Anne Boleyn

Born to Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard, likely at Blickling Hall, Norfolk. The exact year is disputed. 1501 or 1507. She's sent abroad young, educated at the courts of the Netherlands and France. She speaks fluent French.

Henry VIII begins pursuing her. She refuses to become his mistress, unlike her sister Mary, who'd already been through the king's bed and discarded. Anne holds out. The price of her body is the crown.

Secretly marries Henry. She's already pregnant. In May, the Archbishop of Canterbury annuls Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The Pope excommunicates Henry. England breaks from Rome. One woman's refusal to be a mistress splits Western Christianity.

Gives birth to a daughter. Henry wanted a son. The baby is named Elizabeth.

Arrested and taken to the Tower of London. Charged with adultery with five men, including her own brother George. Incest. Witchcraft. Plotting the king's death. The evidence is thin to nonexistent. Her uncle presides over the trial.

Beheaded by a French swordsman on Tower Green. She's calm. "I heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck." Henry marries Jane Seymour eleven days later.

The baby Elizabeth becomes queen. She rules for 45 years, the golden age of England. Anne's daughter never speaks publicly about her mother. But she wears a ring with a secret compartment holding a miniature portrait of Anne inside.