Anne Boleyn’s Execution Speech – Sofia Linthicum, aged 9
Why am I here? I did not do anything wrong. People of England, please let me go. Henry will still be my husband, he always will be. Not a single person can change our relationship. George is already gone. He was special to me, like my prized possession. He was treated like an opening act. Well, that is what he was to you. Why would you people want to kill him? And here I stand, first queen of England to be beheaded. Why so? I did not commit treason. My heart belongs to the king. Why would I do that? I am dying, leaving behind a three year old daughter. Who will take care of her? Is she going to sent to the country away from Court? Henry is not trusting me right now, at this minute. Why not? I am a great and loving wife. My way is to help England, not commit crimes. Does everyone hate me? I was just like you people once. Henry treated me well. Then we got married We had our child and had a happy life. Now I stand in front of you people saying I committed treason. Once again, I tell you, I did not do it. Everyone should be equal in England. I have been sitting and waiting in the tower. I will be resting in the cold hard ground. No one to comfort me. Every single thing in life was perfectly fine, but everything got lost in the very back of my mind. Things such as watching tennis and jousting are not in my head. I can only think of Henry. May God bless me. May Everyone be blessed unlike me. After today, I shall be some sort of name lost in time and history. Once again may God bless me.10 thoughts on “Anne Boleyn’s Execution Speech – Sofia Linthicum, aged 9”
Please note: Comment moderation is currently enabled so there will be a delay between when you post your comment and when it shows up.
Sofia,Good job for9 years, at least you no about Queen Ann Boleyn,maybe you should take that to school,so your class mates can learn about QueenAnne. Kudos Baroness.
God job, Sophia as I think at age 9 you wouldn’t have known that if Anne defended herself on the scaffold her speech would have been cut short. Also, that you would not know that she was not executed for treason, and I wouldn’t want to give you, as and adult, as your parents might not like me giving all the others charge for which she was condemned, but innocent.
I hope you and whoever helped you write this becomes educated on execution speeches and the facts.
Please keep reading, but don’t forget to do your homework!
I will defend Queen Anne Boleyn for as long as I am around! She did give England Queen Elizabeth I, the greatest absolute monarch that country ever had!!!
“This is the Lord’s doing: it is marvelous in our eyes.” Psalms 118:23
WilesWales,
This wasn’t about rewriting Anne’s speech, although that was fine too, it was about saying what you would have said if you’d been Anne or even what you would have liked her to say, Sofia did that perfectly.
Anne was executed for high treason not adultery, so Sofia is 100% correct. Adultery, even adultery in a queen, was not punishable by death at that time and this is why Anne had to also be charged with conspiring and plotting the King’s death. Historian John Schofield argues that the whole adultery and incest charge shows Henry’s involvement in the coup, in that it was nonsensical because it alone could not have got rid of Anne permanently. Schofield believes that Cromwell, as a lawyer, would have wanted a watertight case, and the adultery charge complicated things. The adultery and incest charges blackened Anne’s name, their aim was to shock and to explain why she would have committed treason. Hope that makes sense.
Forgive me, Sophia, as Queen Anne Boleyn was accused of treason, but not on adultery, and the others were made up, and she was indeed innocent. If she had said, that she had not done these things on the scaffold (as Queen Anne did have help writing her speech), her speech would have been cut short.
I will defend Queen Anne Boleyn for as long as I am around! She did give England Queen Elizabeth I, the greatest absolute monarch that country ever had!!!
“This is the Lord’s doing: it is marvelous in our eyes.” Psalms 118:23
Hi WilesWales,
The competition wasn’t about rewriting Anne’s speech, it was about writing what you would have said as Anne or what you would have liked to hear her say. The judges found Sofia’s entry moving and insightful.
I understand and think if was a great experience and difficult for the the judges and you! If you notice, I did exclude adultery in my reply I ADMITTED I made an error, and this speech is very moving, and I agree witht the judges and you! Thank you! WilesWales!
I will defend Queen Anne as long as I’m around! She gave to England, Queen Elizabeth I, the greatest absolute monarch that country ever had!
“This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” – Psalms 118:23
Sophia,
After reading your speech once again, I think you did an outstanding job. The length, your thoughts, and your feelings were very moving. I really is a wonderful execution speech.
I must apologize, and I thought about this over night and this morning, that here in the U.S. we are not even introduced, until later in high school even a touch of European histoy, and that basically is about Columbus, and Queen Isabella and Ferdinand believing that by travelling west he could reach the east where Marco Polo had travelled, etc.
I became so interested in college, and then proceeded to study Anne Boleyn from there, and seeing when I was young the BBC Televison Series on 8mm film “The Six Wives of Henry VIII!” That’s when I got hooked on Anne Boleyn.
Your speech shows that you are such a gifted person, and such feeling in it cannot be denied. Congratulations! Thank you! WilesWales!
I will defend Queen Anne as long as I’m around! She gave to England, Queen Elizabeth I, the greatest absolute monarch that country ever had!
“This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” – Psalms 118:23
Wow, that is fantastic! Sofia, that is a great speech! I love it and think you are incredibly talented. Well done!
Sofia,
I am a teacher and as a teacher I am so proud of you for being brave enough to enter this competition and for writing such a wonderful story and execution speech. Anne must have been thinking so many things while she was standing in front of the crowd and you have captured that beautifully! Wonderful! Keep writing, I am betting that we will see your name on a book of your own one day because truly, you did a marvelous job! Congratulations!
Sofia, you did a marvelous job on your execution speech; you fulfilled all the requirements of the contest and more. A writer should bring out emotion in the reader and have the reader think about the subject in a new way or revise their opinons. You have done all that in a very satifyingly simple and honest way. I see a great future in writing for you. Not all writers are published; there is great satisfaction and joy in writing even if your work is never published. Someday my heirs will find boxes of my writing; some they’ll read, most will be tossed away and that is ok with me. While I would have loved to have been published, time never permitted me to give it the attention it would require to create a work worthy of publication. But each day I write and I find a great peace and comfort in it. I hope you do to and will continue to do so.