The Final Year of Anne Boleyn

Summary

There are few women in English history more famous or controversial than Queen Anne Boleyn. In this vivid and engaging account of the triumphant and harrowing final year of Queen Anne Boleyn's life, the author reveals a very human portrait of a brilliant, passionate, and complex woman.

The last year of Anne's life contained both joy and heartbreak. This telling period bore witness to one of the longest and most politically significant progresses of Henry VIII's reign, improved relations between the royal couple, and Anne's longed-for pregnancy. With the dawning of the new year, the pendulum swung. In late January 1536, Anne received news that her husband had been thrown from his horse in his tiltyard at Greenwich. Just days later, tragedy struck. As the body of Anne's predecessor, Katherine of Aragon, was being prepared for burial, Anne miscarried her son. The promise of a new beginning dashed, the months that followed were a roller coaster of anguish and hope, marked by betrayal, brutality, and rumor. What began with so much promise, ended in silent dignity, amid a whirlwind of scandal, on a scaffold at the Tower of London.

Through close examination of these intriguing events considered in their social and historical context, listeners will gain a fresh perspective into the life and death of the woman behind the tantalizing tale.