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The Many Loves of King Henry VIII's Life


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Queen Katherine of Aragon
First Love
Actress:

Short timeline of Romance:
  • Betrothed at 18 to 12 year old Henry - 1503, after the sudden death of her husband & Henry's older brother, Arthur.
  • Henry VII sends Katherine from court because she and the 15 year old Prince Henry are spending to much time together getting too close to each other, this isn't good for the King as he is trying to marry Henry off to Eleanor of Austria c. 1506
  • Henry says that he "Desires her [Katherine] above all other women and longs to wed her".In 1509 18 year old Henry marries 23 year old Katherine.
  • A son is born & Henry has "never been so in love" with his queen (Starkey) - 1511
  • Their son dies 52 days later
  • 6 or 7 pregnancies between 1509 - 1518 takes its toll on Katherine's looks
  • Henry takes two mistresses Elizabeth Blount c. 1514 - 1518 & Mary Boleyn c.1521-1525
  • Henry stops visiting her bed in 1524
*Click here for more detailed timeline


History of Romance & quote source:
  • "In the first 6 years of her marriage to Henry, Katherine was 'lively and gracious'. She was young and pretty and sometimes flighty, She presided over jousts and the Court of Love. She was a powerful political influence on the King, and, for a few months, she ruled England as regent. She showed herself able, at least as able as Henry, and under her regency Tudor England won its greatest military victory before the Armada. She was religious. But the God she worshipped was the God of Battles. In her thirties, Katherine lost most of this. She lost her looks, her political power and her husband's love. She had also failed to give him a son. But she found something that replaced them all: the love of God. She also retained the love of the people. For like her, most Tudor women lost their looks and their figures in child bearing. An many took to religion as consolation. The difference was that Katherine performed on a wider stage." - David Starkey's Six Wives
  • "I am yours, Henry R, forever" - Written by Henry in a gift of a beautifully illuminated book which had once been his mother's, which he gave to Katherine.
Mistress Elizabeth (Bessie) Blount
Playful Passion
Actress : Ruta Gedmintas

Short Timeline of Romance:
  • At 23 Henry first 'notices' a very young Bessie (possibly 12/13 years old) at a Christmas Mummery - 1514
  • She becomes his first 'official' mistress c.1516
  • Gives birth to an illegitimate Son Henry Fitzroy in 1519 (she is approximately 18 years old)

History of Romance & Source:
  • " The first [mistress] was the young, talented and exquisitely beautiful Elizabeth Blount. She became Henry's mistress soon after her arrival at Court as one of the Queen's Ladies in 1513 and in 1519 she gave him a son, Henry Fitzroy. Six years later, as we have seen, Henry recognised the boy and created him Duke of Richmond. But the birth marked the beginning of the end of the love affair: babies, Henry seems to have felt, were for wives and not for mistresses, who should inhabit a more ethereal realm of chivalric fantasy.- David Starkey's Six Wives
  • Bessie was approximately 17 when she reached the height of her power in 1518. However in 1514, Henry danced with her so much that even the docile and accepting Queen Katherine of Aragon was so jealous that she persuaded Henry to exclude her from the Twelfth Night festivities. By 1517 the king was reputed to be “in the chains of love with her,” and in the spring of 1519, Bessie gave birth to a son who was Henry Fitzroy (son of the king). Once she had fulfilled her main purpose, she was married off to Gilbert Tailboys, 1st Baron Tailboys of Kyme, one of his courtiers whose family was said to have a history of insanity, and was remembered fondly by Henry with the occasional New Years gift

Lady Mary Boleyn
Amourous Affair
Actress:

Short Timeline of the Romance:
  • From the ages of 15 - 19, Mary was at the French court of Francis I who described her as "a great prostitute, infamous above all" & "the English Mare" 1514- 1519
  • Rumours were that she was recalled home due to her affairs with various men at the French court, including Francis I.c.1519
  • A marriage to Sir William Carey was arranged in 1520. Their marriage was attended by the 29 year old King.
  • Exact dates are hazy but it is thought she was the King's mistress circa 1521 - 1525 (ages 22 - 26)


History of the Romance & Source:
  • "In 1522, Elizabeth Blount, with Wolsey's help was married off...At the same time, Henry transferred his affections to a new mistress; Mary, elder sister of Anne Boleyn. Mary was married to William carey, one of the king's favourite Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber.......Carey became a rich man; while Thomas Boleyn was made Viscount Rochford.These transactions might seem to turn Mary into the merest prostitute, with her husband and father as her pimps. But Mary, if her later behaviour is anything to go by, had been in love with Henry, and being in love, had done what came naturally." - David Starkey's Six Wives

Queen Anne Boleyn

Grand Passion
Actress:


Short Timeline of the Romance:
  • Anne returns to England from France in 1521 (she is approximately 20 years old)
  • She debuts in court at a pageant, the "Chateau Vert" as "Perseverance"where Henry first sees her. March 1522
  • She is secretly betrothed to Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland's son in c. 1523
  • Henry through Wolsey splits up the romance and Anne is sent from court returning mid 1525
  • By 1526, Henry is besotted with Anne and writes a series of love letters to her for over a year.Henry offers her the title of "Maitresse en titre" (Official Mistress) which she refuses saying her "maidenhead belongs to my husband" (see : Anne Boleyn Controversies page )
  • Anne relents after Henry offers her marriage and they become secretly betrothed to each other.- New Year 1527
  • For 6 years from 1527 - 1533, there ensued an extraordinary period of time where the King had only eyes for Anne with no hint of any other mistresses.
  • Some historians believe they were married in secret in November 1532 however by January 25, 1533 they had officially married. It is probable that Anne was pregnant by then. (she is approximately 31 years old and Henry is 42)
  • King Henry's marriage to Katherine was officially annulled May 23, 1533
  • Anne was crowned Queen of England on June 1st, 1533
  • She gave birth to Princess Elizabeth on September 7 1533.
  • After two miscarriages, Anne fell out of favour with the King and when Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex joined with the catholic faction to bring down the reformist faction, she was arrested and found guilty of adultery and incest which was a treasonable offence for a queen in May 1536 and beheaded.

History of the Romance & Source:
  • "Anne kept Henry in suspense for over a year. He cajoled and pleaded. He made promises and gave gifts. Above all he wrote letters.... These letters......belong to the fantastical world of the masques and revels where Henry had first glimpsed Anne. It is the realm of Courtly Love, with its conventions, its artiface and its elaborate games with words. Henry's previous extra marital relationships, with Elizabeth Blount and with Mary Boleyn, had remained at this level. But, at some point, Anne wrought an alchemy. She turned Henry's stilted sighs into real passion. She made him, for the first and last time in his life, fall properly in love. Like his rival Wyatt , he experienced the vicissitudes of passion: 'now joy, now woe' He burned for fulfilment - in vain. And the least patient of men, he had to school himself to wait." - David Starkey's Six Wives
  • "My mistress and friend: I and my heart put ourselves in your hands, begging you to have them suitors for your good favour, and that your affection for them should not grow less through absence. For it would be a great pity to increase their sorrow since absence does it sufficiently, and more than ever I could have thought possible reminding us of a point in astronomy, which is, that the longer the days are the farther off is the sun, and yet the more fierce. So it is with our love, for by absence we are parted, yet nevertheless it keeps its fervour, at least on my side, and I hope on yours also: assuring you that on my side the ennui of absence is already too much for me: and when I think of the increase of what I must needs suffer it would be well nigh unbearable for me were it not for the firm hope I have and as I cannot be with you in person, I am sending you the nearest possible thing to that, namely, my picture set in a bracelet, with the whole device which you already know. Wishing myself in their place when it shall please you. This by the hand of Your loyal servant and friend" H. Rex http://englishhistory.net/tudor/lovelett.html

Queen Jane Seymour

A Perfect Match
Actress(es):


Short Timeline of the Romance:
  • Jane had been at court for more than 6 years serving as lady-in-waiting to both Queen Katherine of Aragon and Queen Anne Boleyn
  • While Queen Anne Boleyn was pregnant, the King stayed at Wolf Hall (the Seymour home) during a hunt and that may have been where he first noticed Jane . (Jane was approximately 26 years old & Henry was 44)- November 1535
  • Henry has a jousting accident and lays unconscious for 2 hours and Queen Anne Boleyn loses her baby 5 days later - January 1536
  • Ambassador Chapuys writes that Henry has a "new love" in February 1536
  • The betrothal of Henry and Jane is announced the day after Anne is executed May 20, 1536
  • Jane Seymour was proclaimed Queen on June 4, 1536 though she was never actually crowned due to a plague in London although some say it was because Henry wanted to make sure that she fulfilled her duty by giving him a son.
  • On October 12 1537 Jane gives birth to a son Edward VI.
  • Jane dies on October 24, 1537 (aged 28). Henry was said to have worn all black for three months and did not remarry for another three years. She is the only wife to be buried by his side.
  • Even when Henry had married his other wives, Jane's image continued to appear in royal dynastic portraits as Queen Consort because she was the mother of the heir to the throne.


History of the Romance & Source:
  • "For Henry, as we have seen, being in love, or at least being able to imagine himself in love, was a prerequisite for marriage. But he tended to fall in love with a woman only when he was falling out of love with another one. It was thus that Anne succeeded Catherine and thus in turn, as her own star waned, that Anne had been displaced by Jane. But Jane died while Henry was still in love with her -- or, at least , not much out of it. Moreover, the fact that she died giving him a son meant that he came to love her more dead than alive. In these circumstances, the machinery of love on the rebound did not come into play and the post of Queen lay vacant". David Starkey's Six Wives.

Queen Katherine Howard
A Mad Infatuation
Actress:


Short Timeline of the Romance:
  • Katherine arrived at court in early 1540 or late 1539 as a lady in waiting to Anne of Cleves.
  • Henry and Katherine were married July 28, 1540. Katherine was never crowned Queen. Henry could not afford it and he was probably waiting for Katherine to fulfill her duties.
  • The King was very affectionate to Katherine in public. Katherine in return tried her best to keep the king happy. She was in awe of him even though she did not truly love him.
  • Henry and Katherine had no children. Henry was so infatuated with Katherine that he did not believe the accusations against her at first.


History of the Romance & Source:
  • "...by the winter of 1541-2, the ambassador [Chapuys] had known Henry for a dozen years. He had seen him change from a fit, if florid, forty-year-old to the prematurely aged and bloated monster he had become a decade later. He had witnessed his reaction to Anne Boleyn's execution and to Jane Seymour's death. But he had never seen him behave as he did over Catherine Howard. 'This King', he reported on 3 December 1541, 'has wonderfully felt the case of the Queen, his wife.' 'He has certainly shown', he continued 'greater sorrow and regret at her loss than at the faults, loss or divorce of his preceding wives'. ,, Indeed, the contrast was so great that Chapuys felt the need to offer what we might call a little psychology to explain it. He did so by means of a homely comparison. 'I should say'. he wrote. 'that the King's case resembles very much that of a woman who cried more bitterly at the loss of her tenth husband than she had cried on the death of the other nine put together, through all of though all of them had been equally worthy people and good husbands to her.' 'The reason', Chapuy's tale continued. '[was] that she had never buried one of them without being sure of the next. But after the tenth husband she had no other one in view, hence her sorrow and her lamentation.' 'Such', Chapuys concluded, 'is the case with this King, who does not seem to have any plan or female friend to fall back upon.' It can be put more simply. Previously, with the exception of that ever-sainted Jane Seymour, Henry had abandoned his wives. Now, he felt, a wife had abandoned him. He did not like it." - David Starkey's Six Wives






Queen Catherine Parr
Perfect Companions

Actress:
Short Timeline of the Romance:
  • By the time Catherine Parr met Henry she was twice widowed. This was a relief because a widow did not have to prove their chastity.
  • They were married on July 12, 1543. All the royal children were present for the ceremony.
  • She was a perfect companion for the King and a wonderful stepmother to his children.
  • Her and Henry would talk. She would sit in his lap or be sitting on the bed with his bad leg strown across her lap.
  • She remained at Henry's side til she was sent away to Greenwich Palace with her stepdaughter for Christmas. Henry died on January 28, 1547.


History of the Romance & Source:
  • Although the distance of time and account of days neither is long nor many of your majesty's absence, yet the want of your presence, so much desired and beloved by me, maketh me that I cannot quietly pleasure in anything until I hear from your majesty. The time, therefore, seemeth to me very long, with a great desire to know how your highness hath done since your departing hence, whose prosperity and health I prefer and desire more than mine own. And whereas I know your majesty's absence is never without great need, yet love and affection compel me to desire your presence.
    Again, the same zeal and affection force me to be best content with that which is your will and pleasure. Thus love maketh me in all things to set apart mine own convenience and pleasure, and to embrace most joyfully his will and pleasure whom I love. God, the knower of secrets, can judge these words not to be written only with ink, but most truly impressed on the heart. Much more I omit, lest it be thought I go about to praise myself, or crave a thank; which thing to do I mind nothing less, but a plain, simple relation of the love and zeal I bear your majesty, proceeding from the abundance of the heart. Wherein I must confess I desire no commendation, having such just occasion to do the same.
    I make like account with your majesty as I do with God for his benefits and gifts heaped upon me daily, acknowledging myself a great debtor to him, not being able to recompense the least of his benefits; in which state I am certain and sure to die, yet I hope in His gracious acceptation of my goodwill. Even such confidence have I in your majesty's gentleness, knowing myself never to have done my duty as were requisite and meet for such a noble prince, at whose hands I have found and received so much love and goodness, that with words I cannot express it. Lest I should be too tedious to your majesty, I finish this my scribbled letter, committing you to the governance of the Lord with long and prosperous life here, and after this life to enjoy the kingdom of his elect.
    From Greenwich, by your majesty's humble and obedient servant,
    Katharine the Queen.
http://englishhistory.net/tudor/letter14.html



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Keyword tags: Anne Boleyn Catherine Parr Elizabeth Blount Henry VIII's love life Jane Seymour Katherine Howard Katherine of Aragon Kathryn Howard loves of Henry VIII Mary Boleyn tudor mistresses tudor wives Tudors wives
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sandirs The Irony of Henry's Love Life (page: 1 2 3) 40 Aug 25 2009, 1:14 PM EDT by tudorcrazy
Thread started: Mar 12 2009, 12:33 PM EDT  Watch
I don't think that Henry lost interest in his wives after they had babies. His marriage to Catherine of Aragon didn't falter until quite a while after the birth of Princess Mary. This birth confirmed that Catherine was capable of bearing a healthy, living infant. In many cultures this is celebrated as "a girl paving the way for a boy".

It was her failure to carry a healthy boy to term PLUS Henry's roving eye alighting on young Anne Boleyn, that in my opinion, doomed the marriage. Add to this, the fact that Catherine's looks faded and she seemed unable to compete with Anne on many levels, relying on religion, Canon Law, and the position of her nephew, the Holy Roman muck-a-muck, to preserve her marriage.

Certainly, Henry never got over plain, sweet Jane Seymour, who succeeded in bearing the healthy prince and paid for it with her death by "childbed fever". Note the last 2 bulleted items above. Also, she was the wife he chose to be buried alongside as his "true" wife (which I've always considered a tremendous slap in the face to Catherine Parr, who nursed him faithfully and diligently through his most frail but irrascible years!).

Regarding mistresses, yes, I think the argument of childbirth is stronger here, although it's believed that BOTH Mary Boleyn' s first 2 children were Henry's: if this is so, and there seems to be no other substantive contender for the daddy honors, obvioiusly the relationship continued after the birth of their daughter.

A different irony: Henry's love and involvement with his son by Bessy Blount, but apparent limited or lack of interest in Mary's children. Was this a manifestation of infatuation with BB, or with becoming a father for the first time, or a combination thereof?? Thoughts?
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Keyword tags: Anne Boleyn Bessy Blount Catherine of Aragon Mary Boleyn parenthood
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Maggie-AnneB. Well This Is Interesting 16 Apr 3 2009, 7:40 PM EDT by howardfan
Thread started: Apr 2 2009, 5:35 PM EDT  Watch
To induce a abortion, in the 16th century, you could take Ivy, White Poplar Bark, or Tansy.

Well those sound tasty! ;)
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MsSquirrly The irony of Henry's love life 12 Apr 2 2009, 10:39 PM EDT by karenofbethany
Thread started: Dec 23 2008, 1:33 AM EST  Watch
While putting together the loves of Henry's life page, it suddenly struck me that while Henry so wanted to have children, he became disinterested in the woman in his life after she had a baby or became pregnant. It happened with poor Katherine who lost so many babies....then Bessie Blount, Mary & Anne Boleyn. In each case, it seemed that the pregnancy was a turning point in his feelings. Perhaps it would have happened with Jane too if she had survived. Starkey says in his Six Wives "babies, Henry seems to have felt, were for wives and not for mistresses, who should inhabit a more ethereal realm of chivalric fantasy'....but that could apply to wives too. He lost "the feeling" for them too after they gave birth or lost babies. Most of his romantic feelings lasted between 4 - 7 years. I start to think that perhaps Katherine Howard must have hurt him the most since he didnt fall out of love with her.....he felt betrayed by her unlike any of the others.
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