On this day in Tudor history, 1st June 1533, Whitsunday, Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey.
You can find out more about Anne Boleyn’s coronation in the video below, but here are a few facts:
Anne was 6 months pregnant.
She wore ermine-trimmed purple velvet coronation robes.
Her train was carried by her step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.
On this day in Tudor history, 29th May 1533, the day after Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn had been proclaimed valid, four days of celebrations began for Anne's coronation in London.
The first event, on 29th, was a lavish river procession on the Thames, which must have been a tremendous sight for citizens lining the banks. The procession was made up of over 300 river craft that were beautifully decorated. As well as carrying the queen and her ladies, bishops, noblemen and courtiers, a wherry carried a mechanical fire-breathing dragon surrounded by monsters and wild men. There were also lots of minstrels and musicians.
On this day in Tudor history, 1st June 1593, the inquest into the death of playwright, poet and translator Christopher Marlowe took place.
Twenty-nine-year-old Marlowe, writer of such famous works as “Tamburlaine”, “Dr Faustus” and “The Jew of Malta”, had been fatally stabbed at a house in Deptford Strand, London, by a man named Ingram Frizer on 30th May 1593, but what happened?
[Read More...]
In today’s #TudorHistoryShorts, I share a few facts about Queen Anne Boleyn’s coronation, which took place on this day in Tudor history, 1st June 1533, at Westminster Abbey.
[Read More...]
As it’s coming up to the anniversary of the coronation of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife, I thought we’d mark the occasion with an Anne Boleyn coronation quiz.
How much do you know about Anne Boleyn’s coronation celebrations and ceremony?
Test yourself with this fun quiz.
[Read More...]
Today, 26th July, is the feast day of St Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ. Happy St Anne’s Day to any Annes or Annas out there! Have a wonderful day!
St Anne was very important to Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I, and a pageant at her coronation procession in 1533 took St Anne, combined with Anne Boleyn’s falcon badge, as its theme.
Find out more about the pageant at Anne Boleyn’s coronation, and why St Anne was chosen as the theme, in today’s talk.
[Read More...]
On this day in Tudor history, on the night of 30th/31st May 1533, as part of the celebrations for Queen Anne Boleyn’s coronation, which was scheduled for 1st June, eighteen men were created Knights of the Bath.
What did this mean? What happened in this night-long ceremony?
Find out in today’s talk.
[Read More...]
Today is the 483rd anniversary of the coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII. What was interesting about her coronation is that she was crowned with the crown of St Edward, a crown usually reserved for crowning the reigning monarch, so her coronation was quite a statement. Whether the use of the crown was to do with Anne’s status or to do with her unborn child, who was, of course, expected to be a prince, it is still an interesting fact.
[Read More...]
Here are some links for primary source accounts of Anne Boleyn’s coronation, and the pageants and processions that went with it, on 1st June 1533:
[Read More...]