THE LIFE OF HENRY VIII, part 2 | The story of Anne Boleyn | Tudor monarchs' series | History Calling

LOVE, BETRAYAL, TREASON & TRAGEDY; the life of Henry VIII is notorious for including the most famous love story ever, his relationship with Anne Boleyn. This History Calling video (the fourth in my Tudor Monarchs' series and second on Henry VIII) will chart its course from beginning to end.

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Extra information: The story of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII’s love affair centres around that rarest of things, the mistress who became Queen, yet it ended in horror, with Anne’s trial and execution at the Tower of London. This is the tale of how Henry went from loving his second wife so much that he abandoned Queen Catherine of Aragon and broke with the Roman Catholic Church in order to marry her, to accusing Anne of treason and incest with her brother, George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford and killing them both (among others). You’ll hear about the King’s ‘Great Matter’ (his annulment from Catherine of Aragon), Anne Boleyn’s coronation and the continuing saga of Henry VIII’s quest for an heir, including the birth of Elizabeth I and Anne’s subsequent miscarriages. The video also looks at the fall of Thomas Wolsey and answers the question of what caused the English Reformation. I’ll show you Henry VIII’s love letters to Anne Boleyn and cover Henry VIII and Jane Seymour’s affair, at which point Henry and Anne’s story transformed into perhaps the most tragic love story ever. The ten years between 1526 and 1536 are where the story of Henry VIII becomes that of a good king gone bad, as the story of the Tudors entered one of its darkest chapters.

[wendybond]

I have always felt ver sorry for Anne. Unable to avoid his intentions in the beginning and his victim at the end. Imagine having to die leaving your 3 year old child behind knowing her father was such a monster.

[Ad_Astra]

The way Henry fervently declares his love to Anne sounds rather like an infatuation, the kind that’s quick to burn and quick to die. That explains why it didn’t last long.

[matteusconnollius]

This made me see Anne in a different light. She was not the seductress people made her out to be and was in many ways a victim of Henry VIII'S machinations, and showed remarkable fortitude like her predecessor in standing up to him.

[vchild]

The pursuit was what he was enchanted by. Once he won her heart the bloom fell off the rose as they say. Their story is very fascinating to me even today.

[DeidreL]

Henry’s problem was himself, masked as boredom and desperation for his own line to live on. I think he projected onto Anne all of his displeasures in life, everything that he felt had let him down, including a subconscious awareness of his failing potency and age. He was too narcissistic to accept HE had failings, it was far easier to blame Anne for everything, as he had a narcissist’s tunnel vision that everything in the world should bend to suit him. He finally got the prize, Anne, but now it wasn’t so bright as it didn’t result in a son. Anne was conquered territory gone sour, and his ego insisted he keep looking for the ideal…something he would never have found, because he didn’t want a real wife, just a willing, obedient womb with no mind attached. If it had been able to deliver him a son, Henry would have been happiest with a mirror, because Henry was Henry’s first and only real love. Every one of his wives deserved FAR better! And Anne had the last laugh with Elizabeth’s magnificent reign.

[Michelle_Kemp]

There are times I find myself wishing Anne had had a boy but then we wouldn’t have had the golden age of Elizabeth I

[lisakilmer]

Here's my theory based on real-life observation: When a narcissist pursues the prize of an intelligent woman, especially an argumentative one, he later tires of her and blames her for his misfortunes. Her intelligence makes her exceptionally attractive, at first, in comparison to more worshipful women, but his narcissism cannot tolerate continued challenges to his belief in his wonderfulness. Oh - I just looked at other comments which basically say the same thing!

[whitkat]

My take on Henry VIII was he got easily bored. With women, friends, etc. He liked to be entertained. When he wasn't enjoying himself anymore he wanted to move on regardless of who it hurt.

[alisonmcnamara]

Anne still has the last laugh all the other children died and Anne's daughter, she lived a long life and Anne Boleyn is more popular today hundreds of years later then her enemies were when they were alive!

[siomhe]

So glad I found your channel…I love history, especially history around the British Isles and Western Europe. My personal opinion (as someone with a medical background) is that Henry may have been a sociopath/psychopath or at very least had a narcissistic personality disorder. It would not be far fetched as many monarchs who came to rule at a younger age display these characteristics. Brain development shows us that the prefrontal cortex is not finished developing until the mid 20’s generally and therefore someone given such absolute power at a very young age accompanied by all of the flattery etc that goes with it could have helped to develop this. He was very charming, handsome, powerful and appears to be without empathy. That being said I do think it is not correct to use modern day values to judge people living hundreds of years ago in an entirely different cultural context. (For example, it would be inappropriate to label a 35 year old man a pedophile for marrying a 12 or 13 year old girl when in that context…there was very little consideration of childhood as a separate thing than adulthood) I do believe Henry was a spoiled brat who never grew up. Whether it was a mental health condition or simply a product of his environment…he obviously never learned to take “no” for an answer and seemed to have very little concern or awareness that the people around him were actually people in their own right. He seemed to view everyone as a plaything. And even with very spoiled princes of the time, it seemed to be viewed as an oddity by most contemporaries.

[diogenes]

if she truly had betrayed him with all those men he would not have sent for a swordsman from France. He had a rare pang of conscience to save her from more horrible death. If he believed her guilty he would have wanted her to suffer

[prarieborn]

I think the reason Henry had Anne killed was to avoid another “messy divorce”. Katherine had fought him over putting her aside and he never got his annulment. What must have gone through his mind when Katherine died, ! ? Suddenly he was truly free, in the eyes of Rome to marry again. Rome had never recognized his marriage to Anne anyway. But there she was. I did read Anne was that she was hoping Henry would allow her to withdraw to a convent, like he had wanted Katherine to do. Rome would have accepted Katherine’s decision to withdraw because she could not give him a a son., but Katherine resisted to the last. I think Henry did not want Anne anymore for all the reasons you listed, but he also did not want another ex-wife around to cause trouble in the future.

[margo]

I think Anne brought with her from the French court a certain playful flirtatiousness to the English Court, where it was widely misinterpreted to her peril.

[jaclyn]

If Queen Anne had a son, I think her position would of been secured. I think you mentioned all the reasons that culminated to her condemnation. Henry & Anne had a somewhat long relationship; together for a decade.

[siomhe]

Henry was a narcissist. His disposal of his faithful queen, his pursuit of someone who obviously didn’t want him and discarding he just as easily…Henry seemed to see people only in the light of himself and not as actual other people to himself

[TheOnlyElle.]

I often wonder if Henry's "mercy" in summoning the French executioner, to kill Anne, was ever a true mercy at all..
I've wondered, if this act of mercy was Henry, actually being spitefully sadistic, and using Anne's "French style" against Her. In the Tudor time period, English people often accused the French ( the French Court, especially) of being "light" and of "loose moral values" (even some sexual acts that were seen as "base" or "vulgar" were referred to being "of the French fashion" or "French persuasion", in Tudor times ). Part of Henry's initial attraction to Anne, was due to Her "being taken as a French Woman born", Her French style of dress, the French customs Anne had picked up, the accent She'd developed etc etc. Was Henry actually trying to destroy, what He perceived to be, Anne's 'sex appeal'? By having Anne killed in the French manner, She thought so highly of?? Was He also sending a message, of sorts, to the English people, perhaps the French too, in a way? By implying that no Man, even a King, could "control" His Wife's wanton unnatural, sexual appetites if She was too "French"? Henry also knew of Anne's love of France..His enemy. I often wonder if He was mocking Anne, even though He had already stripped Her of all dignity (in His eye's, at least). Was the French Executioner, the final twist of Henry's knife into Anne's psyche??
Jane Seymour happened to ban French dresses for Her ladies, at court too. I wonder if Henry told Jane, that French style was "immoral" or some such, as it reminded Him of Anne? Just my thoughts. Great video as always!

[timhazeltine]

Papal authority had been contested several times in the past most notably by Henry II. But this time, with the nascent reformation movement, alternatives, including a complete split from Rome, were seriously contemplated for the first time. Henry's need for income, provided a strong incentive, as he acquired the wealth of the monasteries both for his own uses and to create a new class of wealthy landowners beholden to him. He also needed substantial wealth if he wanted to compete with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King Francis, the big players on the Continent. Obviously, his monomania about a male heir played a central role, but it was not the only factor. Finally, Anne played a dangerous game. She was not well liked, many considered her a w---e for marrying Henry when he had a living spouse, and at the time there was no substantive support in the country for a complete break with Rome. Eventually, in the King's eyes, she may have damaged goods and ill omened, and God's judgement on the marriage was her inability to bring a male heir to full term. With Queen Katherine dead, removing Anne would bring the whole episode to an end. We can't forget that Henry's theology remained essentially Catholic until his death, just shorn of the pope, mettling clerics, and monasteries.

[midnight_rose]

There’s no way Henry believed the charges against Anne. He was not the kind of personality that would act so calmly if he truly thought he’d been cheated on. She had become an inconvenience: she hadn’t given him a son, she didn’t blindly accept his faults, and she was causing trouble for him politically, with the Emperor l

[traveladventurer]

King Henry was intimidated by warrior Queen Katherine and her powerful Spanish family also in line with Catholics and Rome. He struggled for his own authority and religion and used the love of Queen Anne as an escape from its control over him. When Anne got everything she wanted and couldn't produce a live male heir, she came at to high of a cost and he was losing public respect. Trumped up charges to be rid of it all.

[elainerinne]

I believe Henry had Anne executed for a number of reasons. First, her strong personality. Then she miscarried a son. I think Henry thought history was repeating itself. Then he fell for Jayne. Jayne’s personality seemed to be the opposite of Anne’s. Thank you for the great video. I love history. New subscriber!