Returnee reports - Anne Boleyn

Our returnee-level students have worked very hard on their reports. Here is Kyungji's report on Anne Boleyn.

Anne Boleyn: A Poor Life

Anne Boleyn had a poor life. The famous mother of England’s Elizabeth I, she caused England to break with the Catholic Church by forcing Henry VIII to get a divorce. She was kind and gave a lot of money to the poor. She also tried to lighten punishment for the people. But why was she an unhappy woman? She didn’t have a son, and she lost his boy. Finally, she was beheaded.

To understand what happened to Anne Boleyn, a person needs to understand the time and place in which she lived.

Welcome to sixteenth century England. It was an unhappy time here in London. People everywhere were poor. Many people were unhappy with the Catholic Church. Punishment was harsh. Also, many people were sick with diseases like sweating sickness and the black death. But the real story was that Henry VIII wanted a boy, but he didn’t have a son. Who could imagine not having a prince? Or being ruled by a woman?

Before he or she was famous, she was a noble who served the queen. She came closer to fame when she had an affair with King Henry VIII. Many people thought that Henry and Anne did not like each other, but that’s spurious. Henry VIII was a haughty king who was proud of his wife Anne Boleyn. She married Henry VIII after making him get a divorce. England changed from a Catholic to a Protestant country. Finally, Anne was the mother of Elizabeth I who was perhaps the greatest English ruler of all time.

Most people now do not like Anne Boleyn, but they confuse her last stress-filled years with the rest of her life. In the end, Anne Boleyn was very poor and unhappy. Henry VII needed a son. She didn’t have a boy, and she had a stillborn son, which was very deleterious. But before that, Henry VIII clearly loved her. A Venetian ambassador wrote of this love in his letters. He wrote that her eyes were very beautiful and that the king loved her very much. Also, the people who served the queen with Anne liked her very much. Finally, the executioner who killed Anne cared for her too and tried to make her execution less painful.

In addition, Anne made many important contributions during her short life. There were a lot of poor people. Anne was not cruel but kind and gave money to them. There were very big harsh punishments for religion. Anne tried to lighten punishment. Finally, and most importantly, she was the mother of Elizabeth I who would make England a world power.

At first, I thought Anne Boleyn was very selfish, and she wasn’t good to Henry VIII, but that’s not true. An egoist, who was only concerned with having a son, Henry VIII divorced Catherine of Aragon, causing trouble with the Catholic Church, killed Anne Boleyn, and eventually had six wives all to try to obtain a prince. I also wondered if she was really pretty, but she wasn’t. Some writers says that she is not pretty. Anyway, she was not ugly in the I saw. I was very surprised to learn about Anne Boleyn. I thought she was not good to King Henry VIII, but she was.