Wednesday, May 2, 2012

May 2nd, 1536: The Arrest of Queen Anne Boleyn

This portrait of Anne Boleyn is probably a later copy of a 1534 original, and it now hangs in the ancestral Boleyn family home, Hever Castle. The Latin inscription above Anne says ANNA.BOLINA ANG.REGINA, or Anne Boleyn, Queen of England. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Today in Tudor History, May 2nd, 1536, Anne Boleyn, Queen of England and mother of the future Queen Elizabeth I, was arrested on the orders of her husband, King Henry VIII.

To read a full report of the arrest that shocked Europe, please read the wonderful article To The Tower, written by Claire Ridgeway of the Anne Boleyn File's HERE.

To learn about Anne Boleyn's education and adolescence, please read Part 1 of 3 of my Anne Boleyn article, A Continental Education.

To learn about Anne's courtships, her time in service to Queen Catherine, and political intrigues, read Part 2 of 3 of my Anne Boleyn article, Anne Back in England.

To read about Anne Boleyn's triumph in becoming Queen of England, her accomplishments during her brief reign, her relationship with her only child, and her tragic downfall, read Part 3 of 3 of my Anne Boleyn article, An Honorary Man.

Today is a day of reverence in which we can all reflect on the beginning of the end of the ever-captivating Anne Boleyn.

A plaque to remember the most notable personages who died on the scaffold on the Tower green in the Tower of London; Queen Anne Boleyn is the first listed. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.