Anne Boleyn

(1501-1536) The second wife of Henry VIII; she refused to be his mistress and would only give herself to him as his wife, never mind that Henry had been married to Katherine of Aragon for over twenty years. Henry's efforts to discard Katherine, who had been able to produce one living child out of six, their daughter Mary, and Anne's determination to become the queen sparked the English Reformation. Ultimately, Anne, like Katherine before her, was under enormous pressure to bear sons; she was only able to bear Henry a daughter, Elizabeth I, a stillborn son, and miscarried two other children. Impatient for a son and fed up by Anne's refusal to switch to the demure, submissive role of a wife, Henry had Anne arrested on fabricated charges of adultery, treason, and incest with her brother and had her beheaded.