Since I have been watching the 3rd season of The Tudors on Netflix (I love summer!), I have also been reading Alison Weir's book The Six Wives of Henry VIII. If you know me at all, you know I love history - British particularly and the monarchy specifically - so I had picked this book up off the bargain bin a while ago. I knew a good bit about Katherine of Aragon (Wifey #1), but not so much about #'s 3-6. Everybody knows about Anne Bolyen, victim...um, Wifey #2. Remember the rhyme - "Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived!" This in regards to the fates of each of Henry's spouses.
Interestingly enough, according to Weir, Wife #3, Jane Seymour, was the wife who was the most beloved of the king, particularly because she gave him a son, his only male heir, Edward. Jane suffered a long labor with Edward and died as a result of an infection. It is believed that she suffered a tear in the womb which resulted in the infection. She appeared fine immediately after the birth, but within hours she was feverish. At the time, this was called "childbirth fever" and there was obviously no effective medication for infection. The illness lasted several days wherein she rallied a couple of times, but then was obviously beyond all hope. Her death crushed Henry. However, in light of the fact that he only had one son and two daughters, he was quick to start the hunt for another wife in order to secure the "spare" to go with the "heir." At the time of Edward's birth, Henry had reinstated his daughter, Mary, by Katherine, to the line of succession, but as he now had a son, he wanted to ensure a male succession. Small children died at an alarming rate. At this time, the Lady Elizabeth had not been reinstated, I think, although he did recognize her as his daughter.
The search for a new wife actually took a couple of years. It is funny how rumors start, and once people in the world knew that Henry had buried three wives, eligible women seemed as scarce as hen's teeth. Everybody knew that he had divorced Katherine because, as Henry stated, his marriage was wrong due to the fact that Katherine had been married to his older brother, Arthur previously. The world was also aware of the fate of his second wife, Anne Boleyn, who, thanks to Henry, couldn't keep her head on straight, or at all for that matter. Jane Seymour was rumoured to have died because of neglect during childbirth. All of this information in the worldly gossip made princesses and countesses, and such run for the hills when Henry started showing interest. Eventually, he was talked into marrying the German Anne of Cleves. His Lord Privy Seal, Thomas Cromwell, was responsbile for this bit of matchmaking.
Anne of Cleves was the sister of William. Will kept his sister pretty closely guarded and didn't allow Henry's envoys much of an opportunity to get to know her. For the most part, Henry married her almost sight unseen. He had sent his court artist, Hans Holbein, to paint her, but Cromwell put a bug in Holbein's ear to make her look really pretty in the portait. Henry fell in love with a vision that didn't look much like reality. When she showed up in England with all the pomp and circumstance Henry could welcome her with, and all the world was watching, he was greatly disappointed in her looks. Henry was accustomed to petite, pretty woman and Anne was tall and very angular. What we would call "big boned" here in the South. He also said she smelled bad. Apparently, the lady had a pretty stout body odor and this was a few centuries before Secret. Once Anne arrived in England, Henry tried everything he could think of to get out of actually marrying the woman, but it was too late. The country expected a wedding, another heir, etc. so instead of humiliating himself, his counsel and his fiance, he went forward with the wedding. Unfortunately, he was too revolted by his new wife to actually manage to consummate the marriage. This time the playboy just couldn't function.
Henry was the dutiful husband in public, but in private he was quite distant. All the while, he was working with his advisors to figure out a way to divorce Anne. Divorce had been a difficult, long process with Katherine, but Anne was quite happy to be put aside. She was pretty innocent, but she knew when she wasn't wanted. However, she liked England, so she stayed in an estate after the King provided for her and was actually a favorite of the King's next wife, Katherine Howard. More on her later.
Still working on Beloved by Toni Morrison. Can't wait to talk about this one, but it will wait until it is finished. Good stuff there. My AP class will be reading it later in the year. Until next time, keep reading...
