Henry and Anne Fighting

From Exploring the Tudors:

The reasons for Anne Boleyn´s downfall is a hotly debated topic. An important question in this ongoing debate is whether or not Henry wanted to rid himself of his queen. And if he did, what were the reasons for this? Some believe that he thought that Anne was unable to give him the son he so desperately wanted and needed, and that he for this reason looked to new possible brides. Others blame the people around Henry for conspiring to bring down the Queen by bringing forth false accusations against her. What was actually the case, we might never know.

However, we do know that Henry and Anne were fighting, and this only a few days before she was arrested and sent to the Tower. The Scottish theologian and reformer Alexander Alesius wrote in a letter to Elizabeth I, Henry and Anne´s daughter, on September 1st 1559:

Never shall I forget the sorrow which I felt when I saw the most serene Queen, your most religious mother, carrying you, still a little baby, in her arms and entreating the most serene King, your father, in Greenwich Palace, from the open window of which he was looking into the courtyard, when she brought you to him. I did not perfectly understand what had been going on, but the faces and gestures of the speakers plainly showed that the King was angry, although the could conceal his anger wonderfully well. Yet from the protracted conference of the Council (from whom the crowd was waiting until it was quite dark, expecting that they would return to London,) it was most obvious to everyone that some deep and difficult question was being discussed.

Many have interpreted this discussion to be connected to Anne´s downfall. In popular fiction, like the TV-series The Tudors for instance, this particular event has been interpreted to be about Anne´s failure to produce an heir. In the scene we can see a very distressed Anne who is holding her daughter in her arms while begging Henry to give her another chance. (Read more.)

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