The Six Wives & Many Mistresses of Henry VIII: The Women's Stories
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47. Princess Mary. Separated from her mother since 1531, Princess Mary was almost twenty when Catherine of Aragon died. Having initially refused to accept her illegitimacy, she spent several difficult years estranged from her father and suffering from ill health, before the pair were reconciled and she was a more frequent visitor at court in the late 1530s.
48. Tower of London. Traditionally the Tower was the location from where coronation processions began. Anne Boleyn had stayed here in May 1533 and, on her arrest in 1536, was shocked to be conducted back to the same rooms, weeping and saying they were ‘too good for her’.
49. Site of execution, Tower of London. On 17 May, George Boleyn and four others were beheaded on Tower Green, followed by Anne two days later. Their cousin Catherine Howard would also lose her head on the same spot, on 13 February 1542, shortly followed by George’s widow, Jane Rochford.
50. Jane Seymour. Jane Seymour was a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn when she attracted Henry’s attention. While Anne languished in the Tower, Jane stayed at Beddington Manor, then at Chelsea, becoming betrothed to Henry the morning after her predecessor’s execution. She married Henry at York Place ten days later.
51. Whitehall. The Tudor palace of Whitehall evolved in the 1530s out of Wolsey’s residence of York Place, to eventually cover twenty-three acres. It was reputed to be Anne Boleyn’s favourite palace, as Henry built new lodgings for her there and the location had no associations with Catherine of Aragon. By 1547, it was the largest royal palace in Europe.
52. Anne Shelton. Sir Thomas Boleyn’s sister Anne married Sir John Shelton and bore him six children. In 1533 she and her sister Alice were put in charge of Princess Mary, while her daughters Margaret (Madge) and Mary became ladies-in-waiting to their cousin Anne Boleyn.
53. Mary Shelton. Labelled as Lady Henegham, or Heveningham, this sketch by Holbein is thought to depict Mary Shelton, poetess and possible amour of Henry in the late 1530s.
54. An Allegory of the Tudor Succession, the family of Henry VIII.
55. Edward VI by Hans Holbein. Edward was born on 12 October 1537, and this drawing was made some time before Holbein’s death in 1543.
56. Anne of Cleves. Raised in a Lutheran household in Germany, Anne was considerably different from Henry’s previous wives and he pursued the match to create an alliance against France and the Empire. This portrait, painted by Hans Holbein the Younger in 1539, portrays her in the heavy clothes that Henry found so unattractive, although it does not convey exactly what he objected to on a personal level.
57. Deal Castle. In late December 1539, Anne of Cleves arrived in Deal, on the Kent coast, after her departure from Calais was delayed for two weeks by terrible weather. Her first taste of England was this newly built defensive fort, commissioned by Henry to protect against invasion from Francis I and Emperor Charles.
58. Inside the keep at Deal Castle. After disembarking, Anne was conducted into the castle by Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and his wife, Catherine. A banquet was served for her, probably in the keep, the central room of the castle, before the party moved on to Dover.
59. Dover Castle. Anne rested overnight in the Norman castle on Dover cliffs before beginning her journey to Canterbury. Henry’s first three wives also stayed in the castle, with Edward Hall believing that he married Anne Boleyn there in secrecy in November 1532.
60. St Augustine’s Abbey. When Henry visited Canterbury before the Reformation, as with Catherine of Aragon in 1520, he would stay in the Archbishop’s Palace. In 1539 though, a new lodging was prepared for Anne of Cleves, when the newly dissolved abbey was converted into the ‘King’s Palace’. The paint was reputedly still drying on the walls when women of the town lined up to greet their new queen, late in the evening on 29 December.
61. Catherine Howard. Like her cousin Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard came to court to serve a queen. Raised in the household of her step-grandmother, she had already had been promised to her lover, Francis Dereham, by the time Henry made her his wife. She was married to the king at Oatlands Palace, soon after his union with Anne of Cleves was declared invalid.
62. Richmond Palace. Built by Henry VII, Richmond was frequently used during his reign and Catherine of Aragon stayed there often, especially in late 1501, during the celebrations of her marriage to Arthur. It was Anne of Cleves’ principal residence, where she was informed of the annulment of her marriage, and was granted to her as part of her settlement.
63. Nonsuch Palace. Henry VIII began building his new pleasure palace from scratch in 1538, initially as a hunting lodge for his intimate circle. Costing the equivalent of more than £100 million, it was given its name to suggest that it had no rival.
64. Rochford Hall, east façade. Sir Thomas Boleyn inherited Rochford Hall, Essex, from his mother Margaret Butler and was elevated to Viscount Rochford in 1525. In 1534, following Mary Boleyn’s marriage to William Stafford, the couple were granted Rochford Hall as their principal residence.
65. The Bishop’s Palace, Lincoln. During the summer progress of 1541 Henry and Catherine Howard stayed in the Bishop’s Palace from 9 August, where Jane Rochford helped arrange the queen’s tryst with Thomas Culpeper.
66. Rochford Hall, inner courtyard.
67. Rochford Hall in Tudor times, an artist’s reconstruction hanging inside the building.
68. Rochford Hall church, taken from the attic of Rochford Hall.
69. Rochford Hall church. Just a stone’s throw from Rochford Hall, most of St Andrew’s church dates from the fifteenth century, although an earlier church stood on the site. It is likely that Mary Boleyn was buried here, having died in the hall in 1543, but no evidence remains of her final resting place.
70. Catherine Parr. Having already been twice widowed, Catherine Parr returned to court in the spring of 1543, in the hopes of being married to Sir Thomas Seymour. She soon attracted a more prestigious suitor though and, after Seymour was sent abroad, became Henry’s queen that July.
71. Princess Elizabeth. A portrait of the princess at the age of thirteen, painted shortly before the death of her father. Catherine Parr brought Henry’s three legitimate children together and helped repair their difficult relationships with the king and each other.
72. Sudeley Castle. Following Henry’s death, Catherine remarried in secret to Thomas Seymour. They lived first at her house in Chelsea with Princess Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey, but Seymour’s inappropriate attentions to Elizabeth caused Catherine to send her away. Heavily pregnant, she moved to Sudeley Castle, where she delivered a daughter and died shortly after.
73. Hatfield House. Henry acquired the house in 1538 and used it as a residence for his children. Originally a quadrangle of buildings around a courtyard, only one wing remains today. The rest of the present day house was built by Robert Cecil in 1611.
74. Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, widow of Charles Brandon. Henry may have considered making her his seventh wife in 1546.
Notes
Introduction: The Six Wives and Many Mistresses?
1. Sir Thomas More.
1 A Maid from Spain, 1485–1500
1. Anon., The Receyt of the Ladie Kateryn in Astle, Thomas, Grose, Francis et al. (eds), The Antiquarian Repertory: a miscellaneous assemblage of topography, history, biography, customs and manners intended to illustrate and preserve several valuable remains of old times. (London: E. Jeffery, 1807).
2. Williams, Patrick, Katharine of Aragon (Amberley, 2013).
3. Cowans, Jon (ed.), Early Modern Spain: A Documentary History (University of Pennsylvania, 2003).
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Tremlett, Giles, Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen (Faber and Faber, 2010).
7. Ibid.
8. CSP Spain 5 Nov. 1485.
9. CSP Spain 30 April 1488.
10. CSP Spain 6 July 1488.
11. Course Material, ‘England in the Time of Richard III’ (University of Leicester, 2013).
12. Rubin, Nancy, I
sabella of Castile, the First Renaissance Queen (St Martin’s Press, 1991).
13. Ibid.
14. CSP Spain March 1499.
15. Ibid.
16. CSP Spain May 1499.
17. Ibid.
18. CSP Spain Oct. 1499.
2 A Royal Welcome, 1501
1. Dunbar, from ‘The Thistle and the Rose’ with my substitution of ‘England’ for ‘Scotland.’
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Starkey, David, Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII (Vintage, 2004).
5. Erickson, Carolly, Great Harry: The Extravagant Life of Henry VIII (Robson Books, 2004 edn).
6. Receyt.
7. Ibid.
8. Nichols, John Gough, London Pageants 1: An Account of Sixty Royal Processions and Entertainments in the City of London (J. B. Nichols and Son, 1831).
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Rubin.
13. CSP Spain June 1505.
3 Marrying Arthur, 1501
1. Udall, Nicholas, from Ralph Roister Doister.
2. Receyt.
3. Ibid.
4. Leland.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Receyt.
8. Ibid.
9. Hall.
10. Receyt.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Licence, Amy, Elizabeth of York (Amberley, 2013).
14. Tremlett.
15. CSP Spain Nov 1501.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
4 Ludlow, 1502
1. Thomas, Lord Vaux.
2. Williams.
3. CSP Spain Supplement to Volume 1 1501.
4. Ibid.
18. Rubin.
5. CSP Spain Supp.
6. Norton, Elizabeth, Bessie Blount (Amberley, 2011).
7. CSP Spain Supp.
8. Ibid.
9. For the best description of the Ludlow household, see Gunn, Stephen and Monckton, Linda (eds), Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, Life, Death and Commemoration (Boydell Press, 2009).
10. Tremlett.
11. Receyt.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
5 The Young Widow, 1502–03
1. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey.
2. Cotton MS Vitellus Appendix xxvii f. 145.
3. Hutchinson, Robert, The Rise of Henry VIII (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2011).
4. CSP Spain May 1502.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
6 Betrothal Games, 1503–05
1. Anon, ‘Greensleeves’.
2. Tremlett.
3. Stow, John, The Survey of London (Everyman, 1912).
4. Vergil, Polydore, Anglia Historia 1485–1537.
5. CSP Spain April 1503.
6. Ibid.
7. CSP Spain June 1503.
8. Ibid.
9. Erickson.
10. CSP Spain June 1503.
11. Tremlett.
12. CSP Spain June 1505.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
7 The Other Spanish Princess, 1506–07
1. From Skelton, John, ‘Go, Piteous Heart’.
2. Matusiak.
3. Ibid.
4. CSP Spain Sept. 1505.
5. Ibid.
6. Wood, Mary Anne Everett (ed.), Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies of Great Britain, Volume 1 (London: Henry Colburn, 1846).
7. Ibid.
8. CSP Spain June 1505.
9. Ibid.
10. Matusiak.
11. CSP Spain 1507.
12. Ibid.
13. Hutchinson.
14. Tremlett.
15. Vergil.
16. Hutchinson.
17. BL Add MS 21, 404 fl. 9.
18. Tremlett.
19. CSP Spain March 1507.
20. Ibid.
21. CSP Spain Oct. 1506.
22. Ibid.
23. CSP Spain Oct. 1507.
24. CSP Spain April 1507.
8 Princess of Scandal, 1507–09
1. From Skelton, John ‘The Bowge of Court’.
2. Fredericks.
3. Hutchinson.
4. Williams.
5. Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies.
6. CSP Spain Supplement to Volumes 1 and 2, Queen Katherine.
7. Ibid.
8. Tremlett.
9. CSP Spain Supplement, Queen Katherine.
10. Williams.
11. Mattingly, Garrett.
12. Tremlett.
13. Ibid.
14. CSPS Supp. QK.
15. Ibid.
16. CSP Spain March 1509.
14. CSPS Supp. QK.
17. Ibid.
18. CSP Spain March 1509.
19. Tremlett.
20. CSP Spain March 1509.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. CSP Spain Supp. QK.
24. Erickson.
9 In Henry’s Bed, June 1509
1. Gower, from Confessio Amantis.
2. Hutchinson.
3. Ibid.
4. Williams.
5. Starkey.
6. Williams.
7. Anglo.
8. Ibid.
9. Archaeologia.
10. Tannahill.
11. Niebrzydowski, Sue, Bonoure and Buxom: A Study of Wives in Late Medieval Literature (Peter Land, 2006).
12. Jones, P.
13. Dunbar.
14. SLP Henry VIII April 1533.
10 Coronation, 24 June 1509
1. 2 Kings, 11:12.
2. CSP Spain June 1509.
3. Hall.
4. Hutchinson.
5. SLP Henry VIII July 1509.
6. Ibid.
7. Hall.
8. More.
9. Ibid.
10. Hall.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
11 Catherine’s Court, 1509
1. Thomas More’s coronation verses.
2. Ibid.
3. Skelton, John, Speculum principis (1501).
4. Williams.
5. More, © Yale University Press.
6. CSP Henry VIII July 1509.
7. Ibid.
8. CSP Spain July 1509.
9. Starkey.
10. CSP Spain Supplement 1510.
11. Niebrzydowski.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Anon., Sidrak and Bokkus.
15. Williams.
12 Pregnancy, 1509–10
1. Anon., Sidrak and Bokkus.
2. Licence, Amy, In Bed with the Tudors (Amberley, 2012).
3. Sidrak and Bokkus.
4. Ibid.
5. SLP Henry VIII 1509.
6. Hall.
7. SLP Henry VIII May 1509.
13 Anne, Lady Hastings, 1510
1. More.
2. Holinshed.
3. SLP Henry VIII May 1510.
4. Ibid.
5. Stow.
6. Ibid.
7. Fraser.
8. Norton, Elizabeth, The Boleyn Women (Amberley, 2013).
9. SLP Henry VIII March 1522.
14 The Baby Prince, 1510–11
1. Sidrak and Bokkus.
2. Thurley.
3. Fox.
4. Chamberlayne.
5. Ibid.
6. Hall.
7. Ibid.
8. Holinshed.
9. Niebrzydowski.
15 Regent, 1511–13
1. Williams, letter from Catherine to Henry.
2. CSP Spain November 1512.
3. SLP Henry VIII June 1513.
4. Hastead.
5. Starkey.
6. Ibid.
7. Starkey.
8. SLP Milan Sept. 1512.
9. Ibid.
10. Fox.
11. SLP Milan Sept. 1513.
12. Ibid.
16 Etiennette de la Baume, 1513
2. SLP Milan Sept. 1513.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid. Oct.
6. SLP Henry VIII Oct. 1513.
7. Hall.
8. Ibid.
9. SLP Henry VIII Aug. 1514.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
17 Jane Popincourt, 1514
1. Heywood, The Play of the Weather.
2. CSP Venice Sept. 1514.
3. Ibid.
4. SLP Henry VIII Aug. 1514.
5. Jones.
6. Hall.
7. CSP Venice Aug. 1514.
8. Fraser.
18 Elizabeth Carew, 1514
1. Skelton, John, Womanhood, Wanton Ye Want.
2. Michell.
3. Weir.
4. Matusiak.
5. SLP Henry VIII Nov. 1514.
6. Matusiak.
7. Warnicke.
8. SLP Henry VIII Sept. 1537.
9. Erickson.
19 Labour and Loss, 1514–15
1. Caxton.
2. SLP Henry VIII Nov. 1515.
3. Hall.
4. SLP Dec. 1514.
5. Holinshed.
6. Kramer, Kyra, Blood Will Tell: A Medical Explanation for the Tyranny of Henry VIII (CreateSpace, 2012).
7. Sidrak and Bokkus.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
20 Catching the King’s Eye, 1514–15
1. Anon, Guystarde and Sygysmonde (1532).
2. Hall.
3. Possibly a misspelling of St Leger.
4. Hall.
5. Vives, Education of a Christian Woman (1524).
6. Ibid.
7. Heywood, The Play of the Weather.
8. Ibid.
9. SLP Henry VIII Oct. 1515.
10. SLP Henry VIII Dec. 1514.
11. SLP Henry VIII Jan. 1515.
12. Ibid.
13. Holinshed.
14. Hall.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
21 Begetting a Boy, 1515–16
1. Anon.
2. Benedek.
3. Ibid.
4. Furdell.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. CSP Spain Oct. 1515.