Coronation Of Anne Boleyn

The coronation of Anne Boleyn as Queen of England took place at Westminster Abbey, London, England, on 1 June 1533. The new queen was King Henry VIII's second wife, to whom he had remarried following the annulment of his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

The queen was visibly pregnant at the time of her coronation, and the usage of St Edward's Crown, which had been reserved for reigning monarchs, sought to legitimize Anne as the new queen, along with her unborn child, the long-awaited male heir. The coronation was proceeded by an elaborate procession, which started the day prior at the Tower of London. Although the celebrations for Queen Anne's coronation were lavish, the general populace did not receive her well, which was clearly illustrated in contemporary accounts.

Background

After over two decades of marriage to Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII of England still had no male heir: his only legitimate child was the Princess Mary. Desperate to secure the fledgling Tudor dynasty, Henry sought to have his marriage annulled on the grounds that Catherine has previously been married to Prince Arthur, Henry's deceased older brother. Further motivation seems to have come from his infatuation with Anne Boleyn, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine. Pope Clement VII denied his request, likely under duress from Catherine's nephew, Emperor Charles V, who was holding Clement prisoner. Faced with this situation, Henry split England from Rome, beginning the English Reformation.

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, which had secretly been performed in Dover.

Procession

Prior to the coronation itself, on 31 May 1533, there was a triumphant coronation procession from the Tower of London to Westminster Hall in anticipation of the Queen's coronation. The event was intended to begin at two in the afternoon, but ended up taking place three hours late. The spectacle was not only an affirmation that Anne was the legitimate wife and queen of the King, but also that she was pregnant with the heir to the throne of England. The procession traveled through major streets of the city; along the way, Anne was entertained with sumptuous displays. According to a contemporary pamphlet, the mayor of London and his entourage then received the Queen. The procession then travelled to the northwest of the Tower, soon arriving at Fenchurch Street, where she was greeted with a pageant consisting of children dressed as English and French merchants. 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. Continuing down Gracechurch Street, the procession halted at Leadenhall for yet another spectacle: a castle, with a rose at the top with red and white roses that sprung 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.

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.
The mayor and alderman, 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. 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. Anne then rested for a short while on a chair, after which she prostrated in front of the altar, a laborious task for a woman well into her pregnancy. She stood up and was anointed and crowned Queen of England by Archbishop Cranmer with St Edward's Crown, and then she was handed the rod and the sceptre in her left and right hands respectively. The Te Deum was sung and the crown was then swapped with a lighter model 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.

Anne then retired for a brief rest, after which the procession returned to Westminster Hall with the newly crowned queen, wearing her crown, supported by her father and the Lord Talbot. Upon her return to the palace, she rested again while the celebratory feast was prepared.

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1536 in England
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Anne Boleyn