ST GEORGE’S LADIES GROUP

Henry VIII and his wives

Mr Jackson came to talk about Henry VIII and his wives. Henry was the third child of Henry VII, he had an older brother and two sisters and it was the offspring of these sisters who later challenged Elizabeth I's claim to the throne. Arthur, his older brother was betrothed when still an infant to Catherine of Aragon and they married when in their mid teens. Their marriage was short-lived, however, as on their honeymoon in Wales Prince Arthur caught a chill and died. Catherine's family did not want her back in Spain and Henry VII, known for being thrifty, did not want to have to return her dowry so she spent several years in England in limbo and also in penury. She met Henry at court and they were married, this being a true love match, unlike her first marriage. She produced many children but they were either stillborn or survived for only a short time and only a daughter, Mary, survived.

Henry was desperate for a son to secure the throne and wanted to marry again, so he asked the Pope to annul his marriage to Catherine on the grounds that it was illegal as she had been married to his brother, but the Pope refused. Henry was furious to have been thwarted in his efforts to rid himself of his wife and set himself up as head of the church and cut all ties with Rome. He divorced Catherine and immediately married Anne Boleyn, a vivacious well educated girl, who produced a daughter, Elizabeth. A son soon followed but to Henry's dismay, he was stillborn. Now Henry was anxious to rid himself of Anne and when he received evidence she had been unfaithful to him she was sent to the Tower, tried and beheaded for treason.

This left the way open to marry Jane Seymour, a quiet gentle girl, who he had been seeing. To his great joy she produced the long awaited son, but sadly she died only a few days after giving birth.

Once again Henry's thoughts turned to marriage but as many European countries were staunchly Roman Catholic he was limited for choice and one of his advisers suggested Anne of Cleves, so he got Holbein to paint a portrait of her. Henry liked the portrait and went ahead with the marriage plans, but when he first met her on her arrival in England he was bitterly disappointed as she was not at all like her portrait, in fact in her own country she was known as the Mare of Flanders. Rather than look a laughing stock he went ahead with the marriage but quickly offered to set her up in her own home with an income if she would agree to a divorce. She did agree and in fact they remained on friendly terms, he treating her rather like a sister.

By this time Henry was getting a bloated old man, his lavish lifestyle now catching up with him, with ulcers on his legs causing him much pain and making him ill-humoured. One of his advisers, the Duke of Norfolk, was an ambitious man and wanted more power at court and sought about obtaining it through his niece, Catherine. She was a pretty seventeen year old, known to be a flirt, and he wanted her to ingratiate herself to the king. To please her uncle she became the king's nurse, bandaging his swollen legs and generally amusing him and he became enchanted with her and married her. Catherine found herself married to an ageing sick man and started indulging in affairs with men at court, which news was quickly reported to Henry. He was devastated but nevertheless sent her to the Tower where she was tried for treason against the king and then beheaded.

Henry married for the sixth time one of the ladies at court, Katherine Parr, although she was already betrothed to someone else. She spent time with him and nursed him and seemed to make him happy. She asked him to let his two daughters come to live with them, they had been living in separate homes, and this is probably the only time his children, Mary, Elizabeth and Edward lived together as a family. Henry's health gradually deteriorated and his sixth wife outlived him.

Margaret Deal