Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Wives of Henry VIII

Episode Date: December 13, 2021

Henry, King of England, Ireland, and Wales, Eighth of his name and head of the House of Tudor, was one of the most significant monarchs in British history. One of the things which made his reign so significant was the controversy surrounding his wives. His marriages completely changed the course of England and of Christianity in Europe. Learn more about the wives of Henry VIII, all six of them, and how they met their fates, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Henry, eighth of his name, king of England, Ireland, and Wales, and head of the House of Tudor, was one of the most significant monarchs in British history. One of the things that made his reign so noteworthy was the controversy surrounding his wives. His marriages completely changed the course of England and of Christianity in Europe. Learn more about the wives of Henry VIII, all six of them, and how they met their fates on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Do you ever climb into bed ready to sleep only to have your mind start racing the moment your head hits the pillow? thoughts bouncing around, replaying the day or jumping ahead to tomorrow?

That is exactly why Catherine Nikolai created Nothing Much Happens. Each episode is a gentle, cozy bedtime story where, well, nothing much happens. No drama, no tension, nothing you need to follow closely. Just soft narration, calming repetition, and soothing sensory details designed to help your mind slow down and your body relax. It's not about entertainment, it's about rest. And millions of listeners around the world use it every night to quiet their thoughts and finally fall asleep. If you've ever struggled to shut your brain off at night,

this might be exactly what you've been missing. You can listen to Nothing Much Happens wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes are every Monday and Thursday. Let me start this episode by giving a warning. This episode has two Henry's, two Ann's, and three Catharines. It can get confusing, so make sure to pay close attention. Henry V. 8th was born in 1491. His father was King Henry the 7th, who was the victor in the War of the Roses,

and the first monarch in the Tudor dynasty. Young Henry wasn't the oldest son, yet a brother named Arthur, who was five years older. Arthur was named as Prince of Wales and was the heir apparent to King Henry the 7th. As was the norm during those days, the plans for the marriage of Arthur began when he was just three years old. In the age of 11, he was betrothed to the daughter

of the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, Catherine of Averagon. The two married in 1501, when Arthur and Catherine were both 15 years old. One interesting thing is that the two supposedly wrote to each other before their wedding in Latin. When they met, they were unable to communicate because neither knew the other's language, and they each had learned a different pronunciation of Latin. The wedding was a really big deal.

This was a huge deal for the tutors who were still a first-generation royal house, and a union with Spain gave them a great deal of credibility. Unfortunately, only six months later, a relatively healthy Arthur succumbed to what was known as sweating sickness and died at the age of 16 in 1502. Spain had paid a huge dowry to Henry the 7th. They agreed to pay 200,000 ducats, half of which had been already paid at the time of the wedding. To put that in perspective, just in terms of the value of gold today,

the dowry was worth about $40 million, and in relative terms to the year 1501, probably a lot more. Henry the 7th didn't want to give back the money, and he still wanted to keep his alliance with Spain. According to the marriage contract, Henry would have to return the dowry if Catherine returned to Spain. Henry the seventh's wife Elizabeth died in 1503, so his first plan was to just marry young Catherine himself, but this was next by King Ferdinand. So he did the next best thing, and betrothed Arthur's younger brother and the new heir apparent, Henry. Henry was five years younger than Catherine.

A special papal dispensation had to be granted to allow Prince Henry and Catherine to get married. The reason, and this becomes a very big deal later on, is due to a passage in the Bible, Leviticus 18, verse, verse 16, which says, quote, Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife, because it is the nakedness of thy brother, unquote. Basically, you weren't supposed to have relations with your brother's wife. Catherine, for the record, testified that the marriage with Arthur had never been consummated. Catherine has pretty much kept as a prisoner in England during this time,

and the wedding almost didn't happen because her mother, Queen Isabella, died. Isabella was the heir to Castile, which was much bigger and more powerful than Aragon. Castile was given Catherine's older sister, Joanna. Relations between Henry and Ferdinand eventually fell apart. At the age of 14, the young Henry renounced the marriage, and Catherine was named as ambassador to England to allow her to stay. She was the first female ambassador in European history. Henry the 7th died on April 22, 1509,

and the young Prince Henry became King Henry the 8th at the age of 17. At this point, now as King in his own right, Henry could have done what he wanted. He could have gone ahead with what he said at the age of 14 and not married Catherine, but instead, he decided to go ahead with the wedding. On June 23, 1509, 17-year-old Henry VIII, married 23-year-old Catherine of Aragon. What hadn't been resolved at this time of the wedding, however, was the papal dispensation and the second half of Catherine's dowry. As this episode is about the wives, plural, of Henry VIII, I'm going to speed ahead a bit in the story here. Catherine became pregnant six times during their marriage.

In 1510, she had a girl who died stillborn. In 1511, she had a son Henry who died two months after birth. In both 1513 and 1514, she had sons, both of whom also died at birth. In 1516, she had a daughter, Mary, who lived to adulthood and became Queen Mary the First of England. Her final pregnancy was another stillborn daughter in 1515. Fast forward to the year 1525. Henry is now 34 years old. Catherine is considered to be too old to bear children at the old age of 40. Remember, folks, this is the 16th century. Henry, like his father, was concerned about the stability and legitimacy of the Tudor dynasty, as it was still pretty new. Without a son, he was concerned that the legitimacy of the Tudors would be put into question.

Their head never really ban a female monarch of England before. 500 years earlier, Empress Matilda had claimed the English throne, and it caused a civil war. Henry figured he had three options. option one was to legitimize his bastard son Henry Fitzroy. Fitchroy comes from the Norman French word for son of the king. His mother was Henry's mistress, Elizabeth Blount. This option would have required a papal dispensation, and would still probably have resulted in people denying the legitimacy of his rule.

Option two is to have his daughter, marry get married as quickly as possible, have a son, and then pass the crown directly to his grandson. The problem with this option is that he might not live to see it. option three was to annul his marriage with Catherine and get a new, younger wife and make more babies. And this two would require a papal dispensation. He went with option number three, in no small part because he had become infatuated with a young woman by the name of Anne Boleyn. After years of attempting to get a papal annulment of his marriage to Catherine, Henry eventually got married to Anne in a secret ceremony in 1532. Anne became pregnant, and the two were publicly married in January 1533.

In May 1533, the Archbishop of Canterbury declared the marriage of Henry and Catherine to be null and void and the marriage of Henry and Anne to be valid, and this marked the official break with the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Catherine became known as the Princess Dowager based on her previous marriage to Arthur. Anne had a daughter named Elizabeth, who went on to become Queen Elizabeth I first. She also then had three miscarriages in a row, still not delivering to Henry the son he wanted. In addition to not delivering a son, the marriage just fell apart. Anne was very opinionated and often prone to outbursts, and she had many enemies at court. Henry was an absolute monarch who did not like to be challenged. The problem was, even though Henry was now the head of the Church of England, he couldn't just divorce Anne,

and he couldn't get an annulment after everything he went through to get the marriage in the first place. Catherine of Aragon died on January 8, 1536, and Anne had her final miscarriage less than a month later. Henry was now looking to get out of the marriage and was led to charge Anne with treason by Henry's advisors who had become enemies of Anne. Specifically, she was charged with incest, adultery, and treason, having relations with her brother George as well as several other men. On May 19, the 1536, she was beheaded at the Tower of London. The night before, her marriage to Henry had been annulled. Most historians think that the charges against Anne were either grossly exaggerated or wholly fabricated. The day after the execution of Anne Boleyn, Henry was betrothed to one of Anne's ladies in waiting that he was attracted to, Jane Seymour.

They were married just ten days later. Jane wasn't like Anne at all. She was rather quiet and kind of meek. She ran the royal household strictly and didn't have any extravagant celebrations. She did something, however, that neither Catherine nor Anne were able to do. She gave birth to a son, Edward, who later succeeded Henry on the throne and became Edward VIII. However, in 1537, just a month after having Edward, she died from complications giving birth at the age of 29. She was the only wife of Henry to be given a queen's funeral and is buried by Henry's side at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

Henry didn't marry again for a little over two years. This time, he went back to seeking a contractual marriage with another power. It was recommended that he married the 25-year-old sister of the German Duke of Cleves Anne. The king agreed to a dowry, signed a contract, and everything else. However, unlike his last two wives, he never actually laid eyes on her. When she arrived in England, Henry was disappointed, to say the least. They were married in January, 1540. Henry never consummated the marriage and tried to get it annulled.

And surprisingly, agreed to the annulment and confirmed that their marriage had never been consummated. Six months later, on July 9, 1540, Anne of Cleaves was paid off handsomely for making things so easy, and the annulment was made official. For the rest of Henry's life, she was a figure at court. She and Henry were actually good friends, and she was given the title, The King's Sister. Next up was Catherine Howard, a cousin of Anne Boleyn. She was in the household of Anne of Cleves, and just like before, Henry took a liking to her. They got married on July 28, 1540, just 19 days after Henry's annulment with Anne of Cleaves. Henry was 49 years old, and Catherine was 19.

Soon after their marriage, Catherine began having an affair with a friend of Henry, Thomas Culpepper. She also employed her former fiancé, Frances Derham. Unlike the case against Anne Boleyn, this doesn't seem to be a case of Henry trying to get rid of her. He was honestly shocked at the accusations and first refused to believe it. However, eventually, the evidence became overwhelming and Catherine Howard was arrested in November 1541 and was beheaded for treason in February 1542. And for those of you keeping track at home, so far that is two Catharines, two Ann's, two annals, and two beheadings.

Only Jane managed to escape the Anno. element or beheading trap, and she died. At this point, marrying Henry the 8th had to be considered a very risky proposition. However, there was one more woman who was up to the task, Catherine Parr. Catherine had been previously married and widowed twice, and she was quite wealthy. She was also extremely Protestant, even more so than Henry. Henry still had some attachments to Catholic traditions, but Catherine would have none of that. She was in the household of Mary, Henry's daughter, with his first wife when she caught Henry's attention. She was actually according the brother of Jane Seymour when Henry proposed and she agreed to marry Henry out of duty.

The marriage, Henry's 6th, was in July 1543. She is primarily remembered for reconciling Henry with his daughter's Mary and Elizabeth. She and Henry had no children of their own. It was in 1542 that Mary and Elizabeth were put back into the land secession after Edward. The marriage lasted until January 28, 1547, when Henry died at the age of 55. It was his longest marriage after Catherine of Aragon. Under Henry's orders, she was to be treated as the Queen Dowager after his death, and she was granted an annual stipend of 7,000 pounds.

She remarried that same year after Henry died, marrying Thomas Seymour, the man who had earlier proposed, her fourth husband. She died a year later in 1548 after complications from childbirth, the only pregnancy she had after four marriages. Anne of Cleves was the last surviving wife of Henry. She died in 1557 at the age of 42. Henry the Ace Rain was unique for so many reasons, and his marriages were just one of them.

He had six wives, and no other English or British monarch ever had more than two. His marriages changed the political and religious landscape in Europe, and many of those changes still exist today, almost 500 years later. The associate producers of Everything Everywhere Daily are Peter Bennett and Thor Thompson. If you'd like to support the show, please join the list of patrons over at patreon.com. And also remember, if you leave a review or send me a question, you two can have it read on the show.