It occurs to me…
…that although King Henry VIII had six wives, they only had three names among them: three Catherines, a Jane, and two Annes. It may have made things a bit easier for him, although not necessarily for his wives.
What made me think of this? Last night as I went to bed, I watched cable TV for about a half hour, some sort of wretched series about Henry. As a small child, I had become quite fascinated with Henry’s marital history and was some sort of wee minor expert on it. So, unlike most people who only know he had six wives, I still know their names and some details of their fates (including the fact that he executed “only” two of them).
Also, for what it’s worth, I also recall that for much of his life Henry VIII was a fine figure of a man: tall, athletic, handsome, the very model of a monarch. In an age when people were generally smaller than they are now, he was about 6’2″, and ascended to the throne at the age of 17 in the full flower of young manhood. England was bedazzled:
He had an athletic physique and excelled at sports, regularly showing off his prowess in the jousting arena.
Having inherited the good looks of his grandfather, Edward IV, in 1515 Henry was described as “the handsomest potentate I have ever set eyes on”¦” and later an “Adonis”, “with an extremely fine calf to his leg, his complexion very fair”¦and a round face so very beautiful, that it would become a pretty woman”.
All this changed in 1536 when the king ”“ then in his mid-forties ”“ suffered a serious wound to his leg while jousting. This never properly healed, and instead turned ulcerous, which left Henry increasingly incapacitated.
Four years later, the king’s waist had grown from a trim 32 inches to an enormous 52 inches. By the time of his death, he had to be winched onto his horse. It is this image of the corpulent Henry VIII that has obscured the impressive figure that he cut for most of his life.
Now, back to our regular programming.
When Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses challenged papal authority, Henry managed to pull himself away from hunting in order to support the church in Rome by writing Defense of the Seven Sacraments (Assertio septem sacramentorum) in 1521. This 30,000-word text became a best-seller.
To thank Henry – who was the first English king to write and publish a book – the Pope named him “Defender of the Faith.” Though Henry later broke with the Catholic Church, he never relinquished this title.
“a round face”
Indicator of someone prone to gain weight easily.
At best a ‘cad’ and a proven murderer.
” As a small child, I had become quite fascinated with Henry’s marital history and was some sort of wee minor expert on it.”
Perhaps a reference to “Herman’s Hermits”
is in order ;->
As the saw goes about Henry’s six wives: “Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived.”
He also sang, played lute, harpsichord and organ, and composed. Complete Music of Henry VIII is available on CD, order through Neo’s Amazon button.
“At best a ‘cad’ and a proven murderer.”
Geoffrey Britain – Probably the best summation.
Never understood the “fascination” (which gets to be almost a “romanticization” in some) with monarchies.
Today we would simply call them dictatorships. Only, they had some quasi-religious authority bestowed upon them, something that holds minimal value today.
Henry could not even pretend to let others have that power over him, when it didn’t suit him, and did away with it, claiming his own legitimacy as head of the church.
His behavior and “legacy” is rather disgusting really, no matter how athletic and great he was at sports, particularly jousting (no doubt, his height and corresponding extra reach had something to do with his “prowess”).
That only puts a “romantic” spin on how awful it was for ordinary people to live under such arbitrary rule, especially for his wives.
Was that “The Tudors” Neo? Thats a great series. Give it a chance.
No king loses at golf — or any other ‘competitive’ sport.
So you must take the lofty praise for the formalism that it represents.
This also brings us back to 1965, with Herman’s Hermits and the song “I’m Henery the Eighth, I Am”. And a few years ago, I watched several seasons of “The Tudors” on DVD, about a young Henry VIII. I found it hard to get into, with all the execution and the cruelty of those times.
Yankee:
You might be interested in seeing what I had to say about that series “The Tudors,” and its earlier predecessor.
Say you weren’t watching “Wolf Hall”…