The Final Days of Anne Boleyn Pt 1: The Arrest and Imprisonment

So not so surprising fact: I have a fascination with Tudor history, particularly the melodrama of Henry VIII’s court and his six wives. I definitely have a favorite wife. In fact, I can rank the wives in order of interest: Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Parr, Katherine of Aragon, Katherine Howard, and Jane Seymour. As we approach the anniversary of Anne Boleyn’s death, I decided that I wanted to not only tell her story, but also give my own perspective about the events.

Before getting into the final days of Anne Boleyn, I think it would be helpful to explain why she is my favorite wife. Most portrayals of Anne showing her as a beautiful, charming seductress. The truth is that, by standards of the day, Anne was considered to be quite plain. In fact, her sister Mary was considered to be the most attractive of the sisters and had been mistress to Henry VIII before the relationship with Anne began. Tudor beauty standards dictated that women should be fair of skin, hair, and eyes. Anne was none of this. She had dark hair and eyes as well as what was described as a swarthy complexion. This is probably why I find her so appealing. It essentially wasn’t her looks that caused Henry to become infatuated. Instead, she used her intellect and wit to capture the attention of the king. 

It makes sense that this would appeal to me as I certainly do not fit into current beauty standards. She was a woman who did not depend upon her looks but rather used her mind. Anne believed that the women of Court be able to read and have access to the Holy Scripture. She kept a copy of a Book of Hours in her rooms written in French on a lectern and encouraged all of her ladies-in-waiting to read from it. Additionally, she supported the founding of universities and acted as patron to the arts. 

On May 2, 1536, Anne was arrested and taken to the Tower to await trial. Mark Smeaton, a court musician also accused had been arrested on April 30. On the same day that Anne was arrested, her brother, George, had also been arrested, having been accused of committing incest with Anne. Over the next few days, Henry Norris, Francis Weston, Thomas Page, William Brereton, and Thomas Wyatt were also arrested. Thomas Page and Thomas Wyatt would not be formally charged. While we often talk about the men and the Queen being charged with adultery, that was not the exact charge against them. Adultery with the Queen was in fact an act of high treason an enacted by the Treason Act of 1351 passed during the reign of Edward III. 

Unlike is often portrayed in film and television, Anne was not caught completely unaware by her arrest. She was first summoned to appear before a council which was comprised of the royal commissioners who had been tasked by Henry to find out about any treason that had been committed by those at court. This commission included the Dukes of Norfolk (her uncle) and Suffolk, Thomas Cromwell, The Earls of Oxford, Westmoreland, Wiltshire, and Sussex, as well as William Fitzwilliam and William Paulet. After being interrogated by the council, she was informed that she was to be arrested and then confined to her apartments until she could be transported to the tower. This transport did not begin until about two in the afternoon and so was in full daylight and thus much of London had assembled along the banks of the Thames. Anne traveled by barge to the Tower accompanied by the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Oxford, Lord Sandys (sometimes Sands), and some guards. It is believed that she entered through the Court Gate in the Byward Tower rather than through Traitor’s Gate and was greeted by William Kingston, the Constable of the Tower, upon her arrival and taken to the royal apartments where she had once stayed in preparation for her coronation. It was upon learning that she would not be housed in a dungeon but in the royal apartments she is reported to have exclaimed that this treatment was too good for her and fell to her knees in a fit of laughter and tears. This was the moment when her courage and strength of will ultimately failed. Up until this point, she was reported to have maintained a steely countenance, never showing fear. 

She would spend 13 days in the royal apartments awaiting trial. Most of her ladies-in-waiting had been dismissed. She would be served by women who had been chosen by Thomas Cromwell. These women would report back to Cromwell as to her demeanor and behavior. Additionally, Kingston kept a journal recording Anne’s time in the Tower. She was reported to sometimes fly into rages in which she would prophesy that should she be condemned, it would not rain in England. There had been a prophecy that a Queen of England would burn. Anne greatly feared this fate as the punishment for a treason, if committed by a woman, was burning at the stake unless the King chose to commute the sentence to beheading. She also asked after the others who had been taken to the Tower and accused of committing adultery with her.

For further reading:

The Lady in the Tower by Alison Weir