So I have noticed that @missy has asked the girls to teach us something and though I'm not lucky enough to be a suicide girl I do believe that I have something valid to teach here. So here is your history lesson. Enjoy. :-)
Anne Boleyn. Second wife of Henry the eighth. Executed May 19th 1536 at the tower of London. Her crime? To produce a daughter instead of the longed for son. Anne was feisty, strong minded, clever and opinionated - all of these qualities Henry fell in love with when he was courting her but grew to hate once he married her. He waited for seven years to marry her and risked war with Rome and Spain to do so - he broke with the Catholic church to have his way and changed the way we live in England forever, all for this beautiful woman.
As you can imagine, Anne made many enemies at court. Catherine of Aragon had ruled beside Henry for 20years and the people loved her. Anne was also a true Lutheran, boldly choosing to deny the Catholic church and its teachings. For seven years the pope refused to grant Henry his divorce from Catherine so Anne eventually gave him the answer to his prayers, so to speak. "You are the king are you not? Make a church of your own. Nobody can refuse you then!" Little did she know that she had just provided Henry with supreme power - now he was not only King but supreme head of the church of England - he knew that he could not be stopped.
Within 3 years Henry had become tired of his new wife and blamed her for giving birth to a paltry daughter - how dare she?! Anne's enemies conspired against her and she was tried and found guilty of witchcraft, plotting the kings death, adultery with five men of the court including incest with her brother George and executed before the month was done. Even up until the day of her death she denied all of the charges - her final words refused to admit guilt.
What irony that her daughter Elizabeth was the best monarch this country has ever known before or since! When Elizabeth took the throne England was poor and she turned it into the Golden age. She rarely spoke of her mother in public but she cherished a ring with her mother's picture inside - nobody knew of this until she died and the ring was removed.
I've included some pictures. Note how alike Anne and the young Elizabeth are, especially around the eyes. I hope you enjoyed this. Charlie. X
