The Execution of Anne Boleyn

19 May 1536 at 8 o'clock in the morning Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII was executed. It was the first public execution of an English queen. Following is the speech she made:

Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.

After being blindfolded and kneeling at the block, she repeated several times:
To Jesus Christ I commend my soul; Lord Jesu receive my soul.

Cambridge

Here it is! The last of my vacation posts. I know you've all been waiting anxiously for this. At least try & pretend that you have. We spent 4 nights in Cambridge at a bed & breakfast that was really great. My room was not en-suite which means the bathroom was down the hall. Actually it was right next to my room but I like the sound of down the hall. For some reason, probably because I was in England, I found this quite charming. Prior to leaving I had read on the b&b website that they offered a full English breakfast. Here is the description: Our full English breakfast includes free range eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, and beans, all organic. Our local butchers hand made sausages and bacon are free range and our local baker makes organic bread which he delivers hot to our door. I'm not much for eating breakfast so this didn't sound all that appealing to me. Actually it sounded pretty gross - beans for breakfast! However, since I'm such a brave person I decided to try it & was pleasantly surprised. It was really very good (except the mushrooms) & I've decided that beans for breakfast aren't a bad thing.

Cambridge is a really beautiful town. The University is the 2nd-oldest in the english-speaking world (Oxford is the oldest). We saw Kings College & St. John's College both of which are incredibly beautiful. The day we walked around the University it was foggy - as you can see in the pictures - which really added to the ambience. One of the things that really impressed me were the signs on the grass at the University. I can't remember the exact wording (Stephen, Kiko ??) but it came down to you can't walk on the grass unless you're a Fellow of the College. I really liked that.

We went to the Cambridge University Press (CUP) bookstore. CUP is a publisher that was granted a royal charter in 1534 by none other than Henry VIII. It is the oldest publishing & printing house in the world. I bought a totebag there. Quite the intellectual aren't I!

A word to the wise: If you decide to visit Cambridge don't bother trying to order chinese food. It's a long story so just take my word for it.

Robin