In the recent past I've seen two televised depictions of the life-and-times of Henry VIII: The Tudors
and Wolf Hall
. Henry VIII wanted out from his marriage to Anne Boleyn because she failed to produce a male heir, and his romantic interests had veered to Jane Seymour.
Granted, these dramatizations take creative liberties, but I think it's more or less accurate that a campaign to find a treasonable wrongdoing by Boleyn was undertaken (possibly largely spearheaded by Thomas Cromwell, and possibly at Henry's instigation).
Question: Why didn't Boleyn grant the king a divorce, to spare her life when it became apparent that she was being investigated for crimes punishable by death? Wolf Hall
, particularly, depicts Cromwell as imploring the queen to accede to a divorce.
Was she actually unaware of what was going on? Did she not know or believe that Henry himself wanted her gone? Did she believe Henry would come along at some point before the actual execution to spare her life? Or was divorce not an option for her? I'm curious to learn if there's evidence of her rationale to not accept or offer divorce when it became evident - as I'm sure it eventually must have - that the alternative was execution.