Anne Boleyn is one of the great enigmas of English history. Credited – or blamed – for Henry VIII’s break with Rome and the English Reformation, she is also the mother of one of England’s greatest monarchs, Queen Elizabeth I. Moreover, Anne Boleyn holds the tragic distinction of being the first queen of England to ever be executed. Historian Heather R. Darsie‘s new book, If Any Person Will Meddle of My Cause: The Judicial Murder of Anne Boleyn, looks into Anne’s queenship and execution – and how the law made her death possible.

And today we have a treat! An extract from the book, to give you a taste of what’s in store….

Welcome Heather!

Anne Boleyn Forces Legal Reform

By Heather R. Darsie, J. D.

Anne Boleyn is famously seen as the reason for Henry VIII breaking from the Catholic church. Her interest in at least reforming religion in England, if not going more toward the way of Martin Luther, made her a figurehead in some ways for underground efforts. In reality, Henry was finishing the work of his forbears from centuries before. He also quickly learned that he needed to pull away from Rome so that he could have full control of legal matters within his kingdom, without outside meddling or dawdling,

“Although Henry had grown frustrated over the confounding dithering of Clement VII and ineptitude of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in the handling of his Great Matter, the issue of Henry VIII’s annulment from Katharine of Aragon was not the biggest problem. The biggest problem was, Henry rapidly learned, that he had no control over his legal system in very important arenas when he needed it most. Aside from not having legal control, the lag time in communications being sent from London to Rome and back again contributed to the delay in Henry’s annulment proceedings, too.

Once Henry was set on his path inspired by Anne Boleyn, he learned just how much money was being kept out his coffers. Cardinal Wolsey started the process before his death, but Thomas Cromwell and Anne spurred Henry to continue shutting down religious institutions in an effort to redistribute the nation’s wealth in favour of crown and kingdom. None of these ideas were novel….

Loosening the church’s powers with England began at the very tail end of the High Middle Ages with Edward I of England. At the beginning of the thirteenth century with the enaction of Magna Carta, the passing of land to a corporation, like a church, without royal consent was forbidden. …Edward I enacted the Statutum de Viris Religiosis, or Statute of Religious Men, in 1279…It forbade the passage of any lands in mortmain [meaning “deadhand”] to any religious man. If anyone did pass their lands to a religious man, then those lands were forfeited…The goals of the Mortmain statutes were not achieved until Henry VIII’s Parliament passed several statutes in 1529 and one directly addressing mortmain in 1531. Henry then began dissolving the monasteries in the 1530s, something he arguably would not have done without being encouraged by his fixation on and love for Anne Boleyn…

Henry VIII was not the first king of England to challenge the pope’s authority. He was the fourth, although the laws of the first two kings were more or less forgotten by the time Henry started taking action. Edward III passed the first, overtly aggressive statutes against papal power, with his successor Richard II taking even stronger action…The laws fell by the wayside during the fifteenth century, not to be fully revived until Henry VIII needed to assert stronger control….

[Edward III] enacted the Statute of Praemunire Facias, or simply the Statute of Praemunire, in 1353. This statute severely curtailed the influence and outright meddling of papal authority and other foreign powers within England… The punishments for the Statute of Praemunire were…severe. Anyone who effectively requested foreign interference with any legal matter, temporal or ecclesiastical, that rightly was under the purview of the king of England’s courts, was at risk of imprisonment, being outlawed and forfeiting all their property, goods, lands, and chattel. These were extremely serious penalties.

Being outlawed meant that the person had no rights or legal protection. Effectively, they were stripped of personhood and did not exist. If the person were robbed and killed after being outlawed, no crime was committed because the person existed outside of the law. Being outlawed was a desperate state of living and reserved for only the worst criminals, as in some ways it was a fate worse than death. The only positive element of being outlawed was that a person, if they survived their term of outlawry, they could be allowed back into society. Once recognised as a legal person again, they were usually at a diminished station, but at least they were alive and had rights… [Updates] were made to the Statute of Praemunire in 1365, curtailing the ability of the papal court to act as a court of first impression or a court of appeal for matters arising in England…

Roughly twenty-five years later, Richard II continued his grandfather Edward III’s work… The 1393 Statute of Praemunire Facias, enhancing the law passed in 1353, did not allow the papal curia to hear any non-spiritual matters that were prejudicial to the king, or went against the customs and laws of England. Spiritual matters could still be heard in Rome, such as divorces and annulments. Anyone who violated the 1393 statute risked punishment by forfeiting all that they owned and being outlawed. The same punishment applied to anyone who aided and abetted them. This was where Henry VIII suffered from the decisions of his great-great-great-granduncle Richard II in Henry’s Great Matter with Katharine of Aragon. This is why Henry’s annulment proceeding simply had to be heard by the pope in Rome, unless Cardinal Wolsey could figure out a solution.…”

Henry VIII’s need for Anne Boleyn opened his eyes to the restrictions of his legal control within England. Their passion inspired Henry to complete the work that was begun hundreds of years before anyone conjured the name of ‘Anne Boleyn’.

For more, pick up a copy of If Any Person Will Meddle of My Cause: The Judicial Murder of Anne Boleyn, available via hardback and Kindle in the UK, or via Kindle internationally. Hardbacks are available for international pre-order, with release on 21 April 2026.

About the book:

Many people know about the dramatic rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s controversial second wife, but this is the first book to look at her life from a Continental perspective. Her role models for queenship came from the Low Countries and France, and this contributed to her tragic end. Heather R. Darsie reviews the political missteps and implications of Anne Boleyn’s queenship, delving into the threat she posed to Henry, and why legal changes made during the early years of the English Reformation allowed the English king to judicially murder his inconvenient queen.

Historically, certain things have been overlooked about Anne’s execution: she wore colours usually associated with martyrdom, announced that she did not come to preach, was killed by beheading instead of burning, and had a very crude burial in an unmarked grave. Anne tried to portray herself as a martyr, and Henry did everything he could to prevent her from reaching that status. If Any Person Will Meddle of My Cause is about Anne Boleyn, but not the Anne Boleyn you know.

About the Author:

Heather R. Darsie is an independent researcher in the US specializing in early modern history. She focuses on researching the Holy Roman Empire and England in the early 16th century. She is the author of ‘Anna, Duchess of Cleves‘, ‘Children of the House of Cleves‘ and ‘Katharine of Aragon, Spanish Princess‘. Her primary career is as an attorney. She runs the website MaidensAndManuscripts.com.

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Coming 30 March: Princesses of the Early Middle Ages

Daughters of kings were often used to seal treaty alliances and forge peace with England’s enemies. Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Conquest explores the lives of these young women, how they followed the stereotype, and how they sometimes managed to escape it. It will look at the world they lived in, and how their lives and marriages were affected by political necessity and the events of the time. Princesses of the Early Middle Ages will also examine how these girls, who were often political pawns, were able to control their own lives and fates. Whilst they were expected to obey their parents in their marriage choices, several princesses were able to exert their own influence on these choices, with some outright refusing the husbands offered to them.

Their stories are touching, inspiring and, at times, heartbreaking.

Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Conquest is now available for pre-order from Pen & Sword and Amazon.

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Scotland’s history is dramatic, violent and bloody and Scotland’s Medieval Queens have seen it all. This is the story of Scotland through their eyes. Available now from Amazon and Pen and Sword Books. Heroines of the Tudor World tells the stories of the most remarkable women from European history in the time of the Tudor dynasty, 1485-1603. These are the women who ruled, the women who founded dynasties, the women who fought for religious freedom, their families and love. Heroines of the Tudor World is now available from Amberley Publishing and Amazon UK. Women of the Anarchy demonstrates how Empress Matilda and Matilda of Boulogne, unable to wield a sword themselves, were prime movers in this time of conflict and lawlessness. It shows how their strengths, weaknesses, and personal ambitions swung the fortunes of war one way – and then the other. Available from Bookshop.org, Amberley Publishing and Amazon UK. King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye is the story of a truly remarkable lady, the hereditary constable of Lincoln Castle and the first woman in England to be appointed sheriff in her own right. Available from all good bookshops Pen & Sword Books, bookshop.org and Amazon. 

Defenders of the Norman Crown: The Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey tells the fascinating story of the Warenne dynasty, from its origins in Normandy, through the Conquest, Magna Carta, the wars and marriages that led to its ultimate demise in the reign of Edward III. Available from Pen & Sword Books, Amazon in the UK and US, and Bookshop.org. Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England looks into the relationships of the various noble families of the 13th century, and how they were affected by the Barons’ Wars, Magna Carta and its aftermath; the bonds that were formed and those that were broken. It is now available in paperback and hardback from Pen & Sword, Amazon, and Bookshop.org. Heroines of the Medieval World tells the stories of some of the most remarkable women from Medieval history, from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Julian of Norwich. Available now from Amberley Publishing and Amazon, and Bookshop.org. Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest traces the fortunes of the women who had a significant role to play in the momentous events of 1066. Available now from Amazon,  Amberley Publishing, and Bookshop.org.

Alternate Endings: An anthology of historical fiction short stories including Long Live the King… which is my take what might have happened had King John not died in October 1216. Available in paperback and kindle from Amazon.

Podcast:

Have a listen to the A Slice of Medieval podcast, which I co-host with Historical fiction novelist Derek Birks. Derek and I welcome guests, such as Ian Mortimer, Bernard Cornwell, Elizabeth Chadwick and Scott Mariani, and discuss a wide range of topics in medieval history, from significant events to the personalities involved. 

Every episode is also now available on YouTube.

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©2026 Sharon Bennett Connolly FRHistS and Heather R. Darsie