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Anne Boleyn
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| Born | c1500 |
| Married | 1533 |
| Died | 1536 |
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Anne was brought up in the French court of Louis XII. He had married Henry's sister Mary. Anne seems to have caught Henry's attention after it became obvious that his existing wife, Catherine, was not going to be have any more children. Initially, it was thought that Anne would just be another mistress. But Anne, refused Henry's advances unless they were due to be married. Henry became infatuated with Anne and began to seek a divorce from his wife Catherine. Matters came to a head when Anne finally gave in to Henry's advances and became pregnant by him in 1532. A divorce was rushed through causing huge problems for England's relations with Catholic Europe.
She gave birth to a baby girl, Elizabeth. Henry was hugely disappointed. He was desparate for a son. Anne became pregnant once more but this baby was lost. Anne had made many enemies whilst trying to become Henry's Queen. Some of these began plotting against the Queen as she failed to deliver a son to Henry. They began torturing relatives and friends of hers in order to get confessions of adultery out of them. She was then tried and found guilty. By this time, Henry had fallen for a lady in waiting by the name of Jane Seymour and did not seem too concerned with the fate of his second wife. In 1536, she was executed at the Tower of London. |
