Misconceptions about Henry VIII
Deconstructing the Myths that Surround this Powerful Tudor
The king responsible for separating the English state from the Roman Catholic Church is shrouded in mystery. This article will debunk many popular - but wrong - legends.
Henry VIII Killed All Six of His Wives
For some reason, this complete fiction has infiltrated popular culture and the American psyche. King Henry VIII did marry six different times: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr. He did have two of these women beheaded – the second and the fifth. Both were convicted on evidence of adultery.
However, the others faced different fates. The king divorced his first and fourth wives. The story of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon is well-documented, as it was a product of the split from the Roman Catholic Church. In the case of Anne of Cleves, the artist Hans Holbein painted a very flattering portrait of the potential bride – too flattering. When Henry VIII was repulsed by her, he ended the marriage within a year. The two are believed to have been on good terms for the rest of their lives.
Jane Seymour died in childbirth, and Catherine Parr outlived the king and raised his three children.
Remember: “Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived.”
In the Case of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII Was Only Motivated by Lust
While 19-year-old court newcomer Anne was pretty, vivacious and cultured, she was not fully responsible for England’s break with Rome. The popular image shows Anne’s ambitions to be queen, her refusal of a sexual affair until she had the crown. But regardless of Anne’s aspirations, the king needed a new, young queen who could bear him an heir. Catherine had only given him a daughter and several miscarriages and stillborn children – hardly the desired product of a royal match.
Indeed, the king started to suspect that he had insulted God and received this curse as a result. Catherine of Aragon was originally married to Henry’s older brother, Prince Arthur. However, once he died, Henry agreed to marry Catherine to maintain the peace between England and Spain. The Biblical dispensation from the pope that allowed him to marry his brother’s widow was from Deuteronomy 25:5, which urges that marriage in the case of the first man’s death. Unfortunately, Leviticus 20:21 forbids exactly this union.
When Henry reflected on this marriage’s inability to yield a son, he came to the conclusion that his immortal soul was in danger; he had violated a Biblical law. This fear, as well as the increasingly urgent need for a male heir, led to his marriage to Anne Boleyn and the church and state split it necessitated.
Henry VIII Was a Dedicated Protestant
King Henry VIII was not a Protestant at all. In fact, in 1521, Pope Leo X proclaimed Henry VIII “Defender of the Faith” after the king published a book attacking Martin Luther. Henry’s motives in creating the Church of England separate from that of Rome were very political and personal in nature. He needed an heir, therefore he needed a new wife and therefore he needed a divorce. Because Rome was currently controlled by the King of Spain – Catherine of Aragon’s nephew – and because granting this divorce would contradict the previous pope’s dispensation to marry Catherine, the pope could not deliver for the king. The new church was not very Protestant in nature at first; it was more a Church in England than a Church of England. It was the Protestant advisers and religious officials Henry VIII relied upon who gently pushed the Church of England in a Protestant direction.
Reference:
Bucholz, Robert, and Newton Key. Early Modern England, 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004.
