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Anne Boleyn was
born at the turn
of the 16th Century
to a wealthy and
respected English
family. She became
a lady-in-waiting
to Henry's first
wife, Catherine,
from where she was
noticed by the King.
Anne rebuffed Henry's
attempts to make
her his mistress,
but he pursued her
with an obsession.
He proposed marriage
and annulled his
marriage to Catherine,
with Anne's assistance,
thus splitting the
Church of England
from the Vatican.
Anne bore a daughter,
who became Queen
Elizabeth I in 1558.
Anne's next two
pregnancies resulted
in miscarriages,
one perhaps caused
by the false news
that Henry had died
in a joust.
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At Anne's failure
to produce a
son, Henry set
about replacing
her with his
new mistress,
Jane Seymour.
Anne was arrested,
held in the
Tower of London
and accused
of adultery
and treason.
Condemned to
death, Henry
commuted her
sentence from
burning to beheading.
Anne was executed
on the Tower
Green after
speaking her
last words which
held only kind
wishes for her
husband. She
was the only
English royal
beheaded kneeling
upright by the
sword, in the
French fashion,
a merciful swift
death. Her head
and body were
buried in an
unmarked grave,
but her resting
place is now
marked near
the Tower of
London. |
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