Sign in or 

|
LadyAnneBoleyn17 |
Anne Boleyn: Pardoned or aquitted?
Aug 5 2012, 1:55 PM EDT
I've had this question in my head for quite a long time now. Should Anne Boleyn be pardoned or aquitted for the crimes against her hundereds of years ago? Or should we just let the subject be? I want to see others views on this rather than just my own.
Do you find this valuable?
|
|
HeverRose |
1. RE: Anne Boleyn: Pardoned or aquitted?
Aug 6 2012, 12:43 PM EDT
| Post edited: Aug 6 2012, 1:36 PM EDT
You raise an interesting point, but your question is muddled:Should Anne be pardoned or aquitted for the crimes she was convicted of is how it should read. It would be nice if she could be officially vindicated, and if you go by today's legal standard of reasonable doubt, I would say, most likely she would be aquitted of adultary. All you would have to do is look at the dates she supposedly was with the various men and start to line up the evidence to see that it is inconclusive. No jury today would convict her of that based on the evidence they had ( which was none) . But my understanding is that one of the main charges against her was speaking of the King's death in her comment to Norris that he was looking for dead man's shoes. She admitted to that, so according to the law of the land back then, she was guilty. So I say, aquitted of adultary and pardoned for her silly comment, which I don't believe she meant in any bad way. 0 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
|
LadyAnneBoleyn17 |
2. RE: Anne Boleyn: Pardoned or aquitted?
Aug 6 2012, 5:02 PM EDT
"You raise an interesting point, but your question is muddled:I agree. I have read that Queen Elizabeth II or Parliment(sorry if I spelled it wrong) saod that the case is too old to reopen and that there isn't any useful evidence to pardon/aquit her. And I was having a little trouble deciding what to write for this as the question, so I apologize. Thank you for making the question more specific as I should have. :) Do you find this valuable? |
|
HeverRose |
3. RE: Anne Boleyn: Pardoned or aquitted?
Aug 6 2012, 8:25 PM EDT
I think history has already aquitted and pardoned her. The way most historians look upon Anne is that she was innocent of adultery, , but that she was somewhat indiscreet in her talk. Most people today admire and like Anne, so despite her infamy and bad reputation in her own time, she has managed to overcome all that and now lives on as one of history's heroines. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
|
MsSquirrly |
4. RE: Anne Boleyn: Pardoned or aquitted?
Aug 8 2012, 8:40 AM EDT
"I agree. I have read that Queen Elizabeth II or Parliment(sorry if I spelled it wrong) saod that the case is too old to reopen and that there isn't any useful evidence to pardon/aquit her. And I was having a little trouble deciding what to write for this as the question, so I apologize. Thank you for making the question more specific as I should have. :)"The Telegraph Newspaper reported : "On April 1, 2005 Retired Wing Commander George Melville-Jackson approached British Home Secretary Charles Clarke in a bid to formally pardon Anne Boleyn. Although she was long-dead, he asserted that she never deserved to be branded as a criminal; in the event that a declaration that she was not guilty of her alleged crimes was not possible, he would have settled for a pardon. He also sought the removal of her remains from her resting place at the Tower of London to Westminister Abbey, where her esteemed daughter Queen Elizabeth I was buried. The request was later rejected, since the antiquity of the case meant that so much of the original evidence had been destroyed, and so the British government was incapable of proving her innocence." Do you find this valuable? |
|
poppypineapple |
5. RE: Anne Boleyn: Pardoned or aquitted?
Aug 10 2012, 8:24 AM EDT
I never understood why Elizabeth I never had her mother acquitted or pardoned for her alleged crimes. If she didn't want to go against her father's judgement, surely she could have just pardoned her so she wasn't challenging his authority.And actually, the thought never occurred to me that she was actually guilty of some of the crimes she was accused off. I think that the 'imaging the king dead' part always get swept under the carpet when we think of the injustices of her trials, especially regarding the adultery/incest accusation. But she admitted that she did, so technically she was guilty of treason, even if it was mean't in that way. I don't understand why Henry didn't just have executed on that charge. Why did he have to bring adultery and incest into it? I can never understand that man. Do you find this valuable? |
|
HeverRose |
6. RE: Anne Boleyn: Pardoned or aquitted?
Aug 10 2012, 1:43 PM EDT
| Post edited: Aug 10 2012, 2:09 PM EDT
On your last point, this is how it seems to have gone down:1. Henry surely did want to get rid of Anne, but was looking into an anullment. In fact, all the way up to April 28th, Cromwell was engaged in talks regarding the possiblity of an anullment and on what terms. 2. There had been rumours already regarding the queen's indiscreet behaviour. They had been brought to the King's attention but it is unclear exactly when. 3. The big break came on Saturday, April, 29th, when Mark Smeaton made a display of himself with Anne, which was carried back to Cromwell. Cromwell invited him to his house on Sunday, April 30th and extracted a confession. That event turned the tables. 4 That Sunday, there was also another unwise exchange, this one between Anne and Henry Norris, mentioned above. 5. Both these events changed the deal, so to speak, from an anullment to criminal charges, and changed the way to get rid of Anne. The evidence was presented to the King and Henry believed it, because he needed to believe it. It was a complete package deal: adultary, treason, witchery, incest, all wrapped up to justify Anne's destruction and to make the King look like a victim. The one comment Anne made, unwise as it was, would not have been enough to create the total aquiescence that was necessary for everyone involved, from the King on down, to proceed as they did. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |