Your favourite of Henry VIII's Wives?

[Turkish Delight]

My favourite is Anne Boleyn.

[lexi4]

Mine too. She coming in first in this poll.
What especially do you like about her?

[magnik]

First A.B.
Second AoC and CP.

[lexi4]

It would be interesting to know why Anne is the front runner.
Lexi

[Russophile]

Because she was a saucy little wench that caught the King's eye!

[Nichola]

I have much admiration (and I suppose pity) for Catherine of Aragon - I think she is my favourite. She was a good mother, and dignified!

[lexi4]

Originally Posted by Nichola

I have much admiration (and I suppose pity) for Catherine of Aragon - I think she is my favourite. She was a good mother, and dignified!

It seems it always comes down to Catherine of Anne. Although Anne of Cleaves was smart enough not to try to stop Henry from getting a divorce and testified that the marriage had never been consumated. In the end, she was given a title and a castle. Unlike his other wives, Anne didn't make out to badly.

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by lexi4

It seems it always comes down to Catherine of Anne. Although Anne of Cleaves was smart enough not to try to stop Henry from getting a divorce and testified that the marriage had never been consumated. In the end, she was given a title and a castle. Unlike his other wives, Anne didn't make out to badly.

You know, I thought her Holbein pictures were quite nice. Flemmish cow indeed!

[Verde Esmeralda]

I played Jane Seymour at school (during our annual english fair), and since then -I was 12- I became familiar with Henry VIII's story.

Later on I read every book, article and saw every movie about the subject. And altough I loved my character, I believe Ann Boleyn was by far the most exciting. Bitchy and daring, now that's interesting in a princess of the XVI century! Anne of Cleves, as stated by lexi4, was also a good player. Maybe the smartest of all!

[Duquesita]

I have voted for Catalina de Aragón (I like to name her in Spanish ). She was so well educated by her mother, Queen Isabel la Católica, in the way princesses were brought up then, which was lost in the following decades. She was educated, spoke latin and modern languages, played musical instruments, and had very important teachers, such as humanist Luis Vives.

She was just a pawn in the chess table, as all princesses were in those centuries, and unfortunately led a miserable life. She's said to be the daughter who most resembled her mother, Queen Isabel, and I think she showed her strenght and dignity throughout the years.

As for Anne Boleyn I think she was just a foolish woman. I feel pity for her, she died in the same way she lived.

[Australian]

I feel sorry for Catherine of Aragon, being treated like that. She should have gone back to her home country and takent the throne of Castile, she was so close to the succession of the Castilian throne but her father and Henry VII wanted her to marry Henry VIII.

Anne of Cleves is also interesting, and lucky!

I liked Jane Seymore and Catherine Parr, i cant remmeber which one of these two women tried to get henry to reconcile with Princess Mary

Anne Boleyn was just nasty lol. She made Princes Mary play nanny to her daughter Elizabeth, what an insult!

[Duquesita]

Well, Catalina had an older daughter, Juana ( called "Juana la Loca", "Crazy Juana"), who inherited the throne, and was imprisoned by her own father and son (Emperor Carlos V) in a convent in Tordesillas (Valladolid). Her son Carlos was the heir and Catalina had no way to be queen of Castilla.

There was another sister between Juana and Catalina, though: María, who married the King of Portugal and was the only child of the Catholic Kings who led a happy life.

[sirhon11234]

Originally Posted by Australian

I feel sorry for Catherine of Aragon, being treated like that. She should have gone back to her home country and takent the throne of Castile, she was so close to the succession of the Castilian throne but her father and Henry VII wanted her to marry Henry VIII.

Anne of Cleves is also interesting, and lucky!

I liked Jane Seymore and Catherine Parr, i cant remmeber which one of these two women tried to get henry to reconcile with Princess Mary

Anne Boleyn was just nasty lol. She made Princes Mary play nanny to her daughter Elizabeth, what an insult!

Jane Seymour was the one who tried to get Henry to reconcile with Mary.

[lexi4]

Originally Posted by Australian

I feel sorry for Catherine of Aragon, being treated like that. She should have gone back to her home country and takent the throne of Castile, she was so close to the succession of the Castilian throne but her father and Henry VII wanted her to marry Henry VIII.

Anne of Cleves is also interesting, and lucky!

I liked Jane Seymore and Catherine Parr, i cant remmeber which one of these two women tried to get henry to reconcile with Princess Mary

Anne Boleyn was just nasty lol. She made Princes Mary play nanny to her daughter Elizabeth, what an insult!

I feel sympathy for women of that period in general. Catherine and Anne were both treated like brood mares by Henry. And Anne lost her life in the end.
Lexi

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by Australian

I feel sorry for Catherine of Aragon, being treated like that. She should have gone back to her home country and takent the throne of Castile, she was so close to the succession of the Castilian throne but her father and Henry VII wanted her to marry Henry VIII.

The English didn't want her to go back. She came with a lot of money and servants, etc. Henry VII was a greedy man, remember. . .

[ysbel]

Originally Posted by sirhon11234

Jane Seymour was the one who tried to get Henry to reconcile with Mary.

Mary was first able to come back in Henry's presence because of the influence of Jane Seymour. She and Elizabeth were first raised back to the ranks of Princesses under the influence of Katharine Parr. I've heard that Anne of Cleves was kind to Mary but I've also heard that Mary shunned Anne of Cleves because Henry had first planned to match his wedding to Anne with a marriage to a Protestant German prince for Mary which she was opposed to.

[ysbel]

Originally Posted by Duquesita

Well, Catalina had an older daughter, Juana ( called "Juana la Loca", "Crazy Juana"), who inherited the throne, and was imprisoned by her own father and son (Emperor Carlos V) in a convent in Tordesillas (Valladolid). Her son Carlos was the heir and Catalina had no way to be queen of Castilla.

There was another sister between Juana and Catalina, though: María, who married the King of Portugal and was the only child of the Catholic Kings who led a happy life.

Yes Juana married Philip the Beautiful of Austria. It sounded like she had schizophrenia, sad. Isabella escorted her to the boat she would take to marry Philip and was heartbroken when Juana took to the boat and left her without even saying or waving goodbye. Catherine was several years younger and probably didn't know Juana that well but I have heard she was the favorite daughter of Isabella.

Henry VII wanted the dowry more than he wanted Catherine of Aragon. When his eldest son died, he intentionally cut the provisions for Catherine's household down drastically so that she would be forced to use the plate that came as part of her dowry. The reason for this is that she wasn't supposed to use the plate but he wanted money more than plate so he was hoping to force her to use the plate to invalidate that part of the dowry so he could go back to Ferdinand and demand money instead.

The really sad thing about Catherine is that Henry VIII really did have affection for her at first and wanted to marry her. He was King by this time and could do whatever he wanted so if he hadn't wanted to marry her he could have just sent her back home. Undoubtedly Catherine thought Henry must have been her knight in shining armour after all the ill treatment that she had received under Henry VII and it must have been a cruel shock to hear that her knight in shining armour wanted to cast her aside for Anne Boleyn.

Technically speaking the original Pope shouldn't have granted Henry and Catherine marriage in the first place but he was swayed by both England and Spain at the time. However, by the time that Henry VIII wanted a divorce from Catherine, the current pope was in the bad position of putting aside a ruling of a predecessor which he didn't want to do.

For the record, Henry was criticized and heavily ridiculed by both Protestants and Catholics for his pursuing of Anne Boleyn. Martin Luther was quoted as saying 'Der junke Heinz, der will Gott sein' This cad, Henry, always wants to play God'. The general consensus was that while Henry claimed that he ruled by the right of God, he was unwilling to place himself under God's commandments.

[Australian]

Originally Posted by ysbel

I've heard that Anne of Cleves was kind to Mary but I've also heard that Mary shunned Anne of Cleves because Henry had first planned to match his wedding to Anne with a marriage to a Protestant German prince for Mary which she was opposed to.

Yes I have heard about this too. I also heard that Princess Mary and Anne of Cleves later became friends and Mary requested that Anne of Cleves ride in her coronation carriage.

I also read regarding the death of Katherine Howard, that after she was beheaded, Anne of Cleves was hopeful for a remarriage between her and Henry and since it wasnt the case, Anne of Cleves felt hostility towards Catherine Parr claiming that "Why would the King choose this woman, seeing as though her previous marriages had many faults" Something along those lines.

[ysbel]

Well Katharine Parr had been married off to Baron Burrough a much older man at the tender age of 15 and then to another older man Lord Latymer when she was 20.

I remember reading that Lord Latymer was beheaded for treason but his Wikipedia biography doesn't mention that.

That would be the only reason I could think of that Anne of Cleves would have disapproved of Katharine Parr's earlier marriages.

I doubt seriously if Anne would have wanted to re-marry Henry. For the divorce he gave her a palatial residence and a sizable annual income that totally dwarfed his daughters' She was the richest independently wealthy woman in England at the time and with no annoying husband to hold the strings of her purse.

[lexi4]

Originally Posted by ysbel

Well Katharine Parr had been married off to Baron Burrough a much older man at the tender age of 15 and then to another older man Lord Latymer when she was 20.

I remember reading that Lord Latymer was beheaded for treason but his Wikipedia biography doesn't mention that.

That would be the only reason I could think of that Anne of Cleves would have disapproved of Katharine Parr's earlier marriages.

I doubt seriously if Anne would have wanted to re-marry Henry. For the divorce he gave her a palatial residence and a sizable annual income that totally dwarfed his daughters' She was the richest independently wealthy woman in England at the time and with no annoying husband to hold the strings of her purse.

Indeed.