against her. If she was at all guilty of any of
these alleged crimes Anne certainly must have been able to work magic to sneak
off countless times without anyone knowing! (Perhaps it was from this that the
ideas of Anne being involved with witchcraft came from?!)
Also,
Anne was an extremely smart woman. She was no young, naïve fool like her cousin
Katherine Howard. She knew the ways of court, knew what life was like and she
had worked so hard and done so much to get to the place where she was – Queen
of England! Why would she risk all of that, all she had done for the
opportunity to sleep with five men? I find it extremely hard to believe that
Anne would have done such foolish things, not when she was an extraordinarily
smart woman and knew the risks.
Anne
was also desperate to give Henry the son he so longed for. Considering in those
times many people believed it was dangerous to have sexual intercourse in the
latter stages of pregnancy for fear that it may harm the child or mother, why would
Anne risk losing her child, the possible heir to the English throne, for several
reckless affairs?
Another point that should be stressed is
that Anne was an extremely religious woman. Throughout her life she had been
dedicated to the faith and had helped Henry with the Reformation of the English
church. In her final days she had little to cling to but her faith. Before she
was to die Anne swore on the sacrament TWICE that she was innocent of all
charges and allegations laid against her. Her gaoler, Sir Kingston whom was
present while Anne took the Sacrament and confessed her innocence, stated that ‘she sent for me that I might be with her at
such time as she received the good Lord, to the intent I should hear her speak
as touching her innocency always to be clear’ (Weir 2001, pg. 251). Anne
truly believed in her heart that she was innocent and that she would go to
heaven to be with God. Why, when her
very soul was at stake, a thing that Anne had proven she did not take lightly,
would she lie against the Holy Sacrament? Why would she say she was innocent if
she was guilty? This in itself, Anne’s strong faith and her belief in God and
the purity of her soul, proves to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that Anne
Boleyn was innocent of all crimes tried against her. She knew that lying to God
would damn her soul for all eternity. She swore to God she was innocent and in
her heart and her confessions she believed she was.
Yet despite all of this G.W. Bernard in
his book “Anne Boleyn Fatal Attractions” proposes that Anne Boleyn in fact did
cheat on her husband. He writes that “it remains my own hunch that Anne had
indeed committed adultery with Norris, probably with Smeaton, possibly with
Weston, and was then the victim of the most appalling bad luck when the countess
of Worcester, one of her trusted ladies, contrived in a moment of irritation
with her brother to trigger the devastating chain of events that led inexorably
to Anne’s downfall.” (Bernard 2011, pg. 192).
Bernard’s claims that Anne Boleyn was guilty of adultery rest on a poem
written in French by Lancelot de Carles, dated 2nd June 1536 (Note: AFTER Anne
Boleyn’s trial and execution). The poem claims that one of Anne’s ladies had
been caught out by her brother as having an affair with another man and was now
pregnant (obviously her husband didn’t know!) Trying to deflect the claims she
accused the Queen (Anne) of having an affair with Mark Smeaton. The brother
then goes to tell his friends who tell the King and thus Anne’s affairs are
discovered.
The woman in this poem is Elizabeth Browne wife of Henry Somerset and she was one of Anne’s ladies and was pregnant. What I find utterly astonishing and completely baffling is that up to this point throughout his book Bernard repeatedly claims that one should not base theories or ideas on here say or singular letters or notes because they may have bias or may not be accurate. But as soon as there is a poem, a poem! Stating that Anne Boleyn was guilty of adultery he jumps right on board. He singles out this one piece of writing, written after Anne Boleyn was tried and executed and uses it as evidence, as proof that she was guilty. How can we be sure that this poem is the truth? How can we be sure that Lancelot de Carles did not hear this story and put it into a poem? Even with all of the evidence above, which clearly points to Anne Boleyn’s innocence, Bernard bases his conclusions on a single poem. Unfortunately to this I do not give a great deal of credence.
The woman in this poem is Elizabeth Browne wife of Henry Somerset and she was one of Anne’s ladies and was pregnant. What I find utterly astonishing and completely baffling is that up to this point throughout his book Bernard repeatedly claims that one should not base theories or ideas on here say or singular letters or notes because they may have bias or may not be accurate. But as soon as there is a poem, a poem! Stating that Anne Boleyn was guilty of adultery he jumps right on board. He singles out this one piece of writing, written after Anne Boleyn was tried and executed and uses it as evidence, as proof that she was guilty. How can we be sure that this poem is the truth? How can we be sure that Lancelot de Carles did not hear this story and put it into a poem? Even with all of the evidence above, which clearly points to Anne Boleyn’s innocence, Bernard bases his conclusions on a single poem. Unfortunately to this I do not give a great deal of credence.
Personally I do not believe that Anne
Boleyn ever cheated on her husband Henry VIII. For a woman whom lead her life
in the spot light, who was constantly surrounded by her ladies in waiting and
members of court I simply do not think it was possible. Anne Boleyn was an
incredibly smart woman, she would have known the risks if she did have an
affair. Certainly she enjoyed flirting and the game of courtly love, yes she
was probably quite frustrated and worried about not being able to bear her
husband a longed for son but that is not enough to suggest she ever cheated on
Henry VIII. Anne was also an extremely religious woman and to swear upon the
sacrament twice that she was innocent when she was not was a certain way to
damn her soul. Even almost five hundred years after Anne’s death I simply do
not think there is enough evidence to suggest that she betrayed her marriage
vows.
Sources
Bernard, G.W. 2010, Anne Boleyn Fatal Attractions, Yale University Press, London.
Fraser, A 2002, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Phoenix Press, London.
Ives, E 2005, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, Blackwell Publishing Ltd,
Australia.
Ridgway, C 2010, The Anne Boleyn Files,
viewed 1st October 2011, <http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/>.
Starkey, D. 2004, Six Wives The Queens of Henry VIII, Vintage Books, London.
Weir, A 1991, The Six Wives of Henry VIII,
Grove Press, New York.
Weir, A 2009, The Lady in The Tower The Fall of Anne Boleyn, Jonathan Cape,
London.
4 comments:
Excellent points! I couldn't agree more, Anne was innocent.
Very interesting!
Great article.I can easily believe that Anne Boleyn was innocent. God rest her soul.
dsbraden@gmail.com Deborah Braden
In my personal opinion she could have done few bad things, normal for the era to protect her reign, but not that she deserved to died that way. Your article very good, and interesting...:)
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