Mary's life would be changed forever when Anne Boleyn caught King Henry's attention. Porter writes of Anne, "To her enemies, she was nothing more than an upstart schemer, an alluring opportunist who seduced the king from the affections of the lawful wife, bastardized and ill treated his daughter and opened the floodgates for the tide of new religious ideas to sweep over England." [5] Indeed, Anne was Mary's enemy.
Some may argue that Anne had a vast amount of influence over King Henry VIII. A PBS documentary titled Inside the Court of Henry VIII notes that Anne helped usher in the Protestant Reformation into England. "When Henry fell for Anne, he brought more than a woman into his heart. He brought Protestant Rebellion....She is effectively educating the king in the new religion." Anne used the Protestant disassociation from the Pope to support a breakaway from the Church. In other words, the Pope was not the leader of the Christian faith, rather he was "the enemy of God." [6]
(PBS documentary Inside the Court of Henry VIII. See timeframe 21:00-22:00 in the video to see how Anne Boleyn brought Protestantism into King Henry's court.)
Anne's rise to power through her influence over King Henry VIII had a direct effect in Mary's life. Once Anne helped convince Henry VIII to break away from the Catholic Church and declare himself supreme head of his own English Church, he was free to do as he pleased—which meant obtaining the long awaited divorce. At the age of 15 in February 1531, Mary was stressed out over her parents' bickering. It was reported that she suffered from "painful periods" brought about by the onset of menstruation and also had "emotional fluctuations." [7]
In April of 1533, Mary became aware of her father's second marriage to Anne. On that same day, according to an imperial ambassador sent to notify Mary of her father's second marriage, Mary was told to cease communications with her beloved mother. Subsequently, on May 23, 1533, Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, declared that King Henry's marriage to Katherine was null and void. [8]
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The Real "Bloody Mary" ✓
Non-Fiction"Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary." She's held responsible for the burning of nearly 300 protestants, granting her the infamous title little girls chant today in dark mirrors. But do you know her true story? The story of how her father bastardi...
