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The woman known to history as Catherine

of Aragon was born on the 16th of

december 1485 in the Palace of Alcala de

Generes on the outskirts of Madrid her

given name when born was catalina

although she is widely known today by

the version of her name which she

adopted in england the country where she

would spend her entire adult life

her father was King Ferdinand II of

Aragon one of the two constituent

kingdoms of Spain at that time

ferdinand's domains were in the north

and east of the iberian peninsula sended

on cities such as barcelona zaragotha

and valencia while the aragonese had

also carved out a small mediterranean

empire in the late middle ages including

the balearic islands sardinia sicily and

much of southern italy including the

city of naples

catherine's mother was queen isabella

the first of castile the ruler of the

other part of spain castile encompassed

the greater part of mainland spain and

extended from the northern coastline

south through madrid and toledo towards

the south of the country though by the

time of catherine's birth in 1485 a

small enclave around grenada in the

extreme south of the country remained in

muslim hands and it was not until 1492

that her parents completed the

re-conquest of spain and expelled the

last muslim powers back into north

africa catherine's parents had an

unusual arrangement whereby isabella

effectively ruled castile and ferdinand

governed aragon the terms of their

marriage stipulated that their

jurisdictions remained separate during

their lifetimes it would not be until

the early 16th century that spain would

be ruled as one nation by a single

monarch catherine's descent and early

family life were peculiar and related to

subsequent events in her life on her

mother isabella's side she was descended

from the house of lancaster of the

english royal family in catherine's case

from john of gaunt the third son of king

edward iii who had ruled england between

1327 and 1377.

in 1371 john had married constance of

castile linking the english royal family

with the royal family of the kingdom of

castile as a result catherine was

distantly related to the english royal

line and has befitted a young princess

who was a member of two european royal

dynasties she received her education

from a number of esteemed scholars

including two dominicans pascual de

ambudia and andres de morales and the

italian humanist brothers alessandro and

antonio gerardini emphasis was placed by

them on latin texts but catherine was

also educated in european languages as

befitted the daughter of a king and

queen who were known throughout europe

as the most catholic of monarchs there

was a heavy emphasis on placing any

learning she received in a catholic

christian context and the bible and

other liturgical texts were studied from

early on she evidently excelled in all

of these and many years later catherine

was praised for her learning by none

other than erasmus of rotterdam the

foremost scholar of the early northern

renaissance

catherine might have been born in spain

but the infinitely more significant

events in shaping her later life would

be played out far to the north in

england in the years prior to and

following her birth since the mid-15th

century that country had been plagued by

civil wars brought about by the

psychological collapse of king henry vi

in the early 1450s 30 years of unrest

followed as richard third duke of york

and then his son edward tried to assert

their claim to the throne edward finally

succeeded in this and became king edward

iv but when he died in 1483 his brother

richard usurped the throne and became

richard iii then a new pretender arose

by the name of henry tudor a descendant

of a welsh family with a very tenuous

claim to the throne of england in 1485

henry landed in england with an army and

won a famous battle against richard at

bosworth field in the english midlands

on the 22nd of august 1485 richard was

killed that day and henry was proclaimed

king as henry vii but henry never lost

sight of the fact that his family's

claim to the throne was weak and a new

pretender could arise at any time indeed

several did but unsuccessfully thus he

would need to form alliances with some

of europe's leading royal families and

he would also need to impart to his

children the absolute necessity of

securing the tudor line and protecting

the family's claim to the english throne

a sign of the english king's obsession

with doing so was evident already in the

late 1480s in september 1486 when

catherine in spain was still shy of her

first birthday henry vii and his wife

elizabeth had their first child a boy

called arthur by the end of the 1480s

despite catherine and arthur still being

toddlers in their respective royal

households in england and spain henry

was already intent on entering into

negotiations with isabella and ferdinand

to bring about a marital agreement

between young arthur and catherine by

the spring of 1488 rodrigo gonzalez de

puebla a doctor of law and spanish

diplomat was in england to negotiate the

terms of such a union both sides were

anxious at this time that an alliance

would be cemented as spain's rivalry

with neighboring france was growing in a

way which would soon see both nations

vying for dominance of the italian

peninsula and an agreement seemed to

have been near completion in 1489 but

negotiations broke down over a

disagreement regarding the size of

catherine's dairy and how her household

will be maintained in england through

english crown funding nevertheless these

negotiations did result in the signing

of the treaty of medina del campo

between england and spain in 1489

whereby the two nations allied with each

other and while the marriage was not

fully agreed to at this point it

remained viable

in the meantime catherine was growing up

she continued her education which

broadened as she got older to include

arithmetic law history philosophy and

some basics of heraldry and genealogy

the latter being an obsession of

europe's royal dynasties and noble

families as they tried to ensure the

continuity of their lines an issue which

would become paramount in catherine's

life in later years and she traveled

widely as all of this was being imparted

to her her parents queen isabella and

king ferdinand were anxious to make

their presence felt across spain as they

united the two kingdoms of castile and

aragon and they spent time in each of

the provinces as the royal court

maintained a wandering existence in the

1480s and 1490s as a result catherine

was present at the fall of granada in

1492 when the muslim emirate there

finally fell and spain was brought fully

under catholic rule curiously although

she was still just a child at the time

catherine seems to have remembered the

episode and she later chose the

pomegranate known as the granada apple

in spain as her personal emblem somewhat

ironically the pomegranate was a

fertility symbol in early modern times

she cannot have been aware at the time

she first used it as a symbol how much

her life and all of england would be

impacted by the vexed issue of her

childbearing

in the mid-1490s negotiations resumed

yet again between henry vii's government

in england and catherine's parents

government in spain concerning the

proposed union between her and prince

arthur henry's hold on the english

throne had been questioned in the

intervening period by a pretender by the

name of perkin warbeck who claimed to be

king edward iv son richard who had

almost certainly perished in the tower

of london at the hands of his uncle in

the mid-1480s warbeck was at large in

various places on the continent and then

in ireland between 1491 and 1497 before

he was finally apprehended and

imprisoned the whole episode had

revealed two things firstly it indicated

how tenuous the hold of the tudors on

the english crown was and secondly it

showed henry that the spanish monarchs

was certainly the right choice for a

marriage alliance while a host of the

european powers had been very willing to

support warbucks cause in order to

undermine england isabella and ferdinand

had been incredulous at the idea that

warbuck was the deceased prince and had

worked with the english king to expose

the fact that wolbeck was actually an

upstart from the low countries and so as

waubeck was heading towards his arrest

renewed intensity was lent to the

negotiations over catherine and arthur's

proposed marriage

eventually a new agreement was reached

between the respective governments of

england and spain on the 1st of october

1497 the marriage would go ahead but

since neither catherine nor arthur were

yet even teenagers it would not take

place until arthur reached the age of 14

at which time catherine would be 15. a

papal dispensation would still be

required even at that stage for the

wedding to take place because they were

so young and that would be sought from

pope alexander vi a diary of 200 000

escudos would be paid by the spanish to

henry vii in return catherine would

receive revenues from the lands which

henry had assigned to prince arthur for

his use these would be used to pay for

catherine's household and affairs in

england until such time as she became

queen with this revised treaty in place

ascent was finally given to the proposed

marriage which had first been mooted

nearly a decade earlier it was ratified

in january 1498 although some doubts

remained about whether it would go ahead

these were finally a late in may 1499

when a proxy wedding was held in england

while catherine was still in spain

further bickering over some of the

financial specifics continued in the

months that followed but at last in the

autumn of 1501 katherine set off from

spain to england she would never return

to her homeland

catherine landed at plymouth in the

south west of england on the 2nd of

october 1501 they then followed a

five-week long procession through

southern england during which she was

joined by king henry and her soon-to-be

husband prince arthur before they

arrived to london on the 12th of

november here elaborate pageants and

banquets were held before arthur and she

were married at st paul's cathedral on

the 14th of november exactly what

followed would become a matter of

extensive debate 30 years later but

catherine was to later claim that

although she and arthur shared a bed on

several occasions over the next few

months they never consummated their

marriage the other facts of what

followed are uncontested within weeks of

their marriage arthur who was prince of

wales set out for ludlow castle to

provide ceremonial governance of the

principality and catherine went with him

but in wales they both quickly

contracted the sweating sickness a

mysterious illness which was most likely

caused by a rodent-born hantavirus

catherine survived but arthur did not

and when he died on the 2nd of april

1502 catherine was left as a 16-year-old

widow in a foreign land the long-planned

marriage which had been the subject of

negotiations throughout the entirety of

catherine and arthur's young lives had

lasted less than four months

news was quickly sent concerning

arthur's demise to london and from there

dispatches were sent by king henry's

government to spain to inform

catherine's parents that their daughter

was already a widow and these same

dispatches were quickly responded to

would it be possible isabella and

ferdinand wondered for catherine to now

marry henry's second son also named

henry after his father the boy was only

just about to turn 12 years of age but

if they waited a few years he and

catherine could wed and the

anglo-spanish alliance could be

continued when this proposal came to

england it was received positively both

sides were anxious for the alliance to

be secured and as such they quickly

worked out the new agreement by

september a draft treaty was prepared

with many of the financial arrangements

continued from catherine's marriage to

arthur to her new proposed one with

henry the formal treaty was finalized in

the summer of 1503 and it was agreed

that it would be solemnized following

receipt of a fresh papal dispensation

and once henry reached 15 years of age

what is interesting is that neither side

seems to have been overly concerned at

this time about whether catherine and

arthur had consummated their marriage

and it was simply assumed that they had

no major objections were raised to henry

marrying his sister-in-law from a

marriage which had potentially been

consummated

while all of this was proceeding in

england the international situation was

in a renewed state of flux catherine's

mother queen isabella died on the 26th

of november 1504 because the terms of

her marriage arrangement with ferdinand

many years earlier had specifically

stated that he could not rule castile

and isabella could not rule aragon in

their own rights isabella was now

succeeded by her older daughter

catherine's sister juana juana had

married archduke philip of the austrian

habsburg some years earlier phillips

family ruled austria and the burgundian

inheritance of the low countries and

parts of northeastern france while they

also had held the position of holy roman

emperor for several generations

consequently the union of the spanish

royal dynasty of the traston maras and

the austrian habsburgs was now set to

create a dynastic union which would

unite large sections of western and

central europe under one house this

would eventually occur in the shape of

juana and philip's son charles who would

play a major role in his aunt

catherine's life later on but for now

the situation in spain was that juana

became queen there however her own

father ferdinand was soon trying to

establish himself as the all but ruler

of castile arguing that his own daughter

was mad all this was playing out as

catherine's marriage to henry was being

negotiated

the diplomatic unrest in spain had a

direct impact on catherine and the

marriage negotiations in england king

henry vii was now having second thoughts

he and his councillors speculated that

perhaps it would be best to support

juana and her husband philip against

king ferdinand in what was turning into

a polarizing issue in spain bordering on

civil war within castile accordingly for

a time in 1505 and early 1506

it seemed as though the marriage

agreement would be renounced a

development which seemed all but assured

when king henry sent over 100 000 pounds

to archduke philip in the low countries

to aid him in his and his wife's clash

with ferdinand the english monarch at

this stage was unwilling to tie his son

and heir into a marriage with catherine

which would become politically useless

if ferdinand was defeated by juana and

philip as had so often been the case

though in catherine's affairs fate

intervened philip died suddenly in spain

in september 1506 and the way was now

cleared for ferdinand to establish

control over castile and so he

effectively had his daughter confined to

house arrest on the grounds that she was

insane thus with ferdinand secure in his

control of castile henry yet again began

to consider marrying his son to

catherine but the uncertainty would drag

on for several more years

we might ask where exactly was catherine

during this long period of uncertainty

in england and what was she doing as the

widow of the prince of wales the spanish

princess had been granted durham house

the residence of the bishop of durham in

london as her own residence here she

maintained an almost entirely spanish

entourage and was visited frequently by

the spanish ambassadors to england she

was learning english although was still

far from fluent by 1505 by which time

she had been in the country for nearly

four years it is a sign of her reliance

on her spanish companions that she was

still not fully versed in the native

tongue after so long in england

unfortunately she had also been ill

regularly probably with turtian egg a

kind of mild form of malaria but the

greater problem for her was her

financial position as the penny pinching

henry vii had consistently failed to

abide by the terms of her marriage

arrangement with arthur and provide

adequate support for her household her

allowance was even revoked altogether

for a time in 1505 as henry lost

interest in the new marriage

negotiations additionally concerted

efforts were made to ensure that there

was little contact between her and

prince henry her proposed marriage

partner as such it was a difficult time

for catherine in the mid-1500s

a distinct change in catherine's

fortunes occurred in february 1508 that

spring a new spanish ambassador

gutierrez gomez de fuenzarida arrived in

england specifically charged with

finalizing the long-running marriage

negotiations though these dragged on for

more months the ampas was broken on the

21st of april 1509 when king henry vii

died the new king henry viii catherine's

long proposed husband summoned fuen

salida just over two weeks later and

declared that one of his father's dying

wishes had been for the marriage to

proceed it is unclear if the old king

had actually said this or not but the

result was the same in any event on the

11th of june 1509 seven years after the

marriage of catherine and henry had

first been mooted the couple were

married at the franciscan church at

greenwich palace she was 23. he was just

a few days shy of his 18th birthday and

less than two weeks later on midsummer's

day the 24th of june 1509 catherine was

crowned as queen of england at

westminster abbey next to her husband

who was anointed the same day as king

henry viii after nearly eight years in

england catherine's persistence had paid

off it was a clear sign of the tenacity

she would show many years later when

henry became determined to end their

marriage

catherine held a considerable amount of

influence over her husband and

consequently over england's political

affairs in the first years of henry's

reign the political climate of these

years for england was similar to what it

had been for well over 200 years henry's

enemies were france and scotland and the

king viewed himself as a monarch along

the lines of his medieval predecessors

dating back to the days of king edward

the first in essence then his duty was

to make war on france and make it clear

to the scots that england was the

predominant power in britain thus after

briefly flirting with a possible amiable

approach to the french he quickly

discarded that possibility and he would

spend much of his long 38-year reign

spending vast sums of money to try to

restart the hundred years war with

france which had its heyday during the

reign of edward iii in the 14th century

he also had responsibilities elsewhere

notably across the irish sea where the

english lordship had declined to a point

where only dublin on the east coast and

a few of the surrounding counties such

as meath and kildare were effectively

under english rule overall there was a

more than fluid situation facing england

on the international stage when henry

and catherine became king and queen in

1509

catherine's influence over her husband

was manifested quickly within weeks of

their marriage she ensured that the

spanish ambassador was recalled home and

for a time thereafter she actually acted

as her father ferdinand's official line

of communication in england and while a

new ambassador don luis carroste

villaragout eventually arrived in 1510

catherine continued to play a prominent

role in representing spanish interests

in her adoptive homeland this was

significant as in 1511 henry effectively

turned his back on any offer of

friendship from the french and allied

with ferdinand as well as the papacy and

the holy roman emperor maximilian the

first against france as part of the war

of the league of cambrae a conflict

which primarily played out in italy

having done so henry then assembled the

large military force which was sent to

the basque country in northeastern spain

with the goal of henry and ferdinand

launching a joint military campaign to

conquer guillen in southwestern france

for england henry would no doubt have

been disappointed by the outcome his own

troops mutinate while ferdinand used the

rump of the forces to conquer the small

pyrinian principality of navarra for

spain

despite this setback clear signs of

catherine's prominent role in english

affairs was seen the following year in

june 1513 henry launched his own

campaign to france which he led in

person across the english channel to

land in the north of the country in the

weeks that followed he campaigned in

northeastern france in association with

the austrian habsburgs in his absence

catherine served as governor of the

realm and captain general of england

during the late summer and autumn of

1513 it was a critical period on the

22nd of august king james iv of scotland

who was acting in defense of scotland's

traditional ally the french invaded

northern england a large english army

was quickly gathered much of the

logistical work being carried out by

catherine and the government's senior

ministers as a result when the earl of

surrey thomas howard commanded an

english army against the scots at

flodden on the 9th of september they won

one of the greatest victories over the

scottish ever achieved by english arms

catherine had been gathering together a

reserve force to aid surrey and was

heading north with it when news of the

victory at flodden was received she also

learned the king james and several of

his senior nobles had died on the field

writing to henry she stated in this your

grace shall see how i keep my promise

sending you for your banners a king's

coat

yet as much as katherine's prominent

role in the politics of the early 1510s

indicates the influence she held at this

time there were already signs of future

trouble brewing the queen quite

infamously had a difficult gynecological

history she was reported to be pregnant

on numerous occasions during the first

10 years or so of her and henry's

marriage some of these instances are

based on ambassadorial reports which

featured mere rumors in the royal court

but there are more concrete details of

some of katherine's natal history she

became pregnant with a daughter very

soon after her and henry's wedding but

she miscarried in january 1510 and this

was followed within a few months by a

fresh pregnancy this time she gave birth

to a baby boy on the 1st of january 1511

who was named henry after his father and

grandfather and anointed as prince of

wales but he died seven weeks later on

the 22nd of february it's possible that

there was another boy born in september

1513 just days after the battle of

flodden but if this is so he died within

hours or days at the most another son

was certainly stillborn in the early

winter of 1514 it was not until a girl

mary was born in february 1516 that a

child survived but england had never had

an undisputed queen and as the years

went by henry would pine evermore for a

son to secure the succession and tudor

rule

the full implications of catherine's

natal woes would not become clear until

the 1520s in the meantime the

international situation was entering a

more fluid state england had made peace

with france in 1514 as part of which it

had been agreed that henry's 18 year old

sister mary would marry king louis xii

of france louis was 34 years older than

mary but happily for the bride he died

just a few months later and was

succeeded by his cousin francis a member

of a cadet branch of the valois royal

family and the following year catherine

may have been influential yet again in

getting henry to agree to a renewal of

the alliance with spain but when old

king ferdinand died himself in 1516 he

was succeeded by his grandson charles as

successor to his mother's spanish

kingdom and his father phillips habsburg

inheritance charles v would become the

most powerful monarch in europe

simultaneously ruling spain austria the

low countries and much of italy as well

as serving as holy roman emperor from

1519 onwards the diplomatic map of

europe was now profoundly altered and

when henry decided he wanted to end his

marriage to catherine several years

later he would be impeded by her nephew

the most powerful ruler europe had seen

for several centuries

this diplomatic realignment led to a

curious experiment in diplomacy being

undertaken towards the end of the 1510s

by one of henry's senior ministers and

an individual who would play a large

role in catherine's affairs in later

years thomas woolsey had risen as the

king's armoner in 1509 to become the

archbishop of york and then to be made a

cardinal of the church in 1515 by that

time he was also henry's leading

minister and handled an immense amount

of government business and in 1518 he

determined to try to get the major

western and central european powers to

agree to renounce making war on each

other for some time in order to present

a united front against the expanding

islamic ottoman empire in the eastern

mediterranean though england france the

papacy and spain all agreed to the

treaty of london it was soon discarded

as henry yet again looked to make war on

france in the early 1520s nevertheless

it is an interesting episode in

woolsey's rise to the position of

european statesmen he would soon be

acting inadvertently as one of

catherine's supporters in her fight to

resist henry's desire for an annulment

of their marriage

the causes of the king's later wish to

end his marriage to catherine were

dynastic as catherine suffered

stillbirth after miscarriage in the

early 1510s henry had taken a mistress

as early as 1514 and there were several

more in the years that followed and in

1519 one of these elizabeth blount gave

birth to a boy the king acknowledged him

and he was named henry after him with

the addition of the title fitzroy

meaning the son of the king however

while this new child was acknowledged by

henry he was still illegitimate in law

and could not succeed to the throne and

what was increasingly at issue was

catherine's age she had been over five

years older than henry when they married

in 1509 in 1520 she was 35. this was

certainly not so old that catherine

couldn't possibly become pregnant again

or even still have multiple children but

her complicated and arduous natal

history with its many miscarriages and

still births did not inspire confidence

in anyone at the english royal court

that catherine was likely to give birth

to the legitimate male heir that henry

so desired and as the months and years

ticked past in the early 1520s this

concern turned more and more to a

certainty as it did henry would seek to

end the marriage

we should pause here to ask who exactly

was the woman who had become so central

to english political affairs in the

1520s because of later events catherine

has sometimes been depicted as merely a

shadowy presence in england a distant

figure who eventually led her husband to

begin tearing england apart but she is

often a personalityless figure in all of

this in reality catherine was a

tenacious individual one who expressed

her mind forcefully throughout her adult

years in england often to the annoyance

of the sitting spanish ambassador at the

tudor court a pious catholic like her

parents she was heavily influenced early

on in her time in the country by her

confessor diego fernandez and she was a

major supporter of the observant

franciscan movement in her adopted

homeland but despite her forcefulness

she could quite effortlessly perform her

role as queen presiding over court

gatherings next to henry and dispensing

patronage where appropriate to the

church and others attached to the court

yet her direct influence on england's

politics was minimal and catherine did

not wish for any greater involvement

moreover she retained her spanish

identity throughout her years in england

and while she learned to speak english

fluently within her own private

apartments and household there was a

largely spanish staff and catherine

continued to confess in spanish even

several decades after leaving her

homeland

catherine was also a noted patron of

scholars she was already fluent in

spanish french and latin when she

arrived in england and although her

progress was slow at first she

eventually did become fluent in english

in her adult years she excelled in her

latin learning beyond what would be

expected of a european royal in the 16th

century she patronized both the

university of oxford and the university

of cambridge as queen visiting both and

interceding directly with henry over

issues and benefactions relating to

queen's college and st john's college in

cambridge she also patronized several of

the most prominent intellectuals of

england in the 1510s and 1520s notably

the antiquarian and poet john leland the

humanist and physician thomas lineker

and the religious reformer and diplomat

richard pace she is best remembered

however for urging the leading spanish

humanist scholar juan luis bives to come

to england for a period in the mid-1520s

here bibas finished some work on the

church father augustine but his english

sojourn is most notable for having

composed the education of a christian

woman a highly progressive treatise

which argued for the universal education

of women the work was written as a guide

of thoughts for the princess mary and

was dedicated to catherine it points to

the centrality of learning and education

to the queen's world view

shortly after beaves completed his

educational treaties the princess mary

was sent to ludlow castle in 1525 to

begin maintaining her own household

there and to be educated by tutors such

as catherine's former chaplain and the

noted catholic scholar richard

featherston but even as this was

occurring henry was proactively seeking

ways to ensure that a male heir would

arrive to supplant mary as the next in

line to the throne in 1521 henry had yet

again allied with his wife's nation when

he and charles v agreed to go to war

again against france four years of

conflict followed before henry

effectively decided to go his own way

and made an independent peace with king

francis and in the months that followed

a remarkable shift in affairs occurred

as henry now began to nail his colours

to the mast in favor of the french

against the habsburgs though most of the

fighting in the war of the league of

cognac which followed occurred in italy

as part of the conflict between france

and spain for hegemony there england

played a slight role too for her part

catherine despaired in private in the

mid-1520s that she was no longer

consulted by her husband in these

matters and she rarely heard from her

nephew charles in the way which she had

during her father's lifetime when it

came to spanish affairs

if catherine was increasingly sidelined

by her husband in the determination of

england's place on the international

stage it simply reflected her position

at court following the birth of henry

fitzroy in 1519 the king had entered

another affair this one with mary berlin

the daughter of sir thomas berlin who

had caught henry's eye on her wedding

day of all days in 1520. mary was a

somewhat scandalous figure who had spent

time at the french court in the late

1510s while her father was serving as

england's ambassador to france she was

ordered home to england in 1519 for

having engaged in several affairs with

french courtiers including king francis

himself now following her liaisons with

henry it was rumored that she had borne

the king two sons in the early 1520s but

if she did he did not acknowledge them

perhaps because the exact parentage of

the children could not be determined yet

mary was ultimately to become a

peripheral figure rather it was her

sister who would take center stage in

the 1520s in 1526 henry began a new

affair with anne boleyn mary's younger

sibling and this time henry was more

committed to his new mistress and by

1527 he was determined that he would

obtain a divorce from catherine in order

to marry again and hopefully produce a

legitimate male heir

what was to become known as the king's

great matter his goal of achieving a

divorce from his wife of nearly 20 years

would eventually turn every aspect of

english political social and religious

life upside down henry first alerted his

wife in the early summer of 1527 that he

was looking into the possibility of a

divorce because after 18 years of

marriage his scruples had suddenly been

challenged by the chance that their

marriage had been unlawful all along the

argument being pursued was that because

catherine had married henry's brother

arthur and because that earlier marriage

had been consummated henry had

effectively married his own sister in

1509 and this was intolerable in

religious law therefore an annulment had

to be granted for the marriage this was

hypocritical of henry in the extreme to

suddenly claim that his scruples around

this issue had suddenly been felt 18

years after the event however

catherine's family background

complicated the matter for henry she

immediately wrote to her nephew charles

v to inform him of the situation as luck

would have it charles's forces in italy

had recently captured the city of rome

and with pope clement vii effectively

charles's prisoner there henry would not

receive an annulment to his marriage any

time soon

with the possibility of an annulment

being quickly granted dashed cardinal

woolsey now became a central figure in

events and in july 1527 he was

dispatched to france where he envisaged

the possibility of setting up a council

of cardinals who would run the roman

catholic church while clement was

incapacitated in rome such a council

would be able to quickly grant henry his

divorce in tandem and without woolsey's

knowledge henry also dispatched the

diplomat william knight to rome to seek

a dispensation from clement to at least

allow henry to marry again if the

divorce could not be granted straight

away effectively this was a request from

the king of england whose scruples were

now severely affecting his judgment that

the pope would sanction him to commit

bigamy and have two queens at once

thinking better of this particularly

crazed request henry quickly sent a

messenger after knight who caught up

with him somewhere in france and

rescinded the order in any event both

woolsey and knights missions would

produce nothing and in england henry was

beginning to assemble a collection of

church scholars and lawyers who could

provide him with legal justifications

for the annulment of his marriage as he

did the great mata would come to dominic

court life in england during the late

1520s

as the months went by the situation

altered somewhat in rome pope clement

was released from captivity by charles v

in december 1527 but the spanish still

controlled the city and his freedom of

action was still heavily curtailed he

eventually consented to send a papal

legate in the shape of cardinal lorenzo

campello to england in the autumn of

1528 to deliberate on the case with

cardinal woolsey secretly campedjo had

orders to delay the situation as much as

possible and to look for an alternative

solution to the problem having arrived

there he and woolsey had an audience

with catherine on the 24th of october

1528 following which she requested

campejo to hear her confession on the

27th at this she related to him that

although they were married for several

months in late 1501 and early 1502 and

that she and arthur had shared a bet on

several occasions during that time the

marriage had never been consummated as

they had not had relations on this issue

hinged the entire legal argument which

henry's team of lawyers and churchmen

had been devising if catherine had never

had relations with arthur their argument

had no substance to it and no divorce

would be forthcoming

eventually in late may 1529 the legating

court assembled catherine quickly

appealed for the hearing to be adjourned

and for her case to be heard in rome on

the 21st of june both she and henry

spoke before the court as did woolsey

for such a significant moment in english

political and religious history there is

a frustrating lack of detail in the

available sources as to what each of

them actually said that day but we do

know that catherine at one stage knelt

before henry and protested that she had

been his lawful wife for 20 years and

immediately after this she left the

court despite the calls for her to

remain as a result campecho had to send

word to rome that catherine was now

refusing to cooperate with the

proceedings by the time the message was

sent to the vatican and a response was

formulated the summer recess was nearing

in london on the 23rd of july woolsey

convinced campecho to close proceedings

for a time but it was clear when he did

this that there was no intention of

resuming activity in the autumn having

exhausted the possibility of coming to

an agreement with rome and pope clement

henry's ministers officials and advisers

would increasingly look to find an

alternative way of obtaining his divorce

and bringing an end to his great matter

throughout this tense period catherine

and henry had understandably seen less

and less of each other it should be

noted that henry maintained a clear

fontness for her and even at the height

of affairs in late 1528 he is recorded

by the contemporary chronicler and

historian edward hall as having stated

if i were to marry again if the marriage

might be good i would surely choose her

above all other women yet while she had

continued to preside over much of court

life as queen she and henry rarely dined

together by 1529 except on major court

occasions where the absence of one would

set tongues wagging at court henry was

also often absent increasingly in the

company of ann berlin and her growing

court faction somewhat bizarrely

throughout this period henry continued

to have catherine sew his shirts for him

something which infuriated anne and for

her part catherine tried to act in as

dignified a manner as possible at court

despite her precarious and embarrassing

position she wrote frequently to charles

v and pope clement and pressed her

nephew's new ambassador eustace chapwise

to implore rome to categorically refuse

to sanction any divorce however clement

did not oblige her in this and stated

simply that he would not agree to

resolve the case unless the parties

appeared in rome

as clement delayed henry grew more

desperate and the berlin faction which

included anne's powerful uncle thomas

howard third duke of norfolk

increasingly argued that woolsey was the

main impediment to progress as the most

powerful churchman in england and one of

the two leggets appointed by rome to

decide the case it was in his power to

advance the divorce henry who possessed

the peculiar combination of being both a

coward and a tyrant did not wish to

destroy his most trusted servant and

advisor but felt powerless to resist the

growing calls for woolsey to be

supplanted eventually he began revoking

the cardinals powers and stripping him

of his properties and wealth he was

however permitted to remain as

archbishop of york and so he set out for

the north of england to his diocese in

the autumn of 1530. during which journey

he died but while woolsey was now gone

his removal did not provide a solution

in and of itself to the king's great

matter that would only come through the

intercession of one of woolsey's

proteges a rising official called thomas

cromwell cromwell would become one of

the critical figures in the months that

followed in the new line of argument to

obtain the divorce this held that the

english church was not under the

jurisdiction of rome and that the

english crown held supreme authority

over the english church as such henry

could grant himself a divorce

much of what followed in the course of

the early 1530s was intimately connected

to the religious turmoil shaking europe

the protestant reformation had begun in

germany led by reformer martin luther in

1517

and in the years that followed it swept

through central western and northern

europe as individuals questioned every

type of received knowledge about the

church and how it was run it was in this

climate that the scholars and lawyers

which henry had assembled to obtain his

divorce began arguing that the kings of

england held supremacy over the english

church this was the line which was

followed from 1531 onwards cromwell

became central to pushing it through as

he coerced england's leading churchmen

to accept it in the process the

establishment of henry's supremacy would

create opportunities for new church

figures with protestant sympathies to

gain high office and in the act of

acquiring his divorce henry's actions at

this time inadvertently also initiated

the english reformation but to henry in

1531 and 1532 that would have seemed

somewhat immaterial or at least the

lesser of two evils the greater one

being his inability to get a divorce

thus henry threw his full support behind

establishing the supremacy in the early

1530s in order to finally resolve his

great matter

catherine must have known that her time

as queen of england was limited when in

february 1531 a clerical convocation

affirmed henry's position as supreme

head of the church of england in rome

pope clement responded to this by

offering to allow the case concerning

his divorce to take place on neutral

ground somewhere outside of england or

rome but there would be no such case

heard now on the 31st of may 1531 a

deputation of 30 of henry's leading

officials and councillors met with

catherine in order to work out a

compromise given that the king was

determined to proceed she tenaciously

resisted defending both the supremacy of

rome over the english church and the

validity of her own marriage yet again

stating that she had never consummated

her marriage with arthur six weeks later

on the 11th of july 1531 she met with

henry for the last time thereafter she

was ordered to head north to the moor

palace in hertfordshire effectively

being banished from the site of the

royal court she was also to be cruelly

separated from her daughter mary was

still the royal heir and would reside at

windsor castle though she can't have

known it at the time that she left

london in the summer of 1531 catherine

would never see her daughter again the

bitter separation was entering its last

stages

at the mall palace catherine was allowed

to maintain a considerable household but

she was prohibited from returning to

london in the late autumn a further

deputation of henry's officials came to

visit her the hope was that catherine

would give up her objection to a trial

being held in england to deliberate on

the validity of her marriage if she

appeared at such a trial there was no

doubt that it would be stage managed in

such a way as to back up henry's

argument since 1527 that the marriage

was invalid and an annulment would

follow in due course catherine refused

but by now the mata was out of her hands

and by the late summer of 1532 anne

berlin was presiding over the royal

court as though she were effectively

queen and in the autumn of that year she

accompanied henry on a royal visit to

france in november she and henry were

married in secret a more formal wedding

took place in january 1533 by that time

archbishop thomas cranmer a supporter of

the supremacy had been installed as

archbishop of canterbury and finally in

may 1533 he convened a special clerical

court at dunstable priory which declared

henry and catherine's marriage to be

invalid and annulled five days later he

retroactively sanctioned henry and

anne's marriage at last after six years

henry had obtained his divorce from

catherine

what would catherine do now for the

second time in her long english odyssey

she found herself cast adrift in a

country where her purpose was now

unclear on the first occasion she had

been a young woman with the vague

prospect of a new marriage to henry

being worked out in the aftermath of

arthur's death but this time there was

no such prospect yet a return to her

native spain was out of the question she

had not been there in over 30 years and

she had few ties to her homeland anymore

her sister juana was still there though

still living effectively under house

arrest since her father had accused her

of madness decades earlier her son who

had effectively usurped her position as

ruler of castile had left her under

house arrest at tortesias the two

sisters had not exactly fared well in a

world run by men for catherine if spain

held no attraction for her england

offered the only reason for her to

reside anywhere her daughter mary was

there and catherine would have to fight

to maintain mary's position in the new

dispensation which had effectively

sidelined her with the annulment of

catherine's marriage to henry as such

the conclusion of henry's great matter

early in 1533 did not bring katherine's

own personal struggle with her husband

to an end but first henry attempted to

placate catherine with an offer of the

title of princess dowager catherine

refused and she was consulting with the

imperial ambassador eustace chapuis

around this time to try to have him

press the papacy to issue a definitive

condemnation of henry's pronunciation of

his marriage to her simultaneously it is

clear that there was widespread public

support throughout england for catherine

and her cause this was exhibited most

publicly in the prophecies of elizabeth

barton barton who is variously

remembered as the holy maid of kent and

the mad maid of kent had gained a

reputation throughout england in the

1520s as a prophetess who had visions

she had even met with cardinal woolsey

and henry in 1528 but despite their

earlier acquaintance barton was

preaching in 1532 that if henry

remarried he would die soon afterwards

she even claimed that she had seen the

place in hell where he would be sent her

public appearances gained large crowds

which expressed support for catherine

and vilified anne thus although barton

herself was eventually arrested tried

and hanged at tyburn on charges of

treason the episode points towards how

much support catherine enjoyed from the

common people of the country over which

she had been queen for more than 23

years conversely anne had been received

in a tepid fashion by the london crowds

during her coronation

as 1533 turned into 1534 catherine's

position became more and more awkward

for henry in march of that year the

papacy finally issued its pronouncements

on the divorce and surprisingly they

were entirely supportive of catherine's

position then in may catherine refused

to swear an oath which the government

was asking people to subscribe to which

would recognize any children which anne

berlin would have by the king

this would place anne's children ahead

of mary in the royal succession and

catherine was unwilling to accept it she

wrote to mary advising her to refuse the

oath as well at the same time she was

forced to move to kimbolton house in

huntingtonshire and her household was

much reduced to match her more limited

financial means those who remained

primarily consisted of about two dozen

spaniards the core group being her

confessor her maids several stewards and

some grooms here she insisted on

continuing to be addressed as the queen

whatever her aspirations were though her

life was increasingly restricted she had

to get permission to receive visitors

and even when mary was ill in late 1534

and early 1535 henry refused catherine

permission to be allowed to visit her

the concern was that if catherine and

her daughter managed to escape together

to the continent they could later press

mary's claim to the throne with the

backing of charles v and the papacy in

the intricate european politics of the

16th century this was not an entirely

unfounded fear

catherine remained defiant to the last

throughout 1535

she continued to pursue various channels

to request that the new pope paul iii

should issue a declaration stating that

henry was excommunicated from the church

as a result of his disobeying the

papacy's directives with regard to their

marriage however these efforts were

sabotaged by her own nephew charles v

was preparing to go to war again with

france and the last thing he needed was

an announcement from the papacy which

would push england into supporting the

french in the new conflict which

eventually broke out in 1536

thus catherine would never live to see

her husband condemned fully by rome her

health had been deteriorating in the

autumn of 1535 and by december when

ambassador chapwise visited her she was

very ill she worsened further in the

first days of january and died at

kimbolton at 2pm on the 7th of january

an autopsy of sorts afterwards revealed

that her heart was damaged and black

throughout it is likely that this was a

secondary condition caused by a

melanotic carcinoma rumors that she had

been poisoned are very unlikely to have

been accurate she was buried at

peterborough abbey although no monument

was erected to mark the site as being

the grave of the woman who had been

queen of england for nearly a quarter of

a century

the england that catherine departed from

in 1536 was just beginning to enter a

vast period of change which was closely

tied to henry's quest to divorce her the

drive to establish henry as supreme head

of the english church had seen religious

figures such as the new archbishop of

canterbury thomas cranmer obtained

control over much of the church

throughout england in the years that

followed these individuals began

reforming church practice and introduced

a version of the new protestant religion

just as catherine left the world the

hundreds of monasteries and nunaries

which had dotted england for centuries

were being shut down while in churches

all over the country altars were being

stripped back to more austere interiors

in line with protestant practice though

there would be catholic reactions and

periods of more radical protestantism in

the 20 years that followed nothing in

the end could turn back the tide of

religious and social change which was

initiated through efforts to find a

resolution to henry viii's great matter

perhaps henry would not have minded in

october 1537 he got his wish when a

legitimate male heir called edward was

born to his third wife jane seymour yet

that son to which henry had strived for

so long would only rule for six years

after henry himself died in 1547

thus catherine's daughter mary became

queen of england after all in 1553

catherine of aragon is one of the most

curious figures in english political

history in a great many accounts of the

tumultuous events of the late 1520s and

early 1530s she is regularly mentioned

but comes across as a personalityless

key character she is usually presented

as the roadblock which prevented henry

viii from marrying anne berlin but henry

and anne are the personalities in these

accounts and catherine is an important

but shadowy figure in the background of

which nothing is ever usually said

except that she had to be removed this

does her a disservice catherine was a

proud tenacious woman who overcame a

considerable degree of adversity after

being cast adrift in a foreign land as a

teenager during a time when women of her

background were often mere bartering

tools in international diplomacy as

queen she acted as a progressive patron

of scholars and supported the education

of women in england and then when her

troubled natal history eventually led

henry to try to dispense with her she

doggedly fought to maintain her own

position and more importantly her

daughter's position as heir to the

throne of england all of this stands

considerably in her favor

curiously enough perhaps the greatest

testament to catherine's character was

provided by henry viii himself of

henry's other five wives there were two

he did not dispense of his third wife

jane seymour died owing to postnatal

complications after giving birth to the

future king edward vi while his sixth

and final wife catherine parr outlived

henry by a year however the other three

were not treated kindly his marriage to

his fourth wife anne of cleves was

quickly annulled in 1540 after henry

stated she is nothing so fair as hath

been reported his fifth wife catherine

howard was beheaded after she was found

guilty of having committed adultery

while anne berlin the woman for whom

henry spent so many years trying to

divorce catherine in order to marry her

was found guilty of treason on quite

possibly spurious charges in 1536 and

beheaded as well just three years after

marrying henry by way of contrast henry

who probably respected catherine more

than any of his other wives allowed his

former spanish consort to live on in

england after he had finally obtained

his divorce though her liberties were

restricted at a time when there was a

very real fear that charles v would

declare war on england over the divorce

at least catherine kept her head which

is more than many others who got in

henry's way could say

what do you think of catherine of aragon

do you think she was right to resist

henry's attempts to divorce her so

strongly and for so long please let us

know in the comment section and in the

meantime thank you very much for

watching

the woman known to history as ann bolin

was born in or around 1501

at blickling hall in norfolk although

sometime in her early childhood the

family would move to what would become

their principal residence which was

hever castle in kent

her father was sir thomas bolin

intelligent well-educated and fluent in

french he was also very ambitious

promoted by henry vii to deputy warden

for customs at calais he was an

influential courtier anne's

great-grandfather was the lord mayor of

london in 1457

sir jeffrey bolin a successful merchant

who bought the family seats of both

blickling hall and heaver castle and

mother was elizabeth howard daughter of

the earl of surrey who would laterally

become the second duke of norfolk

elizabeth howard was a noble woman who

served as lady in waiting to catherine

of aragon during the early part of the

reign of henry viii the howards could

rightfully claim to move in royal

circles not least because anne's uncle

the third duke of norfolk had married

the daughter of edward iv anne of york

anne was educated to a high standard

along with her siblings by members of

her household and it was anne and her

brother george who were the better

students the two also sharing a

particular closeness as brother and

sister anne would have learned the

traditional lessons of the time such as

reading and writing as well as languages

and music but she would also have been

taught the traditionally feminine

lessons of needlework dancing and

singing only two of anne's siblings

survived into adulthood they were george

and mary however their ages and even the

order of their birth is a point of

contention although the probable order

was that mary was the oldest as per lord

hunsden's account and that anne was the

middle child born before george who was

born in either 1504 or 1505

making anne's probable birth date

sometime around 1501

anne was considered the less attractive

of the two sisters and rumors abound

that she was born with physical marks of

a large mole on her neck and an extra

finger on one hand attributes that would

have arose suspicion that she carried

quote

marks of the devil and took care to hide

these marks and they did not appear in

her portraiture she also had black hair

and dark eyes not the conventional

picture of beauty at the time but

despite the unusual marks on her body

and the fact that she was not the oldest

berlin girl her intelligence meant that

her ambitious father thomas berlin chose

anne to send into service as a lady in

waiting at the court of margaret of

austria regent of the netherlands and so

she left england for the first time in

1513 entering the household of margaret

of austria in brussels

she would have set out for brussels with

a contingent of her father's servants

beginning the journey with anticipation

and excitement at taking up such a

sought after position as well as with

her father's words in mind to make sure

she made the best of herself as the

representative of the family abroad at

one of the most cultured courts in

europe she quickly made a good

impression at the dutch court and

margaret of austria wrote to thomas

bolin stating how pleased she was to

receive his daughter anne made good

progress in learning the french language

and wrote a long letter in french to her

father which is the first example of

anne's own voice in original sources

after the king of france louis the

twelfth's wife died in 1514 he requested

of henry viii the hand in marriage of

his sister mary tudor who traveled to

france to become queen by this time

anne's fluency in french had become well

known and her father was asked to send

her from brussels to france to serve

under mary tudor this would have been a

difficult request for thomas berlin to

ask of margaret of austria as there were

rumors that margaret herself may have

been the likely candidate for marriage

to king louis

anne's sister mary boleyn traveled with

mary tudor to france as she was by now

part of mary's household anne traveled

directly from brussels to france and

joined the french court and was also

reunited with her sister there

and when after their marriage king louis

sent many of mary tudor's attendants

home to england anne and her sister mary

were two who were spared and so they

would have been quite close confidence

to the new queen however when king louis

died only three months after their

marriage most of mary tudor's attendants

returned to england with her in may 1515

but anne and mary berlin decided to stay

at the french court in the new queen

claude's household and had most likely

acted as an interpreter between mary

tudor and her stepdaughter claude when

louis was still alive and so the

relationship they formed must have been

a good one since anne stayed in queen

claude's service for the next seven

years

whilst queen claude's court was quiet

and demure

that of her husband francis the first

was much more debauched and frivolous

and both mary and anne would on occasion

visit the king's court in the course of

their duties during this time mary

berlin gained quite a reputation for

being generous with her sexual favors

even earning the nickname of the english

mayor and becoming the mistress of both

francis the first and several other

french courtiers when he discarded her

and when word reached mary's family in

england of her behaviour she was sent

for to return home ending what must have

been an embarrassing time for anne at

the french court

while stan was at the court of queen

claude she would have spent much of her

time doing needlework and playing music

but also during this time she met with

the sister of francis the first

margherita vanguard who may have

influenced anne with her reformist views

anne would also have had the opportunity

of seeing her father during her time at

the french court as thomas bolin took

part in several court visits from

england one of which was for the

christening of francis the first and

queen claude's son henry duke of orleans

in 1519

she would also probably have met him at

the famous field of cloth of gold

meeting between francis the first and

henry viii

in 1518

although not recorded as such ann would

almost certainly have been present at

the famous meeting between the kings as

one of the ladies in waiting to the

french queen and this would probably

have been the first time that she set

eyes on her future husband king henry

viii who was 30 at the time and in his

prime as well as the first time that she

would have seen catherine of aragon the

king's older wife anne would return to

england after nearly nine years abroad

in 1522

after her father requested her presence

in late 1521 and by february or march

1522 she had become a member of the

household of catherine of aragon in

greenwich anne's presence at court

caused a stir she was seen as somewhat

of a fashion icon as well as being

possessed of considerable poise grace

and charm even her detractors at the

time wrote of the magnetism of her

demeanor in march 1522

anne was chosen to take part in a play

or mask at court in which eight

princesses dressed in white satin would

portray various virtues mary tudor would

portray beauty whilst anne's sister mary

would portray kindness and anne was

chosen to portray perseverance

by the time anne returned to court in

england her sister mary was mistress to

king henry viii an involvement that

would last for several years despite

mary's marriage to william carey in 1521

which was thought a cover to protect her

reputation should she fall pregnant by

the king mary's relationship with henry

could also be the reason for thomas

berlin's progression as he was made

controller of the household in 1520 and

treasurer of the household in 1522

as well as being made viscount rochford

in 1525

however mary received little from her

relationship with henry after she was

discarded in 1525

this treatment may well have warned anne

to hold out for what she wanted when

looking for marriage and love and this

she would make sure she did

what anne hadn't realized when she left

france was that she was being summoned

home in order that she should be married

thomas berlin and cardinal woolsey in

talks with king henry had arranged for

anne to be married to the eldest son of

sapir's butler james to avoid a

succession disagreement over the

rightful ownership of the title of the

earl ship of ormond over which thomas

berlin had a claim as did the butlers it

seems that anne was not keen on the

match between herself and james butler

her delaying tactics eventually proved

successful and the marriage idea

dwindled and never in fact happened

despite having the approval of the king

anne wanted an advantageous marriage for

herself and was also known as a willful

character she defied the conventions of

the time and arranged a marriage for

herself her chosen partner was henry

percy heir to the earldom of

northumberland it was a very good match

for anne and henry percy immediately

fell deeply in love with her it has been

speculated that following their

engagement they may have actually

consummated their relationship as anne

would have been eager to ensure her path

to becoming countess of northumberland

this fact could also have been known by

lady wingfield who anne wrote to quite

humbly before her later marriage to

henry probably hoping to keep the matter

a secret however the marriage never in

fact happened as the king heard of their

plans and instructed wolsey to put a

stop to it he summoned percy to him

forbidding the marriage on the grounds

that anne was beneath him in terms of

rank and was furious at this decision

and held a grudge against cardinal

woolsey for the decision henry percy

pined for anne and was almost

continually ill

until his death in his early thirties

following her failed engagement anne

returned to heaver castle and became

reacquainted with her next love interest

her neighbor thomas wyatt whose family

was well known by thomas bolin as

wyatt's father sir henry wyatt had been

created a night of the bath along with

thomas bolin at henry viii's coronation

and they shared the office of constable

of norwich castle from 1511. thomas was

a handsome athletic figure as well as a

poet who was well respected at court the

only downside was that wyatt was already

married and so their relationship

remained merely a flirtation which

continued when anne was called back to

catherine of aragon's court in 1525.

however wyatt's writing made it clear

that he was highly attracted to anne and

did in fact love her with some sources

suggesting that their relationship may

have actually been more than platonic

however anne's feelings for and extent

of relationship with wyatt is ultimately

uncertain

several sources claim that anne was not

at all chaste and virtuous and that

thomas wyatt was allowed into her bed

and that she may have even entertained

other lovers as well with one writer

claiming that the first was her father's

butler when she was a girl of only

fifteen another more salacious

anti-berlin rumor stated that henry viii

who had found anne's mother elizabeth

howard attractive had fathered anne

however this is highly unlikely as henry

would have been only 16 at the time and

still under the protection of his father

henry vii

the accounts of her carrying on an

affair with wyatt also seem unlikely as

there were several other likely

candidates she could have chosen who

were not married and as well as this she

would hold back from sleeping with the

king until they were eventually married

both arguments point to the inaccuracy

of the wyatt affair being anything more

than simple flirtation by the mid-1520s

queen catherine of aragon's failure to

produce a sun and heir would have made

king henry more and more impatient

and because catherine was more or less

constantly pregnant for the first decade

of her marriage henry was used to taking

mistresses even fathering an

illegitimate son whom henry acknowledged

as his own child the boy was named henry

fitzroy literally meaning

son of the king he was born in june of

1519

his mother elizabeth blount one of the

queen's ladies in waiting henry had

proven that he could father a son and

while henry never openly blamed

catherine for her failure to produce a

boy it is likely that the continued

absence of a legitimate heir some 10

years into his marriage stoked

resentment as well as anxiety in him

especially as henry was now 27 years old

and catherine was 33 and so the time

left for her to conceive was growing

short and within a decade henry's

attempts to address the absence of an

heir would change the face of england

forever

culturally henry was a devout catholic

and evidence suggests that he

essentially remained so throughout his

life however his commitment to the

pope's right to govern the church would

present him with perhaps his greatest

dilemma when his views conflicted with

both his desire to remarry and his

increasingly desperate need for a son

and heir the one thing that seemed to be

out of his reach by the mid-1520s the

situation became even more strained

henry was no longer the popular teenage

king but was still a fairly young man in

his early 30s and never having abandoned

his athletic lifestyle and pursuits he

had kept his trim handsomeness and vigor

catherine however was nearing 40 and had

gained a great deal of weight in the

years since her marriage as well as this

six pregnancies in nine years had

wreaked havoc on her body and catherine

now past childbearing age was losing

both the love and interest of her

husband

when ann berlin came to the tudor court

in 1525 as a lady in waiting to queen

catherine having recently returned from

the french court of queen claude she

must have been a breath of fresh air to

the king she was much admired for her

cosmopolitan air her style wit and charm

and still in her mid-20s she was

fashionable and attractive with dark

hair and eyes and commanded attention at

court and henry longing for a younger

more vivacious wife who might give him a

son

fell deeply in love with her the affair

of anne's sister with the king ended

before 1526 and so on her return to

court anne was seemingly available and

king henry was on the lookout for

another mistress anne continued her

flirtatious behavior with thomas wyatt

at court thomas at one point taking a

jewel from anne which he kept on his

person presumably as a reminder of her

during this time both henry and wyatt

vied for the attention of anne before

wyatt realized just how serious the king

was about winning her hand

henry also took a ring from anne and

began wearing it on his little finger at

this time the first indication perhaps

that his feelings for her were deepening

and in 1528 king henry made wyatt

marshall of calais perhaps to make sure

wyatt was absent from court to clear the

way for henry to secure his relationship

with anne initially for the first few

months of their courtship there seemed

to be no question of henry casting off

his wife he frequently begged anne to

become his mistress which she refused to

do as although she was flattered to

receive the attention of the king she

insisted that she would give her

virginity only to her husband henry's

letters to anne from 1526 and 1527

some of which survive are full of

passionate declarations of his love and

desire for her henry continually

commissioned new jewels and trinkets for

her and publicly showed her favor and

affection

in historical terms anne boleyn has been

given the reputation of the other woman

at worst a grasping political climber

and conspirator who usurped the place of

a legitimate wife and queen much loved

by the english people however there is

no evidence that she encouraged henry's

interest in her initially indeed she

reportedly made an abrupt departure from

court in the spring of 1527

returning to her family's home at hever

castle and the letter that henry wrote

to anne soon after her departure conveys

the impression that she might have left

simply to avoid henry's ardour and avoid

turning down a king who held power over

the livelihood and lives of the entire

court the letter from henry reads quote

in turning over in my mind the contents

of your last letters i have put myself

into great agony not knowing how to

interpret them whether to my

disadvantage as you show in some places

or to my advantage as i understand them

in some others beseeching you earnestly

to let me know expressly your whole mind

as to the love between us too it is

absolutely necessary for me to obtain

this answer having been for above a

whole year stricken with the dart of

love and not yet sure whether i shall

fail of finding a place in your heart

and affection

while some might accuse her playing a

skillful game of manipulation it seems

unlikely that a young woman like anne

from a respectable but not a powerful

family would imagine that she could be

anything more than henry's temporary

mistress it is difficult to believe that

anne might be presumptuous enough to

think that she could take henry from his

legitimate wife or that she might emerge

victorious from a battle with the queen

of england at the time anne was still

set on arranging a high-ranking marriage

for herself and may have seen the status

that the king's attention gave her as a

distinct advantage in the marriage

market making her seem all the more

worthy to would-be suitors the

alternative account that she set out to

take the king from his wife is unlikely

that her mixed messages confused and

frustrated the king until he became

besotted by this alluring seemingly

unobtainable woman however it is true

that a mere liaison with the king would

have no doubt placed her marriage

prospects and future prosperity at great

risk and so it is likely that she came

to love henry as he loved her after her

abrupt departure from court henry

continued writing to anne in his own

hand and sending her gifts and in time

anne began to respond to henry with

feelings and gifts of her own and the

two began carrying on their relationship

quite publicly at court

there is of course no way to know

whether anne and henry maintained their

abstinence as anne had insisted she must

however the fact that anne did not

become pregnant throughout the nearly

seven years of their courtship suggests

she stayed chaste methods of

contraception were available at the time

but were extremely unreliable so while

henry and anne were likely intimate with

one another there is no evidence which

suggests that they slept together prior

to late 1532 at the earliest their

intimacy is attested to in their letters

to one another in one of which henry

mentions that he misses anne's duckies

an informal term for her breasts by 1527

a year after anne's arrival at court

henry had proposed marriage to anne and

she had after much thought accepted

henry decided to seek a divorce from

catherine so he could marry anne henry's

rationale for the divorce has been

argued by some to illustrate the

fundamental flaws in his personality a

tendency towards cold abandonment and

indifference towards those he had no

more use for as well as a willingness to

interpret facts to suit himself

when henry had first married catherine

he had done so against objections from

all sides because he loved her the pope

issued a special dispensation to allow

henry to marry catherine since she had

been wed first to henry's brother arthur

and henry and catherine's marriage

according to catholic doctrine could

otherwise have been considered incest

based on a provision in leviticus 20 21

quote if any man should take his

brother's wife it is an unclean thing

they will be childless

and so when the teenage henry had wanted

to marry catherine of aragon he readily

accepted both the pope's dispensation

and catherine's claim that her six-month

marriage to his brother arthur had never

actually been consummated due to

arthur's continual ill health and it was

not until years later when henry had

fallen in love with anne and the

possibility of having a son had become

realistic again that henry decided that

catherine and arthur's marriage may not

have been consummated he reasoned that

the pope had overreached his own

authority and that the very reason he

had no son was because his current

marriage was a sin against god for which

divorce was the only remedy henry's

ambition for love and an heir changed

everything

the king would spend the next few years

pursuing the great matter of his divorce

he began with a direct appeal to pope

clement vii hoping that his noted

devotion to the catholic church would

secure him an annulment a prospect which

at the time was not as outrageous a

request as it seems today as for

literally centuries various successive

popes had dissolved literally dozens of

royal marriages even managers of

relatively long duration which had

already produced children most of which

were annulled for political reasons

although official annulments always

cited some biblical or doctrinal

explanation for the dissolution of these

marriages however henry was about to

find his dreams of a quick and easy

divorce dashed when in 1527

emperor charles v sacked rome and took

the pope as his prisoner in addition to

being arguably the most powerful man in

europe charles was also queen

catherine's nephew and by this point

even if the pope had wished to grant

henry his divorce he would have been

unable to

henry then turned to cardinal woolsey

who had never failed him and who owed

literally all he had to the king thomas

woolsey was not born to the nobility

like most clergymen of the day who

became archbishops cardinals and papal

legates woolsey was the son of a butcher

from ipswich originally an obscure

chaplain until under henry's patronage

he was made bishop archbishop and

cardinal in fairly quick succession

woolsey had not only been henry's lord

chancellor he had also been his mentor

as a young king still finding his way

but whatever the reason for woolsey's

failure to procure the divorce whether

inability or reluctance it would lead to

his ruin the cardinal working with

cardinal campeggio a special legget

appointed by the pope set up a legate in

the court to determine henry's great

matter but the court was unable to reach

a decision with regard to the merit of

henry's claims for an annulment and rule

that the matter should be decided by the

college of cardinals in rome

it is unclear whether woolsey truly

wanted to give henry his desire or if

like his ecclesiastical counterparts he

saw the danger of allowing the king to

divorce his famously pious catholic wife

and marry anne who was reliably rumored

to be a lutheran reformer but whatever

his intentions the failure of the legend

court was woolsey's downfall as henry

commanded his arrest and imprisonment

citing the treasonous tone of letters

woolsey had written to vatican officials

however the cardinal in fact died of

natural causes on his way to london

before henry could behead him

henry did not sit idly by waiting for

the college of cardinals or the pope to

decide the fate of his marriage instead

he began to canvass the opinion of

theologians at europe's universities

asking them to study deliberate and

pronounce a verdict on the merits of his

case for divorce however henry would be

disappointed twice more as the majority

of university theologians and later the

college of cardinals would decide in

favor of queen catherine declaring the

king's first marriage valid after all it

is unclear when henry first began to

consider repudiating the pope's

authority in england thus removing the

obstacle to his divorce

anne boleyn's influence as a lutheran

sympathizer and reformer is entirely

plausible as is the influence of thomas

cromwell another reformer who was first

henry's private secretary and later rose

to become the lord privy seal in fact

there were quite a few reformers in the

english parliament and at court at the

time and anti-clericalism was rife among

them but perhaps it was his introduction

to the little-known clergyman and

theology professor from cambridge thomas

cranmer which truly planted the seed in

his mind according to cranmer who was a

passionate reformer kings anointed by

god answered only to god and therefore

henry should not have had to pursue his

divorce through legal means this

atmosphere and these ideas may have

emboldened henry to formally break with

the roman catholic church and pursue one

of the most radical bids for power ever

made by a european monarch the claim to

the absolute powers of both king and

pope

it would take nearly two years for henry

to establish the fulfillment of his will

over both parliament and the english

clergy but by 1532 henry had what he

wanted he was the supreme head of the

church in england and parliament had

legislated a full break with the pope

stopping virtually all payments to rome

and because he wanted his great matter

decided by the english church which was

much better from a public relations

standpoint than declaring it himself he

made thomas cranmer archbishop of

canterbury empowering him to lead the

clergy to the right decision in other

words to vote in henry's favor with

regard to his divorce in april of 1533

archbishop cranmer declared henry's

marriage to catherine invalid but by

that time henry had already been

remarried for three months having wed

anne boleyn in a secret ceremony on the

25th of january 1533 as well as this

anne had already made her first

appearance at court as queen and had

taken up residence in what had been

catherine of aragon's apartments also

taking up the motto the most happy

however controversially some historians

suggest that when she came to the altar

anne was already pregnant as on the 7th

of september 1533

just over seven months after their

marriage anne gave birth to princess

elizabeth

the future elizabeth the first of

england the king once married had wanted

anne to be crowned queen speedily due to

her burgeoning pregnancy as he wanted

his expected child to be born to a

consecrated mother and so plans went

ahead for anne's coronation as part of

her procession anne would take a barge

and she made sure that it was catherine

of aragon's barge that was commandeered

for the royal procession reportedly she

had catherine's coat of arms not only

removed from the barge but also

destroyed

the festivities began on the 29th of may

1533 and lasted for five days the king

wanted anne's ceremony to reflect that

she was every inch the magnificent queen

he wanted her to be seen as and so

on the 31st of may anne's procession

left the tower consisting of foreign

ambassadors and nobles bedecked in

purple robes ermine and other finery

followed by anne carried in a litter

accompanied by her ladies in waiting

also finally attired in resplendent

fashion all to a salute of guns from the

tower and pageants at the roadside the

site must have been astonishing for the

spectators lining the route however when

anne noticed that some of the crowd were

not dothing their caps and calling god

save the queen and had one of her

attendants approach the lord mayor to

complain of it he replied that quote he

could not command people's hearts and

that even the king could not do so

despite the blatant signs of her

unpopularity

anne was resolute she would be crowned

queen and she was on the very next

morning in westminster abbey by

archbishop grandma

anne was never a popular queen as papers

from the time attest to subjects being

taken to task over comments on the

marriage and rudeness to her personally

and in 1533 a priest was recorded as

being subject to investigation over

calling anne a harlot and a and

quoting a prophecy that a queen would be

burned at smithfield this and similar

incidents led to the king issuing a

proclamation that anyone who came

forward with information against those

who spoke out against his marriage would

be offered a reward despite the apparent

loyalty and favor the king showed to

anne this did not translate to the

marriage bed as although the king had

been faithful to and during their

courtship the same was not true of their

marriage and by 1533

henry already had a mistress and ann

berlin knew of her this must have struck

anne like a thunderbolt as until she

gave henry his son her position was

reliant only on his passion for her

which was perhaps

waning when anne reacted angrily to the

news of the affair the king rebuked her

with righteous indignation not speaking

to her again for two or three days her

detractors at court must have reacted

gleefully at this first hint of a rift

in the royal marriage and anne decided

not to raise the matter until she had

given birth to her child who she fully

expected was to be a son

on the 7th of september 1533

anne gave birth

to a daughter to both hers and henry's

great regret the expected son had not

arrived and the planned tournament to

greet his birth was cancelled but once

their initial disappointment waned the

couple accepted the new baby happily she

was his heir after all until her son

appeared and she was happy and healthy

and looked like the king they named

their daughter elizabeth the name of not

only henry's mother but anne's also baby

elizabeth was christened and thomas

cranmer was named as her godfather and

the duchess of norfolk and the

marchioness of dorset were named as her

godmothers and after her christening the

baby was proclaimed princess of england

as well as heiress supplanting her

half-sister mary in the line of

succession

as queen

and divided opinion both at home and

abroad some loved her but many hated her

some due to her lowly origins and some

because catherine had always been such a

popular queen but they hated her also

because of anne's reformist religious

views which were alien to a great

proportion of the largely catholic

population one person who spoke out

against anne and was a thorn in both

hers and henry's side was a young woman

called elizabeth barton who claimed to

have been cured of an illness

miraculously by god she became a nun and

claimed to prophesize the future telling

henry that she had seen a place for him

prepared in hell and that he would stop

being a king

a month after his marriage to anne in

november 1533

henry had barton arrested and she

confessed after questioning that all her

claims had been a sham

she

was executed along with five of her

associates on the 20th of april 1534.

as a reformist queen anne set an example

in her court by reading the bible and

treating her courtiers to be both godly

and pious although she would have had

music and dancing at court she

demonstrated a degree of reformist

fervor and would read her bible in

french as well as english she also did

charitable works distributing arms to

the poor and also supporting a cambridge

scholar in her brief time as queen anne

also secured several bishoprics for

reformist clergymen including thomas

cranmer and hugh latimer who became

bishop of worcester she also offered

sanctuary at court to foreign reformers

who needed it as well as this she had a

great love for her daughter as did henry

and it must have been a wrench for anne

when the princess was given her own

household in december 1533

as was usual for the time henry well

understood the enormity of what he had

done by removing the power of rome in

order to marry anne and he moved swiftly

to consolidate his new powers and impose

his will implacably upon the english

people catherine of aragon was still

widely popular and her replacement queen

anne was widely resented but more

importantly the majority of the english

people still identified closely with

roman catholicism

henry knew he would have to establish

control quickly before the foreign

influence and support of catholic europe

emboldened uneasy catholic englishman to

act and his answer was the act of

supremacy which he proposed following

his marriage to anne and which

parliament passed in 1534

the act required all the king's subjects

to swear an oath recognizing henry as

supreme head of the church and affirming

the legality of the king's marriage to

anne boleyn refusal to swear the oath

was considered treason the punishment

for which was death for devoted

catholics the oath of supremacy was seen

as a referendum on morality most chose

to swear the oath and escape with their

lives no matter how painful the cost to

their beliefs

others like henry's old friend and

mentor sir thomas moore

would not

moore had largely retired from court and

public life in general following the

death of thomas woolsey henry had named

more lord chancellor a post which he

resigned from only two years later in

1532

alienated and demoralized by the erosion

of papal authority he had witnessed at

court he had never spoken publicly

against the king or against his marriage

to anne but as of 1535

he remained one of only a few of henry's

subjects who still had not taken the

oath moore's refusal to do so resulted

in him being imprisoned in the tower and

at his trial when it was clear that he

would be found guilty he loudly affirmed

the authority of the pope over all

matters religious and denied the ability

of parliament to declare the king head

of the church

moore was immediately sentenced to death

for treason a crime which carried the

penalty of hanging drawing and

quartering

henry had already demonstrated that he

was not averse to removing his subjects

when they failed to deliver challenged

his power or acted contrary to his will

but perhaps it is a small testament to

his remembrance of moore's friendship

and service to him that henry commuted

his sentence to beheading on the 6th of

july 1535

thomas moore went bravely to the

scaffold he jokingly asked the

executioner to hold a moment while he

shifted his beard from the edge of the

block saying that after all it was he

not it that had committed treason and in

a loud clear voice he declared that he

died quote the king's good servant and

gods first as well as more queen

catherine and mary also refused to sign

the oath which henry and anne saw as a

direct act of defiance that anne and

catherine hated each other was no secret

and it could have been under pressure

from anne that henry demoted queen

catherine to the rank of princess

dowager and had her move to a house

further from london the royal couple

were probably not best pleased to hear

that the crowds had cheered the old

queen on her journey there

in december 1533

henry and anne decided that catherine

should move house once again this time

to summersham a house surrounded by a

moat and marshes and by reputation a

most unhealthy place catherine protested

at her forced moved and locked herself

in her rooms refusing the duke of

suffolk's attempt to remove her

catherine had not been allowed to see

her daughter mary since the summer of

1531

when henry had left catherine but she

wrote to her daughter in september 1533

preparing her for possible troubles

ahead and warning her not to incur the

king's anger by this time henry had

already replaced mary's livery on her

household coaches with that of his own

in effect declaring her illegitimacy a

delegation was also sent to her

requesting that she relinquish her title

princess of england and although it may

have been anne who inspired this action

against his daughter it was ultimately

the king who ordered it carried out

in november 1533

henry ordered that mary's household

should be dismantled and that she should

be sent instead to serve as a lady in

waiting to her sister elizabeth at her

court mary went to elizabeth's household

but was defiant stating that she would

not call her princess of england but

sister instead just as she called henry

fitzroy brother anne appointed her aunt

lady shelton as mary's governess so she

would have a direct line of information

about what was going on at the court and

in particular of how mary was behaving

and was also terrified that the king

would meet with his daughter mary and so

when henry visited elizabeth's household

mary would be confined to her rooms but

when on one occasion henry saw mary at

her window whilst leaving he waved at

his daughter but was berated by anne for

doing so azan's attempts to make mary

behave as she wished her to were not

working and tried instead to befriend

her stepdaughter in march 1534 whilst

visiting elizabeth anne asked for mary

to be brought to her she offered her

reconciliation with her father in

exchange for her admitting that she was

illegitimate and that her parents had

never been married however mary

defiantly refused angering anne yet

again

certain sources have stated that anne

had told henry percy earl of

northumberland that she was planning to

murder her rival mary by administering

her poison and that she called catherine

and mary rebels and traitoresses

deserving death but the truth is this

was probably more wishful thinking and

words spoken in anger rather than any

real plot indeed there is evidence from

anne's letters to mary to suggest that

anne did try to befriend her

step-daughter in one letter in which she

refers to herself as queen she thanks

mary for courtesy to her after a mass at

elton and says that she would have done

the same back if she had seen her at the

time however mary's reply was as defiant

as ever stating that the queen meaning

her mother catherine was not present at

the time and that she was actually

courtesy to the altar and so

anne's attempts to be kind to mary

seemed to have gone unheeded and this

response from mary angered anne greatly

another incident in 1534 involving her

own family also prompted anger from anne

when her sister mary appeared at anne's

court and announced that she had married

one of her servants william stafford

this so angered anne that she banished

her sister mary from court also cutting

her off from any financial support and

whilst it was known that the two sisters

were not close anne's reaction could be

seen as quite harsh under the

circumstances apart from the defiance

from mary by 1534 henry and anne had

finally dealt with or removed all who

seemed openly opposed to the new order

and the death of catherine of aragon

from natural causes on the 7th of

january 1536

appeared to remove the last barrier to

the legitimacy of their marriage however

a black cloud hovered anne had become

pregnant twice following the birth of

elizabeth but both pregnancies had

resulted in miscarriages additionally

some historians have speculated that

henry and anne's relationship was

growing increasingly strained due to

anne's failure to adjust to her new role

of wife as henry's mistress she might

have been allowed a certain amount of

license to speak and act as she pleased

her prolonged refusal to sleep with

henry likely put her in a rather

dominant position however as henry's

wife she would be expected to be far

more submissive but of course her lack

of submissiveness

would likely have been overlooked had

she not committed the terrible sin

of failing to produce a son

following the miscarriage and suffered

in the summer of 1534

king henry had taken another mistress

when anne complained to the king about

this situation his reaction was very

harsh he stated that quote she had good

reason to be content with what he had

done for her which he would not do now

if the thing were to begin

and that she should consider from what

she had come the king was clearly losing

patience with anne as well as perhaps

regretting marrying her at all anne

realized that without a son she was in a

very insecure and vulnerable position

exactly the position that catherine had

been in ironically and she felt she must

act she took lady rochford her

sister-in-law into her confidence and

conspired to have henry's latest

mistress removed from court however

their plan failed and only resulted in

lady rochford being banished from the

court

by early 1535 anne was becoming even

more isolated at court her confidante

was now gone and she had alienated many

others through her outbursts of anger

and even her husband preferred the

company of his mistress it was during

this time that his daughter mary started

to come back into favor with henry also

anne must have felt alone and isolated

as time went on however in the summer of

1535 a ray of hope appeared for anne

when the couple were briefly reconciled

anne became more accepting of the idea

of henry's mistresses if not completely

silent about them and henry made a

public display of loyalty to anne when

in july 1535 he sent sir thomas moore to

the scaffold for refusing to swear the

oath of supremacy and after all if henry

wanted a legitimate son as things stood

it was only anne who could provide one

they began the court's summer progress

of 1535 with a united front they visited

salisbury and porchester first also

visiting wolf hall in wiltshire during

this time the family home of one of

anne's ladies jane seymour reaching

windsor by november and when they

arrived back in london in late 1535 anne

was pregnant again for the third time

on hearing the news of catherine of

aragon's death in july 1535 anne could

not have been happier her rival was now

gone and she was carrying another heir

for henry there were rumors of course

that anne had arranged for catherine to

be poisoned especially when on

postmortem catherine's heart was found

to be blackened however this is unlikely

as if she had wanted rid of catherine

enough to kill her she would surely have

done so earlier after her mother's death

anne made one last attempt to befriend

mary writing to her to say that if she

would put aside her obstinacy and obey

the king that anne would be the best

friend to her and she need not hold the

train of anne's gown on her return to

court mary

again refused and this would be the last

time that anne would attempt a

reconciliation with her stepdaughter

then on the same day as catherine's

funeral anne went into labor prematurely

and after only a three and a half month

gestation she miscarried a little boy

anne's grief and frustration must have

been plain for all to see as she wept

following this tragedy for her and for

henry however the king's grief soon

turned to anger at anne and the king

confronted anne in her room stating that

quote he would have no more boys by her

this was a direct threat to anne and she

was devastated and even more so when she

heard the rumors that the king felt that

anne had been quote seduced by

witchcraft to induce the miscarriage and

that he ought to find a new wife

anne remonstrated with henry and blamed

the loss of the child first on the news

she was given by the duke of norfolk

that the king had fallen from his horse

claiming the consequences of his

possible death had shocked her to such

an extent that it had resulted in the

miscarriage when henry dismissed her

reasoning and then claimed that her

finding the king with jane seymour

sitting on his knee had made her lose

her child as it had been such a shock to

her to see for herself that the king had

feelings for others king henry took

little heed of anne's reasoning although

he did leave jane seymour at her home

during the next court's progress but

with anne isolated at court after

falling out with her ally cromwell and

with the king becoming further

infatuated with jane seymour who

cleverly portrayed herself as the mirror

image of anne in all things and was at

her wit's end

the king's patience had also finally run

out and on the 24th of april 1536

a commission led by thomas cromwell was

set up to investigate anne and by may

accusations of adultery were leveled at

her and henry chose to believe them the

private interrogations of the queen's

household elicited fantastic claims of

her degeneracy accusing her of incest

and witchcraft as well as adultery mark

smeaton a musician in anne's household

was held in the tower and tortured until

he confessed that he was having an

affair with anne the king himself

questioned henry norris over a possible

affair with anne after she dropped her

handkerchief to him as one of the

jousters at a tournament that she and

henry attended and then lastly ann

berlin herself was arrested on the 2nd

of may by her uncle the duke of norfolk

and was questioned over her behavior and

installed in the tower of london

evidence was sought from her ladies and

weighting lady rochford and lady

worcester and from a deathbed note

belonging to lady wingfield whom anne

had previously tried to silence

concerning her pre-medical behavior with

henry percy which suggested that anne

was morally lacking cromwell was rumored

to have used all means at his disposal

including torture and bribes to bring a

devastating case against anne as well as

this anne's sister-in-law lady rochford

was said to have admitted that her

husband george bolen and anne would

openly mock the king questioning whether

he was impotent and whether elizabeth

actually belonged to another father

as she was arrested anne pleaded her

innocence and asked for the king but she

was denied she was said to have lost her

famous composure and collapsed to her

knees she asked if she would be kept in

a dungeon but was informed that she

would be kept in the royal apartments to

await her trial she reportedly

alternated between laughing and crying

and spoke openly about what had brought

her to such a position and her mention

of francis weston in her rantings meant

that he too would be arrested and

brought to the tower where her brother

george had also been taken the fact that

she spoke of western her brother george

smeaton and norris was used as evidence

that the crimes she was accused of were

true in addition to the men that anne

spoke of william brereton a member of

the king's privy council was also taken

to the tower along with thomas wyatt and

sir richard page all accused of being

anne's lovers

on hearing of anne's arrest her bishop

thomas cranmer sought to distance

himself from anne which he did in a

letter to the king whilst privately he

may have had sympathy for anne no one

was brave enough to show it and chance

the wrath of the king yet despite this

it was only ever smeaton who confessed

to the charges brought against the men

who had allegedly consorted with anne it

is unlikely that anne would have had the

time or the inclination to have slept

with so many men including her own

brother and the accusations were likely

conjured up by cromwell and henry to

secure henry's freedom to marry jane

seymour

anne went over everything in her mind

and prepared her defense although she

would have known in reality that the

outcome of the trial would be a foregone

conclusion on the 12th of may the

accused men were taken to court at

westminster hall smeaton confessed to

the charges whilst the other men pled

not guilty as accused all four were

found guilty and was sentenced to be

hung drawn quartered as well as beheaded

as members of the nobility anne and her

brother george were tried in the tower

and having known of the outcome at

westminster hall anne would have fully

understood the ramifications for her own

trial which took place on the 15th of

may no queen of england had ever been

placed on trial before

and so a large scaffold was erected in

the tower to house all the people

expected to attend the trial henry percy

as well as thomas berlin and anne's

uncle the duke of norfolk were all

expected to attend as members of the

nobility although henry percy had to

leave george berlin's trial part way

through due to his ill health

anne for her part had no counsel and

called no witnesses but prepared her own

defense for the charges brought against

her which laid out specific dates and

times that anne of the accused men had

enjoyed carnal knowledge of each other

she was also accused of conspiring to

kill the king

so that she would be free to marry one

of her accused lovers and stood and

defended herself of all charges

eloquently however she was found guilty

by each of the nobles who in turn stood

to deliver their verdict each having no

choice but to go along with the king's

wishes the final verdict was read out by

her uncle the duke of norfolk that in a

final twist he stated that the queen

should be either burned or beheaded at

the king's pleasure whereas the usual

punishment for treason was to be burned

at the stake

at a church court in lambeth on the 17th

of may

thomas cranmer annulled the marriage of

anne and the king based on the evidence

of a pre-contract that existed between

anne and henry percy so that quote she

was never lawful queen of england on the

same day five of the men accused were

put to death by beheading which was a

sentence commuted by henry from the

usual hanging drawing and quartering

which was the fate of smeaton alone as a

commoner george berlin western brereton

and norris did not confess to any crime

on the scaffold which anne would have

been pleased to hear and smeaton's only

comment was that he deserved death anne

continued to protest her innocence but

prepared herself for her certain demise

with composure she even joked with her

captor kingston that she had but a small

neck laughing at the irony that she

would make the executioner's job all the

more easy she spent her final evening

laughing and joking that she may well be

known to history as quote queen anne

lackhead this was perhaps the last act

of defiance opened to her

on the 19th of may 1536

anne boleyn was taken to the scaffold in

front of the gathered nobles and

dignitaries she held her composure and

walked with dignity to face the crowd

and make the last speech of her life she

spoke briefly and movingly of her love

for the king her sins of pride and her

desire that the people pray for her good

christian people i am come hither to die

for according to the law and by the law

i am judged to die and therefore i will

speak nothing against it i am come

hither to accuse no man nor to speak

anything of that whereof i am accused

and condemned to die but i pray god save

the king and send him long to reign over

you for a gentler nor a more merciful

prince was there never and to me he was

ever a good a gentle and sovereign lord

and if any person will meddle of my

cause i require them to judge the best

and thus i take my leave of the world

and of you all and i heartily desire you

all to pray for me

o lord have mercy on me to god i commend

my soul

the king had sent for an expert

swordsman from calais to come to the

tower to carry out the execution of the

queen

she knelt on the scaffold as there was

no need for the block and with one swift

blow of his sword her head was removed

from her body and the first queen of

england to ever be executed was dead and

within 24 hours of his second wife's

execution henry was already betrothed to

anne's lady in waiting and the woman who

would become his third wife lady jane

seymour in the aftermath of anne's death

in 1536

abbies shrines and monasteries

throughout england were purged of

religious relics such as true fragments

of the cross and vials supposedly

containing the blood of christ this

state-wide systematic clampdown was not

only undertaken for theological reasons

but also largely because the seizure of

church property brought in a colossal

amount of revenue to the royal coffers

following disturbances and a march

against the dissolution of the

monasteries henry unleashed a brutal

repression and hundreds of rebel leaders

were arrested and executed after which

henry proclaimed that quote our pleasure

is that dreadful execution be done on a

good number of the inhabitants of every

town village and hamlet that have

offended in this rebellion indeed even

his own family were not spared henry's

wrath as when jane seymour begged him on

her knees to restore the abbeys he

exploded with quote get up do not

presume to meddle in my affairs

remember anne

anne is well remembered not only as the

second wife of henry viii and a leading

figure in the reformation but also as

the mother of elizabeth one of the most

important monarchs to grace the throne

of england she died on the scaffold with

the grace and dignity which had first

drawn her to king henry's attention but

more than this even anne was unique she

was a determined driven woman with a

strong personality who inspired love in

a king that boarded on obsession a truly

exceptional woman of her time who no

doubt passed on her strong character to

her daughter

what do you think of anne boleyn was she

a saintly figure who inspired love and

suffered because of it or was she an

ambitious sinner who manipulated her way

into the king's life for her own ends

please let us know in the comment

section and in the meantime

thank you very much for watching

the woman known to history as jane

seymour the third wife of henry viii was

born at her parents country estate of

wolf hall and wiltshire sometime between

october 1507

and october 1508.

it is unclear why her exact date of

birth is not recorded but considering

that jane was her parent's seventh child

and first daughter her exact date of

birth was probably not considered to be

worth remembering neither is her early

life particularly well documented jane's

father was sir john seymour the seymours

had served as caretakers of savannah

forest and wheelchair for centuries and

sir john himself served as the local

sheriff and justice of the peace his

1200 acre estate provided a comfortable

but by no means impressive living by the

standards of the contemporary nobility

the most complementary term for the

seymours in the context of tudor england

would probably be

country gentry sir john had served and

fought alongside henry viii in france in

1513 and 1514 earning the young king's

admiration for his bravery and loyalty

much of sir john's social capital came

from the gratitude of his king for his

military service but also from his

marriage jane's mother lady margaret

wentworth was a descendant of edward iii

lady margaery as she was more familiarly

known had a more aristocratic bloodline

than her husband making her an

impressive catch for the likes of john

seymour she was reportedly a quiet kind

and gentle woman and jane's biographers

speculate that she may have inherited

her notable disability quiet dignity and

compassionate demeanor from her mother

sir john and lady margaery had 10

children six of whom survived to

adulthood

the sedate and provincial life of the

tudor country gentry was not suited to

those with ambition and sir john made

efforts to educate his elder sons and

launch political and military careers

for them in the king's service jane's

eldest brother edward and her third

brother thomas both rose steadily in

consequence and esteem throughout the

reign of henry viii jane's education was

far less varied or academically rigorous

than that of her older brothers she was

not a noble lady gentlewoman was

probably the most exalted term which

could be applied to her and the seymours

were not nearly wealthy or important

enough to merit providing an elite

education for a daughter jane was taught

to read in english and she could sign

her name but it is unclear whether she

was ever taught to write or how well

developed her skills may have been she

could speak a little french and seems to

have had a nodding acquaintance with

latin but this seems to have been the

extent of her academic training jane

would have learned to dance and been

trained in the social etiquette a polite

society she was said to be an excellent

horsewoman and enjoyed following the

hunt both as a young woman and years

later by henry's side as queen

jane would have had opportunities for

amusements and social niceties but much

of her early life and education was

probably designed to prepare her for

genteel domesticity she would have been

instructed in the duties of mistress of

the house including caring for the

family acting as hostess planning menus

and supervising and directing servants

in all of the tasks required to keep the

house running on a fairly large estate

it is also quite possible that jane her

mother and her three younger sisters

were more directly involved in household

work than one might suppose their estate

was entirely respectable but the family

did not belong to the leisure class this

distinction could be clarified by how

much or how little housework was done by

female family members directly english

noble women rarely put their hands to

any domestic task the seymour daughters

especially jane as the eldest girl may

very well have been taught to cook or

been expected to perform domestic chores

it is known for certain that jane was

well schooled in sewing and embroidery

two skills at which she particularly

excelled the fine intricate and artistic

quality of her needlework was apparently

remarkable enough for samples of it to

survive for a century and a half on

display in hampton court palace jane's

surviving tapestries were gifted to the

descendants of the seymour family in the

1650s next to household matters it may

perhaps have been jane's religious

instruction which received the most

attention so john and lady margaery were

devout catholics as were the majority of

the english prior to henry's break with

the roman church and the seymours kept a

priest in permanent residence at wolf

hall until the 1530s jane's continued

attachment to catholicism and her noted

sympathy for persecuted catholics during

henry's reformation probably stemmed

from her early religious education

jane is described by multiple sources as

kind gentle meek and rather shy in

company many historians suppose that the

portrait which hans holbein painted have

heard in 1536 is probably a fairly good

likeness jane is painted with a round

face a pointed somewhat pinched chin

thin lips and a prominent nose she was

described as having had very pale skin

grayish blue eyes and golden or

strawberry blonde hair more than one

contemporary observer suggested that she

was plain rather than beautiful and one

of her biographers has considered it

worth emphasizing that she remained

unmarried until her late twenties a very

late first marriage for a tudor woman

jane's parents could not afford much in

the way of dowries for their daughters

largely because educating sons and

launching careers for them was so

expensive with a modest or non-existent

dowry a woman stood a better chance in

the marriage market if she were pretty

jane's younger sister elizabeth who is

believed to have inherited her mother's

reportedly exceptional good looks was

married in her mid-teens to an upwardly

mobile young knight there was some talk

of a betrothal in the mid-1520s between

jane and sir robert dormer's son william

but her lack of a diary was a sticking

point with the dormer family still

unmarried at 19 years old jane was

finally able to secure a place as a lady

in waiting to queen catherine of aragon

through the influence of her cousin by

marriage the courtier sir francis bryan

it seems the primary objective in

sending jane to the english court was to

help her to contract the most

advantageous marriage possible no one

could have dreamed that her intended

would be the king and that within less

than 10 years of her arrival at court

the quiet plain unprepossessing mistress

seymour would become queen of england

jane arrived at greenwich palace near

london sometime during the first half of

1527

roughly around the same time that ann

bolin returned from france to serve as a

fellow lady in waiting to queen

catherine jane spent the next five years

in the queen's household watching events

unfold particularly those which led

henry to divorce his first wife jane's

quiet and serene demeanor gave no sign

of what she thought about the very

public relationship between king henry

and ann berlin her admiration and

devotion to both queen catherine and her

daughter princess mary only increased

the longer she remained with them at

court her high regard for both mother

and daughter would become much more

evident later on jane was almost

certainly discreet enough not to air her

opinions about anne boleyn's

relationship with henry or about anne's

conduct toward queen catherine and her

daughter if she had shown any open

disapproval or hostility it is doubtful

that ann berlin would have retained jane

as one of her ladies in waiting when she

became queen anne jane spent two years

in anne boleyn's household and

throughout most of this period there is

no evidence that anne was at all

dissatisfied with her service or her

attitude and this tells us two very

intriguing things about jane seymour

first she may have appeared mousy placid

and obliging but she obviously kept her

own counsel and played her cards close

to her chest secondly jane's conduct

toward anne both before and after henry

began to court her suggests that the

woman who most people probably took for

a doormat had a vivid streak of ambition

it is not known exactly when or under

what circumstances henry and jane first

began to take a romantic interest in one

another they appeared quite enamored

with each other by january of 1536 but

the affair quite possibly began earlier

quinan became pregnant for the last time

midway through the previous october

since sex during pregnancy was believed

to be dangerous for the child henry's

notorious roving eye may have wandered

over to jane as early as november of

1535

in fact it had been whispered at court

that henry had even been pursuing yet

another mistress this woman whose name

we do not know is mentioned in several

sources dated 1534

less than a year after henry's marriage

to anne on the 29th of january 1536 the

day of catherine of aragon's funeral the

imperial ambassador eustace chapwi

claimed to have observed henry paying

marked attention to mistress seymour and

giving her gifts later that same

afternoon queen anne was said to have

stumbled upon a private meeting between

henry and jane flying into a rage at

finding one of her ladies sitting on her

husband's knee reportedly henry quickly

sent jane from the room and attempted to

calm anne for fear that her distress

would harm their child this account

comes from jane dormer the duchess of

ferrier who many years later claimed to

have heard it during her service as lady

in waiting to queen mary the first yet

since it was recorded so many years

after the event the veracity of the

story is uncertain

what is certain is that roughly at the

end of january perhaps that very night

of the 29th anne boleyn miscarried her

last child in a letter dated the same

day ambassador chapwi informed the

imperial foreign minister that he had

attended a secret meeting with thomas

cromwell henry's chief minister cromwell

had confidentially expressed the king's

wish for a renewal of his alliance with

emperor charles v

against the king of france francis the

first cromwell also apparently related

to chapwi a private discussion he had

had earlier that day with the king

during which henry had supposedly

confided his belief that he had entered

into his marriage seduced by witchcraft

making his marriage invalid and that he

was resolved to take another wife

jane's last few months in ann's service

were no doubt extremely tense and

difficult for both women henry was not

nearly discreet enough in paying court

to jane whose mistress the queen still

had power over her anne's star was

fading she knew it and it made her

anxious and highly temperamental she was

said to have slapped jane on multiple

occasions for perceived insolence or for

flaunting henry's attentions before her

mistress it is unclear whether jane

actually did behave in such a way or if

anne consumed by jealousy may simply

have been watching her every move and

venting her frustration at every

perceived impertinence one account

suggests a very different image of jane

than her traditionally meek and obliging

one sometime in february or march of

1536

jane reportedly received a gold locket

from henry which contained a miniature

portrait of him the story goes that jane

made a great production out of opening

and closing the locket in front of the

queen enraged anne was said to have

savagely ripped the locket from around

jane's neck cutting her own finger in

the process as infuriating as jane's

presence was to anne she did not dare

dismiss jane from her service the queen

was growing more insecure by the day

afraid to do anything which might

inflame henry's wrath or motivate him to

divorce her as her power ebbed she was

said to have dwelt sorrowfully on her

treatment of queen catherine and

princess mary jane's conscience on the

other hand seemed untroubled by what

would prove to be a complete and deadly

triumph over her rival

traditionally jane seymour has been

portrayed as a selfless compassionate

kind even saintly figure some of these

impressions probably stem from jane's

actual conduct and behavior in public

which gave most of her contemporaries an

idea of her character with which they

could all agree jane was quiet gentle

and submissive but it strains credulity

to imagine that anyone could be

completely free of judgment bias or even

cold disregard especially

toward those whom one believes deserve

judgment jane quite possibly despised

anne just as more and more courtiers did

throughout anne's tenure as queen she

became more and more difficult to serve

and to please as her anxiety increased

she had alienated a growing faction of

political players at henry's court who

viewed with suspicion and hostility her

attempts to influence henry's policies

and blamed her for the king's religious

reforms the most important

considerations for jane however were

probably her staunchly catholic faith as

well as her love admiration and pity for

catherine of aragon and lady mary jane's

feelings and principles might have made

her resent anne above all for her

protestant reformism and her callous

treatment of both catherine and mary far

from being the saintly and selfless

woman that liberated henry from his

cursed marriage the real jane seymour

was far more human in fact it may be

fair to say that jane captured henry

using exactly the same playbook anne had

used years before to seduce him away

from katherine

two sets of circumstances however are

still unclear first whether it was henry

or jane who first attempted to initiate

a romantic overture and second whether

the romance bloomed of its own accord or

was engineered by those courtiers who

were desperate to see anne removed as

queen the protestant reforms halted and

lady mary restored to the succession

tragically and fatally anne herself had

created the possibility for her own

eventual downfall when henry

successfully divorced catherine and

married anne a pandora's box was opened

if ann could be queen why not jane

there were several courtiers who were

for various religious political or

personal reasons committed to bringing

ann berlin down including most notably

the marquis a martianess of exeter the

duke of suffolk sir nicholas karu thomas

cromwell sir francis bryan and imperial

ambassador chapwi it is entirely

possible that such a powerful group may

have orchestrated the affair by

manipulating events to help jane catch

henry's interest

she was very likely coached and guided

in the king's likes and dislikes by

these individuals as well as by her own

family who would no doubt have been

ecstatic to see jane capture the king on

the other hand the affair between jane

and henry may have begun more

organically and the conspirators may

have approached her after the fact jane

does not strike one as the type who

would initiate a flirtation with the

king of her own volition so perhaps it

was henry who approached her

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some historians have wondered how henry

could spend so many years in love with

women like catherine of aragon and anne

boleyn and then fall for someone like

jane seymour catherine and anne had both

been highly educated witty charming

articulate and conventionally beautiful

jane could match henry's first two wives

in none of these qualities some

historians have suggested that henry may

have fallen for jane precisely because

she was anne's polar opposite henry had

admired anne's sophistication wit and

passion but did not appreciate her sharp

tongue and had been a difficult and

demanding mistress and now that henry

was growing older his declining health

no doubt made him increasingly impatient

and irratible with anyone who challenged

him he may have found jane's quiet piety

serenity and meek submissiveness

soothing and refreshing despite the

recriminations between henry and anne

however undoubtedly her worst sin of all

was failing to produce a son it is worth

noting that henry did not ultimately

decide to pursue a third marriage until

after anne's last miscarriage

sometime in february of 1536

henry sent sir nicholas carew to jane

carrying a love letter and small purse

heavy with gold coins sir nicholas later

informed the king that mistress seymour

had refused to accept either the letter

or the purse he claimed

she had held the letter for a moment

placed a reverent kiss upon the letter's

seal and then handed it back to sir

nicholas without reading it she had

returned the gold also and falling to

her knees before him she entreated sir

nicholas to beg the king's understanding

that she was a woman of good and moral

upbringing she would suffer a thousand

deaths she said rather than sacrifice

her honor she thanked henry for his gift

but requested that he might retain it

for now and give it to her once she had

contracted an honorable marriage if true

this account is very telling jane had

been accepting expensive gifts from

henry for months which begs the question

of why her scruples suddenly returned at

this particular moment some historians

have departed from the traditional image

of jane by pointing out that her conduct

in this instance was straight out of ann

bolin's playbook and shows that jane

herself followed a very similar strategy

respond to henry's advances but refused

to be his mistress thereby forcing the

issue of marriage it worked on henry

like a charm but then again it appears

that since henry had no son by his

current wife he was more than willing to

be beguiled in returning his letter and

the gold jane had behaved henry said

most modestly and he resolved

thenceforth only to pay court to jane in

the presence of one or more of her

relatives accordingly henry promptly

removed thomas cromwell from his

chambers which adjoined the kings and

gave them to jane's brother edward

seymour now he and jane could continue

to meet fairly privately but still be

properly chaperoned to avoid any scandal

attaching itself to her reputation

by early march some less than

complementary gossip had already begun

to circulate throughout london about

henry's affair with jane and there was

some sympathy for queen anne who was

obviously out of favor with her husband

the king henry had abandoned both anne

and their collapsing marriage by the end

of february leaving her behind at

greenwich palace while he took up

temporary residence at york place in

london he continued to discreetly court

jane throughout the month of march by

the first of april rumors of their

meetings in edward seymour's chambers

became more widely known at court henry

then moved jane out of greenwich palace

to a royal residence in chelsea a short

distance along the thames river from

york place this probably had less to do

with protecting jane's reputation

however than with keeping her away from

the ugly process already underway at

court the campaign to accuse ann berlin

of capital crimes thus affecting her

removal and execution

however jane could not have been

ignorant of what henry intended even if

she was most likely ignorant of the

finer details there is no account of

jane in which she reacts with anything

other than her customary quiet serenity

to the news that anne boleyn's death was

imminent henry visited jane the very

morning that anne was to be executed to

comfort her and assure her that they

would very soon be married the

traditional historical portrait of anne

boleyn has often been that of the

devious grasping other woman while jane

seymour has often been portrayed as a

paragon of gentle unselfish compassion

yet the fact remains that jane found it

seemingly easy as one historian put it

to step neatly over the dead body of her

rival right into henry's arms and onto

the throne next to him just as anne had

taken queen catherine's place seemingly

without a qualm

henry and jane were officially betrothed

the very next day following ann berlin's

execution and less than two weeks later

on the 30th of may 1536 the two were

married in a small semi-private ceremony

in the queen's closet at white hall with

the religiously conservative bishop

stephen gardiner officiating jane's

well-known sympathies for catholicism

and for the lady mary made many

anti-reform courtiers hopeful that her

influence on henry might help halt the

march towards protestantism in england

anne boleyn's emblem as queen had

featured a crowned falcon with the motto

the most happy jane's choice of emblem

as queen spoke volumes hers was a

crowned phoenix her motto bound to obey

and serve the message seemed clear

through her faith and service as henry's

wife england would rise from the ashes

after the confusion and upheaval caused

by the king's divorce

eustace chapuise was among the most

hopeful and he assured emperor charles v

in a letter that he would encourage the

new queen to continue in her efforts to

restore lady mary both to henry's favor

and to the succession in a subsequent

conversation between jane and chapwee

she herself confirmed to him that she

would always show kindness to mary and

seek to reconcile her with her father

henry quickly broke up this confidence

perhaps uncomfortable with the notion of

jane exerting influence at his court on

behalf of the emperor at least

indirectly making sure that a catholic

inherited the english throne was one of

charles v's principal foreign policy

goals from the 1530s to the 1550s should

henry and jane's marriage not produce a

male heir then lady mary stood a better

chance of taking the throne with the

queen's support

as queen jane did indeed advocate for

lady mary even before she and henry were

wed she had asked him to reinstate mary

as his heir henry had scoffed gently at

the idea advising her that instead she

ought to be advocating for the

inheritance rights of the children that

jane herself would have with henry but

her subsequent attempts to interfere

with the king's policies were met with

less and less patience from him those

who had hoped that jane might be more

successful at influencing henry's

decisions than either of her

predecessors were disappointed for henry

regardless of his wife's entreaties

refused to reconcile with his eldest

daughter unless she repudiated the pope

acknowledged henry as head of the church

affirmed the illegitimacy of her parents

marriage and admitted her own bastardy

henry via a letter from thomas cromwell

even threatened her with treason and a

death sentence should she refuse to

submit

despite her failure to exert her

influence over henry's decisions as head

of state and church jane's seemingly

sincere dedication to her religious and

moral beliefs is one quality which

speaks in her favor she honored her

promise to chappuy and treated lady mary

kindly and generously spending a great

deal of time with her at court she also

continued to urge henry to reinstate

mary to the succession this suggests

that even if she had not become pregnant

jane was just as committed to the notion

of a catholic heir for england as the

faction which had helped to make her

queen once she was on the throne there

was really nothing to force her to

continue pursuing a pro-catholic agenda

except her own conviction this might

help explain her seeming reluctance to

reach out to henry's younger daughter

princess elizabeth jane showed no

hesitation to treat mary as her

stepdaughter and close companion but did

not extend the same to elizabeth who was

not yet four years old when her mother

died perhaps jane felt she could not

speak for elizabeth without daring the

wrath of henry who might very well have

bridled at any reference to his late

wife perhaps jane's own dislike for anne

boleyn made her hesitant to embrace

elizabeth as her stepdaughter whatever

the reason elizabeth's household and the

child herself were less and less

adequately provided for during the

months that followed her mother's death

within six months elizabeth's servants

and caretakers were poaching game to

keep her household fed and no one seemed

to care that she had outgrown all of her

clothes without the means to have new

ones made

it was lady mary who seems to have

advocated for her younger sister a

sister she had resented having to serve

but whom she had compassion for as a

child too young to understand how

dramatically her life and status had

changed mary may have had more to do

with elizabeth's restoration to the

family fold and to henry's favor than

her stepmother had jane did appear to

have priorities however during the year

following her marriage jane tried on

multiple occasions to persuade henry to

halt protestant reforms and to show

mercy and understanding to those who

found the changes hard to accept during

the campaign known as the pilgrimage of

grace when thousands of people in the

north of england rose in rebellion queen

jane begged henry to restore the

monasteries which were being dissolved

across england henry reacted badly

offering jane a harsh warning by

reminding her what had happened to anne

boleyn

jane became pregnant early in 1537

and by late spring she was experiencing

pregnancy cravings notably the quail and

quails eggs henry was jubilant and set

about making plans for the celebrations

that would accompany the birth of his

heir and finally queen jane's coronation

which henry intended to be one of the

most spectacular ever staged for an

english queen jane's pregnancy was

largely placid and she seemed contented

and in general good health throughout

the queen entered her confinement early

in september of 1537 roughly one month

before the expected delivery she was

accompanied by the few women permitted

to attend a queen during the late stages

of pregnancy including the now 21 year

old lady mary

jane seymour went into labor on the 9th

of october when henry was informed he

excitedly ordered the preparations begin

for the ceremonial 2000 gun salute for

tay dams to be sung in every church for

free food and wine to be provided for

the people and for the bonfires to be

lit to celebrate his son's birth but the

hours passed then a full day then

another and still the queen's labor

continued

finally at two o'clock in the morning on

the 12th of october 1537

exhausted and wracked with pain jane

gave birth to henry's longed for son and

heir the future edward vi of england the

queen remained at rest for several days

following edward's birth before she was

churched or purified and thus permitted

to leave her formal confinement she

appeared drained weak and even paler

than usual but it had been almost a week

since the birth and most of the court

considered her to be out of danger but

on the 17th she came down with a raging

fever and lapsed into delirium

throughout the following week jane

rallied briefly twice regaining

consciousness and appearing to make

small improvements but rather than

making the hope for full recovery jane

died quietly on the 24th of october 1537

at the age of 29

she had succumbed to what most

historians between the 18th and 20th

centuries believed was pueblo fever or

childbed fever which resulted from an

infection contracted during delivery

perhaps from unsterilized medical

equipment however multiple sources

contemporary with the actual event claim

that jane died as a result of surgery

attempted during labor specifically a

caesarean section

the midwives and physicians who had

attended the queen during her labor had

begun to lose hope of a safe delivery by

the morning of the 11th of october

several sources claim that one or more

of them approached henry on the matter

of the child survival versus jane's

should the labor continue and a choice

need to be made some sources claim that

henry chose jane others that he chose

the child what these professionals were

essentially asking was whether henry

would allow a caesarean section to be

performed on the queen if it appeared

that the child might perish with her

caesarean sections were known in tudor

england but were extremely taboo because

they virtually always killed the mother

they were therefore not typically

performed on living women but more often

on women after they had died during

childbirth later historians tended to

suppose that the accounts which

described henry's choosing to save the

life of the child were catholic

propaganda designed to discredit henry

which is why they discounted the claims

that jane underwent surgery yet some of

these sources were written by reformers

and protestants and some claim that jane

herself consented to the procedure based

on the descriptions of her symptoms

during her final illness jane seymour

almost certainly died of sepsis arising

from an infection sustained during

childbirth but the atmosphere of the

birthing chamber was so rarified and the

veracity of multiple accounts so

difficult to judge that we may never

know exactly why she died

following jane's death more than two

years would pass before henry once again

found his way to the altar in january of

1540 he wed the 24 year old german

princess anne of cleves a marriage that

lasted only six months

traditionally jane has been remembered

as henry's most loved most favored and

most revered wife and that was certainly

the impression that henry wished to

convey jane seymour was given a

magnificent funeral worthy of the queen

of england even though she had not lived

long enough to be officially crowned

queen henry also requested that he be

buried next to jane the portrait painted

during henry's marriage to catherine

parr known as the family of henry viii

shows henry surrounded by his children

but instead of catherine parr jane

seymour is painted standing in the place

reserved for henry's queen the fact that

some histories have depicted jane as a

rather saint-liked figure probably has

much to do with her overall demeanor and

personality but also perhaps more

important the manner of her death what

could be more selfless to someone like

henry than to die giving him the son he

desired above all things yet despite her

traditional historical reputation jane

was probably no better or worser person

than anne boleyn who has more often been

vilified for usurping catherine's place

than jane has been for usurping anne's

historians still wonder did henry truly

love jane more than any of his other

wives or was it just that she died

before his love could fade was it simply

because she gave birth to his son and

why would he revere for the rest of his

life a woman he had loved for little

more than a year yet also ban all images

and forbid all discussion in his

presence of the woman who had consumed

his life and heart throughout the

previous decade it speaks eloquently of

the guilt henry almost certainly felt

about anne that after her death he

ordered all of her emblems and all

images of her to be removed from royal

residences and no one ever heard him

speak of her again

what do you think of jane seymour

please let us know in the comments

section and as always thank you very

much for watching

the woman known to history as anna von

de mark duchess of cleves was most

likely born at swan castle near

dusseldorf germany traditionally

historians have dated her birth to the

21st or 22nd of september 1515 but one

recent biographer has argued that a

birth date sometime between the 28th of

june and the 1st of july is more likely

anna's father was johan iii duke of

cleves and her mother was maria duchess

of eulekberg when anna's parents were

first married they each ruled over their

own separate territories although johann

succeeded to the dukel titles associated

with his wife's lands it was maria who

actually held the reigns of government

renaissance germany provided very

interesting opportunities for the

political leadership and participation

of noble women and german dukedoms

principalities and city-states were

frequently governed by women in the

absence of a son

german noblemen dukes and princes were

usually content to invest power in their

daughters rather than any distantly

related male heir anna's mother maria

was just such an heiress as her father's

only child she acceded as duchess and

regent of eulekberg after his death

maria governed her own territories as

regent while her husband johann

inherited the ceremonial title

associated with his wife's duchy within

15 years of their marriage anna's

parents had finally merged the

administrations of their separate dukul

territories until then johanna maria

lived rather separate lives for a

married couple the duke and duchess of

cleves ulichberg had four children

together their eldest daughter sibila

born in 1512 was three years older than

anna and the two sisters shared a strong

bond throughout their lives continuing

to exchange letters even after anna

departed germany for england two younger

siblings followed anna only a year apart

the only son wilhelm was born in 1516

and the youngest daughter amalia was

born in 1517.

because johanna maria each administered

different regional and political

entities they were often required to

maintain separate residences during the

first several years of their marriage

anna spent most of her childhood at berg

castle in solingen with her mother and

her sisters her education was extremely

interesting in the context of

renaissance europe anna sibella and

amalia were likely instructed in

regional property laws and customs of

taxation how to manage finances on a

regional scale as well as how to

arbitrate disputes between and among

officials and civilians in addition they

learned how to run large estates

including the management of large-scale

farming and livestock interests anna

came from a family with many generations

of strong women who played important

governing roles in their communities

because german noble women could often

be expected to exercise full power and

responsibility in the absence of male

authority figures anna and her sisters

received an education which their

english contemporaries would have

considered to be rather masculine in

character this should not suggest that

the three young duchesses did not also

learn domestic responsibilities which

were the lot of all early modern

european women from duchess to peasant

the daughters of the duchess of

cleveland were all taught household

management which for german noble women

seems to have been much more hands-on

than it was for english french or

spanish aristocrats while elite women

from england spain or france almost

never performed domestic tasks

personally german noble women were

frequently taught to cook to sew and to

make clothing all of this strikes the

observer as eminently sensible since the

chatelaine of a large estate could

hardly be depended upon to manage an

estate properly if she didn't really

understand what was involved the

productivity and profitability of their

daily activities earned praise for

german noble women who were seen as

equal contributors to their marriages

and families indeed sometimes a noble

woman's household economy might yield

more profit than her lands if shrewdly

managed

some aristocratic european women had the

opportunity to pursue a scholarly and

intellectual education but this was

probably not the case with anna she may

have been taught to dance and her

parents ducal establishments regularly

patronized musicians of talent but anna

was not taught to sing or to play any

musical instruments she was taught to

read and write but only in german and

there is no indication that she studied

the standard academia of the renaissance

like rhetoric history or philosophy most

of her early education was probably

centered around the purely practical

literacy estate and household management

sewing and embroidery this was not

necessarily because of anna's gender her

father johan a friend and correspondent

of the famed dutch philosopher erasmus

was quite scholarly himself and does not

seem to have discouraged intellectualism

in his daughters anna's older sister

sebilla proved to be quite a fierce

intellectual a friend and correspondent

of martin luther and a passionate and

admired lutheran reformer however

sebilla's religious and political

leanings were likely influenced more by

her husband than by her parents sebilla

was married at the age of 15 to prince

johann friedrich elector of saxony the

fiercely protestant friend and supporter

of martin luther and a thorn in the side

of holy roman emperor charles v anna's

religious sensibilities are largely

unknown and the religious diversity that

prevailed both in germany and within her

own family when she was growing up makes

it even more difficult to guess what her

actual beliefs might have been

anna's mother was described as a strict

catholic who personally never wavered

from her faith anna's father duke johan

also remained a catholic through the

early reformation but openly

demonstrated lutheran sympathies and

religious tolerance anna's younger

siblings wilhelm and amalia would spend

a significant proportion of their adult

lives at odds with one another over

religion wilhelm consistently maintained

friendly relations with the protestant

schmalkaldic league led by his

brother-in-law the elector of saxony

wilhelm himself however remained a

catholic all his life and insisted that

his sons be raised catholic as well

the lutheran sympathies of both wilhelm

and his father before him might be

explained in part by their distrust for

the holy roman emperor charles v with

whom both father and son remained long

engaged in a protracted land dispute

over gelderland anna's youngest sister

amalia was as passionately committed to

protestant reform as her eldest sister

sibil amalia never married or had

children and she is believed to have

spent her elder years caring for and

educating her young nieces one anecdote

describes wilhelm's anger at his sister

for instructing the girls in protestant

principles this conflict reportedly

enraged him enough to spur him to chase

and threaten amalia with a hatchet a

debacle which was ended by one of her

servants who slammed and locked the door

in the duke's face considering all of

this it is impossible to say what anna's

own beliefs were but exposure to such

religious fluidity in her early life may

have given her a broad perspective and a

sense of spiritual and intellectual

flexibility it may also have taught her

the value of both conformity

and tolerance depending on what was

expected of her in any given

circumstance

when anna was 11 years old she was

betrothed to the son of the duke of

lorraine an unofficial arrangement which

was nullified seven years later one of

anna's biographers noted that she did

not seem unduly distressed at the

cancellation of her betrothal despite

the fact that she was now 18 three years

older than sebilla had been when she was

married anna's attachment to her mother

and to her family's household seems to

have been one of sincere contentment at

the court of

clevel activities were strictly gendered

the noble men attended to political and

estate matters in the mornings while the

noble women of their daughters attended

two domestic tasks the men and women of

the court then came together in the

afternoons for formal socializing and

entertainments anna's typical day might

find her embroidering and making

clothing with her mother her younger

sister and other women and the family's

service in the franzima or women's room

during the mornings the young women of

the court were only allowed to meet and

socialize with men during the afternoon

gatherings or at the sumptuous dinners

of up to nine courses which were served

nightly to as many as 300 guests anna's

family enjoyed entertaining themselves

and the court with music and theatrical

entertainment

hunting was another of the family's

favorite at pastimes and anna was said

to have been a fine equestrian who loved

to join the hunt

in 1538 when anna was 23 her father died

an event which made her cling all the

closer to her mother yet her time in

germany was growing short and both her

own future as well as the future of her

family now rested in the hands of her

younger brother wilhelm it was in 1538

when thomas crumwell first made

overtures to the young new duke of

cleves on behalf of henry viii who was

now determined to marry again persuaded

by cromwell that the support of cleves

would help henry defend himself against

the emperor charles v without having to

rely on the equally changeable king of

france henry sought to conclude the

marriage negotiations quickly duke

wilhelm had bulked for months at henry's

request to allow portraits to be painted

of anna and amalia and for henry's

emissaries to see the duke's sisters in

person frustrated the english

ambassadors had only been allowed to see

them in the voluminous german court

dress with their faces veiled to help

conclude the marriage treaty as quickly

as possible henry finally offered to

waive anna's dowry and offered the duke

the generous payment of a hundred

thousand florins instead bilnhelm

promptly accepted henry's generous offer

writing that his sister looked forward

eagerly to her wedding

in november of 1539

anna departed germany for her overland

journey to calais the multitude of

nobles attendants and servants who

traveled with her made it a long journey

which was further delayed by bad weather

on the channel following their arrival

in calais which prevented anna from

sailing for england for a few days she

was greeted and entertained there in the

meantime by the earl of southampton and

the duke of suffolk from the time she

landed in england anna was a little less

homesick than she had been after saying

goodbye to her home and family she was

greeted with kindness enthusiasm and

admiration everywhere she and her escort

stopped with crowds of ordinary people

turning out to see her and wish her well

all of henry's nobles and ambassadors

wrote to him of her cheerful amy ability

and assured him that she was as lovely

as the portrait painted by hans holbein

suggested this portrait depicts and in

dutch style dress demure and serene with

widely spaced and heavily lidded eyes

and shapely lips sources describe her as

tall slim and blue eyed with light

blonde hair for reasons which are still

not altogether clear henry was less than

pleased with his new bride-to-be

hearing that his future wife was delayed

on the road and that his wedding could

not take place by christmas henry

resolved to be patient until the 6th of

january the date chosen for the

postponement restlessness and

anxiousness to meet her proved too much

for henry however and instead on new

year's day 1540 he set off to meet her

earlier than originally planned bearing

a new year's gift for his intended henry

staged his entrance in a highly

theatrical manner in disguise he

approached anna without hesitation

kneeling before her to kiss her hand

unfortunately anne was taken aback by

this behavior not only for the sake of

her modesty but also because she had no

idea who henry was there was no way she

could have understood the mistake she

had made unfamiliar with english culture

and therefore unable to understand that

henry expected her to recognize her

so-called true love through his disguise

henry was humiliated that anna appeared

repulsed and attempted to ignore him he

abruptly left the room and throwing off

his disguise he returned in a decidedly

more kingly looking coat of royal purple

deeply embarrassed anna bowed deeply

before him and henry kissed her briefly

before politely extricating himself from

the situation but the king was loud in

his dissatisfaction as soon as he was

out of earshot of his new fiancee he was

so upset that he had forgotten to give

anna the new year's gift he had brought

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henry returned to greenwich incensed he

remonstrated with courtiers who had

previously reported that anne was

pleasing just as henry seemed to have

believed anna to be when he saw

holbein's portrait he complained

bitterly to thomas cromwell that his

intended was nothing fair as she has

been reported i like her not he stated

emphatically and demanded what could be

done to circumvent the marriage

unfortunately since there seemed to be

no way to nullify his engagement without

risking the anger and enmity of cleaves

henry went ahead with the wedding as

planned on the 6th of january 1540. he

would spend the scant six months of his

marriage to anna attempting to find some

avenue to divorce her the morning after

their wedding night thomas cromwell

anxiously inquired of henry how he liked

the queen henry replied that he now

liked her even less than before he

declared that he had not consummated his

marriage because anna had repulsed him

he claimed to doubt her virginity

because of the looseness of her belly

and breasts he also spoke with his

doctors confiding that he believed

himself capable of performing sexually

just not with anna and the king defended

himself from the implication that he

might be impotent by claiming that he

continued to experience nocturnal

emissions what henry seems to have been

doing is setting the stage for an

annulment based on non-consummation of

the marriage and indeed within a few

weeks he informed his privy council that

there must be some impediment to his

marriage because god would not allow him

to consummate it he requested that

anna's previous betrothal to the son of

the duke of lorraine be examined once

again to ascertain whether the contract

had indeed been a binding one henry's

counselors knew exactly what he expected

of them

by february of 1540 anna understood that

something was terribly wrong in her

marriage she tried hard to make herself

agreeable to the king and henry himself

continued to dine regularly with anna

and share her bed nightly so she could

have no cause for complaint it is

unclear how much she knew about marital

relations prior to her wedding night but

one account of a conversation between

anna and her ladies suggests that her

ignorance of sex might have been alma's

total a ladies and waiting no doubt

fishing for information indicated to

anna that they hoped she would soon be

with child the queen replied i know very

well that i am not how is it possible

for you to know that and lie every night

with the king they inquired anna again

insisted that she was not with child i

think your grace is a maid still said

lady rochford george berlin's widow how

can i be a maid asked anne and sleep

with the king every night there must be

more than this lady rochford replied

treading on dangerous ground but instead

of taking offense at lady rochford's

impertinent suggestion anna patiently

explained to her ladies when the king

comes to bed he kisses me and takes me

by the hand saying good night sweetheart

and in the morning he kisses me and bids

me

farewell my darling is this not enough

the countess of rutland tried her best

to make the queen understand madam she

began there must be more than this or it

will be air long before we have a duke

of york in other words a second son for

henry no anna was said to have replied i

am content with this for i know no more

this is a fascinating and puzzling

exchange the meaning of which is still

unclear anna seems to imply that she was

not aware that there was anything wrong

in her marriage bed but then she may

have been feigning ignorance for the

sake of her own reputation or for

henry's

we do not ultimately know whether henry

and anna did not consummate their

marriage it is possible that henry spoke

the truth and that his disappointment in

finally meeting his new queen was so

great

that he could not frame his mind toward

intimacy with her however henry was also

48 years old at the time of his fourth

marriage he was already twice anna's age

he was running to fat and the terrible

sore on his leg which would eventually

kill him continued to swell separate and

stink periodically considering the state

of henry's health in addition to his

obvious disappointment with his new wife

it is entirely possible that henry may

have been experiencing impotence and

reacting badly to it by blaming his new

wife whatever the truth of the matter

between them poor anna was ill-prepared

to address it she had arrived in england

married henry and been proclaimed queen

all in the space of a few weeks without

having yet learned much of any english

this not only made it difficult for her

to stay wise to events around her but

also prevented her from being able to

express herself to those who might have

been able to help

what's more being so new at henry's

court she could not have known whom to

trust

sadly for anna henry moved on quickly

and by springtime the king could be seen

crossing the thames regularly in the

evenings headed for lambeth palace and

his latest mistress the

sixteen-year-old catherine howard a

niece of the duke of norfolk there

grumbling and judgment heard among the

people of london regarding henry's

infidelity to his queen was reminiscent

of the sympathies which have been

similarly expressed for anne boleyn when

henry's affair with jane seymour became

known

on the 24th of june 1540 henry sent anna

away from court to richmond palace

ostensibly for her health and safety

from a plague in london however henry's

feelings about illness were such that he

surely would have also departed the city

if the risks have been real less than

three weeks later henry obtained the

annulment to his marriage based on its

non-consummation and on anna's

pre-contract

to marry the son of the duke of lorraine

the queen was presented with henry's

grounds for a divorce on the 10th of

july should she consent to it henry

assured her that she would be treated

kindly and provided for anna was utterly

humiliated and gave way to tears when

henry's request for divorce was read she

initially refused to heed what was asked

of her and quickly summoned the cleaves

ambassador within a day however anna had

calmed she had had time to think and no

doubt both embarrassment and fear had

wared with one another in her mind

should she accept she would be disgraced

and discarded but should she refuse

she could not say whether the

dangerously mercurial henry would not do

her harm to her credit anna was quick

and resolute in making her decision and

she followed through to admiration anna

accepted her divorce from henry with

grace dignity and amiability saying that

she hoped that she would still

occasionally have the pleasure of his

company

henry was shocked anna had been fearful

and difficult to deal with during the

weeks since he had taken catherine

howard for his mistress and he had

expected her to resist to threaten him

with the outrage and vengeance of her

brother the duke of cleves because she

readily gave henry what he wanted he was

generous with her on the 12th of july

henry wrote to inform anna that she was

free to return home however should she

decide to remain in england she would

receive an annual income of four

thousand pounds and the estates of

richmond bletchingly and hever castle

despite henry's earlier claim following

his wedding night he formally affirmed

that anna was still a maid and said she

might marry again if she wished finally

he hoped she would be pleased to think

of herself thenceforth as the king's

most beloved sister and assured her that

she would always be welcome at court and

given precedence over all women in

england except for the queen and henry's

own daughters

apparently anne found this generous

indeed and readily accepted in fact she

went even further by assuring henry that

he was welcome to view any

correspondence she might thereafter have

with her family in cleves before it was

sent it is possible that anna might have

chosen to stay in england out of fear

one puzzling account claims that the

german princess implied that her brother

might do her harm if she returned home

dishonored her arrangements with henry

concluded anna promptly wrote to her

brother to inform him of the accord she

and henry had reached and to assure him

that she was happy and content to live

out her life in england the woman who

had spent most of her life in seemingly

quiet unbeatable obedience first in the

shadow of her mother and then in the

shadow of a king was now a free and

independent woman of means

like the strong female rulers who were

her ancestors anna had found herself in

control of her own life what's more she

had neither husband nor master to tell

her what to do anna lived the last 14

years of her life quite happily and

comfortably on her english estates and

was described by one chronicler as an

eminently kind and generous mistress to

everyone who served her she earned

henry's trust and gratitude not only for

her conformity to his will but also for

her continued devotion to his children

for whom she had tried to be a warm and

loving stepmother indeed anna maintained

and strengthened her relationships with

henry's children and the years following

her divorce even lady mary came to care

for and appreciate her former stepmother

in the ensuing years despite what she

perceived as major religious differences

between them actually it is still

unclear whether the denomination of her

religion made any difference to anna at

all she had embraced henry's anglican

faith without protest upon arrival in

england during the short and turbulent

reigns of edward vi and mary the first

anna willingly declared her religious

obedience twice when the nine-year-old

edward took the throne she affirmed

herself a protestant when mary succeeded

him as queen anna did not hesitate to

declare herself a roman catholic perhaps

she was being pragmatic but perhaps the

religious and denominational variability

she had been exposed to in germany and

within her own family made her eminently

more flexible in a spiritual sense

anne of cleves remained highly favored

by henry's children following his death

in 1547 she was often invited to court

during the reigns of edward and mary and

she walked behind her former

stepdaughter elizabeth in mary's

coronation procession she got along well

enough with henry's last two wives

although one cryptic comment she made

during henry's wedding to catherine parr

gave the imperial ambassador eustace

chapui the impression that she resented

catherine madame parr is taking a great

burden unto herself anna was said to

have remarked during the ceremony chapwi

interpreted this statement as catty

jealousy from a woman whom henry had

refused to marry a second time after the

execution of catherine howard however it

was her brother wilhelm who had

suggested that henry take his sister

back not anna it is possible that anna

meant something entirely different when

she spoke of madame parr's great burden

perhaps she was thinking of henry's most

recently discarded wife the disgraced

teenaged queen catherine howard executed

for treason at only 19 years old

anna remained in royal favor until

wyatt's rebellion of 1554. because queen

mary the first suspected that anna might

have aided the rebels cause because of

protestant sympathies and love for her

sister elizabeth she was no longer

invited to court and confined to her

estates by the spring of 1557

anna's health had begun to decline she

grew thinner and paler and lost her

appetite and historians believe she may

have been suffering the final stages of

some form of cancer anne of cleves died

on the 16th of july 1557

at the age of 41 or 42. despite the

short duration of her marriage she had

come to be much loved and admired by the

english people and by henry's own family

she was honoured with a burial in

westminster abbey by queen mary the

first who chose the site for anna's

burial herself and ordered that vigil be

kept for her each night until her

funeral on the 4th of august the grave

of anne of cleaves can be found today on

the south side of the abbey's high altar

a plain stone slightly above eye level

which features her coat of arms and

reads simply anne of cleves queen of

england born 1515 died 1557

despite the pain and embarrassment that

her short abortive marriage must have

caused her anna to use the german

version of her name arguably fared

better than any of her five counterparts

when her marriage came to an end of all

of henry's wives anna's origins tend to

be the least well known since from the

english perspective their marriage was

little more than a blip in the larger

context of henry's reign but upon close

consideration of what little is known

both anna herself and her story strike

the observer as highly unique and

interesting

what do you think of anne of cleves

please let us know in the comments

section and as always thank you very

much for watching

the woman known to history as catherine

howard was born a noblewoman sometime

between 1518

and

1527.

her father was edmund howard the third

son of the duke of norfolk and her

mother was jocasta culpepper also

frequently referred to as joyce in

documents from the period joyce

culpepper gave birth to 11 children who

survived to adulthood an incredible

occurrence in 16th century europe

culpepper had five children with her

first husband sir ralph lee and six more

with her second husband edmund howard of

whom catherine was the second youngest

lord edmund lived in a stately but

modestly appointed house with his wife

and children their home was provided by

lord edmund's father and was located on

church street in lambeth parish sari

edmund often bemoaned his aristocratic

birth for the financial pressure it

brought he was one of the duke's younger

sons and his modest inheritance he

claimed could never support him much

less his wife and children in the style

expected of the howards paid work of any

kind was considered vulgar for a tudor

nobleman lacking any other income edmund

served as a local justice of the peace

at lambeth and was later made

comptroller of calais nonetheless found

himself continuously in debt he was also

terrible at managing the few financial

resources he did have and spent most of

his adult life borrowing money from his

friends ducking his creditors and

avoiding the anger of three successive

wives

the date of catherine howard's birth is

uncertain and highly debated with some

historians dating it as early as 1518

and others dating it as late as 1527.

however a date in the mid-range seems

more likely in light of documentary

evidence the will of joyce's former

father-in-law sir john lee which was

probated in 1524

mentions catherine's older siblings

henry charles george and margaret but

not catherine herself or her younger

sister isabelle presumably because they

were either too young to be considered

or because they were not yet born

however the 1527 will of catherine's

maternal grandmother mentions both

catherine and isabel therefore a date of

birth somewhere between 1522 and 1525

seems more plausible if we accept this

estimate then catherine was at most no

more than six years old when her mother

died in 1528

by the following year edmund howard had

embarked on the first of two subsequent

marriages and according to custom some

or perhaps all of his children by his

previous wife were placed in the homes

of howard's relatives this was not as

harsh an action as it may appear today

the early modern english practice of

putting out young children was

frequently undertaken even if both

parents were still living and readily

able to care for them many children

between the ages of 6 and 12 might be

sent to a household outside of their

immediate family to complete training or

education or to begin service this

practice was considered necessary for

working-class children because of the

economic value of a child's labor to

their families but gentry and noble

families put out their own children just

as often some historians believe they

did so to keep the children from being

spoiled by their parents who might

indulge them rather than impose much

needed structure and discipline even

king henry's son prince edward was taken

from his governess his nurses and his

sisters at the age of six and given into

the care of a governor and tutors to

complete his education to be king

as a result of this widespread practice

of putting out of children catherine

howard probably did not get the

opportunity to develop very close

relationships with all of her many

siblings during childhood although at

least one of her brothers did initially

accompany her to her new household

catherine welcomed the opportunity to

nurture her relationships with her

siblings later on however when she

became queen sometime between

1529 and 1531

when she was probably between six and

eight years old catherine was sent to

live in the household of edmond's

widowed stepmother agnes howard the

dowager duchess of norfolk

catherine spent roughly the next decade

living either at chesworth the country

estate of the duchess at horsham in

sussex or at norfolk house in lambeth

the dowager duchess was probably the

most prominent noblewoman in england

virtually no woman besides the queen

herself or henry's daughters could claim

precedence over her so this was a very

advantageous household for any child to

be placed in one in which they were

certain to get an excellent education

and to meet the right people the duchess

did indeed have many wards there could

have been at any time as many as a dozen

children of varying age and status

living in her household so catherine

would hardly have been lonely she would

have spent most of her time in what was

known as the maidens chamber which was

essentially a girl's dormitory home to

both wards and servants at first glance

such arrangements might suggest that

there was little or no difference in the

treatment of more aristocratic children

and those of humbler origins under the

duchess's care but the reality was

probably more nuanced

catherine might have played laughed

argued fought eaten her meals and shared

her bed with any number of children from

diverse socioeconomic backgrounds but at

the same time the howard name her rank

and heritage likely gave her a decided

superiority one which makes it unlikely

that any of her fellow wards could have

prevented her from having her own way

when she wanted it apparently catherine

and her brother george were the only

wards permitted to dine at table with

the duchess and catherine's status

probably gave her the authority to

control the activities and arrangements

of the maiden's chamber to a certain

extent nonetheless the boarding school

style atmosphere probably did much to

shape her personality few specific

details are known about catherine's

childhood but many historians believe

that she experienced a rather lax and

unstructured upbringing for a noble ward

in an aristocratic household

documentary evidence does suggest that

the dowager duchess neglected her duties

as a caregiver and supervisor and that

as a result her wards often ran rather

wild to be fair to the duchess who was

in her 70s and headed a household

totalling 100 people there was little

she could do to police the actions of

everyone residing under her roof

catherine's contemporaries remarked on

the notable lack of reserve and dignity

in her behavior but many of the same

critics were willing to concede that she

also had a kind demeanor which was

immediately warm and engaging perhaps

her life in the duchess's household

among children from many different

backgrounds had made her less

pretentious unlike many tudor

aristocrats catherine hard less often

displayed the self-important haughtiness

for which the nobility were renowned

still her flightness and lack of reserve

would hardly have endeared her to those

who expected a noble lady or more

importantly a queen to act as one and

unfortunately the lack of supervision

and discipline in agnes howard's

household was to have catastrophic and

tragic consequences for catherine later

on

catherine received an education similar

to that of other noble women of the

tudor era conduct an etiquette would

have been her first and most important

lessons as a howard who would

undoubtedly have to appear at court one

day catherine would have learned how to

properly walk stand sit and curtsy as

well as how to address individuals

according to their rank she would have

learned the rules of table etiquette and

how to make polite conversation but also

likely the virtues of silence and

obedience in women catherine probably

received her most extensive training in

dance and was described by many

contemporaries as a fine and graceful

dancer she received music lessons in the

duchess's household reportedly learning

to play the virginal a small version of

the harpsichord piano as well as the

lute however it seems that she did not

maintain her interest in music for very

long between the ages of 10 and 12

catherine learned how to read and write

she seems to have not received any

academic training beyond basic literacy

but this was not unusual for the 16th

century in fact the tudor princesses

were some of the first early modern

english women to be as carefully and as

well educated as their male counterparts

learning history philosophy geography

and multiple languages as part of their

education

when catherine howard was between 12 and

14 years old she began taking music

lessons from a teacher named henry manox

a man at least 10 years her senior who

soon began to make romantic and sexual

overtures towards his adolescent pupil

scholars are divided on the nature of

their relationship with some

characterizing it as sexual abuse many

modern observers would readily agree

considering catherine's extreme youth at

the time of this relationship but

catherine was also at the threshold of

sexual awakening and in the tudor era

catherine was fairly close to the age of

eligibility for marriage and may have

responded willingly to manox's advances

it is widely agreed that catherine and

manox had a relationship which lasted

several months but their relationship

did not cross the physical boundary

later catherine was most likely glad it

had not according to a housemaid in

service to the duchess named mary

lassell manox had admitted that while he

had no honorable intentions towards

catherine he nonetheless boasted that he

would have her maidenhead reportedly

furious when she learned this catherine

broke off her relationship with manox

who soon resigned his position as her

music teacher

our understanding of history is often

less heavily influenced by the events

themselves than by the scholars who

interpret and write about them

historians have traditionally denigrated

catherine howard as a morally loose and

promiscuous young woman but more recent

historians have shown different

attitudes most no longer view sexual

curiosity or experimentation as

inherently wicked or destructive and

feminist interpretations of henry's

ill-fated fifth wife have begun to

challenge the traditional indictment of

her character based on her sexuality

more than one recent biographer has

highlighted the overtones of abuse and

manipulation by a much older adult man

in a position of trust in her life no

more than a year after her break with

manox another young man named francis

denham came to join the household in

service to the dowager duchess

francis dedham began his employment as

secretary to the dollar de duchess of

norfolk in

1538. he was probably the same age as

manox in his mid-twenties while

catherine was probably 14 or 15 the two

formed an attachment which continued for

at least several months but may have

lasted nearly two years deram called

catherine wife and she called him

husband they gave each other small gifts

and love tokens he gave her gifts of

velvet and silk flowers while she

embroidered an armband and a friar's

knot for him francis also entrusted his

money to catherine when he went away on

business the argument for catherine's

control over the maiden's chamber is a

strong one because it seems impossible

that she could have entertained dedham

there as many times as she probably did

for as many months as she did without

the duchess finding out and unlike her

relationship with manox it seems fairly

certain that catherine's relationship

with francis derem was fully consummated

to any casual observer during the tudor

period it would appear that catherine

and francis would eventually marry in

fact in medieval and early modern europe

any two unmarried people who had

declared their intention to wed one

another and who had already slept

together were considered pre-contracted

which was as good as married in the eyes

of the church unfortunately for the

young couple the duchess eventually

found out about that affair apparently

acting out of jealousy the rejected

henry manox wrote to the duchess an

anonymous letter exposing francis and

catherine's relationship and slipped it

onto her pew at church furious the

duchess was quick to send dedham away he

left for ireland promising catherine he

would eventually return but by the time

he did catherine would already be

married and would have risen to become

queen consort of england it is

impossible to know if and how deeply she

mourned her parting from francis dedham

in any event as the niece of the duke of

norfolk she probably would not have been

permitted to marry him or indeed to

choose her own husband at all deram was

better born than henry manox but likely

still not good enough for the niece of a

duke

in the autumn of

1539 king henry viii was preparing to

wed his fourth wife anne of cleves

anxious to add a howard lady in waiting

to the new queen's chamber the duke of

norfolk decided that his young niece

catherine should be sent to live and

serve in queen anne's new household

catherine's father edmund howard had

died just a few months previously and

her uncle the duke promptly took

advantage of his new ability to control

his niece's destiny soon after

catherine's arrival at court she very

likely met thomas culpepper one of the

king's personal servants member of the

privy chamber and a distant cousin of

hers on her mother's side it is not

clear if their acquaintance predates

catherine's arrival at court but some

historians believe that an affection may

have grown between them well before

henry first noticed her catherine's

apparent affection for culpepper would

eventually prove

disastrous for both of them

by january of 1540 it was abundantly

clear that the freshly remarried henry

viii was already seeking to divorce his

latest wife it is not known exactly when

henry first noticed catherine but by

march there was already talk of how

frequently the king could be seen

crossing the thames toward lambeth to

visit norfolk house and of the young

lady whom many in the capital believed

was already his mistress the fall from

favor of anne of cleves had left a power

vacuum at court religious conservatives

like the howards anxious to dispense

with this new queen who was assumed to

be a protestant saw an opportunity

catherine was very young probably no

more than 17 and not terribly well

educated as a result she was a less than

ideal choice for those seeking a woman

to help manage the king she was however

the woman of the moment and for henry

that seemed to be enough the king was

nearing 50 and his fascination with the

teenaged lady in waiting speaks of a

midlife crisis henry was clearly

disappointed after his first meeting

with anne of cleves claiming that her

appearance was unsatisfactory and had

also unintentionally and publicly

embarrassed henry by not recognizing him

and thus behaving coldly toward him this

awkward encounter likely contributed to

henry's initial dislike of her some

historians believe that advancing

impotence as a result of the king's age

and health problems may also have played

a significant role in henry's failure to

consummate his fourth marriage henry

certainly protested and assured multiple

parties of his potency and virility in

the weeks following his wedding night

almost in self-defense it might seem to

some observers winning the favor of a

beautiful young girl like catherine

would doubtless have helped henry feel

as if he was regaining some of his lost

youth and evidence suggests that

catherine howard was indeed lovely

the miniature painted by hans holbein

the younger between 1540 and

1542 is one of the few portraits which

most historians can agree most likely

depicts catherine although a few have

pointed out that the early date of 1540

indicates that the sitter and the

portrait might in fact be anne of cleves

anne however was thought to have had

blonde hair not orban like the subject

in the portrait nonetheless the sitter's

identity as queen may reasonably be

inferred from the jewels she is wearing

henry is known to have gifted the same

royal jewels repeatedly to his

successive wives and the jewels worn by

the subject are nearly identical to

those worn by jane seymour in her

holbein portrait in the portrait the

subject assumed to be catherine howard

has auburn red hair visible under her

jeweled coif and her brown eyes gaze

softly and knowingly at the viewer as if

she is privy to some secret which the

observer is not she has a full prominent

nose and an oval face with shapely lips

and eyebrows what can be seen of her

figure appears slim but there is the

slight suggestion of a double chin which

might suggest she had some curviness to

her figure another holbein sketch

roughly dated from

1540 to 1545

known as portrait of a young woman is

also believed by several scholars to

depict catherine howard in this sketch

the subject appears even younger with

similar but somewhat more exaggeratedly

delicate features than those in the

miniature unfortunately since catherine

died in disgrace with her husband keen

to forget her she has not been well

enough memorialized for us to be sure

which of the numerous tudor portraits of

unnamed ladies actually depict catherine

for certain contemporary observers

described her as petite pretty charming

and high spirited

throughout the spring of 1540

henry showered catherine with gifts

expensive clothing jewelry and even

lands aware of the king's interest and

confident in henry's ability to

eventually dispense with his current

wife the duke and dowager duchess of

norfolk carefully coached catherine with

regard to how she should behave toward

henry and how best to please him some of

catherine's biographers believe that she

and henry consummated their relationship

sometime in may when the king began to

noticeably escalate efforts to divorce

anne of cleaves perhaps the renewed

urgencies stemmed from a belief that

catherine might already be pregnant on

the 28th of july 1540

only six months after his wedding to

anne of cleves henry viii married

catherine howard at oatland's palace

near waybridge in surrey

henry's new queen consort settled into

her new role fairly well to begin with

she adopted a badge featuring a crowned

rose and the motto

nonotrevolonte colossienne or no other

will than his a sentiment which could

not have failed to please henry and the

king was clearly besotted with his young

bride his courtiers and ambassadors

remarked pointedly on henry's constant

and openly affectionate behavior towards

catherine even in public he could not

keep his hands off her and continue to

spoil her regularly with lavish gifts

and honours henry took his bride on a

six-month progress throughout the south

of england going from one royal palace

to another hunting feasting being

entertained and of course doing what the

newly married often do because of

henry's advancing age and declining

health and because he had no more

children after the death of jane seymour

some historians have speculated that he

was unable to consummate any of his last

three marriages and that perhaps his

last two spouses catherine parr in

particular were henry's nurses rather

than his wives other historians disagree

strongly however pointing out that sex

between 16th century married couples was

heartily encouraged and was considered

normal and healthy for couples at any

age moreover men of mature years

regularly married girls as young as

catherine howard during the tudor period

and many of these unions produced

children

there is evidence to suggest that henry

anticipated on several occasions

throughout his marriage to catherine

that she might be pregnant the king

seemed to have developed a policy

beginning with his third marriage not to

consider having a coronation for a queen

until she had produced an heir but

shortly before their 1541 progress to

the north of england tentative

preparations seem to have been underway

for a potential queen's coronation at

york one which never materialized since

catherine was not found to be pregnant

after all some scholars speculate that

she may have had a short pregnancy which

ended in a miscarriage in the spring of

1541.

simply being the darling of her

husband's eye might not seem like much

of an achievement to most observers but

then henry was by no means easy to

please as the trail of dead wives

friends courtiers and clergy in his past

could have testified catherine therefore

deserves significant credit for

carefully intelligently and tactfully

navigating her new position as queen

henry's constant fawning over her was no

doubt encouraged by catherine's efforts

to lovingly conform herself to his will

the king had a pattern of responding

with anger and even threats when his

wives attempted to exercise political

power unless he himself deputized them

to do so as in the case of catherine of

aragon's regency during henry's campaign

in france anne boleyn had stoked

resentment in henry for her habit of

being outspoken on political and

religious matters even jane seymour

mother of the king's beloved son was met

with threats from henry when she

attempted to influence his policies

toward those involved in the 1537

pilgrimage of grace in contrast to most

of her predecessors as well as her

successor as queen catherine howard

almost never interfered in policy of any

sort or challenged what henry viewed as

his kingly prerogative on the rare

occasion she did attempt to exert

influence over state matters she did so

in ways that were socially acceptable

for women in tudor england

like other queens catherine sought

promotions and honours for her family

and household members but she also

interceded with henry for imprisoned and

condemned nobles she begged henry's

permission to send warm clothing and

comforts to the countess of salisbury

lady margaret pohl whom henry had

imprisoned in the tower largely because

her son cardinal reginald poll was

carrying on a campaign abroad against

henry's religious reforms in fact

catherine's largest single household

expenditure during her time as queen was

what she spent on margaret pohl's

comfort catherine also interceded on

behalf of sir john wallop sir thomas

wyatt and wyatt secretary john mason who

were imprisoned simply for their social

proximity to the lately disgraced and

executed thomas cromwell henry softened

by his wife's compassion relented and

granted pardons and release to all three

men

not only did catherine play her royal

role well by keeping henry happy but she

also set out to be her most warm and

charming self with those close to him

including his ex-wife anne of cleves now

recognized as a king's beloved sister

and had begun to be regularly received

at court this was a somewhat bizarre and

unique social arrangement for the tudor

age

and most observers would probably

understand if catherine had behaved

coldly toward anne but rather than

keeping her at arm's length the new

queen treated henry's ex-wife with

effusive goodwill catherine famously and

gaily celebrated the new year of 1541

by drinking and dancing with anne of

cleves and other members of the court

long after henry had retired from the

festivities she also presented anne with

one of the puppies henry had given her

as a new year's gift catherine was keen

to cultivate warm relationships with

henry's children as well elizabeth and

edward were still very young just seven

and four years old respectively and if

they could not have a mother's care they

were at least eager for a kind

stepmother which catherine proved

herself perfectly willing to be the lady

mary however proved a much tougher nut

to crack

to begin with the queen's new

stepdaughter was quite a few years older

than her highly educated deeply pious

and rather serious catherine no doubt

struck mary as a silly and pleasure

loving juvenile which perhaps to a

certain extent she was but what else one

might ask could one reasonably expect

from a 17 or 18 year old girl with

catherine's background and upbringing

she had been taken from the maiden's

chamber of the duchess's house and

within mere months had been placed at

the very pinnacle of honour adoration

wealth and luxury in english society

such a cinderella story might make any

young woman want to revel in it all the

dancing and amusements the beautiful

clothes and jewels no doubt it all

seemed shallow to mary who had perhaps

travelled a tougher road than catherine

in some respects forcing mary to grow up

quickly she was also admittedly far more

dignified with seemingly more substance

than the teenaged queen but this most

likely does not fully explain mary's

seemingly intense dislike of her mary

may have been projecting some of the

resentment she felt for her father on to

catherine mary likely found it

humiliating to be forced to revere what

seemed to her an artless young girl as

her stepmother and queen while henry's

first wife and her own beloved mother

one of the most admired royal women in

europe had been left to die in pain and

disgrace she also probably resented that

henry had cast off anne of cleaves whom

she admired and cared for to marry

catherine mary's coolness and continued

disregard for her new stepmother

infuriated the queen and with an

uncharacteristic display of spite and

haughtiness she removed two ladies from

lady mary's service for the lack of

respect they had shown in spite of this

clash catherine remained high in henry's

favor but when her four came it was both

sudden and violent

historians have traditionally cited

catherine howard's greatest missteps as

queen as mainly sexual however there is

no truly firm evidence that catherine

was ever actually unfaithful to henry

during their marriage one is tempted to

see her greatest missteps as those she

made with manox and dedham before she

ever came to serve at court thought it

was rumors of these pre-marital

relationships that first led henry to

order an investigation into catherine's

past yet if these were indeed her only

crimes they turned catherine howard's

life and her marriage to henry viii into

the very definition of a tragedy to be

destined for a terrible and ignominious

end from the very outset

until the spring of 1541 henry's health

had actually begun to show promising

improvement following his marriage the

years of 1539 and

and 1540

had seen him gain a great deal of weight

all at once largely due to enforced

physical inactivity on account of his

constantly ulcerated leg but he improved

markedly during the second half of 1540

enough to become something of his own

active self again during his extended

honeymoon with catherine in december he

even began a doctor-supervised regime to

reduce his weight but in april of 1541

the wound on the king's leg began to

pain him once again keeping him confined

to his chambers for weeks at a time

henry continually sent messages and

gifts to catherine but refused to see

her throughout his illness presumably he

was anxious that his beautiful young

wife might see him as an ailing and

helpless old man it may have been the

boredom of life without henry or the

worry that he might be tiring of her

that led catherine into dangerous

territory while seeking comfort and

distraction

some historians believe that catherine

howard's alleged affair with thomas

culpepper began around this time the

full extent of their physical

relationship remains unknown as both

later denied that they had ever slept

together but they did secretly send

gifts and letters to one another and at

least one witness revealed under varying

circumstances of interrogation that

catherine and culpepper had met secretly

and in private on multiple occasions

jane bolin the widowed lady rochford who

was one of catherine's principal ladies

in waiting revealed during questioning

that she had many times served as a

messenger between the queen and

culpepper and that she had even stood

guard outside the door on multiple

occasions during their secret meetings

one of the most telling pieces of

evidence of catherine's feelings for

culpepper is the letter that she wrote

to him in her own hand perhaps during

the early summer of 1541

this letter was found in thomas

culpepper's room in november or december

of 1541

and while it does not confirm any

infidelity on the queen's part it is

highly suggestive of her romantic

feelings for him it is the only document

written by katherine howard that has

survived intact

master culpepper it reads i heartily

recommend me unto you praying you to

send me word how that you do it was

showed me that you were sick the witch

thing troubled me very much i never

longed so much for the thing as i do to

see you and to speak with you the which

i trust shall be shortly now it makes my

heart die to think what fortune i have

that i cannot be always in your company

my trust is always in you praying that

you will come when my lady rochford is

here for then i shall be best at leisure

to be at your commandment i would that

you were with me now that you might see

what pain i take in writing to you yours

as long as life endures

catherine

historians have traditionally viewed

catherine's appointment of staff to her

household as another example of her

major missteps as queen but these are

fairly understandable in context when

catherine became queen the usual stream

of family members and friends were drawn

to the court seeking positions some by

invitation but some most likely as the

result of blackmail catherine was glad

to promote the prosperity of her family

members when she became queen her uncle

the duke of norfolk was higher in favor

than ever and the court seemed

inordinately crowded with howards her

siblings all benefited from catherine's

elevation including most notably her

eldest brother charles who was made a

member of the privy chamber and her

younger sister isabelle who came to

court to serve as lady in waiting but

among those recruited to the new queen's

household were a few troublingly

familiar faces from her past joan bulmer

and francis dedham

joan had once served the dowager duchess

and had lived at norfolk house with

catherine for several years joan wrote

to catherine soon after her impending

marriage to the king was made public and

while the letter seems respectful enough

some scholars have suggested that a few

lines might imply a vague threat joan

said that she chose to apply to

catherine because of the perfect honesty

that joan had always found in her and

which joan had heard from others still

remained in 16th century english the

words honesty and chastity were often

used interchangeably and it is possible

that joan was reminding catherine of

just how much she knew about her past i

trust joan wrote that the queen will not

forget her secretary catherine promptly

installed mistress bulma in her

household as a lady in waiting in a

seemingly more risky move considering

their previous relationship catherine

also gave a position to francis derham

he applied to catherine using a letter

of recommendation from the dowager

duchess of norfolk which is extremely

interesting agnes howard had known about

catherine's pre-marital relationship

with dedham and had been furious and

disapproving enough to separate them and

banish him to ireland why would the

duchess then take the enormous risk of

recommending him for the queen's service

when it might not only endanger

catherine's reputation but her own as

well this leads one to suppose that

denham might have blackmailed both the

duchess and catherine in order to secure

a position for himself whatever the case

catherine obliged and gave derem a

position as gentleman usher

strangely on the same day that henry

ordered a mass of thanksgiving to be

said in every church for his beloved

queen the archbishop of canterbury

thomas cranmer delivered to henry a

letter detailing accusations against

catherine for pre-marital sexual

impropriety the informant was john

lassels a former client of thomas

cromwell and an ardent reformer anxious

to see the religiously conservative

howards removed from power john informed

cranmer that he had received troubling

intelligence about catherine from his

sister mary lacelles who had served as a

housemaid for the dowager duchess of

norfolk during catherine's residence

there john had reportedly encouraged his

sister to apply to the queen for a place

in her household on the strength of

their previous acquaintance and mary had

apparently declined claiming

disapprovingly that prior to her

marriage catherine had been quote a

light young woman both in living and in

conditions mary then revealed the

queen's previous relationships to john

henry was utterly shocked he ordered an

investigation to be conducted into the

rumors but initially seemed to doubt

that any corroborating evidence or

testimony might be found still he

ordered his queen confined to her

chambers without explanation until the

allegations were dismissed sadly they

never were and as the investigation

progressed catherine's freedoms and

honors were increasingly curtailed

during his interrogation henry manox

readily admitted to his previous

relationship with catherine but affirmed

that they had not slept together luckily

for him he was the only man accused of

intimate former acquaintance with the

queen who was eventually released

without charge francis durham however

was not so lucky francis admitted to his

formerly romantic and sexual

relationship with catherine and insisted

that they had been pre-contracted but he

vehemently denied that they had renewed

their affair following his arrival at

court under torture deram confessed that

he had not attempted to pursue catherine

again because she had already embarked

on a relationship with thomas culpepper

thomas was then promptly arrested for

questioning as well culpepper also

denied having slept with catherine but

later admitted that he had intended to

do so and that she had intended the same

when thomas cranmer came to question

catherine herself she was in such a

pitiable state he wrote such as i never

saw in any creature she alternated

sharply between terror of what might

happen to her and remorse for concealing

her sexual experiences before her

marriage to the king she confirmed the

testimony of henry manox and to a

certain extent that of francis derram as

well however she denied that there had

been any pre-contract between them or

expectation of marriage many historians

have wondered at this for the existence

of a pre-contract prior to her marriage

to the king might have been grounds for

an annulment if her marriage to henry

had been declared invalid then there

would have been no grounds for adultery

charges in the case of a queen adultery

was considered treason since it placed

in doubt the legitimacy of potential

heirs to the throne catherine did not

seem to understand that admitting to a

pre-contract could have saved her life

in a later interrogation session

catherine reportedly changed her

testimony alleging that dedham had raped

her for reasons that are still unclear

perhaps she believed that by denying any

willing participation as well as the

pre-contract this might prevent the

imposition of a death sentence

despite the fact that two of her

relationships predated her marriage and

both she and culpepper denied the

accusations of adultery she was

nonetheless condemned to death by act of

attender in february 1542

the evidence of catherine's guilt was

only circumstantial such as the letters

and gifts exchanged between her and

culpepper under interrogation one of her

ladies in waiting admitted she had seen

the queen look longingly at culpepper

and another testified that she had not

seen catherine in her bed on several

nights lady rochford could not confirm

that catherine and culpepper had slept

together but claimed that they had spent

such a significant amount of private

time alone together while lady rochford

stood guard that she said she could not

think it otherwise sadly lady rochford

was found guilty of treason right

alongside her unfortunate mistress

francis derham and thomas culpepper were

sentenced to die by hanging drawing and

quartering but culpepper's sentence was

ultimately commuted to beheading

presumably owing to his noble birth and

henry's former fondness for him

catherine howard went to her own

execution with impressive bravery on the

night before her death strangely she did

not send for a confessor but instead

requested that the executioner's block

be brought to her so that she might

rehearse the proper way to place herself

upon it this gives us a poignant picture

of catherine at the end determined to

bear her coming ordeal with calm courage

grace and dignity the next morning on

the 13th of february 1542

catherine was led out onto the tower

green she faltered for a moment as she

approached the block and had to be

assisted to mount the scaffold but when

she faced the assembled crowd she spoke

clearly and steadily some sources claim

that catherine said she wished she had

died the wife of culpepper but most

historians have dismissed this claim as

apocryphal catherine's last words were

actually much more conventional she

asserted that she deserved death for her

crimes against the king exhorted the

crowd to pray for him and obey him

begged that her disgrace not rebound

unfairly on the members of her family

who were innocent and ignorant of her

wrongdoing and affirmed her faith in god

this kind of final speech was highly

typical of those condemned to execution

and showed that catherine was anxious to

protect those she knew she would leave

behind for the last words of the

condemned persons were reported to the

king poor lady rochford who had suffered

what seemed to be a psychotic break

during her incarceration promptly

followed her mistress to the

executioner's block henry had actually

pushed a bill through parliament to

allow insane persons to be executed for

treason just for the occasion

much of the historiography on catherine

howard has been called misogynistic in

more recent works traditionally she has

been depicted as a silly empty-headed

pleasure-loving and wanton temptress a

teenaged femme fatale earlier

biographers even 20th century scholars

have used words like and good time

girl in academic print and discourse to

describe her more than any other facet

of her life catherine howard's sexuality

has been the central focus of most

historians who have written about her

this is somewhat understandable since it

was the central focus of her downfall

and historical documents which tell us

anything about her personal experience

or personality are relatively rare

recent scholarship has argued that this

trend of focusing only on catherine's

sexuality has had the effect of

obscuring almost everything else about

her and that her condemnation was an

absurdly hypocritical expression of

double standards looking past her

supposed sins

is necessary to see something more

closely approximating the whole person a

girl who was impressionable susceptible

to flattery and adoration who seems to

have deeply revered and cared for henry

but may have fallen away from him due to

a lack of confidence in his love for her

a girl who was compassionate to those

who were suffering who loved animals

especially dogs and who was happy to

help family members to become more

prosperous a girl who had perhaps made

mistakes but who some historians argue

was repeatedly exploited by much older

men whatever one's perspective catherine

howard met her end with a sense of

personal responsibility and with a

bravery that one cannot help but respect

especially in a girl of no older than

nineteen she was buried in an unmarked

grave in the chapel of saint peter

advincula close to the final resting

places of george and ann bolin her first

cousins and fellow martyrs to king

henry's ego

rage and ambition

henry was reportedly devastated by

catherine's supposed betrayal he had

firmly believed her to have been chased

before their marriage which for him was

problematic enough but the fact that she

had taken france's denim into her

queenly household and spent time alone

with thomas culpepper as well as writing

to him and sending him gifts was

evidence enough for henry of her

unfaithfulness however circumstantial

perhaps the most humiliating thing for

henry was not just the appearance of

being cuckolded but what it implied if

his beautiful teenaged wife whom he

doted upon had seen the need to look

elsewhere for sexual fulfillment it

impugned henry's manhood by suggesting

he was too old and impotent to satisfy

her this inference may well have

contributed significantly to his

decision to execute her rather than

divorce her or a null the marriage

the suggestion of henry's impotence had

pierced his pride and ego the most

dangerous of wounds this episode may

have also facilitated the growth of

henry's attraction to catherine parr who

was more mature at 31 capable of more

educated and intelligent discourse and

who promised a warm companionship with

someone closer to his own age

in some ways henry's relationship with

catherine parr calls to mind his first

marriage to catherine of aragon for the

king apparently found much to admire in

his sixth wife that he had also admired

in his first

what do you think of catherine howard

please let us know in the comments

section and in the meantime thank you

very much for watching

[Music]

the woman known to history as catherine

parr was most likely born at her

family's townhouse in blackfriars london

her exact birth date is unknown but it

was probably in the late summer or early

autumn of fifteen hundred and twelve

she was the eldest child of sir thomas

parr and maude greene who had two more

children after catherine's birth william

and anne sir thomas was knighted by

henry viii in 1509 and was much favored

by him he held several positions

throughout his years of service at

henry's court including comptroller to

the king while his wife maude served as

a lady in waiting to queen catherine of

aragon the parr family would have been

classified as gentry rather than

nobility like the berlins the power

family had risen in the world as a

result of several generations of royal

patronage and advantageous marriages by

the time of catherine's birth they were

wealthy northern landowners and

connected by marriage to some of the

most prominent noble families in the

north of england the pars divided their

time between their estate of kendall at

westmoreland and their london house in

blackfriars where they were readily

accessible to the royal court

when sir thomas died in 1517

he left his widow and children with an

ample estate one that ensured that maude

would not have to remarry which she

never did instead maude poured her

energy into raising and educating her

children luckily for catherine and her

siblings their mother was more

progressive and better educated than

most women of her background and station

and as a result catherine and her

younger sister anne received an

education as thorough and rigorous as

their brother william in addition to

being trained in courtly etiquette dance

and perhaps music as well all three par

siblings were instructed in history

french italian latin and perhaps

additional academic subjects as well in

fact maude parr's household developed

such a reputation for dedication to

scholarship and learning that the

parents of other noble and gentry

families of her acquaintance often

appeal to her to take in their children

who needed to finish their educations

the dowager duchess of norfolk may have

been one of the foremost women in

england but her ward catherine howard

received far less attention or nurture

and a far inferior education than the

children in maude parr's household

received in short maude's home was a

finishing school par excellence and

catherine benefited enormously from her

mother's efforts this should not suggest

that maude intended much more than a

good marriage for her daughters like any

tudor matron she was concerned above all

with arranging the best possible

marriages for her children when

catherine was 17 maude arranged her

marriage to sir edward berg the 21 year

old son of berenberg earlier biographies

have confused catherine's first husband

with his father who was also named

edward thus it has traditionally been

supposed that catherine's first marriage

was to a much older man which is not the

case

few specific details are known about the

life of catherine parr between 1529 and

1543

when she married henry viii but these

were no doubt formative years for

catherine in an intellectual and

spiritual sense she was first married to

sir edward berg in 1529

a marriage that became much more

contented when in 1531 the couple moved

away from edward's family home and

catherine's reportedly abusive

father-in-law sadly sir edward died in

1533

following a short illness only a year

later the widowed catherine who was

still a young woman at 21 married john

neville third baron latimer a man more

than twice her age she may have met him

while visiting their mutual relative

catherine neville dowager duchess of

strickland catherine's mother maude had

died by this time and so her second

marriage may have been largely by her

own choice it was certainly a

prestigious marriage catherine became

only the second member of her family to

marry into the english peerage and there

is evidence to suggest that they cared

for one another and enjoyed a happy

union though their marriage produced no

children catherine was a loving

stepmother to lord latimer's two

children john and margaret and after his

death the baron entrusted the care of

his daughter and the management of her

finances until she married to his widow

catherine until her own death several

years later catherine kept among her

personal and sentimental possessions a

new testament which had once belonged to

her second husband inscribed with his

name

lord and lady latimer certainly faced

challenges together during the 1537

pilgrimage of grace the northern

uprising against the abolition of the

monasteries and other religious reforms

was greeted with sympathy and support

from some nobles and with horror and

reluctant acquiescence by others with

literally tens of thousands risen in

rebellion the northern english

aristocracy and gentry were forced to

contend with their discontented

neighbors on their very own doorsteps

some made concessions to the rebels out

of fear of their numbers for no single

nobleman could call upon sufficient

forces to resist one of the largest

potential armies ever to be organized in

northern england lord latimer had

thoroughly disapproved of the king's

divorce from his first wife his marriage

to anne boleyn and presumably the

reforms that had followed it is unclear

just how much the rebels had to twist

lord latimer's arm to persuade him to

join their cause but some sources claim

he quite publicly embraced it the true

commitment of any noble household to the

cause however was more likely to be

manifest in its mistress the ladies of

northern aristocratic households who

opposed religious reform showed their

support by providing resources sympathy

and verbal encouragement to the rebels

presumably at the sanction of their

husbands but though her husband seemed

to support the rebellion even if he did

so under duress there is no evidence

that catherine parr did catherine's lack

of agreement and cooperation with the

rebels may be inferred by the fact that

she and her step-children were held

prisoner in their own home by the rebels

perhaps to secure lord latimer's

cooperation

catherine's lack of response to the

pilgrimage of grace might signal that

she had already formed or perhaps was

beginning to form her protestant

reformist views when the rebellion ended

lord and lady latimer began to spend

more time near london and henry's court

presumably to remain close enough to

demonstrate their loyalty and reassure

the king that they had only collaborated

with the northern rebels under duress

catherine formed a warm and friendly

relationship with lady mary during this

period additionally catherine's brother

william and their sister anne were both

high in favor at court catherine's

relationships with these allies no doubt

helped to clear lord and lady latimer of

any hint of collaboration or treason

with the rebels

it was in london in 1542 that catherine

first met sir thomas seymour brother of

queen jane seymour it was generally

known at that time that lord latimer was

in ill health and likely to die soon and

the knowledge that catherine was soon to

be a very rich widow may have sharpened

seymour's interest thomas was described

by contemporaries as very handsome and

charming but also highly ambitious and

often unscrupulous in pursuing his aims

how much he truly cared for catherine is

unclear but catherine clearly fell for

him as one of her surviving letters to

seymour testifies she claimed that she

had fallen in love with him and wanted

to marry him even before the king

offered her marriage and henry most

likely knew that he had competition for

lady latimer's hand as he seemingly

without warning offered sir thomas

seymour a handsome promotion and sent

him to serve abroad in the netherlands

once lord latimer had died and catherine

had emerged from her morning less than

six months after lord latimer's death

henry and catherine were married in the

queen's closet at hampton court palace

on the 12th of july 1543.

why did she accept his proposal was she

afraid of what it might mean if she

refused the king this seems a likely

consideration in view of henry's

character and reputation some of her

biographers believe that she accepted

henry's proposal as part of a religious

mission to facilitate the advance of

reform in england by being a subtle but

committed advocate for protestant values

the warm relationship she had developed

with lady mary in the previous few years

may have played a role as well mary's

mother catherine of aragon had stood as

catherine parr's godmother and it was

for henry's first queen that sir thomas

and maud parr had named their daughter

catherine may have been motivated by a

sense of duty to the young woman she had

befriended to the girl's departed mother

and perhaps to henry's younger children

as well who were no less in need of a

loving mother figure in their lives

catherine adapted to her new position as

queen consort quickly and well she and

henry embarked on a honeymoon progress

which lasted for most of the latter half

of 1543.

henry took pride not only in his new

wife's virtue and intelligence he also

admired her beauty there are at least

three portraits that have been confirmed

to correctly depict catherine power the

melton constable or hastings portrait a

full-length portrait attributed to tudor

court painter master john and a

half-length portrait currently residing

at the national portrait gallery in

london all three depict a tall stately

slender and attractive woman in her 30s

with auburn red hair expressive brown

eyes pale skin and delicate features

henry and catherine seemed to quickly

develop an easy intimacy and

companionable relationship they were

much closer in age than henry had been

with his previous three wives and were

fairly evenly matched in education

intelligence and rhetoric henry's faith

in catherine was such that he appointed

her to serve as regent during his

absence in 1544

when he led yet another military

campaign in france apparently another

attempt to recapture some of the glory

of his lost youth it was an affair of

absurd cost in men and resources with

virtually no tangible reward short term

or otherwise but catherine offered henry

her full support and encouragement in

his military endeavors ably and

intelligently managed affairs of state

as regent and faithfully kept henry

informed of all developments while he

remained in france

she greeted the king's return as that of

a conquering hero and he

in turn commended her efforts and

stewardship on his behalf during his

absence in a move that shows real trust

henry did not seek to bar catherine from

his chambers during his periodic bouts

of illness largely centering around his

old leg wound the queen willingly and

ably nursed henry just as she had nursed

lord latimer through his final illness

it seemed catherine could rise no higher

in her husband's favor and this may have

given her the confidence to pursue her

goals to influence reform more openly

her attempts to do so eventually placed

queen catherine in the same danger into

which both ann berlin and catherine

howard before her had fallen

like all of her predecessors catherine

parr at first exercised power rather

minimally she elevated her family

members by appointing them to positions

in her household including her siblings

and stepchildren her sister ann lady

herbert who had served both anne of

cleves and catherine howard was made

principal lady in waiting and her

brother william was made earl of essex

but more significantly catherine also

made subtle efforts to promote the cause

of protestantism by appointing reformers

to key positions including a personal

chaplain and the tutors assigned to

teach the lady elizabeth and prince

edward henry who was as well educated as

his new queen was impressed by her

learning and intellectual sophistication

and readily sought her advice on his

children's education but he was at that

point in time probably unaware of how

deeply committed catherine was to the

cause of religious reform

henry knew that catherine was pious and

that she was no catholic sympathizer but

it would not become clear to him until

1546

how strongly his wife favored the

reformist cause but while henry was in a

doctrinal sense more religiously

conservative than his wife his main

problem may have been with her

increasing habit of being outspoken and

of challenging him especially on

religious matters and on policy in 1544

catherine anonymously published an

english translation of bishop john

fisher's latin text psalms and prayers

the following year she published prayers

and meditations under her own name and

her english translation sold remarkably

well henry appreciated and admired

catherine's learning and public virtue

and seemed to find her conversation

stimulating for the most part but her

growing popularity may have irked him

especially as she grew bolder in her

arguments and challenges on religious

matters henry might even have felt some

jealousy upon receiving as a new year's

gift in 1546

a latin translation of his wife's

enormously popular book from his

daughter elizabeth who may have seemed

to henry to admire her stepmother more

than she did her father catherine's

increasingly bold speech eventually

produced open grumbling from him that he

should be lectured and condescended to

by his wife on matters that were

according to his own policy within his

power alone

when religious conservatives like bishop

of winchester stephen gardiner and lord

chancellor and earl of southampton

thomas rivsly approached henry with

allegations of the queen's supposedly

heretical leanings which appeared far

more extreme than the act of six

articles allowed the king seemed fairly

well disposed to entertain their

suspicions he even permitted rivsly to

issue a warrant for her arrest and

interrogation luckily for catherine the

warrant was never served the document

was first waylaid by means of an unknown

servant and delivered directly into

catherine's hands instead panicked she

collapsed into weeping and resolve to

try as hard as possible to at least

appear to conform to henry's will when

he confronted her about her terminity in

challenging him and her refusal to allow

herself to be instructed by england's

religious authorities

namely himself catherine eloquently

protested that she had only argued with

henry in order to benefit from his

superior wisdom as well as to distract

him from the painful trials of his

recurring illness which had been

continually plaguing him of late she

then affirmed that her duty and her

place was to honor and respect henry's

authority

interestingly these claims were probably

not just lip service from catherine or a

clever ploy to save her skin catherine

may have been considered by some to be a

radical in her own time for her

protestant views but her perspective on

the role of women was quite conventional

for the tudor period this was made clear

in the queen's religious treaties

published after henry's death in 1547

lamentations of a sinner which

though it strongly espoused reformist

doctrinal views was actually quite

traditional in its attitudes to women's

roles catherine believed that women

should be taught to read and understand

the scriptures but simultaneously

exhorted them to remain silent and

obedient to their husbands in all things

henry was generous to his wife and his

will bequeathing to her a lavish annual

income of seven thousand pounds as well

as the right to retain the royal jewels

during her lifetime following henry's

death and catherine's prompt retirement

from court thomas seymour who had

recently been made first baron soodly

re-entered catherine's life almost

immediately before she was even out of

mourning for henry the two were quietly

married sometime in may 1547.

thomas's brother edward who had been

made lord protector during the new king

edward vi minority was furious with both

his brother and the dowager queen their

hasty marriage could have made it

difficult to judge the paternity of any

child catherine might have within nine

months of henry's death which had only

just occurred at the end of january

moreover thomas seymour's act of

marrying the dodger queen in secret and

without the permission of the regency

council made them suspect and distrust

his ambitions it also alienated lady

mary who considered the secrecy and

hastiness of their marriage to be both

indecent and an affront to her father's

memory and a rift developed between

catherine and mary which was never

healed such a risky approach to marriage

seems somewhat out of character for

catherine but perhaps at 35 having

finally made what she believed to be a

true love match she decided to waste no

more time throw caution to the wind and

wed the man she wanted

the year immediately following her

fourth marriage was probably one of the

happiest of catherine parr's life she

and her husband established residence at

his seat of sudley castle in

gloucestershire she responded to an

appeal from her former stepdaughter lady

elizabeth with an invitation to come and

live with her and see more where she

could continue to supervise elizabeth's

education naturally catherine's

intellectual reputation preceded her and

other noble families was soon applying

to the dodger queen to take in other

daughters of the aristocracy who needed

a respectable place to complete their

education most notable among them was

lady jane gray granddaughter of henry's

sister mary tudor and elizabeth's first

cousin just as her mother had once been

catherine was now a respected woman of

learning and culture sought after and

entrusted with the care and education of

the children of england's most

illustrious families early in the

following year of

1548 catherine discovered she was

pregnant perhaps for the first time in

her life and at last her happiness

seemed complete sadly her calm

contentment would be shattered several

months later when

more than halfway through her pregnancy

she discovered that her husband had been

actively pursuing an illicit

relationship with her own stepdaughter

elizabeth

it later came to light that thomas

seymour had been regularly visiting

elizabeth's chamber in the early

mornings in a state of nighttime undress

and attempting to engage in

inappropriate and vaguely sexual

horseplay with her the extent to which

catherine was initially aware of the

behavior or understood the extent of it

is unclear some sources allege that

catherine participated in some of

seymour's acts but it is hard to picture

the pregnant dowager queen as complicit

in such impropriety by the summer of

1548

she was resolved of all doubts when she

stumbled upon thomas and elizabeth quote

in an embrace catherine promptly sent

elizabeth away ostensibly it seems to

protect her stepdaughter from her

husband but perhaps also to save her

marriage the apparent fragility of which

appears to have hurt catherine deeply

when she went into labor in late august

her first experience of childbirth

proved very difficult and taxing one

contemporary source claimed that in the

pain and stress of the birth catherine

vented her rage and despair at her

husband's betrayal accusations which she

seemed not to recall after her daughter

and only child mary was born catherine

lived less than a week after her

daughter's arrival the infant mary

seymour who was named for the dowager

queen's beloved stepdaughter lost her

mother when she was only six days old on

the 5th of september 1548

catherine parr died of purepro fever

which was the fairly common result of

unhygienic conditions during childbirth

she was buried on her husband's estate

at sudler castle when thomas seymour was

executed for treason less than a year

after his wife's death the infant mary

seymour was sent to live with

catherine's friend and fellow reformer

catherine brandon nay willoughby the

duchess of suffolk most historians do

not believe that mary seymour survived

her early childhood and suggest that she

most likely died by the age of two

catherine parr has traditionally been

credited with a broad and impressive

legacy it had been partly her influence

that had led henry to reinstate his

daughters to the succession her

contributions to the growth of

protestantism in england have

traditionally been celebrated by

reformers who continued to promote their

cause after her death she was one of the

most educated and respected women of her

age and class an impressive achievement

for a woman whose family had only been

knighted gentry for three generations

but perhaps her most notable legacy can

be seen in the lives and policies of

edward vi

and more particularly elizabeth the

first whose education ideology religion

and vision for england's future had been

shaped more by henry's sixth wife than

perhaps by any other person

what do you think of catherine parr

please let us know in the comments

section and in the meantime

thank you very much for watching

you