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It is a Tudor order book, one of many in the National Archives, full of bureaucratic minutiae relating to 16th century crimes. But this one has an extraordinary passage, overlooked so far, that contains instructions from Henry VIII that precisely explain how he wanted his second wife, Anne Boleyn, to be executed.
In this document, the king stipulated that, although his queen had been “condemned to death … by burning fire … or beheading”, he had been “moved by pity” to avoid the most painful death of being ” burned by fire “. . But he continued: “We, however, order that … Anne’s head herself be … cut off.”
Tracy Borman, a prominent Tudor historian, described the injunction as an astonishing discovery, reinforcing the image of Henry VIII as a “pathological monster.” She told the Observer: “As a previously unknown document on one of the most famous events in history, it really is gold dust, one of the most exciting finds in recent years. What it shows is Henry’s premeditated and calculating manner. He knows exactly how and where he wants it to happen. “Instructions given by Henry are to Sir William Kingston, Bailiff of the Tower, detailing how the King would get rid of the” late Queen of England, lately our wife, lately attacked and sentenced for high treason”.
Boleyn was imprisoned in the Tower of London on May 2, 1536 for adultery. At her trial, she was described as unable to control her “carnal desires”. She refuted the charges, but was found guilty of treason and sentenced to be burned or beheaded “at the will of the king.”
Most historians agree that the charges were false: her only crime had been not having given Henry a child. The most famous king in the history of England was married six times in his tireless search for a male heir. He divorced his first wife, Catalina de Aragón, to marry Bolena; the marriage led him to break with the Catholic Church and brought about the English Reformation. Boleyn bore him a daughter, who became Elizabeth I.
In recent years, the story of Boleyn’s life and death has reached a new audience thanks to the successful Hilary Mantel saga that chronicles the life of Thomas Cromwell, the son of a blacksmith who became one of the most successful advisers. trusted by Henry VIII. In the Booker Prize Winner Bring Even the bodies, explored the destruction of Boleyn, writing about her execution: “Three years ago, when she went to be crowned, she walked on a blue cloth that stretched the length of the abbey … Now she must move over rough terrain … with her hollow and light body and with so many hands around her, ready to rescue her from any stumbling block and deliver her safely to death. “
The court order reveals that Henry worked out details such as the exact place of execution (“on the Green inside our Tower of London”), making it clear that Kingston should not “omit anything” from his orders.
Borman is the deputy chief curator of Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that runs the Tower of London, among other sites. She will include Discovery in her upcoming Channel 5 series, The fall of Anne Boleyn, which begins in December.
He had visited the National Archives to study Anne Boleyn’s trial documents when archivist Sean Cunningham, a Tudor expert, brought to his attention a passage he had discovered in a warrant book. Most of these arrest warrants are “just minutiae of the Tudor government,” he said. “They are quite boring. The Tudors were great bureaucrats, and there are a lot of these authorization books and account books within the National Archives … It is thanks to Sean’s eye for detail that it was discovered. “
Borman argues that despite the coldness of the instructions, the fact that Henry saved Boleyn from being burned, a slow and agonizing death, was a real goodness by the standards of the day. A beheading with an ax could also involve several blows, and Henry had specified that Boleyn’s head should be “cut off”, which meant with the sword, a more reliable form of execution, but not used in England, so he made Cromwell will send Calais for a swordsman.
However, Henry’s instructions were not followed to the letter, in part due to a series of mistakes, Borman said. “The execution did not take place at Tower Green, which is actually where we still mark it at the Tower today. More recent investigations have shown that … he moved to the front of what is now the Waterloo Block, home of the Crown Jewels. “
He added: “Because we know the story so well, we forget how deeply shocking it was to execute a queen. They might as well have gotten the collywobbles and thought we’re not going to do this. So Henry is making sure of it. For years, his faithful advisor Thomas Cromwell is to blame. But this actually shows that it is Henry who pulls the strings. “
