'If Any Person Will Meddle of My Cause' – Heather R. Darsie

Heather R. Darsie reviews the political missteps and implications of Anne Boleyn’s queenship. She dives deeper into the threat Anne posed to Henry, and why legal changes made during the early years of the English Reformation allowed Henry VIII to judicially murder his inconvenient queen. Anne’s choice of attire, reported last words, mode of execution, and burial all point to a significant religious element which has not been explored before. Anne wore colours traditionally associated with martyrdom, announced that she did not come to preach, was executed by beheading instead of burning, and had a very crude burial in an unmarked grave. These elements point to Henry – and Anne – viewing her death as being motivated by Anne’s religious faux pas. Anne tried to portray herself as a martyr, and Henry did everything he could to prevent Anne from reaching that status. The author shows that Anne supported French Reformists, including those involved in the alarming French Affair of the Placards in late 1534, asking Henry to petition for the release of at least one of the heretics, and then bringing him to England. This is a different Anne.