She is introduced to Henry by Thomas Boleyn, her father, after her sister Mary fails to keep Henry's interest prolonged. Anne Boleyn was Henry's wife for three years and four months before her execution, however Henry likely didn't believe the accusations against and simply wanted an excuse to be rid of Anne, of whom he was rapidly tiring. This was Anne's last chance to have a lasting marriage with Henry; shortly after she was accused of adultery, incest and treason, and she was executed at the Tower of London on May 19, One of the major factors that played a part in Anne's downfall was her failure to produce a male heir. She was caught in political trouble and paid the price for it with her life.

Despite having married six women and seduced countless more, Henry VIII is often depicted as something of a prude. But, as historian and author Amy Licence reveals, the story may have been quite different for the women who shared his bed…. While the church advocated regular but moderate sex within marriage — for mutual comfort and procreation — Tudor medicine stated the importance of sex for health. Without it, fluids and vapours were thought to build up in the body and cause fits, fever and illness. Aristocratic wives were expected to be models of chastity in order to produce heirs but their husbands might seek sexual satisfaction elsewhere, typically with women of the lower classes.

Crucially, her rise was a question of timing, coinciding with the king's resolution to divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon and remarry. Catherine's menopause occurred around , after seven childless years, convincing him that she would not bear him a male heir. By Anne had secured Henry's attention, which she maintained by refusing to become his mistress. The following year the king told Cardinal Campeggio, the papal legate, that he had not had intercourse with Catherine for two years, although they shared a bed for the sake of appearances.

Their marriage, and her execution for treason and other charges by beheading , made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that marked the start of the English Reformation. Anne returned to England in early , to marry her Irish cousin James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond ; the marriage plans were broken off, and instead she secured a post at court as maid of honour to Henry VIII's wife, Catherine of Aragon. Early in Anne was secretly betrothed to Henry Percy , son of Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland , but the betrothal was broken off when the Earl refused to support their engagement. She resisted his attempts to seduce her, refusing to become his mistress , which her sister Mary had been.