Because she played her cards right, Anne of Cleves, as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII of England, managed to escape the wrath he inflicted on two of his previous wives and lived a privileged life on good terms with the king after their separation.

C. M. Schmidlkofer explains.

Anne of Cleves. Painitng by Barthel Bruyn the Younger.

It seems unfair that Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife of King Henry VIII, is known throughout history as the “ugly” wife (out of the six total he had) when in reality, it was her wit and intellect that makes her remarkable.

Born in Dusseldorf in 1515, Anne of Cleves was the daughter of Maria of Julich-Berg and Johan III, Duke of Cleves. Her marriage to Henry in Jan. 6, 1540, right from the start was fraught with disappointment and misunderstanding.

First, at the tender age of 24, she was invited to become Henry’s fourth bride based on a painting the king commissioned of her countenance which he later said looked nothing like her. But that came a bit later.

The marriage was a political arrangement fostered by Henry’s “fixer,” Chief Minister Thomas Cromwell who sought to temper the power plays of Spain and France while boosting Protestant influence with the union.

 

First meeting

The first meeting between the king and his bride was a massive fail, as Anne rejected Henry’s surprise meeting wearing a disguise and the relationship went downhill from there.

The complaints began in earnest then as the king complained she did not look like the commissioned portrait.

He called her a “Flanders Mare,” said she smelled, and reportedly refused to have marital sex with her.

Anne was a fish out of water in Tudor Court. Her upbringing did not include dancing and music, the heart of Tudor life, but was focused on learning duties of a noblewoman she was expected to become along with household skills.

In an attempt to integrate herself into life with Henry, perhaps nervous over what lay ahead, she had the foresight to socialize with her English travelers to learn customs and social skills as well as learning the king’s favorite card games during her voyage to meet him.

There is little known about Anne’s feelings about the marriage but she was keenly aware that two of Henry’s first three wives were either banished or beheaded and that the purpose of any union was to produce a male heir for the king.

 

And although Henry had his coveted son through his third wife, Jane Seymour, who died shortly after giving birth, he was forging ahead with the fourth marriage to secure another.

 

End of marriage

Seven months after his marriage to Anne, who served as queen consort, Henry notified his bride their marriage was to be annulled three days hence. His reasoning was the marriage was never consummated and for good measure threw in questions about Anne’s relationship years ago with her brief engagement to Francis the Duke of Bar in 1527.

Wisely, Anne knew that arguing or pleading to continue the marriage would not be successful and instead fully cooperated with the king’s wishes. Certainly, she had nothing to lose and as it turned out she gained beautifully.

Henry, possibly relieved over Anne’s cooperation, awarded her with a generous settlement, granted her the title of “the King’s Sister” as long as she remained in England and bestowed upon her large tracts of properties, such as Hever Castle – the former childhood home of Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, whom he had beheaded in 1536.

Unlike Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, who resisted the king’s demand for annulment on religious grounds, ending up banished from court until her death in 1536, Anne was allowed to keep her jewels, her metal plate and her dresses, and received a generous annual stipend along with revenue from other properties.

She willingly turned over her wedding ring to Henry, asking that it be destroyed “as a thing which she knew of no force or value.”

Henry seemed to value Anne’s counsel after their separation and continued a cordial relationship with her until he died in 1547.

 

Later years

At that point Anne lost her title of the “King’s Sister” and she moved away from court, leading a quiet life until Mary I, Henry’s daughter with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and Anne’s stepdaughter, took the throne in 1553. Anne briefly came under suspicion when a plot to depose the queen and place Elizabeth I on the throne was investigated because Anne also had a close relationship with Elizabeth I, the daughter of the king and Anne Boleyn.

She escaped a charge of treason and remained cordial with Mary I until her death in 1557 at the age of 41 after a brief illness in Chelsea Old Manor, her home and former home of Catherine Parr, Henry’s sixth and last wife.

 

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References

https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/sixwives/meet/ac_handbook_children.html

https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/the-death-of-anne-of-cleves/

https://www.historytools.org/stories/anne-of-cleves-the-unwanted-queen-who-survived-and-thrived

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/blog/blog-posts/henry-viii-and-anne-of-cleves/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anne-of-Cleves-queen-of-England

King Henry VIII of England (king from 1509 to 1547) is possibly the most well-known British monarch. But how can we see him from a modern perspective? Here, Kerrie Fuller of the The Lost Tapes of History podcast tell us how a modern-day counselor and therapist might evaluate Henry VIII.

Kind Henry VIII of England. Painting by Hans Holbein, 1540.

Kind Henry VIII of England. Painting by Hans Holbein, 1540.

Much has been written about King Henry VIII and his relationships:  his romantic connections (six marriages and multiple mistresses); his work colleagues (counselors and political advisors such as More, Cromwell and Wolsey); his children (Mary, Elizabeth and Edward as well as the illegitimate ones) and even his family (two brothers, four sisters and parents). But what do they all have in common with him as the central person in all this? I suspect it’s all about trust. Or rather, lack of it.

In my research on Henry for The Lost Tapes of History podcast, I realized that he struggled with relationships of any kind. His psychology was such that he did not fundamentally understand the nature of how healthy relationships work; that is: open and honest communication, mutual respect and affection and most importantly, two-way trust.

I found a checklist online developed by a counselor and therapist to evaluate whether an individual had trust issues and measured Henry against each.

 

You feel betrayed by people even when there’s no evidence.

His relationship with his first wife, Katherine of Aragon fits the criteria nicely. There was absolutely no evidence that she had done anything that would justify an annulment and the Pope knew that. Henry actually used the word ‘betrayal’ to describe the fact that Katherine had not given him a son. Hardly fair.

 

You’ve learnt that people can use your feelings against you so you become guarded. 

Thomas Wolsey was a very close friend of Henry for many years, despite the twenty-year age gap. Henry even talks of writing letters to Wolsey ‘in his own hand’ instead of dictating them, showing a closeness between the two. When Wolsey failed to secure the annulment of Henry’s first marriage, he was accused of treason. We can only imagine that Henry was devastated that his friend would not help him when he felt he needed it the most.

 

Innocent mistakes are blown up out of all proportion. 

Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife, made the innocent mistake of being too intelligent and too eager for reform of the church. If you don’t believe the charges of adultery and incest, then her only ‘mistake’ was not giving Henry a son. Henry had several options open to him to remove Anne as his wife but the trial and beheading has a touch of the ‘over-reaction’ about them.

 

You finally trust someone and then you lose them. You vow never to trust again. 

Jane Seymour, Henry’s third wife, seemed perfect. Quieter and more placatory than Anne, she was always going to seem more suitable as a wife. But she died shortly after childbirth and so Henry was left alone once more. Had she not died, he may have lived with her happily ever after.

 

You may be seen as self-righteous, impossible to please or unforgiving. 

Thomas Cromwell would agree with this. Cromwell did what Henry asked and Henry still wasn’t happy with the result. His role in securing an ugly wife for Henry’s fourth marriage was a deal breaker.

 

Because you can’t share your real self with others, you feel lonely and have few close friends.

The Duke of Norfolk said ‘Henry was so troubled in his brain that he didn’t trust anyone alive’. Everyone knew it. One of his closest friends Charles Brandon ruined the friendship by marrying Henry’s sister. You’d think he would have been happy to have him as a brother-in-law but no.

 

Your lack of trust can evolve at times into full-blown paranoia.

When looking for a new wife, Henry suggested that the potential women parade up and down in front of him so he could look them over. When the French ambassador objected and suggested that someone else interviewed them in private, Henry said ’By God, I trust no one but myself’. I suspect delegation was harder for Henry the older he got.

 

Your relationships with others are shallow and non-threatening.

Mistresses would fit the bill here but actually his marriage to Katherine Howard, wife number 5 would too. She was a young, pretty thing – it can’t get shallower than that. I don’t think she would agree that it was non-threatening; she lost her head. That’s pretty threatening.

 

You suffer from depression because you feel isolated and trapped in a world that you don’t want to be in.

I think the older Henry got, the more angry and depressed he became. His physical energy and health got worse and worse, which tends to lead to depression. And you can’t get more trapped than being King 24-7 and not being able to take a holiday from the responsibility. His last wife, Katherine Parr was nurturing and caring towards him, which is what he needed. He also died knowing that his son Edward would become King after him, which would have eased his mind somewhat.

Henry VIII is a fascinating human being to study. His close relationship with his Mother and poor relationship with his Father also shaped him from a young age and as he was never supposed to be King, only becoming heir when his older brother Arthur died, he must have struggled to cope with the eyes of the world suddenly on him and a weight of responsibility on his shoulders. Whilst I have a lot of sympathy for his mental health, I’m not sure I would have wanted to meet him in person. From afar at a jousting match would have done me fine.

 

Kerrie Fuller is the creator of the Lost Tapes of History podcast where every week a British monarch is put into a modern context in an attempt to understand them in less than 20 minutes. Henry VIII and the Trust Therapist will be released on the May 4, 2021 and is available from all usual podcast directories.

King Henry VIII of England’s divorce, or annulment, of Catherine of Aragon in 1533 is one of the most infamous separations in history. And while we nearly all know the end result of the divorce proceedings, in hindsight who had the stronger case?  In part 3 of the series, Victor Gamma considers Catherine’s arguments - and how Henry’s arguments related to consummation and the Bible were not terribly strong.

You can read part 1 on the background to the great divorce here and part 2 on how Henry’s efforts to overturn the marriage in the courts failed here.

An 18th century painting of Catherine of Aragon.

An 18th century painting of Catherine of Aragon.

Catherine's Case

From the start Catherine of Aragon refused to entertain the slightest notion that her marriage to the king was anything but holy and entirely acceptable.  Moreover, she indicated that she would not accept any decision not coming from the Roman Curia or the Pope himself. Nonetheless, she appeared at the Blackfriars tribunal. On June 18, when both king and queen were present at Blackfriars, Catherine presented her case publically. When the clerk called out "Catherine. Queen of England, come into the court," she did not answer. Instead she went to the King directly, kneeling before him. In an unforgettable scene, Catherine pled her case before the king and the assembled court officials and nobles gathered that day. She knew that everything depended on her words and actions. She may never again have another chance to sway the mind of her husband and sovereign, King Henry VIII. In a "posture of absolute submission" Catherine ignored court protocol and knelt before Henry;

"Sir, I beseech you for all the love that hath been between us, and for the love of God, let me have justice. Take of some pity and compassion, for I am a poor woman, and a stranger born out of your dominion. I have here no assured friends, and much less impartial counsel."

 

Then in a brief but eloquent speech, she laid out her case. It included four main points. First, she reminded him and all those present that she had been a dutiful, good wife and had given no cause for offense. Second, lack of a male heir was not her fault. Third, she had been a virgin when she had married Henry and finally, she indicated that the court was biased against her and that she needed counsel.

 

Catherine’s supporters

But Catherine was not alone. Numerous supporters had come to her aid. Their arguments will be considered hers. Bishop Fisher, on behalf of the queen declared "this marriage of the king and queen can be dissolved by no power, human or divine." During the Blackfriars tribunal, the effort to build Catherine’s defense began in earnest. One argument was simply the insincerity of the king; “the idea of separation originated entirely in his own iniquity and malice” averred the Spanish ambassador, Eustace Chapuys. Furthermore he asserted that “The King’s passion for the Lady, (Anne Boleyn) combined with his obstinacy were such that there was no chance of recalling him by mildness or fair words to a sense of his duty.” Chapuys here referred to the fact that at this time King Henry was deeply involved with another woman, Anne Boleyn.

As to the character of Catherine, since no direct evidence existed, the character of the witnesses counted for much. Those who knew her were universal in their high opinion of her. Eustace Chapuys noted of Catherine that she was ‘so virtuous, devout and holy, so truthful and God-fearing’ that it was unthinkable for a lie to proceed from her pious lips.’ 

 

Consummation claim

The critical point of debate was over whether Arthur and Catherine's brief (four months) marriage had been consummated. In the words of the catechism, “the marriage bond has been established by God Himself in such a way that a marriage concluded and consummated between baptized persons can never be dissolved.” In Medieval thinking, an impediment of affinity only existed if the marriage had been consummated.  If the marriage had never been consummated then it could be considered not legally binding, thus for Henry to marry his brother’s widow would upset no precepts of Biblical or Canon law. Henry strove mightily, then to prove the marriage had been consummated. He could then more easily make the case that he and Catherine had been living in sin. The queen insisted that she was a virgin when she married Henry. Catherine had begun asserting this as early as 1502, within months of Arthur's death, and stood firm on this point to the end of her days. There is no record of Arthur's opinion on the subject. Catherine, known for her extreme piety, had sworn on the sacrament that her four-month marriage to Arthur had never been consummated. Rather than believe his saintly wife, Henry insisted otherwise. Despite this, Henry VIII himself had stated that he had found her a 'maid' on their wedding night and he never publicly called Catherine a liar, indeed he even publicly admitted she was right.

In October 1529, when his wife once again publicly proclaimed her maiden status, Henry shouted “I am content, but you are not my wife for all that.” Furthermore, the 'bedding' of Catherine and Arthur was a ceremonial part of a royal marriage process and did not require consummation. In marriages of state, the wedding and the consummation did not necessarily go hand in hand. Additionally, the health of the bridegroom was taken seriously. Arthur was frail and physically immature. Soon after the wedding ceremony to Arthur it was arranged that Catherine stay in London under the tutelage of her mother and grandmother-in-law while Arthur did some more growing up without the distraction of a wife. As to witnesses; after his wedding night, Arthur is reported to have asked for ale to quench his thirst "for I have been in the midst of Spain last night." These words indicating consummation repeated seventeen years later are doubtful. In each case they were most likely the self-serving claims of courtiers who wished to win their sovereign’s favor or the nervous, youthful boasting of the Prince who wished to hide his failure to consummate his marriage.  

 

Biblical claim

Now for the biblical grounds. Here Catherine’s cause was helped by several facts. First, whether the marriage of Arthur and Catherine was consummated or not does not bear on the scriptures of Leviticus that relate to the issue. The verses in Leviticus do not mention anything about the status of the relationship at the point it was violated. 

Another weakness with Henry's argument was that the verse states the offending couple shall remain childless. It said nothing about sons. Since Henry and Catherine had a daughter, he thus could not make a valid argument that God was punishing him. Henry argued that the Greek had been improperly translated into Latin. "Liberis" - "children," should have been rendered "filiis" - sons. However, in Leviticus 20:20, the verse before the one Henry used, a curse is placed on a couple if a man had relations with his uncle's wife. The same Hebrew term "childless" is used in verse 20. It is highly unlikely that a translator would use a different term just one verse later. 

Even more damaging to his case was Deuteronomy 25:5 that specifically stated a man's obligation to his brother's widow, namely, that he must marry her and raise up children so that his dead brother’s name would continue. The brother is not simply encouraged but commanded to fulfill this obligation. To marry Catherine King Henry had brushed aside this seeming contradiction to his interpretation of the Leviticus verses as an example of Jewish custom rather than Divine Law. But, as was pointed out, one cannot simply decide which verse is Jewish custom and which is Divine Law arbitrarily. Leviticus or Deuteronomy are silent as to any such distinction. Sound Biblical exegesis demands the two verses be harmonized. Bishop Fisher argued that a brother is never to marry his sister-in-law with one exception: that in Deuteronomy of the brother dying without children. The light shed by comparing scripture with scripture further withered Henry’s argument. The Old Testament contains multiple occasions in which someone is enjoined to fulfill this very duty. In Genesis 38:8 Judah twice orders his sons to perform this obligation with his daughter-in-law Tamar. In fact, when Judah’s son Onan refused to comply, he was struck dead by God! Here and in many other places it is clear that this was a well-established custom of the Jews, codified in the Law. In the New Testament, John the Baptist’s condemnation of Herod for marrying his brother’s wife was due to the fact that his brother was still alive. This clearly demonstrates the common Jewish understanding that the prohibition applied only in that case of a dead brother dying without offspring. If that weren’t enough, all the great Catholic theologians including St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, Thomas Aquinus, and others had analyzed the apparent contradiction between Leviticus and Deuteronomy and stood squarely opposed to the King.

 

Henry VIII’s solution

Ultimately, King Henry VIII solved his problem not with canonical or Biblical argumentation but a unilateral solution in which England would act independently of Roman law. As for Clement VII, he finally got around to ruling against Henry in 1533. He then went further and ordered him to take Catherine back and, finally, excommunicated him for not doing so. But at that point, the English no longer recognized his authority anyway.

 

Having reviewed the opposing sides, who do you think had the better case? Let us know below.

King Henry VIII of England’s divorce, or annulment, of Catherine of Aragon in 1533 is one of the most infamous separations in history. And while we nearly all know the end result of the divorce proceedings, in hindsight who had the stronger case?  In part 2 of the series, Victor Gamma considers how Henry tried to overturn the marriage through the English courts and then via the support of universities across Europe.

You can read part 1 on the background to the great divorce here.

King Henry VIII of England. Portrait by Hans Holbein.

King Henry VIII of England. Portrait by Hans Holbein.

Back to Henry VIII’s arguments for the divorce…

Henry’s second argument related to the dispensation granted by Pope Julius II. A dispensation is an exemption from the usual rules. The King argued that the dispensation for the marriage was null because no pope could not set aside the law of God as found in Leviticus. According to canon law, closely related couples were forbidden to marry. In other words the degree of affinity, or kinship, would present an impediment to the marriage. In Henry’s situation, he and Catherine were technically related since Catherine had been married to his brother. Also, Henry argued that the pope’s dispensation was invalid because it was based on the belief (which Henry repudiated) that Catherine’s marriage to Arthur had never been consummated. In Medieval thinking, it wasn’t a real marriage if it had never been consummated. 

 

Henry Goes to Court

So how did Henry VIII’s case hold up? In 1527, the King was summoned to Cardinal Wolsey's palace in Westminster. The issue of Henry's relations with his brother's widow was to be the subject of an official pronouncement. Several experts in canon law were consulted. Much to the king’s chagrin, they overwhelmingly held that Henry’s marriage to his brother’s widow did not violate God’s law and therefore, Pope Julius' dispensation had been valid as well. After a thorough study of both scripture and the Church Fathers, ecclesiastical leaders such as Bishop John Fisher declared that no prohibition against such a marriage existed. Henry’s attempts to get Pope Julius’ original dispensation for his marriage to Catherine declared invalid did not fare any better. The current pope, Clement VII, would not agree to this. First, to declare an earlier pope’s dispensation mistaken would undermine respect for the office of the papacy. Moreover, he was at the time threatened by Emperor Charles V, Catherine’s uncle. Not wishing to offend Charles, Clement could do no more than grant Henry’s wish for a commission to investigate the case. Wolsey made one last effort to argue that Julius II’s dispensation contained technical defects. This, too, failed.  

In the spring of 1529 at a Legatine court at Blackfriars, London, the public inquiry into the validity of the marriage took place. It was to be an inquisitorial procedure, attempting to discover the truth of the matter through questioning and investigation. The purpose of the court was to determine whether the marriage of Henry VIII to Catherine was valid according to Divine Law. Cardinal Campeggio, the pope’s legate, and Cardinal Wolsey, heard the case. It did not go well for Henry. Early in the proceedings he asserted that all the bishops shared his doubts about the marriage and had signed a petition to investigate the matter. At this point the indomitable Bishop John Fisher violently protested that he had not signed any such petition and that his name had been forged.  As to Fisher’s credibility, one contemporary wrote of him: "He was in holiness, learning and diligence in his cure (care of souls) and in fulfilling his office of bishop such that of many hundred years England had not any bishop worthy to be compared with him.” The bishop himself commented on the effort he put into the divorce issue: "The matter was so serious both on account of the importance of the persons it concerned, and the express command of the king, that I gave more labour and diligence to seeking out the truth lest I should fail him and others, than I ever gave to any other matter."

Henry brushed Fisher’s protest aside only to face another unexpected resistance. His wife Catherine, upsetting the procedures of the court, knelt before the king and eloquently pleaded her case. After finishing her speech she then left the court, never to return. In her absence testimony was heard regarding the issue of whether consummation between Catherine and Arthur had taken place. Much of it was flimsy. The Earl of Shrewsbury, for example, assumed that prince Arthur had consummated his marriage because he himself had done so at the age of fifteen. Another witness based his opinion on Arthur’s “sanguine complexion” after his wedding night. Others testified of comments Arthur made which implied the couple had marital relations. One had to ask why this ‘evidence’ was not brought up during the time Pope Julius was examining the case in order to grant a dispensation. Great caution must be exercised for this ‘evidence’ which mysteriously appeared only when the King needed it. The hard fact was, whether or not the queen was a virgin when she married Henry was impossible to prove. 

The court dragged on until Cardinal Campeggio, the papal legate, adjourned the court for the summer recess in July of that year. The court never re-convened nor did it ever issue any ruling. While the court was still in session, pope Clement rejected Henry’s annulment petition.

 

Henry Changes Tactics

Still lacking a resolution in his favor, Henry next appealed to the Universities of Europe. Henry prided himself on his scholarly abilities and felt confident in a positive result. Did the universities’ response help prove or disprove his case? Their findings generally reflected the wishes of the rulers they served. In France, for instance, they found in favor of Henry because it served the political purposes of King Francis I. Likewise, Oxford and Cambridge lent their support to their own King Henry. Enormous sums of money were spent to bribe scholars to find in favor of divorce, making many of the verdicts questionable. The Spanish scholars weighed in against divorce and in Italy opinion was divided. In short, the stalemate continued. In the war of pamphlets that accompanied this debate, John Fisher emerged as the chief opponent of the king’s argument. He so thoroughly shredded the arguments of the king’s supporters that Henry’s followers began to focus on another line of attack on another front - the original dispensation of Julius II Ad Librum Secundum issued in 1503.

How did Henry fare on this front? First of all, pains were taken to avoid the mistake of bestowing the sacrament of marriage on a couple that had an impediment. In the late Middle Ages, such dispensations were common, particularly amongst royal families wishing to preserve the bloodline. And in such a case as Henry and Catherine the impediment of affinity was not normally held to be a violation of divine law. Moreover, the king would by implication, be condemning dozens of papal dispensations granted during the previous two centuries. Despite this, Henry argued that "The marriage [to Catharine] is against human and divine law. If the papal dispensation is put forward as an argument, it may be answered that the pope's authority does not extend to degrees prohibited by divine law.” In other words, the pope had exceeded his power. But Bishop Fisher effectively destroyed that argument in a letter to Cardinal Wolsey:

"(I) Cannot see any sound reason to show that it is prohibited by divine law for a brother to marry the wife of a brother who has died without children; and considering the fullness of authority given by our Lord to the pope, who can deny that the latter may give dispensation to that effect, for any serious cause?. . . As the pope, therefore, has more than once by his act declared that it is lawful to dispense in this case...this alone should determine the question....that the dispensation is within the pope's power."

 

Additionally, Fisher brought up the bull of Innocent III, Deus qui Ecclesiam, in which Innocent had allowed converted Latvians to remain in marriages with their brothers' widows, providing the brothers had died childless. That effectively buried Henry’s case against Pope Julius II’s dispensation. 

 

Now you can read part 3 on Catherine’a case for the divorce here.

What do you think of Henry VIII’s divorce of Catherine of Aragon? Let us know below. 

Sources

Campbell, Phillip.”The Canon Law of the Henry VIII Divorce Case,” Senior Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Social Studies Department of Madonna University, Livonia, MI. Presented June 14th, 200.9

Fraser, Antonia, The Wives of Henry VIII. New York:Vintage Books,1994.

Guy, John, Tudor England. Oxford University Press, 1988. 

Haig, Christopher, The English Reformation: Religion, Politics and Society Under the Tudors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993 

Lehman, H. Eugene Lives of England's Reigning and Consort Queens

"June 21 - Catherine of Aragon steals the show" The Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society, June 20, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV9DknPWlJA

McGovern, Thomas, “ Bishop John Fisher: Defender of the Faith and Pastor of Souls,” Catholic Culture.org, 1987.

King Henry VIII of England’s divorce, or annulment, of Catherine of Aragon in 1533 is one of the most infamous separations in history. And while we nearly all know the end result of the divorce proceedings, in hindsight who had the stronger case?  Victor Gamma considers this in part 1 of the series.

Note: Part 2 on how the method’s Henry used to overturn the divorce failed is here and part 3 on Catherine’s case is here.

Catherine of Aragon pleads her case against divorce from Henry VIII. Painting by Henry Nelson O'Neil.

Catherine of Aragon pleads her case against divorce from Henry VIII. Painting by Henry Nelson O'Neil.

“ . . . the unlawful divorce was and is the very seedwoman of all the miseries and evils, of all the heavy and hateful heresies which of late have most pitifully overwhelmed the realm. . .” These words, written from a safe distance many years after the death of King Henry VIII, reflect the furious passions aroused by the decision of the second Tudor monarch to set aside his wife and, by so doing, break with the powerful Catholic Church. By the time King Henry decided to end his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, he was a powerful monarch used to getting his own way. Men who did not dare contradict him surrounded the King. Opposing him was his wife, Queen Catherine, in her own right a woman of stoic conviction and considerable learning. The stage was set for a momentous contest between two strong-willed personalities that would determine the course of English history. Both the King and Queen made their case forcefully. Each could count a host of powerful supporters. Both were equally implacable in their convictions and both could marshal convincing arguments. Although intertwined with politics, this article examines the cases of Henry and Catherine in view of the arguments from theology and canon law of the 16th Century and attempts to avoid issues of politics and motives as much as possible. The case became incredibly convoluted as King Henry’s servants exhausted every contrivance possible to force the Pope to see things their way - but for our sakes this article will focus on the basic facts.

 

Henry’s challenges

The determined King would have preferred that this delicate and all-important matter go smoothly. However, the path to his goal of divorcing Catherine, remarrying and having the son he so desperately wanted was strewn with obstacles. First, since only the pope could grant an annulment, he had to somehow convince his Holiness that an annulment was necessary and proper. But the political situation in Europe constantly thwarted Henry’s plans. For this reason repeated attempts to obtain an annulment of his marriage and a dispensation to remarry failed. Additionally, Catherine would not budge from her position that she was his wife and queen in the eyes of both God and Man. Before making it a public spectacle, Henry made a final attempt to find an easy way out and ordered Catherine to go to a nunnery. It was a good political move. Catherine had very powerful relatives. She also had much support in England, where she was held in high esteem for her piety and character. If it would look like she voluntarily went to a nunnery, there would be less chance of opposition to the annulment. Henry hoped that his normally dutiful and submissive wife would comply. She did not. All this forced Henry to engage in a systematic effort to justify his actions and to articulate a defensible position. Although royal separations were by no means unknown, Henry knew he had to build a solid case to win over support for his divorce. Since Catherine would appeal any decision to invalidate the marriage to Rome, he also had to contrive a divorce that would not be overturned on appeal to the Curia.

 

Henry's Case

What exactly did Henry want? It must be pointed out that, although frequently discussed as a divorce, what Henry was seeking was not a divorce but an annulment. The Catholic Church absolutely forbade divorce so that wasn’t even an option. The king was careful to seek an annulment because that meant declaring that the marriage had never been valid and thus, in the eyes of the church, had never existed. Since at that time the laws governing marriage were completely under the control of the church, the divorce had to appeal to canon, or ecclesiastical, law and the Bible. This meant he was running up against the entire canonical rules of the Catholic Church regarding both the starting and ending of marriage. In Henry’s case this involved the teachings on what were termed impediments and dispensations. An impediment occurred when a couple would not be allowed to marry, for example, if they were too closely related. Also, although perhaps rare, the possibility existed wherein a couple unknowingly entered into a marriage in which an impediment existed, such as marrying a first cousin. Once the couple realized their mistake, canon law ruled that they either have the marriage annulled or have the impediment removed through a dispensation. 

So what was Henry’s case? It was two-fold: First, that an impediment had existed in his marriage to Catherine. He had married his brother Arthur’s widow and for this God had cursed him. After a decade of marriage he and Catherine had six children, only one of which, a daughter, survived. This was evidence to the King that they were being punished by God. Second, that the dispensation granted by Pope Julius II to allow Henry and Catherine to marry was wrong. 

Henry’s favorite evidence came from the Bible. The scriptures Henry used in support were Leviticus 18:16: ‘Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness’, and Leviticus 20:21: ‘And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless’. The king asserted that since Catherine had been married to Henry's brother, Arthur, his marital relations with the widow were a sin. Henry, therefore, was simply trying to right a great wrong. Also, it must be remembered that Henry's status was unique. He was an anointed king. This meant he had a special relationship with God. He truly believed that God was displeased with the marriage and that something must be done about it. The lack of a male heir proved, in his mind, that God had withheld his blessings.  

 

You can read part 2 on how Henry VIII tried to get the marriage overturned here.

What do you think of Henry VIII’s divorce of Catherine of Aragon? Let us know below. 

Over the course of 2014 we have had a great variety of fascinating blog articles on the site. Below are 5 of our favorites...

George Washington on his Deathbed by Junius Brutus Stearns. 1851.

George Washington on his Deathbed by Junius Brutus Stearns. 1851.


  1. In this sadly fascinating article, Robert Walsh considers an American battle that took place on the last day of World War I – and the absurd and terrible reason behind it. Article here.
  2. Nick Tingley writes here on a fascinating topic. He postulates on what could have happened had the 1944 Normandy Landings against Nazi Germany taken place in 1943. As we shall see, things may well have not turned out as well as they did… Article here.
  3. In this extended article, Rebecca Fachner looks at the story of King Henry VIII’s seventh wife – the one that got away. We venture in to the tale of Catherine Willoughby, one of the most enchanting women of her age and Henry VIII’s would-be wife.
  4. Helen Saker-Parsons considers the fascinating similarities between the sons of two very important men who were killed in tragic circumstances – John F Kennedy and Tsar Michael II of Russia. Article here.
  5. William Bodkin tells us the fascinating story of William Thornton, the man who wanted to resurrect George Washington after his death. Article here.

We hope you find those articles fascinating! And because we really like you, here is one more:

Tanks have been integral to armies since World War One. But over the years a number of prototype designs have been made that never quite worked. Here, Adrian Burrows tells us about the most bizarre tank designs… Article here.


If you enjoyed any of these articles, please do tell others by sharing, liking or tweeting about this article. Simply click one of the buttons below!

George Levrier-Jones

How familiar are you with the Tudors? In this article, Jennifer Johnstone introduces us to some of the key events and people in the period including bloody religious change, kings and queens, and King Henry VIII’s six wives.

 

Everyone is familiar with the Tudors. Or at least, most people know about Henry VIII, and his six wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and finally Catherine Parr, alongside another one of England’s longest serving monarchs: Elizabeth I. The first Tudor royal was King Henry VII (1485-1509), then his son, Henry VIII (1509-1547), then to the boy King Edward VI (1553), briefly Lady Jane Grey sat on the throne in 1553, to be ursurped by Mary I, sometimes referred to as ‘Bloody Mary’ (1553-1558), and finally, the last of the Tudor monarchs was Elizabeth I (1558-1603). In the television program The Tudors, Catherine of Aragon describes Anne Boleyn as ‘the scandal of Christendom’; however, it seems like an accurate description of the Tudors themselves, as they divided a country religiously, broke with Rome, and reformed England in a way that changed the country forever.

King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn

King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn

Family divisions

The Tudors did not only divide the country of England religiously, between Catholic and Protestant, but they were divisive amongst themselves too. They were a family of intense division.

One of the divisions in the Tudor court came from the contentious relationship Mary I had with Anne Boleyn. It is said that they hated each other, and even tried to kill one another. The Imperial Ambassador of the time, Eustace Chapuys, claimed that Anne tried to poison Mary. But there is a lac k of evidence to suggest that Chapuys’ claim is true. Chapuys wasn’t an impartial figure in the Tudor court; he is said to have supported Lady Mary and her mother Catherine of Aragon. But it is also claimed that Anne said to her brother George that, “she would consider putting Mary to death if the King ever left her as Regent while he was away in France.” Perhaps there is some truth to the claim that Anne thought that it would have been easier on her if Mary was out of the equation, but to accuse her of murder without strong evidence, doesn’t give us an accurate picture of what Anne really thought of Mary.

So, what did Mary think of Anne? Well, Mary seems to have resented the new Queen. And that she even rejoiced when Anne did not and could not produce a son for Henry. Mary seemed to blame Anne for her parents’ divorce, and the ill treatment by her father towards her. It’s possible that Anne could have been partly to blame for Henry’s mistreatment towards Mary, but Henry stripped Mary of being a princess of his own accord; she was in favor one minute and banished the next minute from court. Henry also had the notion that a son was more important to the Tudor’s future; seeing Mary as inferior in this way must have affected her psychologically too. Indeed, Mary later became a bitter, resentful, and brutal Queen.

 

Henry VII

The divisions which were rife throughout the Tudor period can be seen from the dawn of the Tudor period as Henry VII came to power in a divided country. The country was at civil war when Henry VII defeated King Richard III in battle. The civil war was called the 'The War of the Roses', a battle between two families, the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster (the Tudor Rose), hence the name 'Roses'.

Henry VII is know for his ruthless taxes on the populace. With the money taken from these taxes, Henry VII was able to leave a fortune to his son Henry VIII. Henry VII also reformed laws, and the powers of the King. All told, although Henry VII came to power with a bang, nothing terribly noteworthy happened in his reign, hence why some regard Henry VII as an unmemorable ruler. But, we do not have that problem with his son.

 

Henry VIII

Henry VIII succeeded his father to the throne on April 21, 1509, and his coronation took place on June 24, 1509. He is well known for forming the Church of England at the expense of the Catholic Church. This was partly because the Pope would not grant Henry an annulment on his first marriage, to enable him to marry again. The establishment of his own church gave Henry the chance to marry a total of six times. Interestingly, his marriage with Anne of Cleaves lasted only six months, but he remained friends with Anne for the duration of their lives. Catherine Parr had understandable reservations about becoming Henry's Queen - who of us would want to marry a King who easily tired of his wives, and was prepared to chop off their heads? They say the only one that Henry really loved was Jane Seymour. Perhaps this was because she gave him the son that he desperately wanted.

But Henry seemingly had several other sons, albeit ‘bastard’ (illegitimate) ones. They were Henry FitzRoy, Thomas Stukley, and Richard Edwards. Considering that Henry VIII had many affairs, and the social stigma that surrounded 'bastard' children, there were very likely more children of Henry's too. Of his three sons, only one was recognized by Henry VIII. The rest were not. In short though, Henry VIII can be seen as a self-serving King, particularly during the Reformation.

 

The Reformation

The Reformation brought scandal to Christendom across Europe. But was the English Reformation about political and religious rule for Henry? Or was it just about Henry VIII seeking to remarry?

The answer is a mixture of both.

The Lutheran Reformation, which began in 1517, was focused on challenging clerical power and educating the public about the bible, including encouraging them to read the bible in English. Another factor were the resented taxes imposed by the Catholic Church on the people of England. The Catholic Church had a lot more power over countries in those days; Cardinals were the politicians of their day. Cardinal Wolsey would be a perfect example; he had a lot of power in Henry VIII’s day.

Usually in history it's a collection of elements that spur these political breaks, so it would be naïve of us to think that the break with Rome was just an issue of Henry wanting to remarry.

 

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn is often seen as one of the main driving forces of the English Reformation; this is indeed true. Her faith in Protestantism was strong. She adhered to the Lutheran doctrine, a point that one of Anne's Boleyn's biographers argues. In her book on Anne Boleyn Joanna Denny argues that Anne was a passionate reformer. She writes: “Her views were evangelical, many would say Lutheran. She read the bible daily, and believed that everyone should be able to read the bible in a language they understand.” Therefore, it can be seen that Anne, as well as Henry, were both in favor of bringing the Reformation to England. However, they were not alone; there were plenty of powerful figures in the Tudor court that supported the English Reformation, such as Thomas Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell.

So, a country that Henry VII united, was divided again by the Reformation, into two main religious ‘ideologies’: Catholicism and Protestantism. After Henry's VIII’s reign, Mary I burnt Protestants at the stake, while after her Elizabeth I burnt Catholics at the stake.

But to end, let us consider Henry VIII’s own words:

''Alas, how can the poor souls live in concord when you preachers sow amongst them your sermons of debate and discord... here will see these divisions extinct, and these enormities corrected.''

 

You can find out more about the Tudors as part of our English Civil War blog post series. Read the first article in the series by clicking here.

This week we show you all of King Henry VIII’s six wives. Plus, we will tell you how to find out about the one that got away – ‘wife’ number seven.

 

We all know that King Henry had six wives and here they all are... That’s right, scroll on down for images of all of King Henry VIII of England’s wives. Plus, find out about number seven!

Number 1. Catherine of Aragon. Divorced 1533.

Number 1. Catherine of Aragon. Divorced 1533.

Number 2. Anne Boleyn. Beheaded 1536.

Number 2. Anne Boleyn. Beheaded 1536.

Number 3. Jane Seymour. Died 1537.

Number 3. Jane Seymour. Died 1537.

Number 4. Anne of Cleves. Divorced 1540.

Number 4. Anne of Cleves. Divorced 1540.

Number 5. Catherine Howard. Beheaded 1542.

Number 5. Catherine Howard. Beheaded 1542.

Number 6. Catherine Parr. Outlived King Henry VIII.

Number 6. Catherine Parr. Outlived King Henry VIII.

And what about wife number 7?

Here is the story of the nearly wife… Click here!

George Levrier-Jones

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In this extended article, Rebecca Fachner looks at the story of King Henry VIII’s seventh wife – the one that got away. We venture in to the tale of Catherine Willoughby, one of the most enchanting women of her age and Henry VIII’s would-be wife.

A portrait of King Henry VIII of England from the National Maritime Museum, London.

A portrait of King Henry VIII of England from the National Maritime Museum, London.

The study of Henry VIII’s wives has been well documented, studied and even gossiped about from Henry’s era to the present day. There has even been a certain well-costumed TV series about his exploits that has brought the story into our living rooms in HD. What the series lacks in historical accuracy it makes up for in revealing clothing, but it is a useful exercise to see the drama unfold in something like real time. The way the narrative generally goes is that after five dramatic marital entanglements, Henry found himself a sixth wife and settled down to a contented, albeit brief, domesticity with her. She was as much a nurse as wife and was selected to see him though his last years placidly.

That narrative is comforting and provides a nice bookend, but there was actually more drama with Henry’s sixth wife than is generally supposed. For one thing, while Henry wanted to marry her, Catherine Parr was by no means keen to marry him. She was twice widowed already and in love with another man, Thomas Seymour, brother to Jane Seymour the late mother of Henry’s heir. Henry was not in love with her, at least not in the way he had been with several previous wives, but was hoping for someone who could be more of a helpmeet than bedmate.

In other words, this was no love match. There was presumably some affection on both sides, but more than any of Henry’s other marriages (save Anne of Cleves), this marriage was one of convenience. And if Catherine Parr was forced to marry a man she did not love, she consoled herself with the religious implications of her match. Parr was a fervent Protestant, embracing the so-called “New Learning” and the Protestant Reformation, and she considered it an honor to be the consort of the king who had freed England from Rome. She hoped that as his wife, she might be able to further his religious reformation and promote this New Learning throughout England. The problem with this idea, she quickly discovered, was her new husband. 

Henry was not at all interested in being a religious reformer, and in fact was quite conservative in all religious matters. He had broken with Rome because he disagreed with the Pope, not Catholicism. Henry had wanted a divorce, and the Pope did not grant him one, which precipitated the break with Rome, but he was no evangelical. Other than his belief that he was head of the Church in England, Henry did not deviate from the Church on matters of doctrine; indeed, he considered himself a loyal Catholic until the end of his life. From his perspective, it was the Church that had wronged him, not the other way around. It was a great disappointment to his Protestant would-be reformers, including his sixth wife, but Henry had no interest in sweeping religious change.

Despite this, or perhaps in spite of this, Catherine Parr gave her patronage as Queen to reform minded Protestants, even having a serious reformer as her private minister. She was close friends with several known reformers, including Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk. She was bravely outspoken about her beliefs, and predictably earned enemies among Henry’s more conservative ministers. It eventually got her into real trouble with her husband, to the point where he was planning on having her arrested and taken to the Tower for interrogation. There were even rumors that he had a seventh wife already picked out as a replacement.

Catherine Parr.

Catherine Parr.

Rumors about a seventh wife

The rumored seventh wife was an even stranger pick for Henry than his sixth wife. Catherine Willoughby, Dowager Duchess of Suffolk, was one of the most intelligent, fascinating women of her age. She was decades younger than Henry, but that was by no means an impediment to their marriage; it was much more common and accepted in Tudor England for large age differences between husband and wife. Henry’s fifth wife was decades younger than him, his sixth was only four years older than his daughter Mary, and Catherine Willoughby had been 15 when she married her first husband who was 47. What was more problematic was that her previous husband had been one of Henry’s oldest and closest friends, Charles Brandon. Henry had known Brandon since childhood, and one of his previous wives (like the king, Brandon had many marriages) was Henry’s sister, Princess Mary. 

Another strike against the Duchess was her parentage and upbringing. She was the daughter of Maria de Salinas, the best and oldest friend of Catherine of Aragon, Henry’s first wife (to borrow a phrase from the Bard, it was indeed a tangled web they wove). She had been childhood friends with Princess Mary and very likely enjoyed the same humanist education as Mary. And although it might have been awkward, her association with Henry’s first wife would not have been an insurmountable obstacle. The real problem was that Catherine Willoughby was just as radically Protestant as Catherine Parr, more outspoken about it, and possessed of a sharp tongue and a biting wit.

It must be said that Catherine Willoughby did have several critical advantages. Henry knew her well, and so if he was indeed contemplating marriage, he must have known what he was getting himself into. She was the widow of a much older man already, so she had experience caring for an aging husband. She was young enough to bear him children, but she only had two with the Duke and therefore any failure to conceive could be blamed on her and not any possible impotence on Henry’s part. She was also wealthy and influential in her own right, and while Henry did not need her money, he could be reasonably assured that she was not the tool of a faction at court with an agenda of its own, as Jane Seymour, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard had been. Having been burned before by grasping factions at court, Henry selected Catherine Parr by himself; it stands to reason that he would do that again. Perhaps most crucially, like Parr, she was a widow. As Karen Lindsay points out in her study of Henry’s wives, marrying a widow had distinct advantages for someone with Henry’s marital record. He had proven an imprecise judge of a woman’s virginity upon marriage, for example, thinking that Catherine Howard had been a virgin when he married her but later discovering she was not. Marrying a respectable widow made the question of virginity a moot point, which suited Henry just fine.

Catherine Willoughby was born to Maria de Salinas and William Willoughby, the eleventh Baron Willoughby de Eresby, on March 22, 1519. As her father did not have any surviving sons, she inherited his title and lands upon his death when she was seven. She grew up at court, as her mother attended Queen Catherine of Aragon, but after her father’s death she became the ward of Charles Brandon, first Duke of Suffolk and brother-in-law to the King. It was common practice to have wealthy minor children become the ward of a powerful courtier to safeguard their inheritance. She was sent to live with the Duke and Duchess at their estates, which kept her at relatively safe distance when Henry VIII decided to repudiate Queen Catherine. Initially the Duke planned to have his young ward marry his heir, Henry Brandon, hoping, not unreasonably, to keep her rather large inheritance in the family. When his Duchess died unexpectedly, Suffolk decided to marry the young heiress himself. His heir Henry died a year later, and he and his young Duchess had two more sons, Henry and Charles. The Duke died in August 1545, around the time that Henry was becoming disenchanted with Catherine Parr. 

 

Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk.

Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk.

How serious was Henry VIII about taking another wife?

It is hard to know how seriously Henry contemplated marrying Willoughby; he did not leave any direct evidence either way. It is true that he had grown disenchanted with Parr, and he was one to look for a new wife before shedding his present one. Had Catherine Parr been executed, it is reasonable to assume he would have married again; he obviously enjoyed being married and wanted someone to care for him in his old age.

The rumors that the King was inclined in Willoughby’s favor come from letters that the Imperial Ambassador, Francis van der Delft sent to the Emperor. In Calendar of Letters, Despatches, and State Papers, relating to the Negotiations between England and Spain, it is noted:

I am confused and apprehensive to have to inform your Majesty that there are rumors here of a new Queen, although I do not know why, or how true it may be. Some people attribute it to the sterility of the present Queen, whilst others say there will be no change whilst the present war lasts.

Madame Suffolk is much talked about and in great favour.

 

Willoughby’s biographer Evelyn Read dismisses the rumors, and claims that van der Delft was making this up, but does not offer any explanation as to why the Imperial Ambassador would invent something so specific to report to the Emperor. It may be that van der Delft was uninformed; however, his letter to the Emperor makes it appear that he is reluctant to discuss it, but feels that it is important enough to warrant a mention. Why would the Imperial Ambassador make up this story out of thin air to pass on to his employer? It seems unlikely that the Imperial Ambassador spent his time inventing rumors and gossip to impress his boss. He did not simply report that Henry was considering another wife, he named names. If the Duchess of Suffolk’s name was not attached to this rumor already, what reason would van der Delft have to falsely link her to the King’s plans? More likely, he heard the gossip somewhere at court and reported it. This does not make the rumor true, but clearly van der Delft heard this gossip somewhere credible enough to be worth reporting to the Emperor. 

Needless to say, Henry did not take a seventh wife; Catherine Parr talked her way out of the jam she was in with the King, regained his good favor, and Henry died about a year later. Catherine Parr and the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk remained close friends until the end of Catherine Parr’s life, and when Parr’s young daughter by Thomas Seymour became orphaned, Willoughby became her guardian. Willoughby continued her advocacy of Protestantism, even fleeing to the continent when Queen Mary restored Catholicism to England. And she did marry again, to a fellow Protestant in her employ, Richard Bertie, and had two more children by him, Susan and Peregrine Bertie, thirteenth Baron Willoughby de Eresby. Catherine Willoughby died on September 19, 1581 aged 60 at Grimsthorpe, the home she had inherited from the Duke. 

 

What do you think? How close was Henry VIII of England to having a seventh wife?

 

Meanwhile, you can read more about King Henry VIII and how he impacted the English Civil War here.

Bibliography

Hume, Martin A.S., ed. Calendar of Letters, Despatches, and State Papers, relating to the Negotiations between England and Spain, preserved in the Archives at Simancas, Vienna, Brussels and elsewhere. Vol. VIII Henry VIII 1545-1546. London: Mackie and Co. Ltd., 1904.

Lindsay, Karen. Divorced, Beheaded, Survived; A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII. Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 1996.

Read, Evelyn. My Lady Suffolk; A Portrait of Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, New York: Alfred Knopf, 1963.