Hot History - Divorced, Beheaded & Died

Episode Date: December 15, 2023

Today we get down & dirty with King Henry the 8th and his six sorry wives! Covering everything from the start to the end of the Tudor dynasty, we will unearth one of the most dynamic periods in English history while getting all the tea on the infamous king and his assortment of unfortunate Queens!

Hello and welcome back to another episode of Hot History, the podcast where we talk about the things in history that you probably should know, but don't. I am so excited to have you listening along as we deep dive into the scandalous and treacherous life of the brash and bashful King Henry the 8th, plus, of course, his six sorry wives. Is in session. Few figures in history strike such a powerful image in the mind as, Henry 8th. Whether it is his enormous size, obsession with jousting, formation of the Church of England, or his party for the King of France at the field of the cloth of gold. He is embedded in both our minds and in pop culture. But he, of course, is not the only one we remember. In fact, one of the main reasons we remember him so well is because of his six wives. But before we get into

Henry the 8th, we must backtrack for just a moment to his wife. his father, Henry the 7th. So for about 30 years, England was sieged under a brutal war of succession known as the War of the Roses. It occurred between two families, the Yorks and the Lancaster's. The War of the Roses was brutal. It took the lives of over 105,000 English people, but while the two families were fighting one another, a young man named Henry Tudor swoops in and takes the throne for himself. He marries a York princess named Elizabeth and the pair become the first king and queen of the now very famous Tudor dynasty. Henry the 7th and Elizabeth had six children, their eldest son,

Arthur, their second son Henry, and their eldest daughter Margaret of the most famous. Which means that Henry was not the heir. He was, in fact, the spare. Now his brother Arthur was always in line to take over from his father, Henry the 7th, and held the title of Prince of Wales. And in an effort to forge an Anglo-Spanish alliance against mutual enemies, France and Scotland, Henry and Elizabeth betrothed Arthur to the Spanish Princess Catherine of Aragon, daughter of the powerful Catholic monarchs in Spain. Arthur was well educated and was in good health for the majority of his life. But soon after his marriage to Catherine in 1501, Arthur died, making his brother Henry the new heir to the English.

English throne, which leaves Catherine, alone in England, without a husband and without a throne. So she begins firmly stating that her and Arthur never actually did the deed, making their marriage unconsumated, and her the perfect and obviously logical choice as wife to Henry. And in 1503, Catherine and Henry were betrothed. But while his marriage may have been sorted, his education in the ways of kinging, was certainly not. Following Arthur's death, their father had given Henry fewer responsibilities than ever before and insisted that he was strictly supervised and did not appear in public.

So when Henry the 7th died in 1509 and now Henry VIII, ascended the throne, he was quote, untrained in the exacting art of kingship. But one of his first acts as king was to marry his longtime fiancé Catherine. A feud between his own and Catherine's father's drag. out said proceedings, but the pair were finally married and held their coronation on the 23rd of June 1509 at Westminster Abbey. Henry gets to work right away as king. He arrested his father's two most unpopular ministers who he charged with treason and had executed. These politically motivated executions would remain one of Henry's primary tactics for dealing with those who stood in his way,

and in the end, it's what would make him famous. He also gets to work right. away as a husband. He and Catherine giving birth to a stillborn girl in 1510 and a year later they gave birth to a son, Henry. Following the grief of losing their first child and the joy of having secured an heir, the pair through festivities including a two-day jousting contest. However, the joy would be short-lived as the child died seven weeks later. Catherine and Henry would not give up hope and continued trying for children, giving birth to another two stillborn sons between 1513, and 1515, before finally giving birth to Mary in 1516. Mary's birth gave the couple the hope of further heirs they'd longed for and put an ease to

their strained marriage, but not enough so for Henry to give up his mistresses. Oh yes, here is where we get into the thick of it. Henry was prolifically unfaithful, even getting one of his mistresses pregnant with a son who he made Duke of Richmond, a sign that many believed to be the first step in Henry legitimizing the child if Catherine could not produce an heir. Around this time, there is some serious beef going down in Europe. France was at war with Venice, who was at war with the Holy Roman Empire, who was also shitty with the Spanish, and Henry tried to play nicey-nice with all of them. In the end, the prospect of Henry being king of England and France was too great, and he pulled off

a diplomatic coup by convincing Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian to take up arms with England and Spain. He even secured the promised title of most Christian king of France and possibly coronation by the Pope himself in Paris if King Louis X12 could be defeated. So in 1513, Henry invaded France, which gave his brother-in-law, James IV, King of Scotland, the perfect opportunity to attack England on behalf of France, which was not successful and James was killed. But by 1514, Henry had had his taste of war with France and with England's coffers running low, he pursued peace by marrying his sister, Mary, to the French king. This peace was secured for eight years, an incredibly long period considering the two nations' long hatred from one another.

The alliances would continue when Francis I became king of France, taking over from his cousin Louis XVI. Henry and Francis met near Calais at the field of the cloth of gold. for a fortnight of lavish games, entertainment and opulence. But it did not go according to plan. While the carefully established rules of the tournament stated that the two kings would not compete against each other, Henry, unsurprisingly, challenged Francis to a wrestling match, but it turned sour for Henry when he quickly lost. And when one of Henry's councilmen, called No Wolsey, arranged an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V who later declared war on France.

The relationship between France and England went even more. sour. Speaking of sour, things between Catherine and Henry were very much not on the sweet side. Catherine had no more children in the years that followed Mary's birth, at least that lived, which drove Henry further into the arms of his mistresses, one of which was Mary Berlin, Catherine's lady in waiting. However, in 1525, another caught his eye, Mary's sister, Anne. She was a charismatic 25-year-old who was intelligent and charming and he became enamoured with her. Despite Henry's attempts, Anne refused to be his mistress, which brings him to the great matter, as it was known. With no legitimate male heir, Henry had three choices.

One, legitimise his son by his mistress, which would need the involvement of the Pope who would never approve. Two, marry off Mary as soon as possible and hope for her grandson, ASAP, or three, divorce Catherine and marry someone else who can bear children, which would also need the Pope, who would never agree. However, the third prospect was one which involved possibly marrying Anne, so Henry ran with it. By 1527, he had convinced himself that Catherine had produced no male heir because their union was blighted in the eyes of God. given that Catherine was the widow of his brother, and therefore in marrying his brother's wife, he was acting against the Bible. Or at least that's the excuse that he took to the Pope to annul the marriage between he and Catherine. The Pope, of course, denied this, and Cardinal Walsy, who Henry put in charge of securing said annulment, was charged and attained for his failure to

obtain it. So if the Catholic Church would not grant him the divorce, he would grant it himself, by starting his own church. And as such, Henry the Church, launched the Reformation, creating the Church of England, of which he appointed himself supreme head and excommunicated the Pope. After 24 years of marriage, Catherine was divorced and banished from court. She was stripped from her title of queen and instead became known as Dowager Princess as the widow of Arthur, not the ex of Henry. In 1533, Catherine's rooms were given to Anne Berlin and the pair were married, with Anne becoming Queen consort. That same year, she gave birth to a daughter, slightly prematurely, a daughter who would be named after Henry's

own mother, Elizabeth. The fallout of the Reformation and Anne's new title as Queen was also felt at a constitutional level, with the Act of Succession 1533 being introduced, which made Catherine's daughter Mary illegitimate, and Elizabeth declared heir. Despite being queen and having a daughter, Anne did not have an easy life with Henry. She refused to be submissive and was deeply opinion She also had a hot temper and after a false pregnancy in 1534 he saw her failure to give him a son as a betrayal Because of course she has a choice over said matters in 1536 Anne was pregnant once again and Henry was thrown from a horse and badly injured So much so that his life hung in the balance Anne knew more than ever the importance of having a son if Henry was to die and the stress led her to miscarry a son

This was the beginning of the end for Anne, who was accused of conspiracy, adultery and even witchcraft, and she was beheaded on the 19th of May 1536. But nothing will slow this man down. And the day after Anne's execution, the 45-year-old Henry becomes engaged to young Jane Seymour, who had been one of Anne's ladies-in-waiting. It's a pattern starting to emerge here. The pair were married 10 days later, and the following year Jane gave birth finally to a son, Edward. Henry had his heir and the birth endured Jane to him dearly.

However, the birth was a difficult one, and Jade had an infection which she later died from. And the immediate joy of Edward's birth turned to deep sorrow for Jane's loss, and then desperation to find another wife. See, for Henry, one son was good, but with two daughters as the alternative, if anything should happen to Edward, he needed more. So Henry's Privy Council, headed by Thomas Cromwell, looked beyond English shores to Europe and suggested Anne, the 25-year-old sister of the Duke of Cleaves, who was seen as an important ally to England. Henry dispatched artist Hans Holburn to paint a portrait of Anne for him to preview. He saw the pick and agreed to marry her in 1540. However, when she arrived at court, Henry believed that she would automatically know it was him and as such decided to dress up as a court jester, relying on intuition for her to spot him.

She instead thought he was strange, fat and smelled gross, which infuriated Henry deeply, and he instead said it was her that was strange, fat and smelled funny. And why have a funny smelling, even though she wasn't, 25-year-old, when you can have a 17-year-old English woman? So Anne and Henry soon annulled their marriage before they could consummate, and her lack of argument at said proposition, did her well. She had a large allowance, two houses, and was known as the King's sister at court. P.S. She absolutely dodged a bullet there.

Said 17-year-old that we were chatting on before is none other than Catherine Howell. who just so happens to be a first cousin and lady in waiting to Anne Boleyn herself. I mean, when we talk about red flags, this is what I'm talking about. You see, the first few wives, I can kind of let them off, you know. A few divorces, I can get around it, a death from childbirth, tragic, but a beheading. Red flags, red flags, sirens going off everywhere. I mean, Kay Howard, what are we thinking? Is it just like I'm not seeing the red flags, or is there a kind of this I can change him thing going on?

I mean, even Christina of Denmark saw the red flags and rejected Henry saying, if I had two heads, I would happily put one at the disposal of the King of England. The marriage between Catherine and Henry goes exactly as we expect. Horrible. Soon after they're married, Henry accuses Catherine of having an affair with one of his courtiers, and she employed her ex as her secretary, which just pissed him off to her. a whole other level. She was sentenced to death and was executed at the Tower of London, having barely enough strength to stand. She had to be supported as she made her way up the scaffold. Now there are many, many superstitions surrounding the Tudors, but Catherine Howard is perhaps

the most famous. Her ghost apparently takes up residence at Hampton Court Palace until this day, with her screams being heard along the haunted gallery, where she ran desperately trying to reach the king to plead for his forgiveness and to save her life. The whole Catherine Howard affair affected Henry deeply, who became obese, with a waist measurement of 54 inches, about 140 centimetres, and had to be moved around with the help of mechanical devices. He was covered with painful pus-filled boils and possibly had gout. His obesity and other medical problems can be traced to the jousting accident in 1536 which caused Anne Boleyn to lose her son, in which he suffered a huge leg wound. That same accident is also believed to have caused Henry's massive mood swings, which may have had dramatic effects on his personality, temperament and ultimately the fate of at least two of his wives. There is of course the theory that Henry VIII was riddled with syphilis from his many mistresses. However, historian Susan McLean Khybert ascribes his demise to scurvy,

which is caused by insufficient vitamin C most often due to a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in one's diet. It's actually known as the Pirates Disease. Speaking of diet, this man ate. 80% of his diet was heavy protein, including spit-roasted pork, mutton, deer, oxen, peacocks and more. He also ate eels, cod, herring, crabs, trouts and salmon, and in the early years of his reign, he would eat whales and porpoise on Friday, a favourite of Catherine of arrogance. Basically, if it had feathers, feet or fins, it was going to end up on Henry's table. But to eat that much, you need something to wash it down with.

And Henry consumed vast quantities of beer and wine, with historians estimating that 600,000 gallons of ale, enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and around 75,000 gallons of wine, enough to fill 1,500 bathtubs were drunk every single year at Hampton Court Palace. But making that much food and beverage for Henry and his court didn't happen on its own, and required a vast complex of kitchens and staff. According to Britain's National Archives, one measure of greatness of the time during Henry's reign was a number of people that surrounded you. The more people, the more important you were.

And when Henry stayed at Hampton Court, he was attended by nearly 1,000 staff. Of those, about 250 manned the kitchens. A Spanish visitor noted, there were usually 18 kitchens in full blast, and they seem veritable hells, such is the stir and bustle in them. The Great Kitchen boasted six open fireplaces churning out heat while roasting pigs and haunches of venison on spits. Boys had the least appealing jobs. They had to sit beside the infernoes turning the spits,

and the heat was so fierce that they took to removing their clothes. And this displeased, Henry. He issued an order that the urchins had to stop being naked. But the heat was so intense that food journalist, Catherine McGowan, stated it is estimated that six to eight tons of seasoned oak was burned in the kitchen fireplaces each day. during Henry the 8th's rule. This was not the only unfortunate job given out to young men during Henry's rule. There was, of course, the groom of the stool, a position granted to those who

monitored and assisted with the king's bow movements. Yep, the shitmen. The word stool was in reference to a portable toilet which would have been carried around at all times, along with water, towels and a washbowl. To ensure he was carrying out his job at peak efficiency, the groom of the stool would have closely monitored the king's diet and meal times and organized his day around the king's shitting. Sounds woeful to us, but back then, it was actually one of the most sought-after positions at court and was usually awarded to sons of nobleman or the gentry, who over time began to act as secretaries. They were rewarded with high pay and some great benefits, such as the right to lodgings in every palace,

the sovereign's old clothes, and the option to have any used bedchamber furnished. But most of all, they got the king when he was alone and could ask for favours. Quite amazingly, the role of groom of the stool carried on all the way until 1901, when King Edward I decided to abolish it. And it was Mad King George III, who employed the most grooms throughout his reign, a total of nine, including John Stewart, who would later go on to be the Prime Minister of Great Britain. But back to Henry. Now, old, alien and almost certainly infertile, he would not give up his pursuit for heirs and so decides to marry again.

This time, to another Catherine. I mean, come on, three Catharines and two Anne's. The man needs to introspect. A year after Kay Howard's death, he remarried Catherine Parr, who helped Henry reconcile with his daughter. as Mary and Elizabeth, who he all but neglected and banished from court. Catherine had such an impact on the relationship with his children that in 1543, the third Succession Act put Mary and Elizabeth back in the line of succession after Edward. Around this time, the mounting tensions between the Church of England and the Catholic

Church were at an all-time high in England, and Henry sanctioned the complete destruction of shrines to saints, and in 1542, England's remaining monasteries, were all dissolved and their property transferred to the crown. The years between 1542 and 1543 were busy ones, with an invasion of France being planned and Henry taking action in Scotland to eliminate the threat of new King James V. The Scots were defeated and Henry now hoped to unite the crowns of England and Scotland by marrying his son, Edward, to James's successor, future Mary Queen of Scots. However, the Scottish Parliament refused the marriage and eight years of war between France and England ensued. After a few years of war, France and England

signed for peace, after once again being on the edge of bankruptcy. By the mid-1540s, Henry is at his heaviest weight and suffering bouts of illness, which his wife Catherine Parn nurses him through judifully. It would eventually take his life on the 28th of January 1547 at the age of 55 on what would have been his own father's 90th birthday. Henry planned a grand tomb for himself which he began construction on. However, he died before it was finished and his original plans for it would not have accommodated his expanded size. Instead, he was interred in a vault at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle next to his third wife, Jane Seymour. In fact, you could see Megan and Harry walk over the tribute stone during their wedding. After his death, he was succeeded by his only surviving

son, Edward the sixth. Since Edward was then only nine years old, he could not rule directly. Instead, Henry's will designated 16 executors to serve on a regency council until Edward reached 18. The executors chose Edward Seymour, the eldest brother of Jane Seymour, to be Lord Protector. Under provisions of the will, if Edward was to die childless, the throne was to pass to Mary, Henry's daughter by Catherine of Aragon, and her heirs. And if she was to die child, that the throne would pass to Elizabeth, Henry's daughter by Anne Berlin and her heirs. Edward ruled for six years and was a devout Protestant. However, at age 15 he fell ill, which was later discovered to be terminal. At this discovery, he and his counsel drew up a device for the

succession to prevent his sister Mary, or at least half-sister, a devout Catholic, from ruling and therefore returning England to Catholicism. Edward named his Protestant first cousin, once removed Lady Jane Grey as his heir, excluding his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth. Edward eventually died in 1553 and Lady Jane Grey became queen for nine days, following his passing, before the will and succession was attested by Mary, who had Jane Grey arrested and beheaded.

Mary, also known as Bloody Mary, became queen and ruled for five years, during which time she made it her mission to reverse, Protestantism and had over 180 religious figures burned at the stake. Mary married Prince Philip of Spain the year after she becomes Queen and fell pregnant several times. But as the nine-month mark passed and her stomach remained large and distended, it became clear that Mary was suffering from phantom pregnancies, which would later be revealed as uterine cancer. Mary died childless from her illnesses, making her half-sister Elizabeth Queen.

The reign of Queen Elizabeth I first is one of the greatest in English history. She reversed the work her sister had done in trying to take away Protestantism and introduced religious tolerance between Catholics and the Church of England. She never married and was celebrated for her virginity, dying childless and leaving the throne of England to Scottish King James the 6th. So we've covered a lot of history here, pretty much all of the Tudor dynasty, from the end of the War of the Roses to Elizabeth's death. But our main focus is on Henry, who lived,

for 55 years. But where does he sit in history? He was alive at the same time as Shakespeare, Ivan the Terrible and Leonardo da Vinci. During his lifetime, the Sistine Chapel was painted. Christopher Columbus sailed to the new world and discovered the Americas and the Gregorian calendar was introduced. He died 66 years before construction of the Palace of Versailles began, 182 years before Catherine the Great was born and 228 years before the American Revolution. So what impact does he have on modern society? Many of his actions as kings still resonate today. It could be said in many ways that he created our modern world.

The break with Rome and the Catholic Church led to the Reformation and the formation of the Church of England, which then led to the dissolution of the monasteries, all of which had profound and lasting effects. from Catherine of Aragon made divorce more accessible and he tripled the size of the English Royal Navy, inheriting 15 vessels from his father and leaving the Navy with 45 ships at the time of his death. He also introduced the first King's Post, which was the early models of the first national postal system by ensuring all towns had a fresh horse available for delivering mail. So he actually did a lot.

But these are all of course dwarfed by his legacy and the representation of him in pop culture today as a a prolific wife hunter. Now, the Tudors are one of the most famous and trending dynasties throughout time, and that's still true today. Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived has become one of the most prolific historical rhymes and has been reinforced through cinema, books, TV and theatre. On TV, we have the White Queen, White Princess, Spanish Princess, and Becoming Elizabeth, which looks at the Tudor dynasty and Henry's role in it.

We have the Tudors. which ran from 2007 to 2010 with hottie Jonathan Rees-Myers as the big guy, alongside Natalie Dormer, aka Marjorie Tyrell from Game of Thrones as Anne Boleyn, and Nie Burgess, aka Grace from Peaky Blinders as Jane Seymour. We have The Banger. I'm Henry VIII, I have six sorry wives by horrible histories, and of course Damien Lewis picks up the mantle of Henry VIII in Wolf Hall. In cinema, we have the other Billing girl with Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn,

Scarlet Johansson as Mary Berlin and Eric Banner as Henry. In recent years, we've seen the stories of his six wives brought to the stage with Sixth the musical, a huge hit and again, serving absolute bangers. All in all, Henry VIII is remembered for his stature, the Reformation and, of course, his wives, all of whom, I believe, are far more interesting than Henry, and the karma served back to him by Anne Boleyn's daughter ruling and ending, his tutor, line is enough to make me sleep soundly for the rest of my life. And that brings us to the end of another episode of Hot History. If you'd like to support us, then you can find us on Spotify and Apple podcasts as Hot History. Follow us on TikTok at hot dot history and on Instagram at Hot History Club. As always, it is a pleasure getting down and dirty in time with you. And tune in next time for a very festive episode as we discuss the origins of Christmas.