This last article I wrote was on the origin of Bloody Mary. The Bloody Mary legend pointed to Mary, the daughter of Henry the VIII, as the possible source of the Bloody Mary ghost, witch or evil spirit. This led me to research into the history of the wives of Henry VIII. I wanted to review my history knowledge and take a look once again at this rather interesting period in English History.
I think if you polled most people across the world and asked who was the most well known monarch of jolly ole England they would probably point to the infamous Henry the VIII and most people would remember him for his 6 wives. However, how much do we really know about these wives?
The Tudor Period is the time period that this monarch, and his infamous daughter Queen Mary I, (Bloody Mary), his daughter Queen Elizabeth I, and his son Edward VI reigned. Henry and his daughters were tyrants who ruled England while scaring the peasants to death. It is quite an interesting history, unfortunately, not one that I have time to elaborate on in this article.
Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon was the first wife of this tyrant English King. I think these two were less than a match made in heaven. Catherine was as stubborn as the king, however she was also deeply religious and very humble. Monarchs married to create powerful allegiances between nations and so it was customary among the royal families not to marry for love, but to marry for money and power. Catherine was the daughter of King Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. This was a very powerful alliance to be had. In fact, Henry was not even Catherine’s first choice. She was to marry Henry’s older brother Arthur, but as faith would have it, he died and Catherine, who had met Henry at the court, actually fell in love with him. They married in 1509, she for love, and he for the powerful alliance with the great nation of Spain.
One must wonder if Henry loved Catherine or if he was only interested in his reign and the obligations that went with it. Henry was so determined to have a male heir to the throne that he turned his back on his wife. He was prepared to break the rules of the Roman Catholic Church by divorcing. So, in order to get rid of Catherine and go on the hunt for a wife who could give him a son, he created his own church, the Anglican Church, which is now referred to as the High Church of England. That way he could legalize the divorce.
Catherine gave birth to a girl, in 1516 and on May 23, 1533, Henry got an annulment; though not the divorce he sought after. Thomas Crammer, Archbishop of Canterbury, granted the annulment and the reason for the annulment was because Catherine could not produce a male heir.
Anne Boleyn
Did Henry have eyes for Anne before he even dispensed with his first wife? According to historical documentation, Anne was interested in the King for a long time. She watched him court her sister, Mary, and when he ended that affair Anne was determined she would get her chance of becoming the next Queen. She was not going to settle for just being another mistress.
All it took was five days after the annulment from Catherine of Aragon, and Anne became his new bride, or so the public thought. They were actually married on January 23, 1533, keeping it secret until after the annulment.
Anne Boleyn was of noble birth. She was the lady in waiting to Queen Claude of France and when she returned to England she became the lady in waiting for Catherine of Aragon. Anne may have thought that she bested Catherine, but she too only produced one daughter, Elisabeth I. She did have a son but he was a stillbirth. When Henry tired of her, she was actually in a worst position than Catherine. Henry accused her of witchcraft, adultery, incest, and threw in treason as well. She was executed. Anne Boleyn was the first of Henry’s wives to be beheaded. Anne would have been better off refusing to marry Henry like she refused to be his mistress. She was pregnant when she married, perhaps that was all he wanted, a male heir and nothing else. Perhaps, if she was some servant girl she would have been spared, but because she was a lady in waiting and the a member of the powerful Howard Dynasty, she got the king’s attention and she paid the ultimate price for it as well.
Jane Seymour
There is no secret that good old Henry loved his ladies in waiting and his third with Jane Seymour was the lady in waiting to Anne Boleyn. Like Anne, Jane Seymour was also carrying a child when she married Henry. The ironic thing about all this is that Jane did give Henry a son, Edward VI. Only she developed a fever and died during childbirth.
Anne of Cleaves
You would think that once Henry got what he wanted his craziness would stop, on the contrary he was on the look out for another wife. Anne of Cleaves of Germany was his next wife. They say she was so ugly she was called the “Flaunders Mare.” Henry couldn’t stand to look at her. They were only married for half a year. Apparently, Henry was fooled into marrying her. Holbein, the royal painter for the German Court, was commissioned to paint her portrait only he had to make her beautiful so that Henry would accept her. Henry never met Anne of Cleaves before they signed the marriage contract, otherwise Henry would never have married someone so ugly. It is said, that she smelled bad and refused to bathe. On her wedding night she was literally begged to take a bathe, the ladies in waiting knew Henry would never go near her otherwise. Apparently he didn’t even after she bathed.
Anne of Cleaves was actually the most fortunate of all of Henry’s wives. She got an annulment on the grounds that they had never consummated the marriage and that she in fact, had a contact to marry Francis, Duke of Lorraine, of France, before marrying Henry. She did well financially from the annulment; she got a rich settlement, which included Hever castle, which once belonged to the Boleyn family. After the annulment, Henry VIII remained friends with her and she outlived Henry and all of his other wives.
Catherine Howard
Henry VIII was already an old man when he married Catherine Howard. Catherine was young and very beautiful. Their marriage lasted for two years, from 1540 to 1542. Catherine was known as the “rose without a thorn.” However, she too was destined to become a headless rose. She was accused of adultery in 1541. Poor Catherine was only 21 years of age. She was said to have practiced the best way to rest her head on the block before her beheading in her jail cell in the tower of London. Her last words were to pray for her soul and to show mercy upon her family. The spirit of this young woman haunted Henry VIII for years to come.
Catherine Parr (Katharine)
Catherine Parr was Henry’s last wife. She had a reputation already of being the most married Queen with three husbands before Henry. Her three previous husbands died. Catherine and Henry were married from 1543 – 1547. Catherine Parr was never in love with Henry, she was forced to marry because of duty. Catherine Parr was in love with Sir Thomas Seymour and she wed him after Henry’s death.
If you noticed all Henry’s wives, except for Jane Seymour were named Catherine or Anne and they were all related in some way.
Catherine Howard and Anne Boleyn were cousins.
