It's strange isn't it, I've often wondered if Henry was trying to mock Anne and her french ways, or did he see it as a kindness? And could he just not be bothered when it came to Katherine, or was it that he didn't want to think about her execution? It's just so hard to tell as he clearly wasn't in the right mind, and so it is almost impossible to try and figure out his thought processes and reasons for his actions. I suppose some people would say that he loved Anne more, but the thing is I don't think Henry was capable of loving any of his wives, I think he only knew how to be obsessed with a person. Could that be the answer, that he was more obsessed with Anne than he was with Katherine?

According to wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D…..by_burning) Jane  Grey  was also condemned to being burnt as they were considered traitors. AB and KH for adultery, JG for rebelllion.

In the United Kingdom, the traditional punishment for women found guilty
of treason was to be burnt at the stake, where they did not need to be
publicly displayed naked, while men were hanged, drawn and quartered. There were two types of treason, high treason for crimes against the Sovereign, and petty treason for the murder of one's lawful superior, including that of a husband by his wife.

 

Being beheaded by ax is a dreadful way to go.  I mean, being beheaded in general I'm sure isn't the most pleasant experience, but if you have to go by either ax or sword, then sword is the way to go.  Henry WAS being kind by a) having Anne being beheaded instead of burned and b) letting her be beheaded by sword rather than ax.  Too many stories in English history of botched beheadings that required more than one swing to finish the job (Thomas Cromwell comes to mind–and poor Margaret Pole, though, from what I understand, the stories of her death have been somewhat exaggerated over the years), either because of a dull ax blade, an inexperience executioner, or just a poor swing.  

Certainly, the ax isn't the most efficient way of removing one's head.  I don't know if Henry's choice of sword had so much to do with him than it did the fact that Anne still had some supporters and friends in France.  Someone put the idea into Henry's head because I guarantee you he wouldn't have come up with it on his own.  Perhaps the King of France mentioned it or the French ambassador or something.  Who knows?

I don't think too highly of Katherine Howard, but when it comes to her execution, I think she died in much the same way she spent most of her life:  alone.  Her uncle (Norfolk) had abandonned her, Culpepper had abandonned her, Henry had abandonned her, and, according to most reports, Jane Parker had gone mad.  Unlike Anne, there was real evidence that she had committed adultery.  No one was going to go to bat for her because everyone was trying to distance themselves from her like rats leaving a sinking ship.  And certainly after having executed a wife, a friend (More), a Chancellor (Cromwell–who, apparently, is the only person Henry ever said he regretted executing), and myriads of other people who were just unfortunate enough, for the most part, to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, I'm guessing another wife, a lady-in-waiting, her lover, and her ex-lover were just more notches on his belt.

Someone put the idea into Henry's brain that the sword would be more “humane.”  There was no precedent for executing a Queen.  Henry was making history. I'm sure he wanted the world to think that after everything Anne had done to him, poor him, he was able to find it in his great big heart to make sure that she was executed in a quick and painless (?) manner. Who knows, maybe he had a little conscience left at this time.

Catherine had no such luck. She really had humiliated him. She had cheated on him and everyone knew it.  How embarrassing for Henry.  I don't think he cared how she died.

I've always understood that executing Anne with a swordsman was considered better and he was less likely to make a mistake. However, I also believe it spoke to Anne's Frenchness, but I cannot confirm this. There was no precedent for executing an anoited Queen, so Henry wanted to save face, and do it in a more humane way (I agree with Sharon on this). Regardless, Henry wanted Anne dealt with. I guess he wanted to kill her according to her station, and show the world he was a merciful Prince (mercifiul according to Tudor standards, I guess).

How long do you think the whole journey there and back would have taken? one week/2 weeks or more?

I was just trying to work out when the messengers would have left for France.

BoleynBlue,

Alison Weir tries to break it down by saying, A couple days for messenger or messengers to get to Dover from London. (70 miles).  20 mile boat trip from Dover to Calais and depending on the weather could take days. From Calais to St Omer is 22 miles. Then reverse this.

She says for the quickest journey the messenger would have left on the 14th of May.  The Spanish Chronicle states the King “sent a week before to St Omer for a headsman, and nine days after they sent, he arrived.”  If he arrived on the 18th, he had been summoned on May 9th or 10th.” She says these calculations may not be precise, but they show that the people were aware that the executioner had been summoned well before the trial.