Anne Boleyn - Historical Profile

The History of Queen Anne Boleyn "of a Thousand Days" c.1501 - 1536 (aged 35) Queen Consort May 28th, 1533 - May 19th, 1536

Miniature by John Hoskins below Historian Eric Ives says is probably the closest likeness to the real Anne

INTERESTING FACTS : - As a young girl, Anne made a great impression at the French court , even Francis I admired her and wrote: Venus était blonde, on m'a dit: L'on voit bien, qu'elle est brunette. (Venus was blonde, I've been told: Now I see that she's a brunette!) At the same, time "no breath of scandal attached itself to her at the time." [Weir] - I find her so bright and pleasant for her young age that I am more beholden to you for sending her to me than you are to me. —Archduchess Margaret of Austria, who trained Anne as a maid of honour in her household wrote to her father. - Apart from Katherine of Aragon, Anne was the only one of Henry's subsequent wives to have a coronation. Hers was exceptionally elaborate, and partially designed by Holbein. - She is the only consort, before or since, to have been crowned with the St Edward crown, which is reserved for the actual monarch.The original crown was lost when Oliver Cromwell melted it down during the English Civil War Today's crown (shown right) was refashioned in the 17th century but we still have the description and picture of the crown which Anne is though to have worn at her coronation: 'The state crown of Henry VII had five fleurs-de-lis, five crosses and two arches topped by a gold orb and cross. The five fleurs-de-lis each had the enameled image of a saint on the central upright petal (the front fleur-de-lis had an image of the Virgin and Child, while two of the other fleurs-de-lis had images of St George and the dragon) as well as precious stones on the two curved side petals, while the five crosses and the arches were ornamented only with precious stones.' This crown was recorded in the portrait of Charles I - the last English monarch to have worn it. [Source Sarah Morris - author of[Le Temps Viendra: A Novel of Anne Boleyn]] - Anne supported and defended the censored writing of religious reformers, but retained elements of traditional Catholicism (transubstantiation) in her private worship. Her primary concern was purging the Church of abuses (selling of indulgences) and superstitions (worship of relics). - Pope Clement VII paid spies to steal Henry VIII's love letters to his fiancée, Anne Boleyn, to prove that they were lovers. However, no evidence could be uncovered and even Clement VII had to grudgingly admit that all impartial evidence from England suggested that Anne Boleyn was strong-willed, but morally upright. *See: <a class="external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq_qK_FXnhQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="David Starkey discusses Henry's love letters to Anne">David Starkey discusses Henry's love letters to Anne</a> - Henry VIII wrote at least seventeen (undated) love letters - in French and English - to Anne Boleyn, in his own hand, quite remarkable as he normally employed an amanuensis. None of her reciprocal letters survive. The letters, since at least the late 17th C., have been in the Vatican. *See: King Henry VIII in his own wordsfor full transcripts of the letters - She convinced Henry that The Bible should be translated into the vernacular and be available to the common people and not only clerical intermediaries; she owned a highly controversial French Bible. - She gave more money to the poor in three years than Katherine of Aragon did during her entire reign of more than 20 years. She even sewed clothing with her own hands to distribute to the poor & personally tended to the ill on her travels. When Cromwell wanted Church revenues poured into the King's depleted coffers, she preferred the money be distributed to the poor and educational resources. In the summer of 1535 when she and Henry went on their summer progress of the west country, she spent more time than her husband inquiring as to the state of the religious houses, offering aid, etc. - She had a droll sense of humour and when there were protests to Henry choosing her as queen, for a short time, she changed her motto to the Latin equivalent of "Grumble all you like. This is how it's going to be" (Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne) and this was emblazoned on all her blue & purple livery. A few weeks later, it was removed. - George Wyatt (grandson of Thomas Wyatt) wrote: "There was found, indeed, upon the side of her nail upon one of her fingers, some little show of a nail, which yet was so small, by the report of those that have seen her, as the workmaster seemed to leave it an occasion of greater grace to her hand, which, with the tip of one of her other fingers, might be and was usually by her hidden without any least blemish to it." He also commented on "certain small moles, incident to the clearest complexions." Upon exhumation in 1876, no abnormalities of her hands were detected. No contemporary mentions any deformities; Nicholas Sander, enemy of Elizabeth I, was the first to describe her as having six fingers and a disfiguring "wen" on her neck. - No heretics were burned during her tenure as queen, and in fact, she saved the life of one Nicholas Bourbon. [* See notes below] -Anne is probably the only person to have ever said "no" to the King's advances, which made her a challenge when he first encountered her. [* See discussion threads below] - When Anne was created the first Marchioness of Pembroke in 1532, she became the first female English commoner ennobled in her own right, without inheritance or marriage, and at the time became the most prestigious non-royal woman in the land. - Anne was the wealthiest of all Henry's wives, including Katherine of Aragon and Henry lost a lot of money to her playing cards. - Anne played an enormous role in England's international position, by solidifying the French alliance. She established an excellent rapport with the French Ambassador, de la Pommeraye, who was captivated by her. - Anne was almost certainly the only wife of Henry VIII with a particular interest in architecture, which she shared with her husband. Building plans for Whitehall Palace were sent to Henry and Anne for approval and interestingly Henry allowed her a significant say in decorations. Unfortunately for Anne, she never lived to see the building work completed. - She became the victim of a public hate campaign, mobilised by Katherine of Aragon's supporters, and in 1531, a crowd of 8,000 women marched through the streets of London in an attempt to lynch her. However, at the time of her execution, public sympathy lay with her and not Henry VIII. - Within 11 days of her arrest, Anne's whole household of 250 were disbanded, before the trial verdict and within 3 weeks Jane Seymour was installed as queen and many returned to serve the new queen. However, the Queen's Mistress of the Wardrobe, Lady Margaret Lee, went into retirement rather than serve Jane. - When Henry Norris refused to give evidence against Anne Boleyn, he said that he: "would rather die a thousand deaths than accuse the Queen of that which I believe her, in my conscience, innocent." - The French swordsman was paid 23 pounds to reduce her suffering to a minimum and he took her head in one try. His name was Jean Rombaud & he was so skilled he once beheaded two felons with one stroke. Executions were routinely botched and often took several strikes to sever the head. Anne was worried about this, having witnessed it, and it was Henry's last act of "kindness". This portrait is at Hever Castle; it is an early 19th Century oil painting based on Holbein's drawing of an unknown lady on the right Miniature by Lucas Horenbout / Horenbolte.c. 1526 Unknown sitter: badge is a pelican, not a falcon; Anne Boleyn did not adopt the falcon until queen. Eric Ives believes the miniature to be one of Henry VIII's nieces - Margaret Douglas or Frances Brandon. However, Sir Roy Strong, eminent art historian (expertise in the portraits of Elizabeth I) and former curator of both the National Portrait Gallery & the Victoria & Albert Museum, once suggested that this miniature is a likeness of Anne Boleyn, and it bears a certain resemblance to the Holbein drawing on the top right. For this reason, the portrait is included here. Note: Sir Roy Strong's attribution has been dismissed, as the most recent research indicates the image is not of Anne Boleyn due to a misinterpretation of the badge and that she was not yet sufficiently significant to warrant a portrait by the artist, whose subjects (at this time) were limited to royalty. This portrait has also been said to be either Jane Seymour or Anne's sister Mary Boleyn Miniature portrait of Anne Boleyn: c. 1575 inside the ring that her daughter Elizabeth I constantly wore and was removed from her finger at her death *For more on this ring click the "Tudors Artifacts" page In her book, The Feminine Dynamic in English Art, 1485-1603, Susan James puts forward an argument that the "B" necklace in Anne's portraits may actually be a necklace worn by Henry's younger sister Mary Tudor and the B stood for Brandon and says that the portraits actually show Mary, either as the original subject or a slightly altered "pattern" renamed "Anne Boleyn." James says "Although there were no firmly authenticated portraits of Jane Grey or Anne Boleyn known to copyists, a pool of portraits of unidentified women dating from the reign of Henry VIII still existed. As was common, these original paintings were not labelled and ... the identities of the sitters were generally problematic. Yet for copyists in need of an image, clues within and without seem to have encouraged them to arrive at speculative identifications. The face pattern generally chosen for Jane Grey was Kateryn Parr and the face pattern chosen for Anne Boleyn was Mary Rose Tudor..." About the Hoskins miniature at the top right of this page James explains "It is the only picture in Charles I's collection with Anne Boleyn's name attached to it." Apparently Lady Bedford identified it on giving it to the king, based "in all likelihood on the early date of the painting and on the initial 'B' around the sitter's neck. Yet it is far more probable given the painting's original provenance [Lady Bedford's husband was the executor of the will of the granddaughter-in-law of Mary Tudor] that the jewelled "B" stood not for Boleyn but for Brandon and tha the portrait was not Henry VIII's wife but his sister ..." [source : <a class="external" href="http://queryblog.tudorhistory.org/2009/06/question-from-katie-more-on-pearls-from.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Foose at TudorHistory.org">Foose at TudorHistory.org</a>] "H" and "A" for Henry and Anne under Anne Boleyn's gateway in Hampton Court Palace from a letter Anne Boleyn wrote to Cardinal Wolsey before she was queen

Late 16th century copy of a contemporary portrait - Artist Unknown National Portrait Gallery, London From the National Portrait Gallery: This important portrait of Anne Boleyn is in urgent need of conservation treatment. It is in a particularly vulnerable and unstable condition as a result of structural problems with the wooden panel. Vertical cracking has occurred across the picture causing minor paint loss where the wood has split (see the photograph taken in raking light alongside). We need to act now as the damage is being caused by the long term effects of an unsuitable cradle (an applied wooden panel support) which must be removed. Therefore this important and much loved painting needs urgent conservation treatment to ensure it can be put back on public display. The Gallery hopes to raise £4,000 for conservation work on this picture, and with your help we very much hope to be able to undertake this work in early 2011. <a class="external" href="http://www.npg.org.uk/support/donation/conservation-donation.php" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">You can donate to the effort here</a>. Historian Eric Ives writes: Here is the key to the relationship between Henry and Anne. Anne was where she was because of her own character and merits, a self-made woman who saw no percentage in bloodless simpering. Submissiveness had not won the king; Anne's attraction was a challenge. When a poison pen drawing came into her hands, showing a male figure labelled 'H' and two female figures 'K' & 'A' and with 'A' having no head, she called to Anne Gainsford.: "Come hither, Nan. See here a book of prophecy; thus he saith is the king, this the queen, and this is myself with my head off". The girl said sensibly. "If I thought it true, though he were an emperor, I would not myself marry him with that condition". Anne responded: "Yes Nan, I think the book a bauble, yet for the hope I have that the realm may be happy by my issue, I am resolved to have him whatsoever might become of me", [source : George Wyatt( Thomas Wyatt's grandson), "Memoir of Queen Anne Boleigne", quoted in Cavendish's "The Life of Cardinal Wolsey", (1827). '] Apocryphal tale without contemporary documentation. Henry found himself facing a person prepared to stand up to him. When in the summer of 1530 he dared to remind Anne how much she owed him and many enemies she had made him, her reply was reported as : "That matters not, for it is foretold in ancient prophecies that at this time a queen shall be burnt. But even if I were to suffer a thousand deaths, my love for you will not abate one jot." [contemporary source: Calendar State Papers. Spanish- Chapuys] Anne...addressed the court [after her guilty verdict was read] : "I do not say that I have always borne towards the king the humility which I owed him, considering his kindness and the great honour he showed me and the great respect he always paid me; I admit, too, that often I have taken it into my head to be jealous of him... but may God be my witness if I have done him any other wrong". She knew that she had not been the waxen wife of conventional expectation, to be moulded or impressed at her husband's will. What she did not say was that the king had pursued her precisely because of this; he had needed her steel and was only where he was because of it. Instead she asked for time, time to make her peace with God. And then she was gone. [Ives] by Unknown artist at Hever Castle (Cover picture of Eric Ives Biography of Anne) No contemporary portrait of Anne Boleyn survives: the drawing below was identified as her during the 18th century; however, many Holbein drawings at Windsor were incorrectly labeled. See also : <a class="external" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080410124212/http://www.geocities.com/rolandhui_2000/ab_portraiture.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="A Reassessment of Queen Anne Boleyn’s Portraiture by Roland Hui">A Reassessment of Queen Anne Boleyn’s Portraiture by Roland Hui</a> Unknown lady, inscribed "Anne Bullen decollata fuit Londini 19 May 1536" The association of this drawing with Anne Boleyn goes back to Wenceslas Hollar's etching after it in 1649. It is not known whether the inscription on the etching was taken from the drawing or vice versa. The inscription on the drawing (left of neck) dates from the 17th century. The identification may have been based on a superficial similarity with some of the late-Elizabethan hack images of Anne. Anne's biographer Eric Ives believes that neither this nor the portrait below inscribed "Anna Bollein Queen" are of Anne. The drawing below is disputed and may have been a member of the Wyatt family, perhaps Thomas Wyatt's estranged wife, Elizabeth Brooke.Dr. David Starkey insists the drawing is of a pregnant Anne Boleyn, arguing that such 'undress' on the part of this ‘royal’ sitter was a novelty of sorts to relax the dictates of court etiquette. However, other opinions are that it is unlikely that Anne, with her much commented upon sense of style, would have permitted herself to be depicted as such. The attribution is by Sir John Cheke, Edward VI's tutor, who may have seen her, but many of his attributions have been proven incorrect. Unknown lady, inscribed "Anna Bollein Queen" The only surviving contemporary likeness of Anne from her lifetime is this coin medal above from 1534 commemorating her second pregnancy, inscribed with her motto: "The Moost Happi"; severely damaged about the nose and left half of her face. According to Tudor Historian Eric Ives : “This painting is an example of the standard likeness of Anne and probably belonged to one of the sets of royal portraits that English gentry liked to display in order to demonstrate loyalty. The likeness corresponds to the only contemporary likeness of Anne, [the above] portrait medal in the British Museum, London, and is confirmed by comparison with a tiny enamel of her [at left], owned by Elizabeth I, and now at Chequers. Thus this portrait must ultimately derive from a lost portrait originally taken from life. Other examples of the standard likeness give Anne a more sallow complexion, something noted by her contemporaries, so indicating that this portrait has been somewhat ‘glamorized’, a process that is taken further in subsequent copies. Anne’s allure came from her personality, education and style, not from her good looks.” The portrait is currently (2009) on display at the “Henry VIII: Man and Monarch” exhibit at the British Library. Falcon, Anne's Badge at Hampton Court - Victorian replicas LINKS: <a class="external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ea8FvCIxco" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="David Starkey (historian) on Anne Boleyn - Part One">David Starkey (historian) on </a>Anne Boleyn - Part One <a class="external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQM0xhsqI6g&feature=related" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="David Starkey (historian) on Anne Boleyn - Part Two">David Starkey (historian) on </a>Anne Boleyn - Part Two <a class="external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11q7-FATydo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Simon Schama (historian) on </a>Anne Boleyn - Part 1 <a class="external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mdMVbuGWvw&feature=related" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Simon Schama (historian) on </a>Anne Boleyn - Part 2 <a class="external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzgJbzxxLfM&feature=related" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title='BBC Documentary "Days that Shook the World: The Execution of Anne Boleyn", Part 1'>BBC Documentary "Days that Shook the World: The Execution of </a>Anne Boleyn", Part 1 <a class="external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzgJbzxxLfM&feature=related" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title='BBC Documentary "Days that Shock the World: The Execution of Anne Boleyn", Part 2'>BBC Documentary "Days that Shock the World: The Execution of </a>Anne Boleyn", Part 2 <a class="external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_uSZO_B81c" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Anne Boleyn's last hours - documentary. Part Three ">BBC Documentary "Days that Shook the World: The Execution of </a>Anne Boleyn", Part 3

<a class="external" href="http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/henryviii/greatmatter/annebol/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="[Source: British Library online]">[Source: British Library online]</a> "Henry and the court regularly attended Mass in the royal chapel, sometimes more than once a day.The King often used the time before the consecration to transact business but this manuscript shows him using a book of prayers to send a flirtatious message to Anne Boleyn instead. He wrote in French: ‘If you remember my love in your prayers as strongly as I adore you, I shall hardly be forgotten, for I am yours. Henry R. forever.’ Presenting himself as lovesick, he wrote his note on a page depicting the man of sorrows. Anne replied with a couplet in English: 'By daily proof you shall me find To be to you both loving and kind.' And, with deliberate enticement, she chose to write her message below a miniature of the Annunciation, the angel telling the Virgin Mary that she would have a son."

LITERATURE Non-Fiction: "The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn" By Eric Ives (1986, revised and expanded in 2004) "The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII" By Retha Warnicke (not a biography per se, but legitimate historical revisionism examining her fall from power) "The Life of Anne Boleyn" by Philip W. Sergeant "Mistress Anne: The Exceptional Life of Anne Boleyn" By Carolly Erickson "Anne Boleyn: A New Life of England's Tragic Queen" By Joanna Denny "Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII" by Karen Lindsey "Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII" By David Starkey "The Wives of Henry VIII" By Lady Antonia Fraser "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" by Alison Weir "Mistress Anne" by Carolly Erickson "Anne Boleyn" by Marie Louise Bruce (outdated) "The Challenge of Anne Boleyn" by Hester W. Chapman (outdated) "Anne Boleyn" by Norah Lofts "Memoirs of the Life of Anne Boleyn, Queen of Henry VIII" by Miss E. O. Benger "The Politics of Marriage" by David Loades "Lives of the Queens of England" by Agnes Strickland "Anne Boleyn: A Chapter in English History, 1526-1536" by Paul Friedmann, vols. I and II "The Youth of Anne Boleyn" by Hugh Paget (article), BIHR, LIV, 1981

Primary Sources: "Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII" "A Chronicle of England" by Charles Wriothesley "The noble tryumphant coronacyon of Quene Anne" by Wynkyn de Worde "The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Famelies of York and Lancaster" (Hall's Chronicle) by Edward Hall "Cronickille of Anne Bulleyne" by William Latimer "The Life of Cardinal Wolsey" by George Cavendish "History of the Reformation" by Gilbert Burnet (17th and 18th C. using sources no longer in existence) Fiction: "Brief Gaudy Hour" by Margaret Campbell Barnes "The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn" By Robin Maxwell "Threads: The Reincarnation of Anne Boleyn" by <a class="external" href="http://www.amazon.com/Threads-Reincarnation-Boleyn-Nell-Gavin/dp/074140916X" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Nell Gavin">Nell Gavin</a> "Mademoiselle Boleyn" By Robin Maxwell The Lady in the Tower" By Jean Plaidy "The King's Secret Matter" by Jean Plaidy "Murder Most Royal" by Jean Plaidy "The Two Queen Annes" by Lozania Prole "A Tudor Story: The Return of Anne Boleyn" by Canon W.S. Pakenham-Walsh "Anne Boleyn" by E. Barrington "Anne Boleyn" by Vercors "Dear Heart, How Like You This?" by Wendy J. Dunn "Anne Boleyn" by Margaret Heys "The Concubine" by Norah Lofts "Vengeance is Mine: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Lady Rochford--the Woman Who Helped Destroy Them Both" by Brandy Purdy "Anna Boleyns Gluck und Ende: Zwischen den Muhlsteinen der Macht" by Robert Widl "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory (highly distorted and inaccurate) "Henry VIII" A Play by William Shakespeare "Anne of the Thousand Days" A Play by Maxwell Anderson "Doomed Queen Anne" by Carolyn Meyer

The Boleyn family home - Hever Castle in Kent

<embed align="left" height="266" src="http://wikifoundrytools.com/wiki/thetudorswiki/page/Anne+Boleyn+-+Historical+Profile/widget/youtubevideo/829001408" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="326" wmode="transparent"/> Video exploring the authorship of "Oh death rock me asleep" by TheBullen1 aka Owen (YouTube) "Martin Pope discovers whether Anne did write the attributed poem/ song 'O Death Rock Me Asleep' which history would have us believe that Anne wrote on her last night in the Tower of London, prior to her Execution on 19th May 1536. The video includes a very short clip of one of my heroes -- Dr Eric Ives, whose book 'The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn', has become something of a best friend to me! "

DOWNFALL AND EXECUTION: Anne's life would soon come to end following the arrest and torture of her musician, Mark Smeaton, sometime in the last week of April, 1536. All accusations were denied (adultery), but he soon confessed under torture. He provided another name, Sir Henry Norris. Henry was arrested on May Day, and being an aristocrat could not be tortured; however, he denied any wrongdoing between himself and the Queen. Sir Francis Weston was arrested two days after Norris on the same charges as the two above-mentioned. William Brereton was arrested shortly after Weston. The final man to be arrested on charges of incest and treason was Anne's own brother, George Boleyn. Two other men were arrested and later released ; Sir Thomas Wyatt & Sir Richard Page. Anne was arrested on May 2, 1536 and taken directly to The Tower. On May 12, 1536, four of the men were tried in Westminster. Norris, Brereton, and Weston maintained their innocence. Only Smeaton confessed to the charges he was accused of committing. Anne and George were tried three days later in The Tower. She was accused of incest and adultery with a plan to kill the king and rule with her lovers as Regent for Elizabeth. She was executed for high treason. (She was not executed for witchcraft). On May 17, 1536, George and the four other men were executed, and two days later (May 19, 1536), Anne was beheaded. Her body and head were placed into an arrow chest and buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula inside the Tower walls. Despite the Fact that Ambassador Chapuys was a member of the Aragonese Faction [ see the Tudor Court Politics page ] & there was no love lost between he and Anne, even he did not believe her guilt - 'condemned on the presumption and not evidence, without any witnesses or valid confession' was his conclusion. Anne Boleyn's Burial information: The Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula ("St. Peter in chains") is the parish church of the Tower of London, dating from 1520 and is a Royal Peculiar, a place of worship that falls directly under the jurisdiction of the British monarch, rather than a diocese. The name refers to St. Peter's imprisonment under Herod in Jerusalem. Some of the most famous prisoners have been executed at the Tower. They include both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, the 2nd and 5th wives of Henry VIII, along with Lady Jane Grey (who reigned for nine days in 1553). When Sir Thomas More and John Fisher incurred the wrath of King Henry VIII, they too were executed and buried here. Both were later canonised by the Roman Catholic Church. A full list of all who have been executed can be found on the west wall of the Chapel. The Chapel can be visited during a specific tour within the Tower of London. The existing building, of typical Tudor design was erected in 1519-20 for King Henry VIII. It is thought that a chapel of some type may have stood in its position since before the Norman conquest. The Chapel contains many beautiful monuments including a memorial to John Holland, Duke of Exeter, a Constable of the Tower who died 1447. Along with an effigy of Sir Richard Cholmondeley, a Lieutenant of the Tower who died 1521. In the sanctuary, there is a monument to Sir Richard Blount, who died 1564, and his son Sir Michael, died 1610, both Tudor Lieutenants of the Tower, who would have witnessed many of the executions. A Victorian rendition of Anne and her ladies in waiting in the Tower of London, by Edouard Cibot, c. 1835

Song attributed to have been written by Anne (or possibly her brother George) O Death, O Death, rock me asleepe, Bring me to quiet rest; Let pass my weary guiltless ghost Out of my careful breast. Toll on, thou passing bell; Ring out my doleful knell; Thy sound my death abroad will tell, For I must die, There is no remedy. My pains, my pains, who can express? Alas, they are so strong! My dolours will not suffer strength My life for to prolong. Toll on, thou passing bell; Ring out my doleful knell; Thy sound my death abroad will tell, For I must die, There is no remedy. Alone, alone in prison strong I wail my destiny: Woe worth this cruel hap that I Must taste this misery! Toll on, thou passing bell; Ring out my doleful knell; Thy sound my death abroad will tell, For I must die, There is no remedy. Farewell, farewell, my pleasures past! Welcome, my present pain! I feel my torment so increase That life cannot remain. Cease now, thou passing bell, Ring out my doleful knoll, For thou my death dost tell: Lord, pity thou my soul! Death doth draw nigh, Sound dolefully: For now I die, I die, I die. <a class="external" href="http://www.leonarda.com/mp3s/Leonarda-340-Boleyn.mp3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title='Hear a clip from "Oh Death Rock Me Asleep"'>Hear a clip from the song "Oh Death Rock Me Asleep"</a> Anne's Final Speech: "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." A contemporary account of Anne's execution: “The said Queen (unjustly called) finally was beheaded upon a scaffold within the Tower with open gates. She was brought by the captain upon the said scaffold, and four young ladies followed her. She looked frequently behind her, and when she got upon the scaffold was very much exhausted and amazed. She begged leave to speak to the people, promising to say nothing but what was good. The captain gave her leave, and she began to raise her eyes to Heaven, and cry mercy to God and to the King for the offence she had done, desiring the people always to pray to God for the King, for he was a good, gentle, gracious, and amiable prince. She was then stripped of her short mantle furred with ermines, and afterwards took off her hood, which was of English make, herself. A young lady presented her with a linen cap, with which she covered her hair, and she knelt down, fastening her clothes about her feet, and one of the said ladies bandaged her eyes. Immediately the executioner did his office; and when her head was off it was taken by a young lady and covered with a white cloth. Afterwards the body was taken by the other ladies, and the whole carried into the church nearest to the Tower of London. It is said that she was condemned to be burned alive, but that the King commuted her sentence to decapitation. Thus, he who wrote this billet says that, according to old writings, he has seen the prophecy of Merlin fulfilled.” [Execution criminal hecha en Inglatierra el 16 (fn. 9) de May 1536] An unknown prisoner carved a likeness of Anne's Falcon badge, fittingly without the crown and sceptre, but mounted atop the rose bush emblem of the Tudors, in the wall of the Beauchamp Tower in the Tower of London. This tower provided an excellent view of Tower Green, where Anne was executed.

Anne Boleyn's remains are buried beneath this seal on the altar floor. Her brother George Boleyn is buried close by within the same chapel, along with Jane Boleyn (George's wife who testified against Anne & George), and their cousin Katherine Howard.

The Catling memorial on Tower Green. "Gentle visitor pause a while, Where you stand death cut away the light of many days, Here, jewelled names were broken from the vivid thread of life, May they rest in peace while we walk the generations around their strife and courage, Under these restless skies."

Apparently for over 150 years, descendants of the Boleyns have been secretly sending a bunch of red roses to be laid on her tomb in the chapel of the Tower of London. The roses arrive at the Tower each year on 19th May, the anniversary of her death. After three years research Major General Chris Tyler, a former director-general of the Tower who became fascinated by the tradition, has tracked down a family of descendants who live in Kent. After polite questioning during a visit to the Tower they admitted that they had been responsible for the flowers, and their relatives before them.Each year the bunch of roses appeared on Anne Boleyn's marble tomb, but no one knew how they got there as no member of the public is allowed into the chapel without being attended by one of the Tower's famous Beefeaters. A key piece of assistance came when General Tyler discovered that Longmans, the florist shop closest to the Tower, had been receiving since the mid-1850s, an annual order for red roses to go to Queen Anne Boleyn, The Tower of London, under instructions to maintain strict anonymity. But several years ago the order was moved to a branch of Longmans in the Kent village close to where the descendants live.

Myths and legends of Anne Boleyn Many myths and legends about Anne Boleyn have survived over the centuries. One is that she was secretly buried in Salle Church in Norfolk under a black slab near the tombs of her Boleyn ancestors. Her body was said to have rested in an Essex church on its journey to Norfolk. Another is that her heart, at her request, was buried in Erwarton by her uncle Sir Philip Parker. Arwarton or Erwarton is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England. Located on the Shotley peninsula around south of Ipswich,Suffolk <a class="external" href="http://www.reephambenefice.org.uk/anneboleynsburial.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Where was Anne buried?">Where was Anne buried?</a>

For MORE on the history of Anne Boleyn click: Historical profile of Anne Boleyn - page 2 The "Real" Life & Death of Anne Boleyn