Anne's Final Pregnancy

   Lately, I have had many inquiries about the reproductive history of Anne Boleyn. Thanks in large part to the novel The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory and the subsequent Hollywood film there is a general consensus that Anne Boleyn suffered a miscarriage in which the fetus had severe abnormalities and as result Henry decided to seperate himself from her. As a historian who is greatly interested in the fall of Anne Boleyn I have explored the possibility that this is true and how it may have effected her decline in power and influence over Henry VIII. First, let us examine the root of the myth (yes, I said myth). Author Retha Warnicke is one of the first respectable historians to perpetuate this rumor. On January 29, 1536, just days after Henry suffered a near fatal fall during a jousting match, Anne went into pre-term labor and bore a stillborn son. She was cared for by a royal doctor and several midwives, there is no primary source evidence that supports the child being abnormal in any way.

    Warnicke support the theory that Anne’s miscarriage must have been abnormal saying, “Her fall was almost certainly triggered by the nature of the miscarriage she was to suffer in late January, for there is no evidence that she had been in any personal or political danger [prior]…”*

   We know this statement is misleading; careful examination of primary sources show us that Chapuys had written to Charles V speaking of the King’s new love interest Jane Seymour more than three months prior to Anne’s miscarriage. In the letter, Chapuys reveals that Henry had been wooing Jane with expensive gifts and paying her a lot of attention. It also becomes apparent through the use of these documents that the rumors regarding the Queen’s allegedly malformed fetus were not evident until almost thirty years after her death. The tales of Anne’s reproductive woes, physical deformities and witchcraft were spread by Roman priests, especially Nicholas Sander, as they sought to undermine Elizabeth’s claim to the English throne. Despite the lack of evidence for fetal abnormalities, I believe that Anne’s miscarriage damaged her relationship with Henry. She had miscarried several time, causing him to question her ability to provide him with a legitimate heir. She had also had heated confrontation with his trusted advisor Thomas Cromwell, resulting in the loss of him as her ally. Henry’s marriage to Anne had caused significant political tension between England and the other Catholic countries on the continent, but especially the Holy Roman Empire. The pregnancy shook Henry’s faith in Anne, but it was not the moment he decided to put her aside in favor of another woman. There were many factors, political, religious and familial that contributed to Anne’s fall and there is no evidence other than conjecture that Henry decided to bring charges against Anne for miscarrying a malformed child.

*Excerpt taken from The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics in the Court of Henry VIII

 

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