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conception was impossible Henry's eye began to wander. It landed on Anne Boleyn.

Anne's sister Mary was one of a few known mistresses that the king kept. Elizabeth Blount was the only known mistress to give Henry a son, who was named Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond. Determined not to be just another one of the king's mistresses, Anne rejected his advances unless he promised to marry her. In return, a young and fertile Anne, vowed to give Henry what he desired most - a son.

The King's Great Matter was a series of events that eventually led to the annulment of Henry and Catherine's marriage, illegitimizing Mary and separating England from the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Henry read in Leviticus that taking your brother's wife would result in a childless marriage. The lack of a son in their 24 year marriage convinced Henry that Catherine had lied - her marriage with Arthur must have been consummated. Thus marrying her meant Henry had committed a sin against God and would not be given a son as long as he remained married to her.

Henry sought an annulment from the Pope. Catherine begged for help from her nephew Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. The final decision of the Pope was dragged on for years until both Henry and Anne could stand it no more. After a trip to Calais to seek approval from the the French King in support of their marriage Anne became pregnant. Henry immediately split from Rome, made himself the head of the Church of England and simply granted himself an annulment. He wed Anne in a private ceremony in January 1533.

When Anne delivered a girl, the future Queen Elizabeth I, in September 1533 Henry was disappointed. Anne promised to give him a son and in a matter of months she was pregnant again. After a miscarriage Henry was all but done with Anne and looking for a way out of his marriage without having to go back to Catherine. A beautiful, young attendant of Anne's, Jane Seymour, was beginning to capture the affections of Henry and he became desperate to get rid of Anne. After another miscarriage that was reported to be a boy Henry had had enough. He ordered his men to come up with enough evidence to have Anne arrested and put to trial.

Anne was falsely accused and convicted of incest and adultery, crimes punishable by death. Henry had an expert swordsman come in from France as to give Anne a quicker, more humane death instead of facing the axe, that often required more than one strike to do the deed. Ten days later Henry and Jane Seymour were

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