Anne Boleyn The actual wedding date of Henry and Anne is in some dispute due to the hasty and secretive nature of it Headless hall of fame George Boleyn CRIME: INCEST, TREASON DATE OF EXECUTION: 17 MAY 1536 Anne’s brother George was charged with incest with the queen and plotting to kill the king It is likely this was a plot devised by Thomas Cromwell to rid Henry of Anne Despite no evidence against him he was found guilty and beheaded with the four other men Henry Norris CRIME: TREASON, ADULTERY DATE OF EXECUTION: 17 MAY 1536 Norris served as groom of the stool to Henry VIII and was close to both the king and queen The dates he was charged with adultery would be nigh-on impossible, as Anne was not in Westminster at the time Norris was found guilty and said very little on the scaffold as he met his death Francis Weston CRIME: TREASON, ADULTERY DATE OF EXECUTION: 17 MAY 1536 Weston served as a gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Henry VIII, and became a friend of the king Aged 25, Weston was arrested for adultery with Anne and plotting to kill the king, despite no evidence supporting this Weston protested his innocence to the end but was executed Catherine’s inability to produce more children and Henry’s desire to annul the marriage became known as ‘The Great Matter’ John Fisher CRIME: TREASON DATE OF EXECUTION: 22 JUNE 1535 Born in Yorkshire, John Fisher was a RomanCatholic bishop who supported Catherine of Aragon when Henry VIII attempted to divorce her Fisher refused to accept the king as head of the church and was beheaded as a result Today Fisher is considered a saint Thomas Darcy CRIME: HIGH TREASON DATE OF EXECUTION: 30 JUNE 1537 An English nobleman, Darcy was opposed to Henry’s dissolution of the monasteries and helped lead the popular uprising the Pilgrimage of Grace “The most serious of all Tudor rebellions” saw 30,000 people in Yorkshire rise up against the religious reforms Henry VIII loses interest in Anne’s sister, Mary, and begins to court Anne He sends her a series of love letters, but Anne refuses to be his mistress Within a year Henry asks Anne to marry him and she accepts 1526 Anne is crowned queen consort, after years of fighting for an annulment of the marriage of Henry and Catherine Anne is already pregnant with Elizabeth and in September of that year she is born, much to Henry’s disappointment 1533 The relationship between Anne and Henry becomes strained as Anne suffers a miscarriage By the time she falls pregnant again in 1535, Henry is already courting Jane Seymour Anne also miscarries this child, who appears to be male 1534 Various men are arrested on charges of adultery with Anne and treason against the king in a plot masterminded by Thomas Cromwell Anne is taken to the Tower of London, tried and found guilty of adultery, incest and high treason 1536 Anne is executed on a scaffold by a French swordsman brought in especially for the beheading Before her death she praises Henry, perhaps to save Elizabeth and her family from any further implications, but refuses to admit her guilt 1536 71