On this day (15 May) in 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second of King Henry VIII‘s six wives, is condemned to death after standing trial in London on charges of adultery, incest with her brother, and treason (plotting to kill the king), and she will be beheaded four days later. Alas, for what it’s worth, most historians dispute these charges and have condemned her show-trial as a sham proceeding with a pre-determined guilty verdict. (See, for example, the sources in footnote #146 of Anne Boleyn’s Wikipedia page, including Chapter 22 of Eric Ives’ 2004 book The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn.) One revisionist historian (George Bernard), however, claims that the queen consort may have been guilty of some of the charges against her. (See, e.g., this provocative article in The Guardian.) More details about Queen Anne’s trial, including the orders for her execution, are available here.