King Henry VIII and Wives (1491-1547)

[Menarue]

Yuk. That sounds terrible. He was slightly, how should I say it, heavy? that would have made it even more painful. Luckily for Catherine Parr she knew how to dress the wound. When he was young he certainly played rough, jousting was not for the weak for sure. I am just back after looking up some information about Henry´s ulcer. It seems no one can really be sure what caused the ulcer but it is suspected that it was osteomylitis (from a jousting injury) but the rumour that it was caused by syphilis dates from his own time when any ulcer was usually blamed on the "pox". His bad humour was also thought to have stemmed from this but then if someone is constantly in bad pain you can´t expect them to be sweet tempered unless they are saintly and we all know that Henry VIII was no saint. Another theory was that it could have been diabetes or some genetic circulatory disease as his sister Margaret suffered similar symptoms as well.
Whatever caused it he must have had terrible pain and in those days the cures were quite often more painful than the actual disease.

[Elspeth]

The stakes would have been awfully high if he hadn't survived, though.

[Menarue]

Catherine Howard may have been very like Anne Boleyn to look at which may have been an attraction, he thought that Catherine was a very innocent young version of
Anne, he was very wrong but he couldn´t have known that until much later.
Poor silly Catherine was pushed into the lion´s den by her ambitious relatives. The physical likeness may have been there but Anne was a very well educated sophisticated young woman who, unfortunately for her, overestimated her power whereas Catherine was just a foolish, rather flighty young girl.

[Zonk]

You think that the Howard relatives would have learned with the death of Anne. Poor Catherine was out of her league from the get go.

What is really disturbing is that most (if not all) of these were used as pawns. Yes, perhaps they did get something out of it (or appeared to) but there is really no other way to look at it.

Catherine of Aragon - used by Spain
Anne Bolyen - those Howard relatives. She wanted to marry for love (Harry Percy) and they killed that.
Jane Seymour - save the son I can get another wife
Anne of Cleves - political alliance. Although she got the better deal. Beloved sister and all.
Catherine Howard - those Howard relatives again
Catherine Parr - marries old men what three times? Marries for love the last time...and he cheats on her

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by Zonk

Catherine Parr - marries old men what three times? Marries for love the last time...and he cheats on her

And she DIES. That SOOO sucks!!

[Menarue]

Ambition is a terrible thing. Those poor Howard girls were used very badly.
There didn´t seem to be any feelings towards them at all, they were both betrayed by their family.
I wonder what would have happened if Anne Boleyn had married Percy? She may have turned out to be a much nicer person, I think she was terribly hurt when his father said she wasn´t good enough and by becoming Queen felt, perhaps, that she had had sweet revenge. That it all turned out so badly for her was another story.

[Menarue]

Catherine Parr died of childbirth if I remember rightly, the cause of so many women dying in those days, I read in a book, that that was one of the main reasons young women entered convents, they were really scared.

[ysbel]

I read in a book awhile back that parents thought it kinder to their daughters to marry them to older men who had the experience to bring them into married life gently. The younger men were seen as a bit unseasoned and like young stallions which wouldn't have necessarily been a soothing thought for a young girl on her wedding night especially if she knew little about the birds and the bees.

I don't know if that's true.

There is a quite charming book though of a 40 something Italian nobleman who wrote a book of instructions on housekeeping for his teenage wife.

[georgiea]

Originally Posted by ysbel

There is a quite charming book though of a 40 something Italian nobleman who wrote a book of instructions on housekeeping for his teenage wife.

ysbel, if you have time what is the name of this book? Sounds like a good read and insight to that time period. Thanks.

I always thought that King Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon was the strongest of all his Queens. I believe she lived a life as a true royal would under the terrible situation. And also I believe the whole six wives thing open up a lot of bad karma for King Henry and his three children.

[Sunnystar]

Originally Posted by georgiea

ysbel, if you have time what is the name of this book? Sounds like a good read and insight to that time period. Thanks.

Sounds to me like she's thinking of Leon Battista Alberti's The Book of the Family, which I read excerpts of in college. Quite an interesting read, then again, I rather enjoy Italian Renaissance literature.

[madeleine victoria]

Originally Posted by georgiea

I always thought that King Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon was the strongest of all his Queens. I believe she lived a life as a true royal would under the terrible situation. And also I believe the whole six wives thing open up a lot of bad karma for King Henry and his three children.

I'm reading "The Constant Princess" by Philippa Gregory and thought that it was really good eventhough I'm in the first part of the book only. The book illustrates Catherine's early years as a princess before marrying Henry's brother. I always thought too that she was the strongest of Henry's queens. Too bad Henry was attracted to Anne Boleyn. If he didn't marry Anne, England would have been Catholic up until today. At least that was my observation....

[georgiea]

King Henry VIII's love for Queen Anne revealed. And a lanch of State Papers Online this Tuesday to let people read about the period. Online sounds like it is going to be an interesting site. Hope I can find it.

Henry VIII's love for Anne Boleyn revealed - Telegraph

I just noticed that I put King Henry VIII on the wrong topic of discussion sorry, hope you can move.

[QUEENECE29]

Royal Collection to Open Henry VIII: A 500th Anniversary Exhibition at Windsor Castle

Artdaily.org - The First Art Newspaper on the Net

[Menarue]

Henry was certainly love sick, Anne had him just where she wanted him until she gave in to him. The old story of the grass is always greener on the other side.
It gave her a feeling of great power and ultimately, well we all know what happened to poor Anne, I am sure that she went to her death truly puzzled to what had gone wrong.

[AnneBoleyn]

I have read somewhere (although we know that the executioner for Anne was delayed and hence her execution was delayed) that although we dont know anything of her birthdate, that she was executed on 19 May because it was apparently her birthday -

has anyone else come across this?

[Emeralds and Opals]

Henry VIII's armour reveals the 'absolute monster' girth of the monarch | Mail Online

[Skydragon]

He's infamous for beheading two of his wives, but it has emerged that Henry VII had a much softer side.

Henry VIII reveals his softer side in never-before-seen gushing love letter to Anne Boleyn | Mail Online

[Kotroman]

Hmmmm... the title of this thread made me think. What do we mean when we say "Wives of Henry VIII"? Do you mean Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Katherine Parr (thus including three/four marriages that never existed in the eyes of law)? Or do you mean Katherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour and Katherine Parr (those recognized by the Roman Catholic Church)? OR do you mean only Jane Seymour and Katherine Parr? As you all know, in the eyes of the English law, Henry VIII was lawfully married only twice. So which women do you consider Henry VIII's rightful consorts?

[Polly]

Henry VIII was an accomplished person. He was highly educated and an intellectually impressive man. He wrote some elegant poetry (I've read it) and composed some wonderful music (I've played it!) He was a dedicated and lifelong supporter and patron of the Arts. He was also politically adroit, and although forced to marry his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, he almost succeeded in his divorce sham.

History shows us that the Pope was about to grant Henry his divorce from Catherine but that a war in Europe, between the authority of the Pope and that of the Holy Emperor was paramount. The Holy Roman Emperor, Catherine uncle, had surrounded the Vatican, and his price for withdrawing was that the Pope refuse Henry's request for divorce.

This was reluctantly agreed. We recall, also, that this Pope had honoured Henry VIII, earlier, with the illustrious title, 'Defender of the Faith', which every British monarch flourishes, to this day. This actually meant the defender of the Catholic Faith, make no mistake, as a reward for Henry's issuing an intellectually elegant rebuttal to Martin Luther, which the Pope rewarded with this splendid title.

Whereas I'm not completely secure in defending Henry as an honourable man, I am very conscious that at his time, The Monarch was generally believed to have been personally anointed by God, and everything follows from that one, singular premise. It's difficult for us in these days of universal suffrage and voting to understand the prevailing social imperatives of 500 years ago.

Still, the greatest gift which the very clever Henry VIII gave to the world was his daughter, the incomparable and very brilliant, Elizabeth.
Even her enemies envied her intellect and political success.

[Menarue]

I consider all 6 as his wives, King Henry VIII did, and no one seemed to object in England, so legal or not, they were his wives and Queens of England. Mind you nobody in England would have objected at the time or the Tower would have beckoned.