Anne Boleyn’s execution was on May 19, 1536, marked a pivotal moment in English history, forever altering the trajectory of Henry VIII’s reign. In the highly anticipated second season of Wolf Hall, now airing in the UK after a nine-year hiatus, this historic event is revisited with remarkable attention to detail and artistic nuance.
The series, based on Hilary Mantel’s acclaimed trilogy, opens with Anne’s execution, blending historical accuracy with creative liberties. From Anne’s composed demeanor and poignant final speech to the unique use of a French swordsman and the intimate setting of the execution, Wolf Hall reimagines these moments with both fidelity and narrative drama.
However, as with any historical drama, the series takes interpretive risks, such as juxtaposing Anne’s tragic end with Henry’s union to Jane Seymour—a visually striking but historically inaccurate choice. Join us as we explore the historical sources behind Anne’s execution and assess how Wolf Hall balances the line between fact and fiction in its portrayal of one of history’s most infamous scenes.
‌Transcript of History Podcaster Reacts: The Wolf Hall Execution Scene…
So today we are going to talk about Anne Boleyn’s execution scene in Wolf Hall. The second season of Wolf Hall is playing now in the UK. It started on Sunday. It’s been nine years since the first season. Can you even believe that? Nine years. I haven’t aged a day. I think there were a lot of holdups with the pandemic, and of course, Hilary Mantel hadn’t yet written the final installment in the trilogy, The Mirror and the Light.
And then the pandemic happened, and so it just took a long time to get it out. But it’s on now in the UK. So I watched the first episode on Monday, and it opens with the execution scene that the first season ended with, showing Anne’s execution. Of course, the first season was the combination of the first two books in the trilogy and it ended with Anne Boleyn‘s execution and then they decided to open the second season with that same scene.
So some pieces were reshot but in general they reused most of the footage. So we’re going to talk about that footage. We’re going to talk about what was true from the execution scene and what was not because there were definitely some creative licenses there.
Historical Accuracy Of Anne’s Execution
All right, so Anne Boleyn was executed May 19, 1536, a pivotal turning point in English history. The first time a queen is executed showed how ruthless her husband, Henry VIII could be. The brutal end if you fell out of power from Henry. The book, Wolf Hall, and the series are both known for a lot of attention to detail, really staying true to the history.
Of course, it is very biased in favor of Thomas Cromwell, but it’s from his perspective, right? So it shows events from his perspective. And one of the most accurate pieces of historical fiction, as well as being one of the most beautiful pieces of writing ever. There’s a reason why it won so many awards.
It’s so beautiful. I love it. I’m a big fan if you can’t tell. The execution scene is how season one ended and they recently reintroduced season two with that scene. So we’re going to talk today about how closely Wolf Hall aligns with the historical accounts of Anne’s execution, focusing on her final speech, the presence of Thomas Cromwell, the actions of her French executioner, her dress, all of that.
Historical Accounts and Sources
One thing too, there are three main sources that we have for Anne’s execution where we get our information. Of course those sources are also biased. One of them is from Eustace Chapuys, the Imperial Ambassador, who was writing back about what happened. He did not like Anne, but even he, in his letters, admits that Anne’s ending was unfair and she was probably innocent of what she was accused of.
Even with all of his hatred, he definitely had, did not have any kind of soft spot for Anne so he was probably pretty accurate in his writings, but keeping in mind that he was biased and didn’t like Anne.
The other source that we have is John Stow, who was an antiquarian, who was writing decades later, but he had access to people who had heard about it and had memories of it. So he wrote about Anne’s execution. He’s our second source.
And then the third is Lancelot de Carle. He was a bishop, he was a French scholar and poet, and he was in London in 1536, saw everything that was happening as well. So he’s our other source. Again, all of these sources are going to have their own biases.
Like anything in history, when you’re reading about it, you’re reading one person’s perspective. So in terms of how accurate the scene in Wolf Hall is compared to what was written about it, we’re going to talk about that, but then keep in mind that we don’t even know if those people who were writing about it, if those were completely accurate, right?
So there’s like a lot of filling in the blank that we have to do. The first thing we’re going to talk about is her final speech. One of the most documented elements of her execution was her final speech. Stow, de Carle, and Chapuys talked about what she said in her speech. This was a very common thing, obviously.
People who were on the scaffold gave a speech. There were a couple of reasons for doing that. You wanted to make sure that you were protecting your family because you were worried if you weren’t going to be around anymore if you said something really bad before you were killed, something against the king, would the king then hurt your family?
So you were thinking about them, and Anne was thinking about her daughter, Elizabeth, in her final speech. She talked about how Henry had been really good to her, how there hadn’t been a better prince anywhere, and she was undeserving of his kindness and all of this. Just praise the heck out of him. And she’s doing that to protect Elizabeth and to protect Elizabeth’s legacy and her claim and all of that kind of stuff.
Chapuys reported that Anne raised her eyes to heaven, seeking God’s mercy, asking the king for forgiveness. and depicting her as both penitent and quite fearful. So in Wolf Hall, they don’t show a final speech like that. Claire Foy’s character is just muttering brief prayers rather than delivering a full address.
The original 2015 series did include a more extensive version of her speech, but in this latest installment the scene is shortened for dramatic effect, while the absence of her full statement sacrifices some of the history, It does heighten the tension, and the immediacy of the moment. So this choice highlights a common dilemma in historical drama, which is the balance between accuracy and the narrative impact. One thing that the series did get right is that she looked composed and resolute, but also praying and asking God to protect her soul and to receive her soul.
Cromwell’s Presence and Emotional Undertones
Thomas Cromwell is seen at the execution scene. It’s interesting though, they had to reshoot his part because in the original Wolf Hall from 2015, in that scene, Tom Holland played his son.
Tom Holland has now become quite famous and I don’t know whether there was an issue with his schedule or whatever, but he’s not, he’s been replaced. The character of Cromwell’s son is now played by another actor. So they had to reshoot the part where Gregory, the son, asks Thomas Cromwell, “Why does she keep looking up?” and it’s a different actor. So they had to reshoot that part.
Cromwell was at the execution. He was there with the Duke of Suffolk and other members of Henry’s inner circle. They were there as witnesses. None of the sources say anything about how Cromwell appeared or, the inner turmoil that he might’ve been feeling at the fact that he was bringing Anne down when he had also been so pivotal in her rise and now how he was becoming entrapped in all of these different schemes and the royal drama.
So of course, nobody was going to write about that. They couldn’t know how he was feeling. So the series does make it look like he’s a little bit detached, a little bit aloof, but also there’s a lot happening inside his head and you can see this potential, Idon’t know. His emotions are definitely there when you’re watching the series. How accurate that is, I don’t know, I’m not Thomas Cromwell, but presumably Hilary Mantel spent a lot of time communing Cromwell, one might say. So I’m going to trust her take on that.
The Sword Instead of the Axe
Now one of the most distinctive elements of Anne’s execution was the unusual choice of a French swordsman instead of the traditional axe that the English had always used. Supposedly, Henry VIII had granted Anne this mercy, such as it was, recognizing that a sword would result in a quicker, cleaner death than an ax, which could require multiple strokes. As we saw with Margaret Pole, when she was executed, I think it took at least 11 strokes for her to be finished. So a sword is much quicker, much cleaner.
Anne’s execution was actually delayed because there was a delay in the French swordsman coming over. And so she was prepared to die, I think it was the day before, and she was all ready and they said, oh no, it’s not time yet. So then she had a whole other day that she had to wait, which would have been quite terrifying.
So according to the historical accounts, the swordsman did request Anne’s forgiveness before he executed her which was also quite common for people to do. He also did wear soft shoes. This was another kind of mercy for people to keep people calm. Thought was that if you heard shoes clunking around on the scaffold it would make people much more tense because they’d be just waiting.
And so they wore these soft shoes to muffle the sound so that they wouldn’t be able to hear them. Also, the show is accurate in portraying the death the way he apparently had made a noise over on this side and then went, jumped really quickly over to this side because he wanted to get her head to turn. So he was an expert in what he was doing and was able to make the death as quick and clean as possible. And so that part is pretty true.
Anne’s Attire and the Audience
Now what about Anne’s clothing? Accounts of her clothing during her final moment vary, but they do provide some insight into the visual details. John Stow did not talk about the dress, but other observers said that she wore a black damask gown with a white cape.
Also de Carle said that she wore a white collar and hood, both removed before her execution. The blindfold was noted in several sources. According to Chapuys, her ladies helped her cover her hair with a linen cap. and placed a blindfold over her eyes just before the sword fell. And this is how they show it in Wolf Hall, so that is very accurate. That’s probably what it would have looked like.
Now what about the size of the audience? In the show, there’s just a lot of close ups, so they don’t show a big crowd, so you don’t know exactly how many people they think are there. But in reality, it was a small group. Henry didn’t want this to turn into a mob.
He knew, Henry knew, that this was a really big deal. He knew that this was the first time a queen was being executed, and there was the potential for people to protest and for things to get out of hand, so he did keep it quite private. He also limited foreigners from attending. They wanted to limit any ability for people to take home accounts to a home country that might be used as propaganda against English.
And also the date wasn’t publicized, so even prominent people at court probably would have had difficulty arranging attendance getting there because it wasn’t something that was announced very far in advance. Wolf Hall shows this, like I said, they just show a lot of close ups, so you don’t really see a large crowd.
It makes it feel like it is quite an intimate experience, and I think visually that contrasts with Anne at her power when she was surrounded by people who loved her and all of these people who were praising her and saying wonderful things about her. And in her moment of death, she was by herself, largely, with a very small group of people there to witness it.
And then what they did with her body, Wolf Hall is very accurate, showing Anne’s ladies being quite emotionally shaken lifting her body and her remains and preparing them for burial. The contemporary accounts say that her ladies-in-waiting gathered up her body and put her in the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula in the tower, and that she was buried near her brother George, who had been executed several days earlier.
Juxtaposing Anne’s Death and Henry’s New Beginning
The biggest issue that I had with this scene in the second season is that they juxtaposed Henry VIII getting married to Jane Seymour with Anne’s execution. So it made it look like it was happening at the same time. And in fact, there was quite an interesting visual showing Anne’s clothing being taken off of her cape and her luxurious gowns being taken off of her on the scaffold.
While Henry was getting dressed in gold for his wedding, people putting clothes on Henry as Anne’s clothes were coming off, which visually was a really poignant, dramatic scene, but it’s not true. Henry didn’t marry Jane Seymour until May 30th, and during the time that Anne was executed, he was actually spending time on, on the river, on boats in the river, entertaining other ladies.
He was praising God that he had been rescued from this witch who had bewitched him. There were a lot of things happening, but he was not getting married to Jane Seymour at that time. So season two makes it look like he was marrying Jane Seymour at the exact moment that Anne was executed, which he wasn’t. So that is one inaccuracy, but I do think it makes for a really interesting visual to show these layers being put on Henry as they’re coming off of Anne.
So there you go, that is my take on the execution scene from The Mirror and the Light. Of course, it’s also how season one ended, so you can, if you’re going back and watching season one, you can check that out. Apparently, The Mirror and the Light will be on officially in the U.S. in the spring on PBS. U.S. viewers have to wait till the spring.
