30 Unforeseen Facts About Anne Boleyn

30 Unforeseen Facts About Anne Boleyn

Trista - February 11, 2019

30 Unforeseen Facts About Anne Boleyn
A German engraving c. 1830, showing Anne Boleyn’s execution. Lisby/ Public Domain/ Atlasobscura.

2. She Was the First, But Not Last, Monarch to be Publicly Beheaded

Anne’s death was a notable first that most people probably would not be too keen to set. She was initially sentenced to burn at the stake, but Henry must have felt a twinge of sympathy when he changed the method of execution to beheading. He even had an expert swordsman brought in from France to do the deed, rather than leave it to a regular axeman (read: butcher).

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