Has anyone seen 'The Other Boleyn Girl' film? I saw it on the plane home and it was AWFUL!! We know the book was not brilliant with a lot of inaccuracies, but the movie was worse! They had to skip a lot because of the time so if you had no idea about Anne and Henry, then you saw him as a monster and a rapist and Anne as not only a shrew, but at the beginning, as a subservient wimp, doing everything she is told by her Father and Norfolk and more than willing to bed the King. As for Mary, oh my gosh, what a limp rag!! She was so submissive and woebegone!! Definitely not worth wasting an hour plus watching it!!
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From what most of us have read, it does seem Henry hand a low fertility count. Though his first wife had several children, Princess Mary was the only one to survive. The fact Anne only had one living child and Jane had a living but somewhat fragile son, does make one wonder whether Henry's 'seed' was strong. I do believe any idea of intercourse with his next three wives were non existent. Not only was he becoming extremely obese, but due to a fall in a tournament, had badly damaged his leg, which never really healed after that. However, regardless of what has been said about this infliction, I do not believe it had to do with syphilis, though that has often been thought the case. I read somewhere recently - I think it was in the book, "The Last Days of Henry VIII" by Hutchenson -that stated Henry had some disease that affect his overall behaviour, which turned him into the crass person he became(I can't remember the official name of the disease) Anyway, it was due to this that his body had problems healing, which is why he had such issues with his leg. From most accounts I have read, all Henry wanted towards the end of his life was some comfort and someone to look after him. I think his infatuation with Catherine Howard was his last 'attempt' at playing the virile man. Though he may have 'talked' about impregnating Parr, I do think it was all hearsay! Goodness, the man couldn't even get onto his horse without be hoisted on with some sort of crane device!
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"I believe the illness you are referring to is Tertian fever which is a malaria type of sickness. It was severe and caused fevers which came and went every couple of days. This affected the patient's brain and caused headaches and in turn, short tempers. This affected Henry's behaviour and he became depressed, morose and generally disaggreable. I am not sure it affected the healing of his leg so maybe that was somelthing else?
You are right, from what I have read, Henry sure did slow down on his womanizing after his jousting accident and sickness. It must have really haunted him because he was so obsessed with getting a male heir but the court whispers were that he had some problems in the bedroom. And not only did he need help with ropes & pulleys to get on and off of his horse but even into his bed which was 12 ft wide to accommodate his large frame. (Check out Henry VIII - page 2)"
Thanks MsSquirrily; for the life of me, I couldn't remember the name of the disease! As regards his leg, the ulcers, the irrational and sometimes brutal behaviour has for many years been blamed on the fact Henry had syphilis. Does anyone know where the ulcers came from? It has been suggested it may have been due to diabetes?
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I have almost finished reading "Jane Rochford" by Julia Fox. Whilst it is a very good book, I do think the author is pushing the limits with it. The titles really does give the impression the reader will finally find out the truth about the author, but nothing new is really told. Julia Fox merely retells the story of Henry VIII's four wives - Anne Boleyn thru Catherine Howard, and then makes suppositions as to what and where Jane Rochford would have been during those times. Granted there is quite a bit of information that has been recorded as to where and what Jane was doing, but Not enough to warrant a whole book on her. I found myself turning each page, expecting some wonderful revelation as to why Jane acted and did what she did. Has anyone else read this book and felt the same way??
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Thank you KatValois. I must say I did enjoy the book too. I found it an easy read and I also agree that the author's style of writing is great. The issue I had with the book, is it didn't tell me anything new regarding Jane Rochford. I wanted to see her in a more positive light, because I actually do think she was a pawn in the events surrounding her life. Hers was a very dangerous world, and it truly was "survival of the fittest". And you are right. None of us were there to know what it was really like. However, it would have been nice to see her differently, to have more insight into her relationship with George and to know why events unfolded the way they did. I'm glad you enjoyed the book. It is always nice to compare notes and opinions!
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