Anne Boleyn is Executed outside the Tower of London.

Anne Boleyn is Executed outside the Tower of London. 487 years ago today, the 19th of May 1536, Anne Boleyn was beheaded by order of her husband, King Henry VIII. She had been found guilty of false charges in a show trial arranged by Henry’s “fixer”, Thomas Cromwell. 

Henry had fallen in love with Anne’s lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour, after Anne suffered a series of tragic miscarriages. Henry horrifically blamed Anne for them. 

Anne had borne Henry one daughter, Elizabeth, but Henry wanted a son. And he was done trying to have that son with Anne. He had decided that Anne was too feisty and not submissive enough. Henry wanted a more quiet, traditional Queen who would quickly provide him with a male heir. 

And so, on the morning of May 19, Anne made her way outside from her chambers in the Tower of London. A large crowd awaited her, some friends, some foes. All there to watch her die for a crime many suspected she didn’t commit. Even Anne’s long-standing rival, Imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys wrote that people were suspicious of the charges and found fault with the way the proceedings were carried out. 

With her final words, Anne protested her innocence, but did not fight the charges or her punishment. She had to walk a fine line in not criticizing the King, because little Elizabeth’s life would now be solely in Henry’s hands. 

Anne finished her scaffold speech by saying “if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best.  And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all.” She asked the crowd to pray for her, knelt, and was beheaded with a single swing of the sword. 

Anne was buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower. 

Henry became engaged to Jane Seymour the very next day