WEBVTT - Beheaded 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.760 Hey listeners, before today's episode, I wanted to let you 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:09.080 know about a brand new podcast called Strange Arrivals that's 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:11.400 produced by Aaron Manky and the entire team at I 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:15.320 Heart Radio. Strange Arrivals is a ten part mini series 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.239 about the occurrence that happened when Betty and Barney Hill 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:21.239 were driving through the White Mountains of New Hampshire when 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:23.239 they were faced with a flash of light in the 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:27.720 sky and said they were abducted by aliens. Host Toby 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:30.560 Ball will examine the Hills story and ask the question 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:34.240 what really happened that night in New Hampshire. So keep 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:38.120 listening after today's episode for an amazing trailer about the series, 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:41.360 and listen to Strange Arrivals on the I Heart Radio app, 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:47.159 Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:50.520 Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:59.639 and Mild from Aaron Minky. Listener discretion is advised, they 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:04.160 say at after decapitation, the human brain can remain conscious 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:08.040 for several seconds, maybe even up to a minute, even 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:11.160 without fresh blood being pumped up from the heart. The 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:15.959 brain still has oxygen and neurons firing rapidly in confusion 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:20.679 her pain. They say that when Anne Boleyn's head fell 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:24.640 from her body into the straw waiting below, her dark, 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:28.720 intelligent eyes still flickered and blinked, and that her white 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:32.520 lips pressed together and apart, as if she was trying 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:37.520 to say one last thing. It seems fitting that even 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:40.720 in death, Anne would try to continue to speak. It 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.640 was her silver tongue that had initially charmed the king, 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:47.120 back when Anne was just a lady in waiting. No 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:50.280 one ever described her as the most beautiful girl at court, 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:53.240 although she was striking with her dark hair and her 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:57.960 milky skin so pale it was almost translucent. No, it 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:01.720 was her wit and her intelligence, her innate ability to 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:05.000 know exactly how to flirt without seeming like she was 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:09.760 trying to flirt. Anne engaged with poets and philosophers, and 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:13.800 debated issues of politics and religion. Henry had loved that 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:16.520 about Anne back when he was pursuing her, that she 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:20.440 had challenged and teased him, but he found those qualities 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:24.480 far less compelling in a wife. Henry the Eighth did 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:28.079 Anne one kindness in her beheading. He had brought in 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:31.840 the hangman of Calais, known for his skill and accuracy 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:35.799 with the sword to do her decapitation, to liberate her 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:39.720 head from her neck in one smooth motion, instead of 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:42.200 the typical englishman with an axe, who was known to 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:45.200 sometimes take two or even three swings to get the 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:49.840 job done. The five men accused of being Anne's lovers 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:55.080 had been executed by Englishmen back when Henry was in 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:58.640 love with Anne. He disposed of his loyal wife twenty 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:02.679 four years and come completely overthrew the foundation of religion 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:05.760 in England along the way. It was all for the 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:09.200 promise of being with Anne, and for the promise of 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:13.040 the son that she would bear him. When that son 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:18.919 didn't come, obsession soured in Henry into something corrosive and hateful. 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:23.880 It would cost Anne her life. She had played the 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:27.920 game well enough, masterfully really, to become a queen, but 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.640 in the end there was nothing she could do to 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:36.560 save her own life. I'm danishchwartz and this is noble blood. 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:47.040 When Anne Boleyn found out that Henry's first wife, Catherine 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:51.040 of Arragon, died, Anne exhaled with a mixture of relief 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:54.720 and pleasure. As head of the Church of England, Henry 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.960 had officially declared himself divorced from Catherine, and he had 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:01.520 married Anne. But Catherine still was calling herself the Queen 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:04.760 of England. And as much as Anne hated to admit it, 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:09.320 the people had loved Catherine. They hissed a Anne in 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:13.640 the streets, called her Henry's goggalied whore. But now that 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.800 Catherine was dead, there was to be no more confusion. 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.839 There was one Queen of England, one wife of Henry 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:26.480 the eighth, Anne Boleyn. Anne had entranced Henry when she 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:30.360 returned from a childhood in the French court, instantly astonishing 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:33.800 the English with her wit and daring French fashion and 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:39.480 her allegedly dazzling repertoire of sexual foreplay. When Anne arrived 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:43.839 all glamor and fresh promise, Henry the eighth was facing 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:48.800 the massive issue of his wife, Katherine. After two decades 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:53.400 of marriage and half a dozen miscarriages, Catherine was entering menopause, 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:58.679 having only given Henry a single daughter. The Tutor dynasty 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:02.160 started only by Henr His father needed sons if it 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:06.160 were to continue to survive. Without a clear line of succession, 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:10.400 England could once again be plunged into a miserable civil war. 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:15.080 But what were Henry's options. His Spanish wife was powerful 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:18.640 and connected. Her nephew was the Holy Roman Emperor who 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:22.039 had the Vatican under his thumb. But if everything was 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:24.960 supposed to work out with Catherine, if everything was so perfect, 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:28.599 then why hadn't God given them a son? That was 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:32.520 the nagging voice in the back of Henry's head. After all, 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:36.600 Catherine had been married to Henry's older brother, Arthur First 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:40.600 for six months, until Arthur died of the sweating sickness. 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:45.680 Didn't the Bible forbid marrying your brother's wife. Catherine had 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.640 sworn that the marriage had never been consummated, and the 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:52.960 Vatican offered special dispensation. But what if she had been lying? 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:56.760 What if that was the reason that God was cursing 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:01.400 Henry with a lack of sons? And then Anne appeared, flirting, 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:05.279 making Henry feel away that he couldn't remember feeling for 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:09.599 a long time. He was still in his thirties, vital. 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:12.560 With a new wife, he could have a dozen sons. 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:17.160 Although he begged Anne, she refused to be his royal mistress, 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.800 refused to even sleep with him unless they were married. 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:26.640 Unless you divorce Katherine and marry me, Anne said, Catherine 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:30.080 of Arragon was banished to a remote palace and told 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:34.000 she was no longer Queen. Henry declared himself head of 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:38.160 the Church of England. While the nation protested and hurled 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:43.400 insults Anne, Henry married her in a secret ceremony. Within months, 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:47.760 she was pregnant. All of Henry's advisers, all of the doctors, 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.680 and the soothsayers said that this would be the son 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:54.080 he was waiting for, the boy that would show that 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:56.400 God was pleased with him and that he made the 0:06:56.520 --> 0:07:04.799 right choice. When the doctor nervously announced that Queen Anne 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:09.120 had given birth to a healthy baby girl, Henry couldn't 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:13.160 hide his disdain or his anger. But Anne loved her daughter, 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:17.400 the little girl they named Elizabeth. Anne played with her 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:21.880 dangling fingers over her bassinet, cooing at her beautiful daughter 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:25.840 with golden curls. Anne knew that there was still time 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:27.800 for her to have a son, still time for her 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:31.680 to secure her position, even if Henry's eye had already 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:36.360 begun to wander while Anne was on bedrest for her pregnancy, 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:40.360 while Catherine of Arragon had diplomatically turned a blind eye 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:46.080 to Henry's philandering, Anne became furious. She was jealous and 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:49.280 hot headed, with a biting tongue that never demurred from 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:52.880 a fight. But also, Catherine had been born and raised 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:57.160 a princess. Anne had once been a commoner. She had 0:07:57.160 --> 0:07:59.440 been a lady in waiting who caught Henry's eye and 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:03.200 usurped a queen, and so she was perfectly aware that 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:07.720 the exact same thing could happen to her. Nothing protected 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:15.480 her except the possibility of a son. Anne got pregnant again, 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:20.120 and the court instantly began celebrating. When she miscarried just 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:23.640 three months later, it was so embarrassing that it wasn't 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:28.559 publicly announced, just a shameful whisper that circulated amongst the court, 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:34.000 starting with the woman who had changed Anne's bedsheets. Henry 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.760 and Anne both believed what everyone believed back in the 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:40.520 fifteen hundreds, that a miscarriage was a failure on the 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:44.400 part of the woman, a sign of God's ultimate displeasure. 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:49.640 The next miscarriage, too, was another tightly kept secret, and 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.800 the third was so well hidden that it's impossible to 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:56.679 trace when it actually occurred. By the time Catherine of 0:08:56.760 --> 0:09:00.160 Arragon finally died, Anne was well aware that she was 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:04.760 carrying what could very well be her final hope. Anne 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:07.680 and Henry had been married for three years, but already 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:11.400 he had stopped coming to her bedroom. He ignored her 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:14.319 when he could, spending most of his time doating on 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:20.160 one of Anne's own ladies, Jane Seymour. Plain, obedient, soft spoken, 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:25.840 Jane Seymour, the exact opposite of Anne in every conceivable way. 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:30.720 Henry newly besott it gave Jane Seymour a locket containing 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:34.360 his portrait. Jane made the mistake of wearing it and 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.160 flicking it open and shut like a schoolgirl in love. 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:41.080 When Anne entered the room and saw the necklace, she 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:44.480 ripped it off Jane's neck with so much force that 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:49.560 Anne's fingers bled. The country already hated Anne, and she 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.760 had made powerful enemies in court. By pulling Henry away 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:57.040 from Catherine and away from the Catholic Church, Anne had 0:09:57.160 --> 0:10:00.840 very few cards left to play. The old thing keeping 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:03.839 her in power was the child in her belly and 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:07.160 Henry's love for her, and that seemed to be diminishing 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:12.800 every day. Neither Henry nor Anne attended Catherine of Argan's funeral, 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:15.400 where she was laid to rest, not with the title 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:20.880 of former Queen but of dowager princess. That exact day, 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:28.559 miles away, Anne Boleyn miscarried a baby boy. Reports at 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:32.120 the time say that the cold, still tiny boy was 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:36.440 perfect and beautiful. Years later people would write that it 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:41.080 was misshapen, that it had physical deformities, evidence of its 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:46.760 mother committing some truly awful sin, adultery, incest, or witchcraft. 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:49.840 But at the time there didn't need to be any 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:53.280 further proof. The sun that could have saved her life 0:10:53.280 --> 0:11:00.280 was dead, and Anne Boleyn's fate was sealed. A man's 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:04.240 behavior became panicked and erratic. The man who had once 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.080 been so wildly in love with her he overthrew the 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:10.600 entire religious foundation of a nation, was now writing love 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:14.440 letters to another woman. Henry had stopped coming to her bed. 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:19.800 She was the queen, but she was also becoming increasingly 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:23.560 aware of what a precarious position that was. When her 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:28.040 king was Henry the Eighth, Anne engaged one of the 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:31.520 king's close friends, Sir Henry Norris, one afternoon to ask 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:35.840 him why he was still unmarried. An flirtation was normal 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:39.240 expected even if a queen. A queen was meant to 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.559 be beloved by all the knightly men of a kingdom 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.679 to inspire love and loyalty in them. But when Sir 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:50.199 Henry Norris demered, Anne continued pressing closer to him in 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:54.640 the hallway than might have been prudent. I think, Anne, per, 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:58.640 that you're waiting to marry a rich widow, you look 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:03.440 for dead men's shoe. Is that so, Sir Henry Norris replied, 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:07.800 smiling just a little bit. Anne looked into his eyes. 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:10.600 I think if something were to happen to the king, 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:16.040 you would look to marry me. Sir Henry Norris's smile disappeared. 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.400 To even think such a thing would cost me my head? 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:23.840 He said. Anne had crossed the line from courtly flirtation 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:28.079 to outrighte treason. It was a good thing. Anne thought, 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:30.760 as she returned to her chamber that night, that no 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:35.000 one had heard them. Another night, one of Anne Boleyn's 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:39.640 ladies in waiting, Lady Wooster, spent a banquet drinking slightly 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:42.520 too much wine and dancing slightly too close to one 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:46.440 or two eligible men. The next day, Lady Wooster's brother 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:49.480 confronted her and told her that she needed to stop 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:54.720 her behavior before her reputation was ruined. Lady Wooster just laughed. 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:57.920 If you think I'm bad, she said, I'm nothing compared 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:00.959 to the Queen. Anne has men her bed chamber late 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:04.880 at night all the time, including a certain Mark Smeaton. 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:09.040 Smeaton was a court musician, and Lady Wooster wasn't the 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:12.600 only one who noticed that Anne seemed to particularly enjoy 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:17.520 his company. Within days of the conversation between Lady Wooster 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:21.079 and her brother, Mark Smeaton was taken in for questioning 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:26.160 by the King's Chief Minister, Thomas Cromwell. We don't know 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:30.800 what happened behind closed doors, whether Smeaton was tortured or coerced. 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:34.520 He might have even been telling the truth. It's impossible 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:38.840 to know, but Mark Smeaton confessed to Thomas Cromwell that 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:43.160 he had slept with Queen Anne Boleyn on three separate occasions. 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:47.319 Anne Boleyn was arrested while she was watching a tennis 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:50.440 match and brought to a dim room where she was 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:54.720 interrogated by three men on charges of adultery and treason. 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:59.640 They asked her about Mark Smeaton. Anne was completely baffled 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:04.080 and indignant. She denied ever sleeping with anyone except her husband, 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:08.360 the King. They asked about the conversation she had had 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:13.000 with Sir Henry Norris. This time Anne sputtered a little, 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:16.880 but still her point was clear. She hadn't sinned against 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:21.400 the King. The three men interrogating her were stony faced 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:27.360 and cruel, completely unmoved. Her lovers had already confessed, they 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:31.920 told her. Anne was escorted back to her chamber. She 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:36.680 and her ladies sat down to a silent dinner. None 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:40.040 of Anne's ladies made eye contact with her. The few 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:45.480 servants standing nearby barely managed to conceal her tears. That 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:49.200 very afternoon, Anne was brought to the Tower of London. 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.440 She was given no time to pack clothes or any 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:55.600 personal belongings, and though she begged to say goodbye to 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:59.200 her daughter Elizabeth, the guards pretended not to hear her. 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:06.400 Most criminals were brought to the tower in the middle 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:09.240 of the night. Anne was brought by barge down the 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:13.320 River Thames in broad daylight, with crowds gawking at her 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:16.880 and shouting as she went by. Anne begged to see 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.880 the king. If she could see Henry face to face, 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.920 if she could just talk to him, she could charm 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:25.920 him like she had before. She could remind him of 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:29.120 his love for her. He must have some tiny ounce 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:32.360 of affection for her left in his heart. Anne didn't 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:35.440 know that she and Henry would never lay eyes on 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:39.840 each other ever again. At five p m. She arrived 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:43.440 at the Tower of London, dazed and terrified. Am I 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:46.880 to be put in the dungeons? She said? The guards 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.360 shook his head. Anne was to be brought to the 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:53.360 Royal Apartments, the very same rooms that she had stayed 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:57.120 in the night before her coronation. The rooms had been 0:15:57.240 --> 0:16:02.800 unused since. Hearing the Anne flung herself onto the cobblestones. 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:06.840 It is too good for me, she sobbed A cannon 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:10.640 on the tower wharf thundered. It was the sound that 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.440 rang when a person of nobility was brought to be 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:17.800 imprisoned in the fortress. It echoed through the city, causing 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:23.360 excitement and speculation. King Henry, deep inside the palace, didn't 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:27.800 hear it. He wouldn't make another public appearance until after 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:33.480 Anne was dead and buried. The man in charge of 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:36.000 Anne's custody while she was in the Tower of London 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:40.680 was a former knight named Sir William Kingston. Kingston was 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.000 tall and in his youth had been a strong and 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:47.600 triumphant jouster, even facing off against the king. He had 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:50.960 been devoted to Queen Catherine throughout his long career, but 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:54.520 even so during Anne's imprisonment he would only ever treat 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:58.400 her with courtesy and kindness. All of Anne's servants have 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:02.840 been dismissed replay eased by five new ladies, all spies 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:06.520 who were tasked with asking Anne about her alleged lovers 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:10.720 and her treasonous conversations, and then reporting back her answers 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:15.800 to Thomas Cromwell. But Anne never said anything incriminating. Instead, 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:19.760 her spies just reported that her mood shifted wildly from 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:24.439 wretching sobs to ecstatic laughter. Sometimes Anne would just burst 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:28.040 out laughing and say that history would remember her as 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:32.280 Anne the Headless. My innocence will save me, won't it. 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:35.080 I am innocent, and so the law will save me. 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:39.240 Anne thought maybe Henry was just testing her. He loved her, 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:41.639 didn't he. Even if he had tired of her, he 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:46.440 probably wouldn't kill her. Anne was accused of adultery with 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:50.720 five men, including her own brother, even though all of 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:53.800 the men, with the exception of Mark Smeaton, had proclaimed 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:57.280 their innocence the number was a calculated move on the 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:00.800 part of Thomas Cromwell and the King. One man could 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:04.480 be a mistake, but Anne being accused of intimacy with 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:10.560 five men the accusation alone cemented her guilt. When Anne 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:13.600 was called to her tribunal to stand before the jury 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.920 of twenty six men and listened to the allegations against her, 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:21.280 she didn't dress like she was walking to her death sentence. Instead, 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:24.959 Anne wore a black velvet gown and a red petticoat, 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:27.760 as if she were dressed to be awarded a medal 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:31.600 at some noble ceremony. She wasn't allowed to bring any 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:35.440 witnesses or have any legal counsel. All Anne could do 0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:38.960 was continued to proclaim her innocence, to offer the best 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:42.960 defense she could, speaking with the eloquence and the intelligence 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:50.760 that Henry had once fallen in love with. Never before 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:54.720 in English history had a queen been sentenced to death. 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:58.920 Henry was just trying to scare her and thought, trying 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:02.320 to soothe herself to stave off the panic, maybe she 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:06.199 would just be banished. The Duke of Norfolk had tears 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.240 in his eyes when he read out the sentence. Anne 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:12.600 was his niece, his own sister's child. Some might have 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:16.359 thought that he was crying in grief or pity. Really, 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:18.919 though it was more likely he was crying for his 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:24.880 own lost honor and status. He read aloud, for offending 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:29.080 our Sovereign, the King, in committing treason against his person, 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:33.080 Anne Boleyn is sentenced to be burned within the Tower 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:36.080 of London on the Green, or else to have her 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:40.840 head cut off. Anne's expression didn't change when they read 0:19:40.880 --> 0:19:44.240 her sentence. She lifted her eyes at the sky, but 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:48.919 she didn't cry. She maintained her innocence. I am ready 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:52.439 to greet death, she said. Finally, I am just sorry 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:55.840 for the others who are innocent and the King's loyal subjects, 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:59.479 that they should share my fate and die because of me. 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:04.800 Kingston escorted Anne back to her chambers, and Anne asked 0:20:04.840 --> 0:20:08.600 to see a priest so that she could confess. The 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:14.320 Archbishop of Canterbury arrived to take Anne's final confession. Anne 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:17.000 was already sentenced to death. There was nothing she could 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:20.000 lose in confessing her sins now, and Anne knew that 0:20:20.040 --> 0:20:22.639 if she told a lie in confession, she would be 0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:27.000 damning her soul to eternal torment. She confessed to jealousy, 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:31.120 but nothing else. The archbishop asked if she was sure 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:35.240 she was done. Anne lowered her head. God knows that 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:37.879 I have not sinned against him in any other way. 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:42.119 Anne watched from her window as all five men, including 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:45.920 her own brother, were beheaded on the Tower Green. There 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:48.760 were whispers that Henry had put her in those rooms 0:20:48.800 --> 0:20:53.280 specifically so that she could see those deaths. Anne's own 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:57.320 death was still aways away. They were specifically constructing a 0:20:57.400 --> 0:21:01.439 new scaffolding for her so more OWDs could gather and 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:04.640 see their fallen queen end in a rush of blood. 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:08.160 Anne turned away from the constructions she could see from 0:21:08.160 --> 0:21:11.639 the window. I wish all this was over, that the 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:15.240 pain would just be finished already, she said to Kingston. 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:19.239 Kingston softly replied that he believed that when the end 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:25.080 finally came, there would be no pain, and when that 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:29.400 day finally came, Kingston helped Anne up the wooden steps 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:32.760 to the stage on the Green, accompanied by four ladies. 0:21:33.480 --> 0:21:36.920 The ladies helped Anne to undress her neck, taking off 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:39.480 her head dress and the small white fur cloak she 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:43.720 wore a symbol of royalty. They gathered Anne's hair in 0:21:43.760 --> 0:21:46.200 a linen cap so it wouldn't get in the way 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:50.199 of a sword. Anne whispered to her ladies and asked 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:54.440 them to pray for her. Unlike in an axe beheading, 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:59.399 a decapitation by sword required the victim to kneel very tall, 0:21:59.800 --> 0:22:03.399 a right on both knees. Anne took the position with 0:22:03.480 --> 0:22:06.160 as much grace as she could, but there was still 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:09.160 fear in her eyes and knew she had to keep 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:12.399 very still if the death was to be quick, But 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:15.480 she kept looking around, terrified for the moment when the 0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:19.399 man with the sword would make his attack. Madam, do 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:22.720 not fear, the swordsman said, I will wait until you 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:27.000 are ready. Anne said a few words before her death 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:31.560 to the crowd below the nearly two thousand Englishmen who 0:22:31.600 --> 0:22:36.479 had gathered for the spectacle. She accepted death, reasserted her 0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:40.199 innocence once more, and asked for the good people to 0:22:40.359 --> 0:22:44.160 pray for Henry and those who were sending her to death. 0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:49.000 While Anne was looking away, the swordsman pulled his blade 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:51.720 from a pile of straw, where it had been hidden 0:22:51.760 --> 0:22:55.879 so Anne wouldn't see. He wore no shoes so that 0:22:56.040 --> 0:22:58.920 his step would be silent, so that when he came 0:22:59.000 --> 0:23:03.800 up behind Anne, she wouldn't hear him, and then in 0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:08.240 one stroke, her head was gone, fallen in a bloody mass, 0:23:08.359 --> 0:23:12.040 into the pile of straw and sawdust. Waiting to welcome it. 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:17.480 One of Anne's ladies threw a white handkerchief over the head, 0:23:18.080 --> 0:23:21.880 and the crowd watched as it slowly dappled with red blood. 0:23:23.400 --> 0:23:28.160 The Queen of England was dead. Eleven days later, Henry 0:23:28.200 --> 0:23:38.120 the Eighth married Anne's lady in waiting, Jane Seymour. That's 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:41.640 the story of Anne Boleyn's death, but stick around after 0:23:41.680 --> 0:23:44.679 a brief sponsor break to hear a little bit about 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:58.360 Anne's afterlife. Anne Boleyn is one of the most famous 0:23:58.400 --> 0:24:01.959 and enigmatic figures in Alish history, and she's also one 0:24:02.000 --> 0:24:07.440 of England's most ubiquitous ghosts. According to a Victorian legend, 0:24:07.880 --> 0:24:10.720 on certain nights, if you're on the road towards Blickling 0:24:10.760 --> 0:24:14.440 Hall in Norfolk, where Anne was born, you might see 0:24:14.440 --> 0:24:17.879 a carriage passed by. If you happen to look inside, 0:24:18.480 --> 0:24:22.840 you'll see Anne bathed in a red glow and wearing 0:24:22.960 --> 0:24:27.639 a pure white dress, holding her head gently in her lap. 0:24:28.440 --> 0:24:31.040 The moment that the carriage arrives at the front of 0:24:31.040 --> 0:24:35.880 the house, it vanishes into Miss Anne can arrive at 0:24:35.880 --> 0:24:40.960 her destination, but she can't stay. Alison Weir has written 0:24:41.000 --> 0:24:45.119 extensively about Anne Boleyn and the myths and rumors surrounding 0:24:45.119 --> 0:24:48.280 her death, and so I defer to her expertise on 0:24:48.359 --> 0:24:52.120 the subject of Anne's ghosts, on which she writes as 0:24:52.119 --> 0:24:55.679 a historian. I make no further comment on the veracity 0:24:55.720 --> 0:25:06.480 of these stories or the existence of ghosts. Noble Blood 0:25:06.560 --> 0:25:08.840 is a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and 0:25:08.880 --> 0:25:12.040 Mild from Aaron Monkey. The show was written and hosted 0:25:12.040 --> 0:25:15.520 by Danis Schwartz and produced by Aaron Mankey, Matt Frederick, 0:25:15.800 --> 0:25:19.720 Alex Williams, and Trevor Young. Noble Blood is on social 0:25:19.760 --> 0:25:22.560 media at Noble Blood Tales, and you can learn more 0:25:22.560 --> 0:25:25.480 about the show over at Noble Blood Tales dot com. 0:25:25.520 --> 0:25:28.119 For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I 0:25:28.240 --> 0:25:31.560 Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 0:25:31.600 --> 0:25:45.040 your favorite shows. On September, Betty and Barney Hill cut 0:25:45.080 --> 0:25:48.000 their vacation short and decided to drive home. They were 0:25:48.000 --> 0:25:51.679 having difficulty finding their way around the city, and Barney 0:25:51.760 --> 0:25:54.600 decided he just wanted to drive home, knowing that they 0:25:54.600 --> 0:25:57.520 would arrive at their home on New Hampshire Sea Coast 0:25:57.880 --> 0:26:01.120 at about two o'clock in the morning. What they saw 0:26:01.160 --> 0:26:04.040 that night in the New Hampshire sky would change everything. 0:26:04.400 --> 0:26:08.359 I began walking across the highway, looking up at the 0:26:08.400 --> 0:26:12.160 object with the binoculars, putting them down, taking my head, saying, well, 0:26:12.160 --> 0:26:14.399 this yet can't be true. I don't believe it. A 0:26:14.520 --> 0:26:16.840 light in the sky. At first, she thought of a 0:26:16.880 --> 0:26:20.720 falling star, but she realized that following stars don't fall upwards, 0:26:20.760 --> 0:26:24.359 and that's what this one was doing. Two years later, 0:26:24.600 --> 0:26:27.439 the Hills would undergo hypnosis. How a boy did you 0:26:27.520 --> 0:26:30.440 regress that? Before? I started telling I just look back 0:26:30.920 --> 0:26:35.240 to the starting point of Montreal. A sinister story would emerge. 0:26:35.680 --> 0:26:38.560 He walk he's trying to start the car walked back. 0:26:41.600 --> 0:26:44.679 I think, well, I can't get away for this. I 0:26:44.720 --> 0:26:46.639 guess if I get the card or of like a 0:26:46.720 --> 0:26:50.200 brother than wits and hide that became known the world over. 0:26:51.119 --> 0:26:54.680 Doctor Simon gave me a post amatic suggestion. He said, 0:26:54.720 --> 0:26:57.760 if I wanted to, I could sketch the star map, 0:26:58.200 --> 0:26:59.679 but if I didn't want to, I didn't have to. 0:27:00.000 --> 0:27:03.280 So about two weeks later, I sketched. Their account has 0:27:03.280 --> 0:27:08.040