Five hundred years ago this month, Anne Boleyn first appeared at court, on March 4, 1522. She’d had a relatively calm and aristocratic childhood. Boleyn was the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Howard. Hever Castle was their home. When Henry VIII turned his attention to Boleyn, she rebuffed him, refusing to be his mistress (as her sister Mary had been). Consequently, the king annulled his marriage to Catherine so that he could marry Anne. But only three years later—time in which she gave birth to Elizabeth (who would become queen in 1558) and had a number of miscarriages—Anne was sent to the Tower of London, accused of adultery and treason. She was beheaded on May 19, 1536. With portraits and letters on display throughout her home, this exhibition explores the enigmatic woman who captured a king’s fickle heart. —Elena Clavarino