The Woman Who Ruled a King: Anne Boleyn

               After Henry’s marriage was annulled, there were celebrations and festivities from May 29th to June 1st to celebrate the new Queen of England. Anne Boleyn was married, pregnant, and now a queen; she was at the peak of her life or so it would seem. Anne had married a man whom she didn’t love and praying every day the baby growing in her was a boy. To top it all off, she was strongly disliked amongst her people. The young woman can be seen in the portrait to the left. The image of her in this portrait was done on a cigarette card. This portrait is quite similar to the one seen of Anne in the Introduction.

               However, it wasn’t just Anne who was feeling the pressure and stress since her and Henry’s union. The pope threatened Henry to leave Anne and go back to Catherine within three months or he would be excommunicated. With this direct threat hanging over his head, Henry became crueler towards his ex-wife. He left her with little to nothing and either fired or arrested her servants. The bitter man can be seen in the portrait below to the right. In the painting, he is depicted as usual in fine clothes of gold and fur while looking rather serious. 

            Then on September 7^th, 1533 Anne gave birth to a baby girl. This was a complete shock to Henry, Anne, and the rest of the court as everyone expected the couple to have a son. With the birth of their daughter, it was important that Henry stood by Anne more than ever before. He needed to show his support and love for her, so people didn’t doubt his choice of picking her over Catherine. Anne and Henry “were more than lovers; they were allies, fighting Catherine and her supporters, fighting the pope, who dared to speak for God…[Henry] had risked too much.”

            Anne was completely supportive of Henry’s battle with the church for more than just one reason. First, they were fighting her marriage, which was a threat to her and her daughter’s livelihoods. Second, Anne was sympathetic to the reform and would’ve most likely become Protestant had she lived longer. There isn’t much information on Anne’s religious history, but even though some of her ideals aligned with Catholicism she didn’t identify as that or Protestant or Lutheran. Some English citizens speculated she was a witch.

            Anne’s rule was by far easy. She had many enemies within the castle at court as well as outside the walls. Her and Henry were also beginning to argue more frequently and struggle as Anne still hadn’t given him a son. Sadly, Anne had multiple miscarriages, which greatly impacted her mood and mental health. Henry was starting to grow bored of her as she was no longer an enticing young mystery for him to pursue. It wasn’t long before he started going back to his old habits. By the summer of 1533, he already had a new mistress. Anne understood something that Catherine never had; she was very much replaceable to Henry.

While the painting to the left depicts the couple as young and in love, they were anything but. This is a more modern piece than others included in this exhibit. It is also unique in its portrayal of the two, as it shows them together in more of an intimate way. Anne and Henry sit together in conversation, while Henry is holding a bird. The painting is a large contrast from the way their "love" story fell apart in real life.