"She has miscarried of her savior."

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
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Published on January 29, 2014 06:58
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message 1: by Leila (new)

Leila The Tudors and especially the reign of Henry the VIII is not my favourite period in history either Sharon. I have however been reading the regular articles from The Anne Boleyn Files which are very interesting. Some years back on a visit to London I went with my husband to visit the Boleyn home and it was fascinating.

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.


message 2: by RJay (new)

RJay From what I understand, Henry VIII was in no way forced to marry Katherine and in fact, he relished the idea. I believe he initially treated Katherine like the Queen she was and honored her. How devastated they both must have been for the first 10 years with the numerous miscarriages and still births. While I am no fan of Henry I can relate to his desperation to have a male child and his frustration in being unable to obtain an annulment after 20 years of unsuccessful attempts. Many kings before him were successful - yet he was denied. This doesn't absolve him of his treatment of Katherine or Anne, however, I can understand why he did what he did in breaking from the church. As far as Anne's downfall, I think Henry felt like time was running out for him - especially if he didn't want to leave his kingdom in the hands of a child-king, which had been the downfall of may previous kings. So, while the rumors about Anne's behavior might have been politically motivated - Henry needed to believe them to enable himself to move on to another woman who might provide the heir he so desperately needed.


message 3: by Donna (new)

Donna I am no expert on the Tudor dynasty, but do know more than some ( and much less than others!) about the reign of Henry VIII. Popular commentary puts a great deal of emphasis on his marital history, but over look so much of the ruin he wreaked on his country. it's true that he broke with Rome ostensibly to get a divorce, but the dissolution of the monasteries and other houses of religion was as much about his need to accumulate wealth to pay for the wars he waged. And the denial of a divorce by the Pope was as much about the political power Rome had in Europe and his alliances with Spain. The wives were pawns and actors. Anne wanted the break with Rome because her family sided with the Protetants.


message 4: by RJay (new)

RJay Donna wrote: "I am no expert on the Tudor dynasty, but do know more than some ( and much less than others!) about the reign of Henry VIII. Popular commentary puts a great deal of emphasis on his marital history,..."

You make some great points. H8's greed was almighty!


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