Anne Boleyn - Downfall and Execution: 1536

Downfall and Execution: 1536

On 8 January 1536, news of Catherine of Aragon's death reached the King and Anne, who were overjoyed. The following day, Henry and Anne wore yellow, the symbol of joy and celebration in England, from head to toe, and celebrated Catherine's death with festivities. In Spain, the home country of Catherine of Aragon, yellow is the colour of mourning, in addition to black. For this reason, the wearing of yellow by Henry and Anne may have been a symbol of mourning. With Princess Mary's mother dead, Anne, for her part, attempted to make peace with her.

The Queen, pregnant again, was aware of the dangers if she failed to give birth to a son. With Catherine dead, Henry would be free to marry without any taint of illegality. At this time Henry began paying court to Jane Seymour. He gave her a locket with a miniature portrait of himself inside and Jane, in the presence of Anne began opening and shutting it. Anne responded by ripping off the locket with such force her fingers bled. Mary rebuffed Anne's overtures, perhaps because of rumours circulating that Catherine had been poisoned by Anne and/or Henry. These began after the discovery during her embalming that her heart was blackened. Modern medical experts are in agreement that this was not the result of poisoning, but of cancer of the heart, something which was not understood at the time.

Later that month, the King was unhorsed in a tournament and knocked unconscious for two hours, a worrying incident that Anne believed led to her miscarriage five days later. Another possibility for the miscarriage was an incident in which upon entering a room Anne saw Jane Seymour sitting on the lap of Henry. After flying into a rage, Henry soothed her, saying "peace be sweetheart, and all will be well." But the damage was done after she aborted a fetus with all the appearances of being male. Eustace Chapuys commented "She has miscarried of her savior. On the day that Catherine of Aragon was buried at Peterborough Abbey, Anne miscarried a baby which, according to the imperial ambassador Chapuys, she had borne for about three and a half months, and which "seemed to be a male child". For Chapuys, this personal loss was the beginning of the end of the royal marriage.

Given Henry's desperate desire for a son, the sequence of Anne's pregnancies has attracted much interest. Author Mike Ashley speculated that Anne had two stillborn children after Elizabeth's birth and before the male child she miscarried in 1536. Most sources attest only to the birth of Elizabeth in September 1533, a possible miscarriage in the summer of 1534, and the miscarriage of a male child, of almost four months gestation, in January 1536. As Anne recovered from her miscarriage, Henry declared that he had been seduced into the marriage by means of "sortilege"—a French term indicating either "deception" or "spells". His new mistress, Jane Seymour, was quickly moved into royal quarters. This was followed by Anne's brother being refused a prestigious court honour, the Order of the Garter, given instead to Sir Nicholas Carew.