Anne Boleyn

"But no fire! You promised no fire!" ~Anne Boleyn to Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, when he visits her in the Tower of London, shortly before her executionAnne Boleyn was born to Sir Thomas Boleyn and Lady Elizabeth Howard as their elder daughter and second child, in around 1507. She was born at Hever Castle in Kent (her family's seat) or Bickling Hall in Norfolk.

Early Life
Anne had an elder brother named George, to whom she was particularly fond, and a younger sister called Mary, who was mistress to Henry Tudor years before she was. Her brother was married to Lady Rochford, but had no children; her sister (unseen and merely mentioned in the series) had two children while married to her first husband, William Carey, who were rumored to be fathered by the king himself.

Rise to Power
Henry begins his affair with Anne Boleyn in the mid-1520's, while still married to Catherine, and after breaking his relationship with her younger sister, Mary, after Anne successfully seduces the virile king, and promises that she can succeed where Catherine failed: She can give him a son. However, Anne refuses to consummate her union with Henry until or unless he is willing to marry her.

This prompts Henry to change history, and immediately tries to figure out a way to get out of his marriage to Catherine in order to marry Anne. Ultimately, Henry breaks with Rome in order to do so, and Catherine is left at the palace while Henry and Anne ride off together, in the hopes of starting their lives together.

Queen of England
Anne is jealous that Henry still caters to the whims of the Spanish ambassador, who works as a go-between for Henry and Catherine, who is now living in exile at More Park, which once belonged to Cardinal Wolsey, who is now dead after a journey to the Tower of London, after he was unable to get the divorce for Henry. Anne is further enraged when Catherine refuses to acknowledge Anne as the Queen of England after her divorce from Henry, and becomes irritated when Catherine refuses to send the royal christening gown to her when she becomes pregnant. Anne becomes worried mid-way through her pregnancy, and she suspects Henry of having affairs, yet does not say anything about it just yet. Anne gives birth to a daughter, Princess Elizabeth, and while Henry is overjoyed at having another child, he is shown to still be desperate for a son. A flashback shows Anne and Henry playing with their baby daughter, and writing poetry and singing together, much like the honeymoon phase of Henry and Catherine's relationship. However, even after Anne tells Henry that she is pregnant again, he at first refuses to believe it, and when she convinces him, he still is embittered by prior failures (Anne had had one or two pregnancies between Elizabeth and this one, both of which ended in miscarriage). At a dinner to celebrate her pregnancy, Anne is worried when Henry leaves her side, and he claims that he has a mistress and will go to her, and that she is not allowed to complain about it.

Downfall
Anne spends much of her time with Mark Smeaton, her musician, whom she is witnessed by her bitter sister-in-law, Lady Rochford, paying him in gold. Anne also spends much of her time with her brother, George, and they speak of their mutual dislike for Lady Rochford, and laugh about her behind her back, while playing chess. Later, further along in Anne's pregnancy, at a masked ball, Lady Rochford goes to see Thomas Cromwell, who is bidden to report to the king about any wrongdoing, and slyly informs him that she believes the queen has been unfaithful. Cromwell asks Lady Rochford for names to implicate the queen, and Lady Rochford willingly gives up Smeaton's name, along with Henry Norris's, and Francis Weston's names. Cromwell is satisfied, but when Lady Rochford gives her husband's name, Cromwell tells her to be careful who she is implicating. Henry is walking with his latest mistress, Jane Seymour, when he hears word that Anne is in labor and has given birth to a boy. Joyful, Henry runs off to see to Anne, and Jane, to her credit, looks momentarily pleased for the queen, but saddened as she wonders what this new development will mean for her. Anne, who had been pacing in her chambers, is unwell and is nervous that her pregnancy will end early like the last two have, and is devastated when she goes into labor five months ahead of schedule. Henry comes into her rooms and demands to see their son, but Anne weeps and claims that the child has died. Henry is convinced that Anne has deliberately killed their son, and begins to shun her publicly, most notably at a jousting competition.

Arrest and Execution
Anne is soon arrested and taken to the Tower of London, where she is ultimately tried on charges of treason, adultery, and incest. Anne denies this claims, fiery to the end, and proclaims herself the Queen of England, and rules that none of the men can lawfully try her. Anne is subsequently kept in the Tower during the trial, and has many audiences with Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who is sympathetic towards her feat, and believes her claims of innocence. When Anne is found guilty, Cranmer continues counseling her, never far from her side. When he informs her that she will be executed, he promises that he will ask on her behalf of King Henry to spare her death by burning. When he says that her execution is set for the nineteenth of May, Anne asks about the axeman, and Cranmer replies that there isn't one. Anne cries out that Cranmer promised her that she wouldn't be burned to death, and Cranmer calmly tells her that the king has sent for a French swordsman, and that she will apparently feel no pain. Anne, relieved, goes to her death bravely, giving a heartfelt speech about the love for her husband, before being blindfolded and executed.