Editing Anne Boleyn (section)

== Downfall and execution: 1536 ==
[[File:Hans Holbein the Younger - Jane Seymour, Queen of England - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Shortly after Anne's execution, [[Jane Seymour]] became Henry's third wife.]]

On 8 January 1536, news of Catherine of Aragon's death reached Anne and the King, who was overjoyed. The following day, Henry wore yellow, a symbol of joy and celebration in England but of mourning in Spain, from head to toe, and celebrated Catherine's death with festivities.<ref>{{harvnb|Starkey|2003|pp=549–551}}; {{harvnb|Scarisbrick|1972|p=436}}.</ref><ref>Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.</ref> With Catherine dead, Anne attempted to make peace with Mary.<ref>{{harvnb|Starkey|2003|p=551}}.</ref> Mary rebuffed Anne's overtures, perhaps because of rumours circulating that Catherine had been poisoned by Anne or Henry.<ref>{{harvnb|Bordo|2014|pp=14–15}}</ref> These began after the discovery during her [[embalming]] that Catherine's heart was blackened. Modern medical experts are in agreement that this was not the result of poisoning, but from [[heart cancer]], the cause of her death and an extremely rare condition that was not understood at the time.<ref name="Fraser"/>

Queen Anne, 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 one of Anne's maids-of-honour, [[Jane Seymour]], and allegedly gave her a locket containing a [[portrait miniature]] of himself. While wearing this locket in the presence of Anne, Jane began opening and closing it. Anne responded by ripping the locket off Jane's neck with such force that her fingers bled.<ref>{{harvnb|Weir|1991}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{harvnb|Scarisbrick|1972|p=452}}.</ref> Another possible cause of the miscarriage was an incident in which, upon entering a room, Anne saw Jane Seymour sitting on Henry's lap and flew into a rage.<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|p=300}}</ref> Whatever the cause, on the day that Catherine of Aragon was buried at [[Peterborough Abbey]], Anne miscarried a baby which, according to the Imperial ambassador [[Eustace Chapuys]], she had borne for about three and a half months, and which "seemed to be a male child".<ref>{{harvnb|Scarisbrick|1972|pp=452–453}}; {{harvnb|Starkey|2003|pp=552–553}}.</ref><ref name=cjd/> Chapuys commented "She has miscarried of her saviour."<ref>{{harvnb|Weir|1991}}.</ref> In Chapuys's opinion, this loss was the beginning of the end of the royal marriage.<ref>{{harvnb|Starkey|2003|pp=553–554}}.</ref>

Given Henry's desperate desire for a son, the sequence of Anne's pregnancies has attracted much interest. Mike Ashley speculated that Anne had two stillborn children after Elizabeth's birth and before the male child she miscarried in 1536.<ref>{{harvnb|Ashley|2002|p=240}}.</ref> Gynaecologist [[Christopher John Dewhurst|John Dewhurst]] studied the sequence of the birth of Elizabeth in September 1533 and the series of reported miscarriages that followed, including the miscarriage of a male child of almost four months' gestation in January 1536, and postulates that, instead of a series of miscarriages, Anne was experiencing [[pseudocyesis]], a condition "occur[ing] in women desperate to prove their fertility".<ref name=cjd>{{cite journal |last1=Dewhurst |first1=John |author-link1=Christopher John Dewhurst|title=The alleged miscarriages of Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn |journal=Medical History |date=January 1984 |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=49–56 |doi=10.1017/S0025727300035316|pmid=6387336 |pmc=1139382 }}</ref>

As Anne recovered from her miscarriage, Henry declared that he had been seduced into the marriage by means of "[[wikt:sortilege|sortileges]]" – a French term indicating either "deception" or "spells".<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1992|p=233}}</ref> His new favourite Jane Seymour was quickly moved into royal quarters at Greenwich; Jane's brother [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Edward]] and his wife, for the sake of propriety, moved with her.<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1992|p=241}}</ref>{{efn|The rooms had previously been occupied by the King's secretary, Thomas Cromwell, and were connected to those of the King by hidden passageways.<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1992|p=241}}</ref>}} This was followed by Anne's brother George Boleyn's being refused the prestigious honour of the [[Order of the Garter]], given instead to Sir [[Nicholas Carew (courtier)|Nicholas Carew]].<ref>{{harvnb|Williams|1971|p=142}}.</ref>

=== Charges of adultery, incest and treason ===
[[File:Cromwell,Thomas(1EEssex)01.jpg|thumb|right|[[Thomas Cromwell]], Anne's one-time strong ally, with whom she clashed over foreign policy and the redistribution of church wealth. [[Portrait of Thomas Cromwell|Portrait]] by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]], c. 1532.]]

Anne's biographer [[Eric Ives]] believes that her fall and execution were primarily engineered by her former ally Thomas Cromwell.<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|pp=318–319}}. See also {{harvnb|Starkey|2003|pp=559–569}}, and {{harvnb|Elton|1977|pp=252–253}}, who share this view.</ref> The conversations between Chapuys and Cromwell indicate Cromwell as the instigator of the plot to remove Anne; evidence of this is seen through letters written from Chapuys to Charles{{nbsp}}V.<ref>{{harvnb|Bordo|2014|p=83}}</ref> Anne argued with Cromwell over the redistribution of Church revenues and over foreign policy. She advocated that revenues be distributed to charitable and educational institutions; and she favoured a French alliance. Cromwell preferred an Imperial alliance and insisted on filling the King's depleted coffers. For these reasons, Ives suggests, "Anne Boleyn had become a major threat to Thomas Cromwell."<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|p=315}}</ref> Cromwell's biographer John Schofield, on the other hand, contends that no power struggle existed between Anne and Cromwell and that "not a trace can be found of a Cromwellian conspiracy against Anne&nbsp;... Cromwell became involved in the royal marital drama only when Henry ordered him onto the case." Schofield claims that evidence for the power struggle between Anne and Cromwell comprises no more than "fly-by-night stories from Alesius and the ''[[Spanish Chronicle]]'',{{efn|The ''Spanish Chronicle'' was an unreliable contemporary account based on "hearsay and rumour" by an unknown author. One passage describes how the musician [[Mark Smeaton]] was supposedly hidden, naked, in Anne's confectionery cupboard and smuggled into her bedroom by a waiting-woman. One Thomas Percy, another member of Anne's household, became jealous and reported the affair to Cromwell.<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|p=329}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Weir|2010|p=436}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |translator-last1= Hume|translator-first1= Martin|translator-link1=Martin Hume|orig-date=1556 |year= 1889|publisher=George Bell|place=London|title=Crónica del rey Enrico Octavo de Ingalaterra |trans-title=Chronicle of King Henry VIII of England |language= Spanish|page=57|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V2YNAAAAIAAJ&q=Spanish+Chronicle+hume}}</ref>}} words of Chapuys taken out of context, and an untrustworthy translation of the ''Calendar of State Papers''."<ref>{{harvnb|Schofield|2008|pp=106–108}}</ref> Cromwell did not manufacture the accusations of adultery, though he and other officials used them to bolster Henry's case against Anne.<ref>Warnicke, pp. 212, 242; {{harvnb|Wooding|2009|p=194}}.</ref> Warnicke questions whether Cromwell could have or wished to manipulate the King in such a matter. Such a bold attempt by Cromwell, given the limited evidence, could have risked his office, even his life.<ref>Warnicke, pp. 210–212. Warnicke observes: "Neither Chapuys nor modern historians have explained why if the secretary [Cromwell] could manipulate Henry into agreeing to the execution of Anne, he could not simply persuade the king to ignore her advice on foreign policy".</ref> Henry himself issued the crucial instructions: his officials, including Cromwell, carried them out.<ref>{{harvnb|Scarisbrick|1972|p=350}}:"Clearly, he [Henry] was bent on undoing her by any means."</ref> The result was by modern standards a legal travesty;<ref>{{harvnb|Wooding|2009|pp=194–195}}; {{harvnb|Scarisbrick|1972|pp=454–455}}; {{harvnb|Fraser|1992|p=245}}.</ref> however, the rules of the time were not bent in order to assure a conviction; there was no need to tamper with rules that guaranteed the desired result since law at the time was an engine of state, not a mechanism for justice.<ref name="scholarship.law.wm.edu">{{cite journal|url=http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol22/iss1/3|title=Law as the Engine of State: The Trial of Anne Boleyn |journal=William & Mary Law Review|date=October 1980|volume=22|issue=1|page=49|last1=Schauer|first1=Margery|last2=Schauer|first2=Frederick}}</ref>

Towards the end of April, a [[Flemish people|Flemish]] musician in Anne's service named [[Mark Smeaton]] was arrested. He initially denied being the Queen's lover but later confessed, perhaps after being [[torture]]d or promised freedom. Another courtier, Sir [[Henry Norris (courtier)|Henry Norris]], was arrested on [[May Day]], but being an aristocrat, could not be tortured. Prior to his arrest, Norris was treated kindly by the King, who offered him his own horse to use on the May Day festivities. It seems likely that during the festivities, the King was notified of Smeaton's confession and it was shortly thereafter the alleged conspirators were arrested upon his orders.<ref>{{harvnb|MacCulloch|2018|pp=337–338}}.</ref> Norris denied his guilt and swore that Queen Anne was innocent; one of the most damaging pieces of evidence against Norris was an overheard conversation with Anne at the end of April, where she accused him of coming often to her chambers not to pay court to her lady-in-waiting [[Madge Shelton]] but to herself.{{sfn|Warnicke|1989|p=212}} Sir [[Francis Weston]] was arrested two days later on the same charge, as was Sir [[William Brereton (courtier)|William Brereton]], a groom of the King's [[Privy Chamber]]. Sir [[Thomas Wyatt (poet)|Thomas Wyatt]], the poet and friend of the Boleyns who was allegedly infatuated with her before her marriage to the King, was also imprisoned for the same charge but later released, most likely due to his or his family's friendship with Cromwell. Sir [[Richard Page (courtier)|Richard Page]] was also accused of having a sexual relationship with the Queen, but he was acquitted of all charges after further investigation could not implicate him with Anne.{{sfn|Bernard|2011|pp=174–175}} The final accused was Queen Anne's own brother, [[George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford|George Boleyn]], arrested on charges of [[incest]] and [[treason]].<ref>{{harvnb|Williams|1971|pp=143–144}}.</ref> He was accused of two incidents of incest: November 1535 at [[Palace of Whitehall|Whitehall]] and the following month at [[Eltham Palace|Eltham]].<ref name="Ives, p. 344">{{harvnb|Ives|2004|p=344}}.</ref>

On 2 May 1536 Anne was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. In the Tower, initially she became hysterical, demanding to know the location of her father and her "sweet brother", as well as the charges against her.{{sfn|Warnicke|1989|p=226}}{{sfn|Ives|2004|p=353}} The charge was treason, in that she and the other defendants had intended Henry's death: the shock of the news of her adultery was alleged to have put his life at risk.{{efn|Eric Ives points out that the King, amusing himself with Jane Seymour, was far from perturbed by any news of Anne's activities. The other strand of the indictment, that adultery with the Queen was a treasonable offence, had to be twisted to fit Cromwell's purported facts because this was a moral offence only, triable exclusively in the church courts.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/557|title=Anne [Anne Boleyn] (c. 1500–1536)}}</ref>}} Anne was taken by barge from Greenwich to The Tower and lodged in the royal apartments.{{sfn|Ives|2004|p=334}}

In what is reputed to be her last letter to Henry, dated 6 May, she wrote:

{{blockquote|Sir,

Your Grace's displeasure, and my imprisonment are things so strange unto me, as what to write, or what to excuse, I am altogether ignorant. Whereas you send unto me (willing me to confess a truth, and so obtain your favour) by such an one, whom you know to be my ancient professed enemy. I no sooner received this message by him, than I rightly conceived your meaning; and if, as you say, confessing a truth indeed may procure my safety, I shall with all willingness and duty perform your demand.

But let not your Grace ever imagine, that your poor wife will ever be brought to acknowledge a fault, where not so much as a thought thereof preceded. And to speak a truth, never prince had wife more loyal in all duty, and in all true affection, than you have ever found in Anne Boleyn: with which name and place I could willingly have contented myself, if God and your Grace's pleasure had been so pleased. Neither did I at any time so far forget myself in my exaltation or received Queenship, but that I always looked for such an alteration as I now find; for the ground of my preferment being on no surer foundation than your Grace's fancy, the least alteration I knew was fit and sufficient to draw that fancy to some other object. You have chosen me, from a low estate, to be your Queen and companion, far beyond my desert or desire. If then you found me worthy of such honour, good your Grace let not any light fancy, or bad council of mine enemies, withdraw your princely favour from me; neither let that stain, that unworthy stain, of a disloyal heart toward your good grace, ever cast so foul a blot on your most dutiful wife, and the infant-princess your daughter. Try me, good king, but let me have a lawful trial, and let not my sworn enemies sit as my accusers and judges; yea let me receive an open trial, for my truth shall fear no open flame; then shall you see either my innocence cleared, your suspicion and conscience satisfied, the ignominy and slander of the world stopped, or my guilt openly declared. So that whatsoever God or you may determine of me, your grace may be freed of an open censure, and mine offense being so lawfully proved, your grace is at liberty, both before God and man, not only to execute worthy punishment on me as an unlawful wife, but to follow your affection, already settled on that party, for whose sake I am now as I am, whose name I could some good while since have pointed unto, your Grace being not ignorant of my suspicion therein. But if you have already determined of me, and that not only my death, but an infamous slander must bring you the enjoying of your desired happiness; then I desire of God, that he will pardon your great sin therein, and likewise mine enemies, the instruments thereof, and that he will not call you to a strict account of your unprincely and cruel usage of me, at his general judgment-seat, where both you and myself must shortly appear, and in whose judgment I doubt not (whatsoever the world may think of me) mine innocence shall be openly known, and sufficiently cleared. My last and only request shall be, that myself may only bear the burden of your Grace's displeasure, and that it may not touch the innocent souls of those poor gentlemen, who (as I understand) are likewise in strait imprisonment for my sake. If ever I found favour in your sight, if ever the name of Anne Boleyn hath been pleasing in your ears, then let me obtain this request, and I will so leave to trouble your Grace any further, with mine earnest prayers to the Trinity to have your Grace in his good keeping, and to direct you in all your actions. From my doleful prison in the Tower, this sixth of May;

Your most loyal and ever faithful wife,
Anne Boleyn.{{efn|A copy of this letter was found among the papers of the King's secretary, Thomas Cromwell, after his execution.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strickland |first1=Agnes |author1-link=Agnes Strickland |title=Lives of the Queens of England |date=1845 |publisher=[[Henry Colburn]] |location=London |page=196|volume=IV}}</ref>}}}}

Four of the accused men were tried in [[Westminster]] on 12 May 1536. Weston, Brereton and Norris publicly maintained their innocence and only Smeaton supported [[the Crown]] by pleading guilty. Three days later, Anne and George Boleyn were tried separately in the Tower of London, before a jury of 27 [[Peer of the realm|peers]]. She was accused of [[adultery]], incest, and [[high treason]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hibbert|1971|pp=54–55}}.</ref> The treason alleged against her (after Cromwell had used the nine days of her imprisonment to develop his case{{sfn|Ives|2004|pp=333–338}}) was that of plotting the King's death, with her "lovers", so that she might later marry Henry Norris.<ref name="Ives, p. 344"/> Anne's one-time betrothed, [[Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland]], sat on the jury that unanimously found Anne guilty. When the verdict was announced, he collapsed and had to be carried from the courtroom.<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|pp=339,341}}.</ref> He died childless eight months later and was succeeded by his [[Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland|nephew]].<ref name=":0" />

On 17 May, Cranmer declared Anne's marriage to Henry null and void.<ref>{{harvnb|Starkey|2003|p=581}}.</ref>

=== Final hours ===
[[File:Anne Boleyn London Tower.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Anne Boleyn in the Tower by [[Édouard Cibot]] (1799–1877)]]

The accused were found guilty and condemned to death. George Boleyn and the other accused men were executed on 17{{nbsp}}May 1536. [[William Kingston]], the [[Constable of the Tower]], reported that Anne seemed very happy and ready to be done with life.<ref>{{harvnb|Starkey|2003|p=582}}</ref> Henry commuted Anne's sentence from burning to beheading, and rather than have a queen beheaded with the common axe, he brought an expert swordsman from [[Saint-Omer]] in France to perform the execution.

An anonymous manuscript of a poem ''[[O Death Rock Me Asleep]]'' that came into the possession of prolific 18th-century author [[John Hawkins (author)|John Hawkins]], and now in the [[British Museum]], was thought to be in the style of "the time of Henry VIII". On this weak premise, Hawkins conjectured that the writer was "very probabl[y]" Anne Boleyn, writing after her conviction.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hawkins |first1=John |author1-link=John Hawkins (author) |title=A General History of the Science and Practice of Music |date=1776 |publisher=[[Thomas Payne|T. Payne & Son]] |location=London |page=30|volume=III}}</ref> ''[[Defiled is my Name]]'', a similar lament, is also attributed to Anne. According to Ives, she could not have produced any such writings while under the scrutiny of the ladies set to watch over her in the Tower.<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|p=58}}.</ref> Mary Joiner of the [[Royal Musical Association]] examined the BM documents and concluded that the attributions, although held in wide belief, are no more than an "improbable ... legend".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Joiner |first1=Mary |title=British Museum Add MS. 15117: A Commentary, Index and Bibliography |journal=R.M.A. Research Chronicle |publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1969 |volume=7 |issue=7 |page=68 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25093674 |issn=0080-4460|doi=10.1080/14723808.1969.10540840|jstor=25093674 }}</ref>

On the morning of 19 May, Kingston wrote:

{{blockquote|This morning she sent for me, that I might be with her at such time as she received the good Lord, to the intent I should hear her speak as touching her innocency alway to be clear. And in the writing of this she sent for me, and at my coming she said, "Mr. Kingston, I hear I shall not die afore noon, and I am very sorry therefore, for I thought to be dead by this time and past my pain." I told her it should be no pain, it was so little. And then she said, "I heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck," and then put her hands about it, laughing heartily. I have seen many men and also women executed, and that they have been in great sorrow, and to my knowledge this lady has much joy in death. Sir, her [[almoner]] is continually with her, and had been since two o'clock after midnight.<ref>{{harvnb|Hibbert|1971|p=59}}.</ref>}}

Shortly before dawn, she called Kingston to hear [[Mass (liturgy)|mass]] with her and swore in his presence, on the eternal salvation of her soul and upon the Holy [[Sacrament]]s, that she had never been unfaithful to the King. She ritually repeated this oath immediately before and after receiving the sacrament of the [[Eucharist]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|p=356}}.</ref>

On the morning of Friday 19 May, Anne was taken to a scaffold erected on the north side of the [[White Tower (Tower of London)|White Tower]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ives|2004|p=423}}, based on the contemporary Lisle letters.</ref> She wore a red [[petticoat]] under a loose, dark grey gown of [[damask]] trimmed in fur, and a mantle of ermine.<ref>{{harvnb|Williams|1971|p=146}}.</ref> Accompanied by two female attendants, Anne made her final walk from the Queen's House to the scaffold; she showed a "devilish spirit" and looked "as gay as if she was not going to die".<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1992|p=256}}.</ref> She climbed the scaffold and made a short speech to the crowd:

{{blockquote|Good Christian people, […] I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.{{sfn|Foxe|1838|p=134}}<ref name="Ives 357–358">{{harvnb|Ives|2004|pp=357–358}}</ref>}}

This version of her speech is found in [[John Foxe]]'s ''[[Foxe's Book of Martyrs|Actes and Monuments]]'' (also known as ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs'').{{sfn|Foxe|1838|p=134}}

[[Lancelot de Carle]], a secretary to the French Ambassador, [[Antoine de Castelnau]], was in London in May 1536,{{sfn|Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII|loc=12(2), [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=75700 78]}} and was an eyewitness to her trial and execution. Two weeks after Anne's death,{{sfn|Schmid|2011|pp=[http://www.historytoday.com/susan-walters-schmid/henry-viii-and-anne-boleyn-0 7–11]}} de Carle composed the 1,318-line poem ''[[Épistre Contenant le Procès Criminel Faict à l'Encontre de la Royne Anne Boullant d'Angleterre]]'' (''A Letter Containing the Criminal Charges Laid Against Queen Anne Boleyn of England''),<ref>For a French version of the poem, ''Épistre Contenant le Procès Criminel Faict à l'Encontre de la Royne Anne Boullant d'Angleterre'', at the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]], see {{harvnb|de Carle|1545}}.</ref>{{sfn|Schmid|2013|pp=110–175|postscript=. A complete English translation of the entire poem, side by side with the original French is provided here.}} which provides a moving account of her last words and their effect on the crowd:

{{blockquote|She gracefully addressed the people from the scaffold with a voice somewhat overcome by weakness, but which gathered strength as she went on. She begged her hearers to forgive her if she had not used them all with becoming gentleness, and asked for their prayers. It was needless, she said, to relate why she was there, but she prayed the Judge of all the world to have compassion on those who had condemned her, and she begged them to pray for the King, in whom she had always found great kindness, fear of God, and love of his subjects. The spectators could not refrain from tears.{{sfn|Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII|loc=10, [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=75435 1036] An English summary of the poem is given here}}{{sfn|Schmid|2013|pp=171–172}}{{sfn|Weir|2010|p=340}}<ref>{{harvnb|Guy|2009}}: [[John Guy (historian)|John Guy]] contends that a letter, purportedly from [[Crispin de Milherve]] corroborating de Carle's account, was  in 1845 shown by French scholars to be a forgery.</ref>}}

It is thought that Anne avoided criticising Henry because she wished to save Elizabeth and her family from further consequences, but even under such extreme pressure, she did not confess guilt and indeed subtly implied her innocence in her appeal to those who might "meddle of my cause".<ref>William Hickman Smith Aubrey, ''The National and Domestic History of England'' (1867), p. 471.</ref>

=== Death and burial ===
[[File:Thomas Cranmer by Gerlach Flicke.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Thomas Cranmer]], Anne's sole supporter in the council]]

The ermine mantle was removed, and Anne lifted off her headdress and tucked her hair under a [[coif]].{{sfn|Ives|2004|p=358}} After a brief farewell to her weeping ladies and a request for prayers, she knelt down; one of the ladies tied a blindfold over Anne's eyes.{{sfn|Ives|2004|p=358}} She knelt upright, in the French style of beheadings.{{sfn|Weir|2010|pp=338, 343–344}} Her final prayer consisted of her continually repeating, "[[Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament#"Jesus" forms|Jesu]] receive my soul; O Lord God have pity on my soul."{{sfn|Ives|2004|pp=358–359}}

The execution, which consisted of a single stroke,<ref>{{harvnb|Hibbert|1971|p=60}}.</ref> was witnessed by Thomas Cromwell; [[Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk]]; the King's illegitimate son, [[Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset|Henry FitzRoy]]; and Sir [[Ralph Warren (Lord Mayor)|Ralph Warren]], [[Lord Mayor of London]], as well as aldermen, sheriffs and representatives of the various craft guilds. Most of the King's Council was also present.<ref>Bruce, Marie Louise (1973). ''Anne Boleyn''. New York: Warner Paperback Library Edition. p. 333.</ref> Cranmer, who was at [[Lambeth Palace]], reportedly broke down in tears after telling [[Alexander Ales]], "She who has been the Queen of England on earth will today become a Queen in heaven."<ref>{{harvnb|MacCulloch|1996|p=159}}.</ref> When the charges were first brought against Anne, Cranmer had expressed his astonishment to Henry and his belief that "she should not be culpable".<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Nicholas|editor-first=A. H.|year=1835|title=The Republic of Letters: A Republication of Standard Literature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ob84AQAAMAAJ |location=New York |publisher=George Dearborn |page=70 |language=en |volume=III |quote=And I am in such a perplexity, that my mind is clean amazed: for I never had better opinion in woman than I had in her; which maketh me to the that she should not be culpable.}}</ref>
 
[[File:Tomb of Anne Boleyn.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Anne Boleyn's grave marker]]
Cranmer felt vulnerable because of his closeness to the Queen; on the night before the execution, he declared Henry's marriage to Anne to have been void, like Catherine's before her. He made no serious attempt to save Anne's life, although some sources record that he had prepared her for death by hearing her last private confession of sins, in which she had stated her innocence before God.<ref>{{harvnb|MacCulloch|1996|p=159}}</ref>

She was buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of [[Church of St Peter ad Vincula|St Peter ad Vincula]] at the Tower of London. Her skeleton was identified during renovations of the chapel in 1876, in the reign of [[Queen Victoria]],<ref>{{harvnb|Warnicke|1989|p=235}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bell|first=Doyne C.|title=Notices of the Historic Persons Buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London|publisher=John Murray, Albemarle Street|year=1877|location=London|pages=20–21}}</ref> and reinterred there in 1877. Her grave is now clearly marked on the marble floor, although the historian Alison Weir believes that the bones identified as belonging to Anne might in fact be those of [[Catherine Howard]].<ref>{{harvnb|Weir|2010|pp=411–415}}</ref>