On 15th May 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, was found guilty of high treason.
The final writ of 18th May 1536, reads:
Anne, late queen of England, lately our wife, recently attainted and convicted of high treason towards us by her committed and done, and adjudged to death, that is to say by burning of fire according to the statute, law and custom of our realm of England, or decapitation, at our choice and will, remains in your custody within our Tower aforesaid. We moved by pity do not wish the same Anne to be committed to be burned by fire. We, however, command that immediately after receipt of these presents, upon the Green within our Tower of London aforesaid, the head of the same Anne shall be caused to be cut off.
The country was in shock. Never before had a Queen of England been put to death. But nothing about Anne’s rise or fall had followed a traditional path, and neither did the method of her execution chosen by King Henry VIII.
Many historians have speculated about why Henry chose a French swordsman to execute Anne when the traditional method of execution was the axe. So, why did he choose the sword?
Some historians say the King chose the sword for Anne as an act of mercy because the axe was not a clean, precise method of execution. Sometimes it took the axeman several attempts to sever the head. Some believe the King was protecting himself in the eventuality that it took several blows to decapitate Anne.
Other historians have said that Henry’s choice of a French swordsman was to mock Anne. She had spent her youth at the French court, which was said to be the most promiscuous in Europe, and she had been found guilty of adultery.
These arguments of mercy and mockery go against each other.
Recently, historians have said that Henry’s choice could be linked to his vanity as a ‘King Arthur’ type King. The Tudors had long positioned themselves as descendants from the line of Arthur. Henry’s father, Henry VII, had christened his heir Arthur, and Henry makes various references to King Arthur in court pageants and his restoration of Edward I’s roundtable. They believe Henry’s choice of the sword may represent Excalibur, the sword of truth.
However, I don’t believe Henry’s choice of the sword was to show Anne mercy or a symbol of Camelot. Instead, I think it entwined with their relationship and Anne’s faith that had bought her into conflict with those at court.
Queen Anne Boleyn was a pious reformer. She was a highly intelligent woman who understood the power of metaphorical thinking. Before her arrest, she had her Almoner, Skip, preach a coded sermon using the biblical story of Esther to fire a warning shot at the King’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell. (SKIP’S SERMON)
Throughout her extraordinary rise to become Henry’s Queen, Anne championed reform. She read the Bible in English, the letters of Saint Paul, and William Tyndale, who translated the Bible into English and died for it. Anne gave Henry her copy of William Tyndale’s book The Obedience of a Good Christian Man to read when death was the penalty for owning such a book. After reading it, Henry famously declared: ‘this is a book for all Kings.’
In The Obedience of a Good Christian Man, Tyndale says: ‘It is the blind powers of the world that slay with fire, water and the sword, all who cleave to God’s word.’
The sword is an important biblical symbol given to King’s and referred to throughout the Bible.
The proverb Live by the sword, die by the sword has biblical origins. It comes from a conversation between Jesus and his disciple Peter just before Jesus’s arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Psalm 22.20: Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
I believe Henry chose the sword for Anne to let her know she was dying because of her faith, because she had interfered too far in matters of state that involved the Church.