Anne Boleyn Quotes

Anne Boleyn's words feel stark and pleading, offering a glimpse of power, justice and mortality.

21 quotes

1. I heard say that the executioner was very good, he'd have to be, for I have a little neck!

2. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best.

3. O Death, rock me asleep, Bring me to quiet rest, Let pass my weary guiltless ghost Out of my careful breast.

4. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me.

5. Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die.

6. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.

7. Finish, good lady, the bright day is done, And we are for the dark.

8. Perhaps the safest guess for a modern historian is that Anne had indeed committed adultery with Norris and briefly with Mark Smeaton and that there was enough circumstantial evidence to cast reasonable doubt on the denials of the others. - George W. Bernard

9. Anne and five men were put to death by due process of law because the king wished to marry again ... Henry had now so far discarded scruple that to get his way he was prepared to appear as a cuckold and a victim of witchcraft. - Sir Geoffrey Elton

10. The plot against Anne Boleyn was most carefully calculated. Jane Seymour deliberately tantalised the king, at the same time poisoning his mind against Anne. The rest of the queen's enemies joined in the chorus when and how they could. - Eric Ives

11. For many historians Anne remains the lady with an extra fingernail who was too flirtatious, even in a harmless courtly way, for her own safety and well-being. The result of these interpretations is that the responsibility for her tragic death lies with her, the victim, rather than with the king and his ministers who orchestrated her execution: she miscarried a defective fetus in 1536. It was because Henry viewed this mishap both as an evil omen, both for his lineage and his kingdom, that he had her accused of engaging in illicit sexual acts with five men. - Retha Warnicke

12. To us she appears inconsistent - religious yet aggressive, calculating yet emotional, with the light touch of the courtier yet the strong grip of the politician : A woman in her own right - taken on her own terms in a man's world; a woman who mobilized her education, her style and her presence to outweigh the disadvantages of her sex; of only moderate good looks, but taking a court and a king by storm. Perhaps, in the end, it is Thomas Cromwell's assessment that comes nearest: intelligence, spirit and courage. - Eric Ives (1986)

13. The king has been very good to me. He promoted me from a simple maid to be a marchioness. Then he raised me to be a queen. Now he will raise me to be a martyr.

14. Remember me when you do pray that hope doth lead from day to day.

15. To Jesus Christ I commend my soul; Lord Jesus, receive my soul.

16. If it ever lay in my power, I will work the Cardinal as much displeasure as he has done to me.

17. King has absolute power. And what he has given he can taken away.

18. From a private gentlewoman you have made me first a marchioness, then a queen; and, as you can raise me no higher in the world, you are now sending me to be a saint in Heaven.

19. “Seduce me. Write letters to me. And poems, I love poems. Ravish me with your words. Seduce me.”

20. The executioner is, I believe, very expert; and my neck is very slender

21. “Ella yace en el suelo junto a mí...pero fuimos como dos mariposas nocturnas atraídas a la llama y quemadas.”