King Henry 8th and Katherine of Aragon

Hello historians and welcome back to another episode. Today we are continuing our deep dive into the life of King Henry VIII and his reign, this time focusing on the period between 1509 and 1533. These years are significant as this was the time when Henry was married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. History often paints a picture of King Henry VIII as being And while all three of those are true, Henry VIII would not become that stereotypical image until much later in his life. In fact, in the period of time that we'll be exploring today, only one of those three will be applicable. Ginger. As a young man, which he was during the beginning of his reign, King Henry VIII was considered to be quite the catch. Apart from being king of England, obviously, he was said to be quite attractive, athletic, funny, and this is the bit that shocked me, a pleasant person to be around, as he loved music, dancing, and was a very far cry from the fat aging king that history often portrays. As we discussed last episode, in early June 1509 Henry VIII was urged and fulfilled the treaty between England and Spain. It was also noted that after the discussion with the Privy Council, Henry gleefully made his way to Catherine's apartment. The joyous king dismissed her attendance and declared his love for her, asking for her hand, to which by all accounts Catherine accepted with the greatest happiness. I can't say I blame her after what she'd Henry had to seek special permission from the pope to marry Catherine, as she had previously been married to Henry's elder brother, Arthur. In Tudor times, Catherine would have been seen as Henry's sister, and the marriage would have been considered incestuous had her and Arthur consummated the marriage. Historians still debate whether Arthur and Catherine had consummated their marriage, despite Catherine saying she didn't. The pope agreed to give them the dispensation on the grounds that Catherine's first marriage had not been consummated, although bits would be edited as time went on. Catherine and Henry wed on the 11th of June 1509, and had a joint coronation later that year on the 23rd of June at Westminster Abbey. In the early stages of his reign, Henry would rely heavily on Catherine for her advice and counsel. He would say, I believe that Catherine quite enjoyed this advisory role, as she would have seen it as her fulfilling her role given by God to support her husband. However, Henry would fail to realise that Catherine's father Ferdinand would be influencing her daughter, and therefore her advice. He was kind of doing this to try and manipulate the In January 1510, Henry sent a letter ordering the construction of two new ships. These ships were the infamous Mary Rose, named after his sister, and the Mary Rose's sister ship, the Peter Pomegranate, which was a tribute to his wife and queen, Catherine, whose emblem at the time was a pomegranate. Both ships were built in Portsmouth. When Henry and Catherine divorced, the Peter Pomegranate became just Peter. Later that month, on the 31st of January 1510, Catherine gave birth to a stillborn daughter. Although tragic, this was not uncommon for a first pregnancy. Henry did his best to comfort her, but Catherine was depressed for weeks and couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt. Understandable when you have this enormous pressure of producing an heir, and her symbol, her emblem, was the pomegranate, which was symbolic for fertility. Rather ironic in hindsight. Catherine got pregnant again rather quickly, and this did lift her spirits. However, it was at this point that Henry started to stray, and he was certain that this child would live to be a healthy boy. A year later, on the 1st of January 1511, Catherine and Henry welcomed their first The king could not do enough to honour and praise his queen for delivering the Duke of Cornwall. The long-awaited prince was christened on the 5th of January at Richmond. The celebrations for the birth of the prince lasted for well over a month. However, seven weeks later, on the 22nd of February 1511, the beloved baby Henry, Duke of Cornwall, died. Henry VIII comforted Catherine, but the king made no great mourning outwardly, but spent a lavish sum of money on the funeral. His lack of grieving is an early sign of the king being able to shut off his emotions. In the November, after much scheming on Ferdinand's part, Henry and Ferdinand signed the Treaty of Westminster, whereby Henry and Ferdinand pledged to help each other out against France. By 1512, Ferdinand II of Aragon was at war with France, and on the 30th of June 1513, King Henry VIII appointed a heavily pregnant Catherine regent in England while he went to France on military campaign. The 16th of August 1513 saw the Battle of Spurs, which we don't tend to talk about because we lost, and England don't like talking about As I said in English history, we don't like talking about battles that we lost. Take the counter armada for example. The what? Exactly, moving on. On the 3rd of September of that year, Catherine of Aragon ordered Thomas Lovell to raise an army in the Midland countries in fear of another attack from the Scottish-French alliance. Six days later, with the Battle of The English won this one, so we'll talk about this one. The Battle of Flodden was actually a retaliation for Henry VIII's invasion of France in the main. King Louis XII of France invokes the terms of the, oh I can't say this one, allude alliance or allude alliance, a defence alliance between the French and the Scottish to deter the English from invading. King Henry was off fighting the French while pregnant warrior queen Catherine was left at home to fight the Scottish. The English had planned on the French invoking the alliance, which is why Catherine had rallied troops up north. Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, who was 70 by the way, had assembled 26,000 men for the fight at Flodden Edge and had asked King James IV of Scotland to fight on flat ground. But the Scottish king and King Henry VIII's brother-in-law, as he had married his sister Margaret, refused. Queen Catherine rode north in full armour to address her troops, despite being heavily pregnant. As the two sides advanced, the Scottish troops started to slip down the hill, which caused them to break their formation and slow down their advances. Despite the Scots having modern weapons, the English won this battle with very few casualties. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the Scots, who lost between 10,000 to 17,000 men. And even worse, their king, King James IV of Scotland, was a casualty of the battle and died. It was thought that Catherine wanted to maim the Scottish king's body and send it back to the Scots as proof of their victory. But even the English found this a bit gruesome. But the TLDR of the Battle of Flodden was that the victory of the And yet somehow, somehow, history still gives her husband, the man who wasn't even present, the credit. However, I think all of the excitement must have been a bit too much for the warrior queen, as eight days later, on the 17th of September 1513, Catherine suffered another stillbirth. On the 22nd of October 1513, King Henry VIII returned to England with a rather bruised ego. He had to return as it was not wise to campaign during the winter months. Ferdinand had promised to help Henry take the French throne, but it became clear that Ferdinand and the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian would not support Henry's campaign. And to make matters worse, the Council of Flanders had rejected Henry's marriage proposal for his sister Mary to the Archduke Henry felt insulted, he felt humiliated, as he couldn't get Ferdinand. Henry would take his frustrations out on Ferdinand's daughter, and Catherine would ultimately suffer for her father's abandonment and betrayal. The trust that would have been evident at the start of his reign was now beginning to fade, and whether Henry would ever trust the council of his wife again 1514, Catherine gives birth to another stillborn, and it is at this point that Henry VIII starts his five-year affair with Elizabeth Bessie Blount. Henry also contracted smallpox, which terrified him. He had a chronic fear of illnesses, which is actually quite understandable as that's how his brother died. On the 9th of October 1514, Henry married his sister Mary to the nearly dead King Louis XII of France. Three months later, on the 1st of January 1515, Mary's husband, King Louis XII of France, died from exhaustion apparently. Mary then eloped with Henry's bestie Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Henry was pretty angry about this, um, but that was okay once they paid a big enough fine. Catherine was now starting to age, and she wasn't the beauty she once was, but to be fair, she had had five pregnancies at this point, and was a fair bit older than her husband. Meanwhile, her youthful husband was blooming into a handsome young man. To compensate for her aging looks, Catherine would dress herself as magnificently as she could. On the 18th of February 1516, the royal couple finally welcomed a healthy baby named Mary. Henry VIII had mixed feelings towards his newborn daughter. He was delighted about the birth, claiming that Mary was a bright lusty princess, and he was very fond in showing her off to visiting dignitaries, and you could see that he was bursting with pride. However, Mary was not the male heir that Henry needed. Catherine, on the other hand, was very maternal and fiercely protective of her pretty child. Catherine's last pregnancy was in 1518. The birth of Mary proved that Catherine was capable of delivering a healthy baby, and Henry made such a fuss of her, as he knew at this point a healthy baby was not a guarantee. Unfortunately, this final pregnancy would also result in a stillborn. It became apparent as the queen aged that Henry may have made a mistake marrying his elder brother's widow. With King Francis I of France going as far to say, my good brother of England has no son, because although young and handsome, he keeps an old and deformed wife. Bit harsh mate! Henry surprisingly never once reproached Catherine for his lack of a male heir. The same could not be said for his next wife and queen though. 1519 was not a good year for Catherine, as this was the year that Henry's mistress Elizabeth Bessie Blount gave birth to a healthy boy, Henry Fitzroy, named after his father. Although not legitimized, Henry did recognize Fitzroy as his son and gave him several titles, as well as an education fit for a prince, as the birth of Fitzroy proved that he was able to father male children and that, well, Catherine must be the issue, it's not his fault. Catherine was filled with sorrow and humiliation at the news of the birth and it was at this point Henry started to consider the possibility of being cursed for marrying his brother's widow. Henry and Catherine met their French counterparts at the field of Clother Gold between the 7th and the 24th of June 1520. The event was completely and utterly a farce, it didn't achieve anything and it was just one king trying to outdo the other. King Henry VIII nearly bankrupted England in the process and he nearly started a war. Henry had been clean shaven until around 1518. Kings Henry and Francis agreed that they would grow a beard and not shave it until they met each other at the field of the Clother Gold. Catherine hated her husband's beard and by November 1519 Henry had given in and shaved it off. However, Francis was enraged when he saw Henry without his beard as he had broken his promise. Thankfully for Henry, Catherine jumped in and told Francis that she had requested her husband to shave. Luckily, King Francis found it funny that a mighty king could bend the knee to his wife. Fortunately, Queens Catherine and Claude enjoyed each other's company and they bonded over religion, Catholicism in case you were wondering. The Spanish Catherine, England and France were all Catholics at this stage. In 1521, King Henry VIII became the first king of England to write and publish a book, The Defence of the Seven Sacraments. It was a response to Martin Luther's 95 thesis. In his book, Henry called Luther a venomous serpent, pernicious plague and an infernal wolf. Some of the biggest slams that you could have actually written in 16th century England. The book was a bestseller and in the autumn, Pope Leo X awarded Henry with the title of Defender of the Faith in gratitude for defending the Catholic faith against the horrors of Luther's Basically, he was a Protestant. Queen Elizabeth II and now King Charles III hold the title even though Britain has been an independent Protestant state for more than four centuries. 1522 marked the beginning of the end for Catherine of Aragon as this was the year that the Boleyn sisters, Anne and Mary, came to England to serve the Queen as ladies-in-waiting. It was around this point that the king took Mary Boleyn, yes Mary, as his mistress and his wife Catherine was going through the menopause so all sexual relations with Catherine had ceased by 1524. By 1525, Henry was now finished with Mary and he was now pursuing her sister Anne who was notorious for refusing to be Henry's mistress whenever he asked which only made the king more determined. 1527 was the year of the reformation and the king's great matter. Henry had decided that Catherine was no use to him anymore and he wanted to divorce her for a younger Anne Boleyn who was promising the foolish king for the male heirs that Catherine couldn't provide him. Henry had asked for an annulment but he was denied. This would eventually lead to England splitting from the Vatican and the Catholic faith and the creation of the Protestant Church of England which is ultimately how Henry would get his divorce. In early 1527, Henry proposed to Anne Boleyn. She found his passion quite hard to deal with and considering Catherine was already discarded, he flirted with Anne publicly. Understandably, feeling uncomfortable, Anne withdrew from court to her home of Hever Castle. However, Anne hiding at Hever did nothing to quench Henry's thirst for her and by the late spring, Anne had accepted the king's marriage proposal as soon as he was free to wed. Now a lot of people kind of see Henry and Anne's relationship as like a classic romance love affair. I actually view it as quite the opposite. I just see Henry as like an annoying person being like, I love you. Only you can love me. Only you can make me feel so happy. And I feel like Anne was just a bit like, go away. And then he didn't go away. And then she was like, okay, well, he's not going away. Wouldn't be too bad. I'd be queen of England. There's a few benefits. Okay, let's go for it. I mean, obviously, a lot of Anne's responses don't survive. A lot of her letters aren't around. But if you read Henry's letters to Anne, I don't see them as romantic in a contemporary or a current context. I just, no, I think it's creepy, quite toxic. Anyway, distraction. Catherine never saw Anne as a threat until it was too late. She was used to Henry taking mistresses and thought that Anne was just another one that would fade with time. Anne rarely came to court between May 1527 and the summer of 1529. It was around this time that Henry starts quoting Leviticus chapter 20 as the reason why he and Catherine's marriage isn't legitimate. 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. First of all, Henry, you're not childless. You have a child called Mary. The king also declared that he has had some doubts about his marriage for some years past. Henry was provoked into action during the spring of 1527 to get rid of Catherine when the Bishop of Tarbes questioned his daughter, heir, Mary, and her legitimacy. And to be honest, this wasn't the first time that his daughter's legitimacy was called into question. And the second reason was that he, he was passionately in love and wanted to marry, or at least what he thinks is love. So what was Henry's issue with Catherine? Well, no male heir. She was Spanish, which was no longer fashionable. Henry preferred an alliance with France. It's now barren and they had very little in common. He had been questioning the relationship for years. His love for Anne was really only the catalyst. Henry told Catherine of his decision for an annulment on the 22nd of June, 1527. Her view of Anne and peace of mind were shattered. Henry asked for her corporation in the matter and she could choose a house to retire to. Catherine just wept and rejected Henry's offer and continued as nothing had happened. And for the rest of that year, Henry and Catherine would still appear at engagements together. However, at this time, Anne was also starting to act like she was queen. She now had her own ladies-in-waiting. And as 1528 approached, Anne would be taking precedence over Catherine. By November 1528, the French ambassador noted, greater court is now being paid to Mistress Anne than has ever been to the queen for a long time. In April 1529, Anne took it upon herself to perform duties that were normally reserved for anointed queens. On June 21st, Catherine of Aragon had been called to Blackfriars Court for an examination of the validity of her marriage to the king. The court was not in her favor, obviously, but she, being dramatic, knelt before her husband and begged him to stop the proceedings. Henry ignores her pleas. I'm not going to quote the full speech here because it's quite lengthy, but there were some bits that stood out for me. Sir, I beseech you, for all the loves that have between us and for the love of God, let me have justice and right. Alas, sir, where have I offended you? I take God and all the world to witness that I have been to you true, humble, and obedient wife, ever comfortable to your will and pleasure. This twenty years and more, I have been your true wife. And by me ye have had Divah's children, though it have pleased God to call them out of this world, which have been no fault in me. And when ye had me at first, I take God to be my judge. I was a true maid, without touch of a man, and whether it be true or not, I put it to your conscience. When she had finished speaking, Catherine rose and curtsied. She then left the court and ignored her calls for her return and was greeted outside by the public, who shouted words of support. Henry said nothing during Catherine's infamous speech. And when she had left, he declared Catherine as true and obedient, as comfortable a wife as I could in my fantasy, wish, or desire. Henry made it clear to the court that he was concerned about the line of succession and that Catherine had not failed in producing children, but all of the sons that were born had died incontinent after they were born. And he believed that he had been punished by God. In September 1530, after forbidding Henry VIII to contract to a new marriage in the March, the Pope suggested that Henry had two wives, as this could cause less of a scandal than an annulment. The reason a divorce from Catherine would cause such a scandal is because, if you remember, it was the Pope, albeit a different Pope, who gave the dispensation to the couple to wed after the death of Arthur. And Pope Clement VII could not undo the work of a previous Pope, because if he did, that would suggest that the previous Pope was wrong. And if the Pope was wrong, then God was wrong. Also, Catherine is part of the Spanish royal family, and her nephew was the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who had also kept the Pope captive for a few years. Emperor Charles also even offered to invade England on Catherine's behalf to end her troubles, but Catherine continually refused due to her loyalty to her husband and wanted nothing to do with the plans. 7th February 1531, the King stood in Parliament and demanded that the Church of England recognise him as the Supreme Head of State. So they did. England remained Catholic, but they didn't follow the Pope, and apart from that, nothing really changed. May 31st of the same year, Henry and the court were staying at Windsor Castle. He was trying to make Catherine withdraw her appeal to Rome, but stubborn Catherine claimed, I am his true wife. The court was due to move to Woodstock on the 14th of July, but he moved the court early without telling Catherine, Mary, or the Queen's attendants. A messenger from the King stayed behind to tell the Queen she had one month to vacate the castle. Henry would never see Catherine again, and he left without even saying goodbye. The Queen asked the messenger to express to the King her disappointment, to which the King flew into a violent, crying rage, saying he did not want her goodbyes, and I do not care whether she asks after my health or not, that she should mind her own business, and that he wanted no more of her messages. Catherine outstayed her welcome at Windsor until early August 1531, until she was commanded to leave, and she watched her daughter, the Princess Mary, leave to go to Richmond. Catherine relocated to East Hampstead. That Christmas, Catherine sent Henry a gold cup, as they always exchanged gifts, but he sent that back, claiming that he was no longer her husband, and that the Queen should know that. Henry and Anne's relationship was hotting up, however, they exchanged gifts at Christmas, and on the 1st of September 1532, Henry made Anne the Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Quite an achievement for a woman of that period. This was arranged rather quickly, so that Anne would have rank and financial security if the King died suddenly. To many, this was a sign that Henry and Anne had finally slept together after years of foreplay. That Christmas, Anne found out that she was pregnant, and her and Henry, on the 25th of January 1533, because remember, he wasn't actually divorced from Catherine yet. In the February, Henry moved Catherine to Amphill, so she was far away from London. On the 9th of April, Dukes Norfolk and Suffolk, informed Catherine that the King had married, and that she should now refer to herself as the Princess Dowager of Wales, the title that she had after Arthur died. Catherine was allowed to keep her properties, but Henry would now cease to pay for her household expenses and servants. Catherine took the news calmly, but she called herself Queen until she died. Their marriage was officially annulled on the 23rd of May, and Catherine was denied access to see her daughter, the former Princess, now Lady, Mary. Henry married Anne, who became Queen, and gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth. I know this episode is longer of length, but I do hope that you had enjoyed this in-depth look at the life and reign of King Henry VIII, with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. In the next episode, we'll be looking at Henry's reign with his second wife, Anne Boleyn. If you did like this episode, please help in any way, whether it's subscribing or listening to another. But until then, have a wonderful day.