Lesson 3: Without Male Heir. Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn

Sexy, talented, quick witted, Anne Boleyn was no doubt the grand passion of Henry’s life, and Henry VIII turned his kingdom upside down to have her as his bedmate, and wife. But his bright passion soon flickered out after the birth of another daughter, with such tragic consequences for her mother.

When Henry met Anne Boleyn.

This segment aims to provide a greater understanding of Henry VIII of this period.

In his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, Henry’s attempts to ensure the succession of a male heir met with anguish after anguish. Their first child, a girl, born dead seven months after his union with Catherine; the second child a son, named for his father, found dead in his cradle within weeks of his birth just days after Catherine and Henry celebrated their son's safe arrival. Until their daughter's birth, the 'Bloody Mary' of history, the list of tragedy goes on and on. Even Mary's live birth could be seen as a tragedy, especially remembering how dreadful her life would be, not only for herself but also for others.

By 1518, the last of Catherine and Henry's dead babies had been buried. Catherine, her body worn out by the constant child bearing, perhaps seven children in nine years, would show no further signs of pregnancy. And that's not really surprising, since by that time the King no longer cohabited with her.

Before this time, in 1516, the King had already questioned the validity of his marriage. And being a good Bible scholar, he soon located the appropriate passage in Leviticus, which said if a man married his brother's widow the marriage would bear no fruit. The King ignored another text in Deuteronomy saying a man should marry his brother's widow, raising up living children in his dead brother's name.

Henry did have one acknowledged, living son — Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond- born to Bessie Blount in 1519. So, to him, the problem clearly was not his fault. Even though very much part of the King's character was to do what best suited his own purposes, it seems he really believed all the dead children born in his marriage was God's judgment upon him for taking as wife the relict of his dead brother.

When King first cast his gaze in the direction of Anne Boleyn he was likely a man of thirty-two, very much in his prime, with a wife who looked years older than her real age of 38. Anne was probably only sixteen, deeply in love with her first love, Hal Percy, Northumberland's heir. Her sister was pregnant with a child that may have been the King's.

Cardinal Wolsey destroyed Anne's relationship with Hal Percy, at the King's command. Heart-broken, not wanting the honour of being the next Boleyn girl bedded by the King, Anne was sent home in disgrace. One line of thought believes that when she came back to court all her thoughts were for revenge, especially towards Wolsey, a man who called her foolish and an upstart. For the next six years she tantalised and fascinated the King.

By the time she gave Henry what he wanted, probably just after being made Marquess of Pembroke and in Calais where they had met with the French King, I think she discovered the hunted game was in fact really herself. Until 1536, her life became a struggle for survival — a struggle she was to lose while bracing her body against an executioner’s block.

Not long after they first became lovers, Anne found herself pregnant. The King, declaring his first marriage invalid, quickly wed her in a secret morning service. Anna Boleyn was five months pregnant when crowned Queen of England. By the time the baby was due to be born, the King rested easily in the reassurance of soothsayers that the child would be all he and England wanted. So reassured was the King he had even drawn up proclamations announcing the birth of the Prince, to be named either Henry or Edward. It was Anne Boleyn who had to change the proclamations to announce the birth of a princess.

Question

Let’s discuss the control placed on the lives of women in this period…

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