Coronation of Anne Boleyn
Date | 1 June 1533 |
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Location | Westminster Abbey, London, England |
Participants |
The coronation of Anne Boleyn as Queen of England took place at Westminster Abbey, London, England, on 1 June 1533.[3] The new queen was King Henry VIII's second wife, following the annulment of his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon.[4]
The queen was visibly pregnant at the time of her coronation,[5] and the usage of St Edward's Crown, which had been reserved for reigning monarchs, sought to legitimise Anne as the new queen, along with her unborn child, which was expected to be the long-awaited male heir. The coronation was preceded by an elaborate procession, which had started the day before at the Tower of London. Although the celebrations for the coronation were lavish, the general populace did not receive her well, as clearly demonstrated in contemporary accounts.[6]
Background
After over two decades of marriage to Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII still had no male heir: his only legitimate child was
As the new Supreme Head of the Church of England, the king now had the authority to end his own marriage, which he promptly did. Catherine was stripped of her title as queen consort on 23 May 1533 by the new Archbishop of Canterbury, who five days later, declared the validity of Henry's marriage to Anne,[8] which had secretly been performed in Dover.[9][10]
Procession and pageant
The first pageant for the new queen took place on 19 May, on the
Before the coronation itself, on 31 May 1533, there was a triumphant coronation procession or
Anne is likely to have passed though Tower Hill, where three years later, her brother and alleged lovers would be executed. Moving down the street, Anne observed a costly and spectacular pageant, sponsored by the merchants of the Steelyard and designed by Holbein. It featured the Greek god Apollo, surrounded by the Muses, who gave gifts to the queen.[16] Continuing down Gracechurch Street, the procession halted at Leadenhall Street for another spectacle: a castle, with a rose at the top with red and white roses that sprang forth, from which a falcon which landed on a stump. An angel wearing armour descended and crowned the falcon, clearly referencing Anne's badge. The coronation procession continued with plenty of sights and intricate displays for the queen, and the initials "HA" interlaced with a knot were painted everywhere.[17]
Coronation
On 1 June 1533, Anne was led from the Palace of Westminster, where she had spent the night, to Westminster Abbey for her coronation.[18] The Lord Mayor and aldermen, dressed in crimson velvet, were to receive Anne in Westminster Hall before eight in the morning. The queen herself appeared an hour later, dressed in robes of purple velvet and ermine fur.[19] Her hair was free-flowing, and she wore a circlet made of gold and gems. Anne stood in the hall with the clergy, religious and men of the King's Chapel.
After the procession of the lesser nobles, the Marquis of Dorset and the Earl of Arundel followed, carrying the sceptre and the rod of ivory. Then came the Earl of Oxford, carrying the crown, followed by the Lord High Steward, the Earl Marshal's deputy and then the queen walking barefoot. Her canopy was carried by four of the Lords of the Cinque Ports. Her robe was held up by the Bishops of London and Winchester, and the train by the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.[19] Anne then rested for a short while on a chair, after which she prostrated in front of the altar,[20] a difficult task for a woman well into her pregnancy. She stood up, and was then anointed and crowned Queen of England by Archbishop Cranmer with St Edward's Crown. She was then handed the rod and the sceptre in her left and right hands respectively. The Queen's sceptre with a dove had been refurbished by Cornelis Hayes in May.[21]
A Te Deum was sung and the crown was then swapped for a lighter one made specifically for the queen, following which mass was held, with Anne receiving the sacrament and making offerings at Saint Edward the Confessor's shrine.[20]
Anne then retired for a brief rest, after which the procession returned to Westminster Hall with the newly crowned queen supported by
References
- ^ "Doubts raised over Anne Boleyn portraits". Hever Castle. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ Spender, Anna. "The many faces of Anne Boleyn" (PDF). Hever Castle. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ Warnicke 1991, p. 123.
- ^ "Henry VIII". Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Warnicke 1991, p. 130.
- ^ Friedmann 1884, p. 205.
- ^ "Anne Boleyn". Historic Royal Palaces. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Williams 1971, p. 124.
- ^ Lehman 2011, p. 292.
- ^ "Anne Boleyn". Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Sydney Anglo, Spectacle Pageantry, and Early Tudor Policy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969), pp. 247–8.
- ^ Alice Hunt, The Drama of Coronation (Cambridge, 2008), p. 53.
- ^ Alice Hunt, The Drama of Coronation (Cambridge, 2008), p. 51.
- ^ Sydney Anglo, Spectacle Pageantry, and Early Tudor Policy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969), p. 248.
- ^ Alice Hunt, The Drama of Coronation (Cambridge, 2008), p. 57.
- ^ a b Benger 1827, p. 439.
- ^ Sydney Anglo, Spectacle Pageantry, and Early Tudor Policy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969), pp. 248–261.
- ^ Friedmann 1884, p. 208.
- ^ a b Benger 1827, p. 444.
- ^ a b Benger 1827, p. 445.
- ^ Arthur J. Collins, Jewels and Plate of Elizabeth I (London, 1955), pp. 14, 268.
- ^ Benger 1827, p. 446.
Sources
- Williams, Neville (1971). Henry VIII and His Court. Macmillan Pub Co. ISBN 978-0-02-629100-2.
- Lehman, H. Eugene (2011). Lives of England's Reigning and Consort Queens. AuthorHouse Publishing. ]
- Ridgway, Claire (31 May 2011). "31 May 1533 – Anne Boleyn's Coronation Procession". The Anne Boleyn Files. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- Ridgway, Claire (June 2015). "1st June 1533 – The noble triumphant coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn". The Anne Boleyn Files. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- Warnicke, Retha M. (1991). The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521406772. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- The noble tryumphaunt coronacyon of quene Anne wyfe vnto the moost noble kynge Henry the .viij. 1533. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- Benger, Elizabeth (1827). Memoirs of the Life of Anne Boleyn, Queen of Henry VIII. Longmans, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. p. 445. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- Friedmann, Paul (1884). Anne Boleyn: a chapter of English history, 1527-1536. Books on Demand. ISBN 9780598566720. Retrieved 11 June 2022.