The Swordsman of Calais

~ The Swordsman of Calais, A Post by Lissa Bryan ~

There was never any realistic chance of Anne Boleyn being found not guilty at trial or being pardoned to a nunnery as she may have expected would be her fate. A week after her arrest - as early as May 9th - an executioner was summoned. Anne's execution was planned for May 18, but they needed to give the messenger time to travel to give the summons to the executioner, and the executioner would then have to travel to London.

After being found guilty by the jury, Anne was sentenced to be burned or beheaded at the king's pleasure. When she heard those words, Anne may have thought back to the oft-recited prophecy that during her time "there would be burnt two bishops and a queen." But, thankfully, no one seems to have entertained the notion of burning Anne alive.

Cromwell appears to have handled the details, because Henry was busy celebrating his impending widowerhood with the woman who would be his next queen.

Cromwell seems to have gone with the notion that Anne's execution should be as elegant and non-gruesome as possible, and somewhat different from an ordinary traitor because of her status as an anointed queen. It's why they decked out the scaffold in yards of black velvet, like a macabre parade float.

The block and ax were seen as the more merciful form of execution for traitors in Tudor England, but there had been many instances in which those executions had been hideously botched when the ax fell in the wrong spot. Cromwell did not want to create a situation in which people would sympathize with Anne Boleyn. A sword was more reliable, and more dignified, since the condemned had only to kneel.

But England didn't have its own swordsman, since the ax was the method preferred. Cromwell would need to send to France, where such executions were often used for the nobility. Calais was the last bit of English territory on the Continent, and whether the swordsman really was from Calais or not, it's the city he would have departed from on his voyage to England.

Sir William Kingston, constable of the Tower, wrote to Cromwell about the arrangements. Even Kingston wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen, because Cromwell had been very tight-lipped about the details, giving only what information was absolutely necessary at the time. "I am very glad to hear of the executur of Cales [Calais], for he can handle that matter."

But there's another account which claims the swordsman originated from a different area. The Emperor's sister, Mary of Hungary, wrote about it: "I hope the English will not do much against us now, as we are free from his lady [Anne Boleyn], who was a good Frenchwoman. That the vengeance might be executed by the Emperor's subjects, he sent for the executioner of St. Omer, as there were none in England good enough."

This possibility brings up some rather interesting speculation. Was it, as Queen Mary suggested, symbolically allowing the Emperor to strike back at the woman blamed for causing Katharine of Aragon, the Emperor's aunt, such sorrow? The Emperor's refusal to acknowledge Anne as queen had been a major sticking point over the last few years, but Henry had made overtures to the Emperor in the last weeks of April, hinting that their differences would soon be gone.

Some historians have suggested that the swordsman was, indeed, from Calais, but may have been in St. Omer for professional or personal reasons, and so had to start his journey from there, leading to Queen Mary's belief he was the executioner of that city. (Recently, historian Mickey Mayhew said he had uncovered the identity of the swordsman and it will be revealed in his upcoming book.)

When Kingston told Anne Boleyn how she was to die, Anne is recorded to have said she'd heard the executioner was very good, and besides, she had a "lyttle neck." And then she laughed.

When Anne reached the scaffold the next day, she would have found the executioner waiting, his face covered with a hood, a bit of superstition which had become tradition. He knelt before her and asked for her forgiveness. This was also traditional, as was the small purse of coins Anne handed him. He was already being paid by the council, but the tip was to ensure a swift, clean death.

With her ladies' assistance, Anne removed her outer gown which was either black or gray damask. The topmost garment of the condemned was part of the executioner's payment. (Two days prior, when Anne's supposed "lovers" had been executed, their doublets would have been forfeit to the headsman.)

The executioner had brought along with him yards of cerecloth. It was a heavy, wax-coated cloth used for burial shrouds, and would be used to wrap the queen's body after the execution. It was a courtesy not provided by English headsmen. He may have provided the cushion upon which he directed Anne to kneel. She whispered her final prayers, but kept glancing up whenever the executioner moved.

The swordsman performed one final kindness for his victim. He called out "bring me my sword," toward the side of the scaffold. Anne turned her head to watch the steps, and that's when the executioner swept up his hidden sword from beneath a pile of straw and swung at the unsuspecting woman's neck. She didn't have to see it coming.

After her head was stricken off, Anne's ladies threw a piece of cerecloth over her head. The executioner did not display it to the crowd, as was traditional. Whether this was a nod to her queenly status or not is unknown, but she was spared that final indignity. He collected Anne's gown and his equipment and departed.

There is a notation in the Letters and Papers for 100 crowns paid to "The executioner of Calais, for his reward and apparel." The "apparel" was Anne Boleyn's gown. The council arranged to buy it back. They wanted no souvenirs of the dead woman remaining.