Anne Boleyn lost her head on this date in 1536.
She was never described as a great beauty, but even those who loathed her admitted that she had a dramatic allure. Her olive complexion and straight black hair gave her an exotic aura in a culture that saw milk-white paleness as essential to beauty. Her eyes were especially striking: ‘black and beautiful’ wrote one contemporary, while another averred they were ‘always most attractive,’ and that she ‘well knew how to use them with effect.’
Karen Lindsey, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry Viii
Anne’s charm lay not so much in her physical appearance as in her vivacious personality, her gracefulness, her quick wit and other accomplishments. She was petite in stature, and had an appealing fragility about her…she shone at singing, making music, dancing and conversation…Not surprisingly, the young men of the court swarmed around her.
Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Whatever, Henry VIII wanted her badly enough to overthrow the Church in England.
Anne was the mother of Elizabeth I. Interesting that two such promiscuous parents gave birth to the Virgin Queen.