On May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, was executed at the Tower of London and hastily buried in an unmarked grave in front of the altar at St. Peter’s ad Vincula. Her body was reportedly crammed into a simple wooden chest. She was forgotten about for the next 300 or so years.
Anne Boleyn was born into an aristocratic family sometime between 1501 and 1507. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard. She spent her teenage years in the Netherlands and France, learning about art, fashion, and religion.
In 1521, she returned to England and became a lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII. The king had become smitten with her by 1522, but she refused to be his mistress.
Pope Clement VII also wouldn’t annul Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, so Henry broke away from the Catholic Church in order to marry Anne.
Their marriage was the catalyst for the English Reformation, separating England from Rome. Anne was the Queen of England from 1533 to 1536.
She gave birth to a daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, but failed to produce a male heir. She suffered multiple miscarriages and stillbirths. Henry VIII turned against her for not giving him a son.
In 1536, Anne discovered that her husband was having an affair with Jane Seymour, one of her ladies-in-waiting. The shock caused Anne to have a miscarriage in early February.
Henry VIII decided to have her removed. She was accused of treason and adultery with several men, including her own brother. She was imprisoned in the Tower of London on May 2. On May 17, her marriage was annulled, and she was executed by sword on May 19.
It wasn’t until 1876, when repairs were being made to the Tower, that Anne was thought to have resurfaced. During the renovations, bones and a decapitated head were discovered under the altar at St. Peter’s ad Vincula.
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The remains belonged to a woman between the ages of 25 and 35.
They were assumed to be Anne’s, but Henry VIII also disposed of Katherine Howard, his fifth wife, in the same manner. Other women, including Margaret Pole, Lady Jane Grey, Lady Rochford, and the Countess of Salisbury, were beheaded and buried in the same place as well.
Only four bodies were uncovered, even though five headless women had been buried there. Katherine Howard’s remains had seemingly disappeared, possibly due to the quicklime in the graves.
Queen Victoria had the bodies placed in individual coffins with memorial plaques displaying their names, and each one was given a proper reburial under the altar.
By the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, it was generally accepted that her mother, Anne Boleyn, was innocent of the charges against her.
Today, Anne’s final resting place is believed to be at the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula within the Tower of London. But some theories claim that Anne was secretly buried somewhere else to protect her legacy or that her remains were moved or misidentified.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
