Portal:Anglicanism/Selected biography/8
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anne Boleyn (1501/1507–19 May 1536) was the second wife of Henry VIII of England and the mother of Elizabeth I of England. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key player in the political and religious upheaval that was the start of the English Reformation. In 1525, Henry VIII became enamoured with Anne and began his pursuit of her. It soon became the one absorbing object of the king's desires to secure a annulment from his wife, Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne. As a result of Anne's marriage to the king, the Church of England was forced to break with Rome and was brought under the king's control. Anne gave birth to a baby girl who would one day reign as Queen Elizabeth I of England. When Anne failed to quickly produce a male heir, the king grew tired of her and a plot was hatched by Thomas Cromwell to do away with her. Although the evidence against her was unconvincing, Anne was beheaded on charges of adultery, incest, and high treason in 1536. Following the coronation of her daughter Elizabeth as queen, Anne was venerated as a martyr and heroine of the English Reformation, particularly through the works of John Foxe.
