Divorced, Beheaded, Died: the Real Story of Henry VIII’s Six Wives (#103)

I thought I’d play a little game with you before I get into this episode: I want to see how quickly you can guess what my topic is today with a couple of hints. Feel free to play along at home, too.

If you’re a regular listener of this podcast, you know we love to talk about women of history. Also, one thing we haven’t really covered a lot yet is British royalty. So I’m combining those two things in this episode, and I’m not talking about one woman of history, but six. (Can you guess what the topic is yet? If you haven't, here's another clue: they were all married to the same very famous monarch.)

Yes, that’s right! This is the story of Henry VIII and his six wives: Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Katherine Parr. If, like me, you’ve seen the musical SIX, you might have a little bit of background - but I wanted to talk about their lives in more detail and get a good idea of who each of them really was.

A quick bit of background about Henry VIII

Henry was born on June 28, 1491, the second son of Henry VII (7th), the first English ruler from the House of Tudor. While his older brother Arthur was being prepared for the throne, Henry was steered toward a church career, with an education in theology, music, languages, poetry and sports.

Henry’s brother Arthur had been betrothed since the age of 2 to Catherine of Aragon, as part of Henry VII (7th)’s plans for an alliance between Spain and England. In November of 1501, when they were both teenagers, they were married. Unfortunately, months later, Arthur died of a sudden illness, leaving Henry as next in line for the throne.

Henry VIII ruled England for 36 years between 1509 and 1547, presiding over the beginnings of the English Renaissance and Protestant Reformation — but it’s his tumultuous love life, rather than his politics, that made him one of the most famous monarchs.

He is, of course, best known for his six wives, and several mistresses he had on the side. History.com states that his desperate quest for political unification and a healthy male heir drove him to annul two marriages and have two wives beheaded. His chaotic love life caused an unstable succession, foreign policy implications and even led to the break with the Church of Rome.

So let’s start with the first of his wives, already briefly mentioned: Catherine of Aragon.

#1: Catherine of Aragon

When Henry’s brother died, the question of Henry’s marriage was so important because it was now up to him to continue the Tudor dynasty. Catherine of Aragon was the daughter of Spanish monarchs King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella, and she received a thorough education that included Latin, French and philosophy, and embroidery. As I said, the reason Catherine was betrothed to Arthur in the first place was to form an alliance between Spain and England. So when Arthur died, to maintain the Spanish alliance, a new betrothal was made between the now widowed Catherine and Prince Henry, who was five years her junior.

There was a problem, though: in Tudor eyes, Catherine’s marriage to Arthur had made her Henry’s sister. To permit the union of Catherine and Henry, Catherine had to swear that her short marriage to Arthur had not been consummated. It took five whole years to wrangle over whether their union should go ahead, but eventually, Henry married Catherine six weeks after taking the throne in 1509, at the age of 17 or 18.

For the first 10 to 15 years, the marriage appeared to have been a happy one. Henry wrote that “if he were still free, he would choose her in preference to all others”. They shared a passion for learning, religion and court entertainment, and Catherine proved herself a competent regent while Henry campaigned in France between 1512 and 1514.

However, by 1518, relations between them had soured. Catherine, now 33, had at least six pregnancies in nine years, but the only child to survive was Mary (who would become Mary I), born in February 1516. Mary’s birth brought them some hope and it proved Catherine could bear a living child, but the question on Henry’s mind was still: could she provide a son?

Catherine remained loyal to Henry, staying by his side for 23 years and is even thought to be the only woman the king ever truly loved. Tracy Borman, a Tudor historian, said, “Henry viewed her as a model wife in every respect bar one… her failure to give him a son.”

Henry became frustrated at the lack of male heir, and his eyes began to wander towards other eligible women. A few years after the birth of Mary, Henry had a brief affair with one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting, Elizabeth “Bessie” Blount. In 1519, Bessie was taken in secret to the Essex countryside where she gave birth to Henry Fitzroy, Henry’s only acknowledged illegitimate child.

Henry Fitzroy was made Earl of Nottingham and Duke of Richmond and Somerset at the age of six, and Henry was even rumoured to be considering marrying Fitzroy to his legitimate daughter, Mary, as a way of legitimising the boy’s claim to the throne. Whether Henry would have ever made Fitzroy his heir is unknown, as he died of TB in 1536, aged 17.

In the 1520s, Henry had developed a fondness for another lady who wasn’t his wife: Miss Anne Boleyn, another lady-in-waiting to his wife. He worried that his marriage to Catherine had been cursed by God because of the Old Testament ban on marrying the widow of one’s brother, and this led him to eventually seek the Pope’s approval for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine.

Remember before, how I said his marriage to Catherine could only be official if she had never consummated the marriage with his brother? Well, Henry argued that his marriage to Catherine was invalid because her marriage to his brother Arthur had been consummated, despite Catherine contesting this.

The Pope refused to annul the marriage, so Henry took a step that would change the course of world history and religion. With the help of Thomas Cromwell, a politician who rose to become Henry’s chief minister in 1532, Henry broke ties with the Catholic church in Rome, affirming his view that the church should not have power over England’s sovereignty. Parliament declared that the king, not the pope, was now head of the Church of England.

The king and Anne Boleyn were secretly married in January 1533, and Henry got Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to annul his previous marriage. This move caused Henry and the Archbishop to be excommunicated from the Catholic church, which led to the establishment of the Church of England, which was a major step in the Protestant Reformation.

Catherine refused to recognise the legitimacy of Henry's actions and still considered herself to be queen, refusing to send Boleyn her crown jewels when she was asked for them. Kept isolated and separated from her daughter, Mary, Catherine died at Kimbolton Castle in Cambridge, on 7th January 1536, at the age of 50.

#2: Anne Boleyn

So, back to Anne Boleyn, the first of two Annes that Henry would marry. Anne Boleyn was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, who would later become earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Howard. Anne and her sister, Mary (another Mary - I swear there are only like 5 names in the whole of England at this point), spent seven years of their childhood in the French court. Her sister Mary returned to England sometime around 1520 and apparently had a brief affair with Henry.

Anne came over to England in 1522 and became a member of Henry VIII’s court, serving as a maid of honor to his wife, Catherine. As she came from an aristocratic family, she also served in the courts of several other European royals.

By Tudor tastes, which held women in high esteem, the brunette, dark-eyed Anne was no belle, but her charm, style and sophistication set her apart from the other ladies at court. She was educated and skilled at things that made her a charming member of the court, like dancing, singing, and flirting — but she also had political functions at court, such as greeting foreign dignitaries, and she had influence on international affairs. She engaged with political leaders, including Thomas Cromwell.

By the mid-1520s, Boleyn had become one of the most admired ladies of the court, attracting the attention of many men, including Henry Percy, the 6th Earl of Northumberland. When Henry VIII caught wind of Lord Henry Percy’s desired marriage with Boleyn, he ordered against it. Around this same time, the king himself fell in love with Anne.

Anne had been at court for four years before there was any hint of romance between the pair, but by 1526, Henry became smitten with her. At first, she refused the king’s advances. She had no interest in being a mistress, instead choosing to hold out for marriage. There are 17 surviving love letters from Henry to Anne, and in them, it’s clear to see that Henry’s desire for her was growing, as was his frustration at her constant refusal to become his mistress, and his desperation for the dissolution of his marriage.

In one of Henry’s letters, he wrote: "If you give yourself up… heart, body and soul to me… I will take you for my only mistress, rejecting from thought and affection all others save yourself, to serve only you." Boleyn replied with a rejection, explaining that she aimed to be married and not be a mistress: "Your wife I cannot be, both in respect of my own unworthiness, and also because you have a queen already. Your mistress I will not be."

Henry kept trying though, and didn’t really hide his admiration for her. At some point in 1532, Anne finally submitted to the king’s advances and, by December that year, she was pregnant. Henry was overcome with joy, and now all he wanted was for his annulment from Catherine. It was really important that their baby was born legitimately, which meant they had to be married. So in January 1533, Henry and Anne wed in secret.

With the Pope still refusing to end the marriage, the monumental decision was taken to reject his authority altogether. So on 23rd May, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer confirmed the annulment and Anne was crowned on 1st June in a huge coronation.

As queen, the public largely saw Anne as a sexually promiscuous status seeker, mostly due to their long-held allegiance to Catherine of Aragon. However, she did make a real effort to play the traditional role of queen during her reign, focusing on improvements for the poor. She was also renowned at court for her stylish wardrobe, much of which followed French fashion trends of the time. The English public never warmed up to her though, for the rest of her short life.

With everything going his way, Henry was now convinced their unborn child would be the son he wanted. So when Anne gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth (who would become Elizabeth I), it must have been a bitter blow, and also considerable anxiety for Anne who had seen him toss aside his first wife for not bearing a son.

But even so, Henry remained committed to his wife, and hopeful that she would give him a son. But after at least two stillborn births, one of which being a boy, Henry’s interest in his wife began to wane. He turned his affections to another woman of his court, Jane Seymour.

When Henry took yet another mistress (he had two around this time - Jane Seymour, and another one of his wife’s maids of honour, Madge Shelton), Anne understandably became enraged. Unlike Catherine before her, who knew of her husband's infidelity but was able to turn the other cheek, Boleyn was not impressed by Henry's promiscuity and became increasingly jealous. Their marriage quickly began to fall apart.

Henry, who had a naturally jealous and suspicious character, was persuaded by an advisor that Anne was being unfaithful (because of course only he is allowed to be the unfaithful one…). Anne’s downfall from then on seems to have been the result of malicious gossip and plots to end her influence over the king.

Henry, who prized chastity in his wives above all else (again, giant hypocrite), ordered his chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, to investigate, telling him “if it turns out that your report, which I do not wish to believe, is untrue, you will receive pain of death in place of [the accused].” Cromwell became part of a secret commission, one that included Boleyn’s father, to investigate her wrongdoing. Historians speculate that her father probably tried to warn Anne of the situation, but there wasn’t a lot she could do at this point.

By May 1536, Cromwell had unearthed ‘evidence’ of adultery, incest and conspiring the king’s death. Historians are divided on how much Cromwell had to do with the demise of Anne Boleyn, but there’s a theory that he worked with the king to conspire against her. Before this, Boleyn and Cromwell clashed several times on matters of foreign policy and the king’s finances.

Henry officially accused Anne of sexual affairs with male members of her court, who in some cases were tortured into making confessions. She was also accused of incest with her own brother, and of using sorcery to bewitch the king. Many historians believe Henry fabricated the charges against Anne in order to get his marriage annulled.

In court, she remained level-headed and articulate, calmly and clearly denying all of the charges against her. But 4 days later, she was found guilty by a jury that included her own uncle and a former fiancé, and on May 19, 1536 (only 3 years after they were married and had their daughter), Anne was taken to Tower Green in London.

Right there on the scaffolds, she decided to deliver a speech. She said: “I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me.”

She then knelt down and removed her headdress, and in one swift motion, she was beheaded by a French swordsman. Her head and body was buried in an unmarked grave. This, just like last time, cleared Henry’s path to marry his mistress Jane Seymour, which he did just days after Anne Boleyn’s death.

#3: Jane Seymour

So now we’re onto wife number 3, Jane Seymour. I do wonder what is going through her mind at this point — like, she knows her new husband has just killed his previous wife just to get with her, so what’s to say he won’t do something crazy again? But anyway, onwards.

Jane Seymour had served as a lady-in-waiting to both Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn’s and Jane Seymour's mothers were first cousins, who shared the same grandmother, and were raised together for some time. This also explains why Anne became so enraged when Henry turned his attention to Jane Seymour — because she was her cousin. Elizabeth Norton, a Tudor historian, said, “Anne did not stand meekly aside when Henry's interest in Jane became apparent. We know from sources that the pair came to blows on more than one occasion at court.”

Henry was now 45 and still without a male heir. 27-year-old Jane Seymour was demure, calm and gentle, and was Anne’s opposite in both looks and temperament. The Spanish ambassador dismissed her as “of middle stature and no great beauty,” and unlike Henry’s previous Queens she was barely educated – and was only able to read and write her own name. Although lacking Anne’s education and sophistication, Jane is said to have possessed a quiet determination and was able to manage Henry and his ever-increasing outbursts of temper. Henry was also attracted by the fact that Jane’s mother had birthed six healthy sons. 

Within 24 hours of Anne’s death, Henry and Jane were betrothed. They married in May 1536, but unlike his previous wives, Jane never had a coronation and so was never crowned queen. The reason for this is that her coronation in October 1536 was cancelled after a plague and a series of revolts in the north turned Henry’s eyes elsewhere, and as a result, she was just never crowned. This didn’t faze Jane, however, who used her new-found position to get her brothers Edward and Thomas into high positions at court, and tried to remove Anne’s famously flirtatious maids and revealing fashions from court life.

When Henry learned of her pregnancy in 1537, he went to great lengths to ensure her every whim was catered for, even shipping quails eggs from France to satisfy her cravings. He described Jane as his “one true wife”. He was even happier, then, when on October 12, 1537, Jane gave birth to the future King Edward VI. But unfortunately, Jane died less than two weeks after the birth. Opinion is divided as to what caused her death, but it’s generally assumed that it was a result of a complication from pregnancy.

While some people say Catherine of Aragon was the only one Henry truly loved, the same is also said of Jane Seymour. At Henry’s wishes, Jane is buried at St. George's Chapel alongside him. She was the only one of his wives to have been buried with him.

#4: Anne of Cleves

After the death of Jane Seymour, Henry stayed a single man for a surprisingly long time, for him — he spent around two years mourning her death, reportedly only wearing black for months. At this point, his chief minister suggested that his next marriage be a strategic one to create a European alliance.

The idea was for him to marry one of the sisters, Anne and Amelia, of Germany’s Duke of Cleves. Henry requested the women’s portraits and sent Hans Holbein the Younger to paint them. Henry found Anne to be the more flattering of the two so he chose her. (I imagine this being like a Tudor variation of Tinder, where he’s given images and has to swipe right on the one he likes the look of most.)

When Anne of Cleves arrived in England on January 1, 1540, Henry was shocked that she looked nothing like the painting — he expressed concerns that Anne was already married, because her figure looked too voluptuous for her to be a maiden. After meeting her, he allegedly said to his advisors, “I like her not! I like her not!”

Their first meeting was a disaster. Henry chose to meet his bride-to-be in disguise, hoping that Anne would see through this to recognise her King and discover her true love. But no one actually explained this to Anne who, when Henry attempted to kiss her, recoiled at this move made by what she perceived to be a lowly servant. Henry, faced with the reality that he was no longer the golden Prince of his youth, was utterly humiliated.

He tried to halt the wedding, but because the arrangement had progressed so far, they married on January 6, 1540. He was unable to consummate their marriage to someone apparently so “ugly”, and Anne accepted a divorce and generous compensation settlement six months later.

After this, she stayed in England, maintaining her own household separate from Henry's. Anne, however, kept up friendly relationships with the king and his children for the rest of her life, ultimately outliving both Henry and Henry’s son, Edward VI. She died in July 1557.

#5: Catherine Howard

The next stage in Henry’s love life is the second of three Catherines, this one being Catherine Howard.

As Henry was approaching the last years of his reign, he became moody and suspicious, and unable to walk due to the persistent leg wound he sustained from an old jousting injury. In July 1540, Catherine Howard was, as they all usually were, a lady-in-waiting to Henry’s previous wife, Anne of Cleves.

Henry was 49, and Catherine would have only been around 19 — but again, Henry became infatuated. To him, Catherine was everything a queen should be: obedient, fertile and Catherine was everything a queen should be: basically obedient, fertile, and a virgin. Said to be delighted with his rambunctious new bride, Henry showered Catherine with gifts and called her his “rose without a thorn.”

The French ambassador wrote, “The King is so amorous of her that he cannot treat her well enough, and caresses her more than he did the others.” It’s unknown how Catherine felt about being married to a man 30 years older than her, but she is said to have accepted him with good grace, anxious to please her ambitious family.

Catherine loved the luxury of the court and that her besotted husband showered her with expensive gifts. Little more is known about her, and she’s definitely one of the lesser known wives of the six. But one thing historians have noted is that she potentially was less “pure and virginal” (I say in air quotes) than Henry first thought.

Less than a year into their marriage, rumours of infidelity surfaced, and unlike Anne Boleyn whose charges may have been false, Catherine was allegedly guilty of her charges. She was accused of treason for failing to disclose her sexual history prior to her marriage with Henry, and for illicitly meeting with another man during their marriage.

We might not know a lot about her, but this perception we have of her — as the wife who cheated on Henry and paid for it with her life – has dominated modern interpretations of her. An article on History Extra written by Conor Byrne, a historian and author, examined how Catherine has been written about in the years since her execution. He says: “what struck me perhaps most of all was the language that has been used by historians to characterise her. In the last half-century she has been described as a “juvenile delinquent”, “a natural tart”, “an empty-headed wanton”, “a whore”, and “stupid and oversexed”. This demonstrates the two dominant perceptions of her in historical writing: that she was stupid and promiscuous. Even Catherine’s most outspoken defenders have defined her by her sexuality.”

So did she actually commit adultery? Historians are still divided. When she was born, Catherine was placed in the household of her step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, between 1531 and 1536. There she was involved in two premarital relationships with Henry Manox and Francis Dereham, both of whom were her social inferiors.

Once placed in the household of Anne of Cleves, Catherine speedily attracted the attention of the king and they married. After a relatively successful first few months as queen, Catherine became involved in an alleged secret relationship with Thomas Culpeper, a gentleman of the king’s privy chamber.

Culpeper had a reputation as a rapist and possible murderer, although it’s uncertain whether these allegations related to himself or to his older brother – confusingly also named Thomas – or whether they were invented. Catherine and Culpeper met on a handful of occasions. It is typically assumed that they were involved in a sexual relationship, or that they were in love – but actually very little is actually known about what went on, and very little evidence supports the assumption that they had any sort of passionate love affair.

Rumours had circulated a year before, questioning Catherine’s “moral integrity”, and when Francis Dereham arrived at court in the summer of 1541, he began openly boasting of their former relationship. His behaviour endangered both himself and Catherine, especially when he proclaimed that “and he [referring to Henry VIII] were dead, I am sure I might marry her,” as speaking of the king’s death was treason.

Some modern historians have overwhelmingly concluded that Catherine was guilty of adultery during her marriage. Although some early historians voiced doubts about whether Catherine was an adulteress, only in the last 15 years have more authors questioned whether she really was “the wife who cheated on Henry VIII”.

Catherine was sexually involved with both Manox and Dereham, but neither liaison was a love affair and she evidently attempted to distance herself from Dereham. With the benefit of hindsight, she should have confessed her premarital past to Henry because this is what she was later condemned for. Henry never forgave her for keeping her past a secret from him – and it was this alleged deceit on Catherine’s part, and not her supposed adultery, that led to her execution in 1542. She was stripped of her title of queen, and in February 1542, she was executed for adultery and treason at the Tower of London.

Was Henry just bored at this point? Did he have nothing better to do than to keep killing his brides? And why were they still marrying him?!

#6: Katherine Parr

The last of Henry VIII wives, and also the last of the three Catherines, was Katherine Parr, who he married in July 1543 (a year after Catherine Howard’s death). Catherine Howard’s death saw Henry slump into a deep depression, and with no new wife waiting in the wings to distract him, his erratic temper made court a dangerous place to be.

But Katherine Parr proved to be a kind wife who looked after Henry in his sickness. Aged 31, Katherine was slim and attractive – far from the matronly figure she is often portrayed as – with a deep love of learning and desire for religious reform. She quickly established herself as a major influence in Henry’s life, developing relationships with Henry’s three children and tending to the king’s every need.

Katherine had ties to the royal family from a young age. She was named after Catherine of Aragon, and the Parr family were close to the original royal couple. Her friendship with Mary, Henry's daughter, was how she eventually met Henry. (Which is a bit weird, becoming infatuated with one of his daughter’s friends.)

She might have been perfect for him, except for the fact that she showed an interest in Protestantism, which made her many enemies in Henry’s court who tried to turn him against her. Henry at one point even had her arrested (because he always has to be dramatic). However, she managed to avoid the fate of her predecessors by convincing Henry that she was loyal to him, and she brought stability and peace to the court.

Of all Henry’s wives, it is said that Katherine Parr had the most influence upon the widest variety of areas including court culture, religion, the role of women, and the education of Henry’s children. She somehow managed to persuade Henry to restore his daughters Mary and Elizabeth to the order of succession. Henry trusted Katherine so much that in the event of his death, he named her Queen Regent (which is basically the title for a queen ruling on behalf of another or in her own right, as opposed to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning monarch).

Though remembered as one of Henry's wives, Katherine has her own place in history: with four husbands, she is England's most-married queen. She was an important patron of letters and the arts, as well as being the first woman to be published under her own name. She was a key early influence on her stepdaughter, Elizabeth I.

Henry died at the age of 55, in January 1547. Katherine died a year later, in 1548. The whole ironic and crazy thing about this story is that so many women were disgraced or even killed in his mission to have a son as the next heir, but as Henry was buried beside Jane Seymour at Windsor Castle, no one could have known that it would be his daughters – Mary and Elizabeth – who would change the course of British history, rather than his only son.

His 9-year-old son Edward VI succeeded him as king, but died only six years later. Mary I spent her five-year reign steering England back into Catholicism, but Elizabeth I, the longest-reigning of the Tudor monarchs, re-entrenched her father’s religious reforms — but that could — and probably will — be a whole episode in itself.