On January 29, 1536, Anne Boleyn was prematurely delivered of a stillborn son. Less than four months later, she was dead, sacrificed to Henry’s obsession with having a male heir—and possibly his roving eye, which had already alighted upon Jane Seymour, whom he wed eleven days after Anne’s execution. Henry was a class act. It is widely believed that Anne’s “failure” to give Henry a living son sealed her doom; this was the belief at the time, too, the Spanish ambassador Chapuys writing “She has miscarried of her savior.” However, the creator of one of the best websites about Anne, the Anne Boleyn Files, does not agree. You can read her argument for yourself here.
http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/the... I personally believe the miscarriage did mark a fatal turning point in their relationship, but then, I am certainly not an expert when it comes to the Tudors. In fact, when I typed the opening sentence in this post, I was amused to find that I’d written that Anne Neville was the one delivered of a stillborn son. We know where my sympathies lie, of course, but I do spare some of it for Anne Boleyn. Whatever her flaws, she did not deserve the death she got, any more than Katherine of Aragon or silly little Katherine Howard did
Published on January 29, 2014 06:58
I am no expert but in my humble opinion it seems that perhaps Anne died not just because she failed to produce a male heir, but because of all the rumours of clandestine affairs circulating around the court. I am sure that politically motivated members of the court made sure Henry heard of these rumours whether true or not. It still goes on today. The Pope has his inner circle of advisor. The President of America to name but one country among many. Malicious gossip may well have been the cause of many people losing their heads in those days. Did you ever see that film called "Dave with Sigourney Weaver and I think... Kevin Cline? Like you, and I would imagine many more folk, I also do not think she deserved to die in such a dreadfully cruel way, nor did all who were executed in this way by a cruel, ruthless and self-orientated King like Henry. Absolute power corrupts. On a more personal note I hope you had a good and happy Christmas and New Year and hope the weather soon begins to improve for you and yours.