Boleyn, Anne, 1507?-1536, second queen consort of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, later earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde, and on her mother's side she was related to the Howard family. After spending some years in France, she was introduced to the English court in 1522. Soon Henry, who had already enjoyed the favors of her older sister, fell deeply in love with Anne. Unlike her sister, however, Anne refused to become his mistress, and this fact, coupled with Henry's desire for a male heir, led the king to begin divorce proceedings against Katharine of Aragón in 1527. In 1532, Anne finally yielded to the king, and the resulting pregnancy hastened a secret marriage (Jan., 1533) and the final annulment (May) by Archbishop Cranmer of Henry's previous marriage. Anne was crowned queen on June 1. Her delivery of a daughter (Elizabeth), in Sept., 1533, bitterly disappointed Henry. In 1536, after the miscarriage of a son, Anne was brought to trial on charges of adultery and incest. Under great pressure, a court, headed by her uncle Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, condemned her, and she was beheaded. Two days before her death her marriage was declared void by the Church of England.

(born 1507?—died May 19, 1536, London, Eng.) British royal consort. After spending part of her childhood in France, Anne lived at the court of Henry VIII, who soon fell in love with her and began secret proceedings to rid himself of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. For six years Pope Clement VII refused to grant an annulment. In 1533 Henry and Anne were secretly married, and Henry had the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, annul his previous marriage. Anne gave birth to the future Elizabeth I but failed to produce the male heir Henry wanted. He lost interest in her, and in 1536 he had her imprisoned on questionable charges of adultery and incest. She was convicted and beheaded.

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Originally "Bullen", Boleyn is the surname of a noble English family particularly prominent in the Tudor period, members of which include:

• Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII
• Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire, mother of Anne Boleyn and alleged mistress of Henry VIII
• Geoffrey Boleyn, Lord Mayor of London
• George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, brother of Anne, executed with her for incest, adultery and treason, d.1536
• Mary Boleyn, Anne's sister and a long-term mistress of Henry VIII's, who is rumoured to have borne him two children, Henry and Catherine
• Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, father of Anne, George and Mary, courtier and ambassador
• Lady Margaret Boleyn, mother of the above, declared insane in her later years

The name also occurs in:

• Boleyn Ground in London, often also known as Upton Park, the football stadium of West Ham United F.C.

See also

• Bolin