d her ears were
to be boxed if she proved recalcitrant. She urged that both should be
brought to trial under the new statute of succession passed in 1534,
which declared her own children the lawful heirs to the throne. She was
reported as saying that when the king gave opportunity by leaving
England, she would put Mary to death even if she were burnt or flayed
alive for it.[6] She incurred the remonstrances of the privy council and
alienated her own friends and relations. Her uncle, the duke of Norfolk,
whom she was reported to have treated "worse than a dog," reviled her,
calling her a "grande putaine." But her day of triumph was destined to
be even shorter than that of her predecessor. There were soon signs that
Henry's affection, which had before been a genuine passion, had cooled
or ceased. He resented her arrogance, and a few months after the
marriage he gave her cause for jealousy, and disputes arose. A strange
and mysterious fate had prepared for Anne the same domestic griefs that
had vexed and ruined Catherine and caused her abandonment. In September
1533 the birth of a daughter, afterwards Queen Elizabeth, instead of the
long-hoped-for son, was a heavy disappointment; next year there was a
miscarriage, and on the 29th of January 1536, the day of Catherine's
funeral, she gave birth to a dead male child.

On the 1st of May following the king suddenly broke up a tournament at
Greenwich, leaving the company in bewilderment and consternation. The
cause was soon known. Inquiries had been made on reports of the queen's
ill-conduct, and several of her reputed lovers had been arrested. On the
2nd Anne herself was committed to the Tower on a charge of adultery with
various persons, including her own brother, Lord Rochford. On the 12th
Sir Francis Weston, Henry Norris, William Brereton and Mark Smeaton were
declared guilty of high treason, while Anne herself and Lord Rochford
were condemned unanimously by an assembly of twenty-six peers on the
15th. Her uncle, the duke of Norfolk, presided as lord steward, and gave
sentence, weeping, that his niece was to be burned or beheaded as
pleased the king. Her former lover, the earl of Northumberland, left the
court seized with sudden illness. Her father, who was excused
attendance, had, however, been present at the trial of the other
offenders, and had there declared his conviction of his daughter's
guilt. On the 16th, hoping probably to save herself by these means, she
informed