Anne Boleyn: podcast appearances and interviews

Anne Boleyn was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of King Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, later Earl of Wiltshire, and Elizabeth Howard. Educated in the Netherlands and France, she returned to England in early 1522 and initially served as maid of honor to Catherine of Aragon. She was secretly betrothed to Henry Percy in 1523, but the match was broken off; her relationship with Henry VIII began in 1526 when he pursued her, resisting his attempts to seduce her and refusing to become his mistress. Her marriage to Henry VIII, which took place secretly in November 1532 and publicly in January 1533, precipitated significant religious and political upheaval. The marriage led to the break from the Catholic Church and the establishment of the Church of England, with Henry asserting control over religious matters, and resulted in Anne's coronation as queen. She bore Henry a daughter, Elizabeth, but suffered three miscarriages, and by 1536 Henry was courting Jane Seymour. In April 1536, Anne was investigated for high treason, arrested, and tried at the Tower of London. Convicted on charges most historians dispute, including adultery, incest, and plotting to kill the king, she was executed by beheading in May of that year. After Elizabeth became queen in 1558, Anne was venerated as a martyr and heroine of the English Reformation. She has been recognized as an influential figure in English history and has been a subject of numerous cultural works.