On This Day in Tudor History

On June 3, 1533 Henry VIII’s council wrote to William Blount, Catherine of Aragon’s personal chamberlain instructing him to tell Catherine that she was not longer to refer to herself as Queen, instead she should be addressed by her rightful title of Princess Dowager. This title recognized only Catherine’s short marriage to Arthur, Henry’s older brother.  Despite the annulment of their marriage and the recognition by Parliament of Anne Boleyn’s new queenly status, Catherine persisted in calling herself Queen and Henry’s true wedded wife. The instructions to Blount were as follows:

“As the King cannot have two wives he cannot permit the Dowager to persist in calling herself by the name of the Queen, especially considering how benignantly and honorable she has been treated in the realm. She is to satisfy herself with the name of Dowager, as prescribes by the Act of Parliament, and must beware of the danger if she attempts to contravene it, which will only irritate the feelings of the people against her. If she be not persuaded by these arguments to avoid the King’s indignation and relent from her vehement arrogancy, the King will be compelled to punish her servants, and withdraw her affection from his daughter. Finally, that as the marriage is irrevocable, and has passed the consent of Parliament, nothing she can do will annul is, and she will only incur the displeasure of Almighty God and of the King.” *

Despite the thinly veiled threats in the instructions Catherine rebelled, refusing to acknowledge the end of her marriage, Anne as Queen or even the authority of any person in England to decide her case, arguing that only the Pope had that right. She refused to abandon her title and the legitimacy of her daughter until the Pope made his decision. In fact Catherine asked for her own copy of the instructions which would be translated and sent to Rome. The daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand was showing her courage and defiance once again!

 

*Excerpt from the Six Wives: The Queen of Henry VIII by David Starkey

Inside the Body of Henry VIII: A Documentary

Hey all, this weekend I watched an awesome Youtube video on the health of Henry VIII. It explores the mental and physical decline of the notorious monarch and possible causes for this deterioration. I found it absolutely fascinating and I hope you do too!

Reader Questions

I have gotten a bit behind on answering submitted questions, I apologize! We have had so many great submissions in the past few weeks :) Thank you and I will do my best to answer them all!

Q: The other day a friend told me that Anne Boleyn had a sixth finger. I thought this was a lie until she showed me a website that confirmed what she said! What is your idea?

A: The myth that Anne had a sixth finger began after her death. Nicholas Sander, who was a Catholic living in exile during the time of Elizabeth I, disliked Elizabeth and sought to undermine her rule by blackening the reputation of her mother Anne. He also accused Anne of having an extra, protruding tooth and large moles on her neck. Sanders never saw Anne and his assertions are not found anywhere in contemporary primary source accounts of Anne. It is also safe to assume that Henry would not have pursued her for almost a decade if she had noticeable physical defects, he would have had his pick of attractive women.

Q: How did Lady Jane Grey have a claim to the throne? I am confused as to why she was nominated by Edward?

A: First of all Jane had a very weak claim, hence the reason her reign lasted nine days. Jane was the daughter of Frances Brandon, who herself was the daughter of Mary (nee Tudor) and Charles Brandon. Mary Tudor was Henry VIII's sister. Jane was nominated because she had Tudor blood and shared the virulent Protestant ideas of Edward. Edward and Mary (his eldest sister) often clashed over religious ideologies so he wanted to prevent her from ruling should he die without an heir. He chose to disinherit her based on the nullity of her mother's marriage to Henry VIII but in order to do so he would also have to disinherit Elizabeth regardless of the fact that she had protestant sympathies. Therefore when researching who would be next in line to inherit the throne Edward named Jane as she was his first cousin (once removed) and the eldest Tudor heiress.


Q: Why did Mary choose to place her allegiance with her mother, rather than her father? It would have seemed to serve her better?

A: If you are at all familiar with Catherine of Aragon's reproductive woes you will know why she doted so much on her daughter Mary. Unlike many royal parents Catherine took a very active role in her daughter's upbringing. She personally selected Mary's tutors, religious instructors, clothing and members of her household. When Mary was sick Catherine tended her and they saw each other frequently, writing letters when physical visits were not possible. Catherine's care and love in Mary's upbringing made her more sympathetic to her mother's plight and thus more loyal. we must also examine the fact that siding with her father meant denying her own legitimacy and inheritance, something she wasn't likely to do as she was raised as the heiress apparent and had expectations of ruling England one day.

Read of the Week

When reviewing books for this blog I always try to use something that will not only be enjoyable to my readers but also give them historical insight or knowledge. Sometimes I choose novels, either to give my mind a break from research or to just find out how others perceive and write about Tudor England. Whenever I indulge in a novel it is normally a Philipa Gregory one, her writings are my guilty pleasure because despite their vast historical inaccuracy they are fun to read. This week I settled in and battled the rainy blues by enjoying The Boleyn Inheritance.  The book covers three women vital to the story of Henry VIII; Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn, viscountess Rochford. Each section of the novel tells the story from these women’s personal points of view. Dodging scandal, spying and playing the game of court politics is everyday life. Gregory brings to life Tudor England and the characters most of us tend not focus on. I greatly enjoyed the sections about Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard but I found her descriptions of Jane Boleyn hard to manage. I know this is historical fiction but the perpetuation of the rumor that Jane’s testimony sent her sister-in-law and Anne and husband George to the scaffold really bothers me. Despite this slight bias I have in the last section the book is amazingly well written and so readable. Pick it up today!

 

The Arrest of Anne Askew

On this day in Tudor history 1546, Mistress Anne Askew was arrested for heresy. Anne was married at fifteen to William Kyme but refused to adopt his last name as her own. William and Anne had at least one child. She developed her skills as a poet and used her talent with words to begin preaching strong Protestant beliefs. She went to London and gave speeches that taught against the doctrine of transubstantiation. Subsequently, William kicked her out of their home.  Anne returned to London almost immediately to apply for a divorce. She said her husband was not a true believer and therefore her divorce was legitimate under scripture, particularly 1 Corinthians 7:15. Her request for divorce was denied but Anne remained in London giving sermons and distributing banned books to people across the city. The first action taken against her was to order her to return to her husband in Lincolnshire.  She returned under duress but soon escaped and was back in London preaching what she viewed as religious truth.

In 1545 Anne askew was arrested and accused as a heretic. She was examined by English clerics about her religious leanings and they found her to disagree with their transubstantiation doctrines. Anne was brought before Bishop Bonner, a religious traditionalist gaining power at Henry VIII’s court. He questioned her but was unable to discover anything incriminating. He then taunted her, saying she lived an unclean, dishonest life. His techniques did not work; Anne remained steadfast in her beliefs.

The Lord Chancellor of England, Thomas Wriothesley took over the prosecution of Anne following the failures of church officials. Anne was subjected to long interrogations, recorded as lasting up to five hours. He asked her opinion of the bread and the Eucharist. She replied; "I believe that as oft as I, in Christian congregation, receive the bread in remembrance of Christ's death, and with thanksgiving, according to His holy institution, I receive therewith the fruits also of His most glorious passion." She was then asked; "How can you avoid the very words of Christ, 'Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you?'" She replied, "Christ's meaning in this passage ... is similar to the meaning of those other places of Scripture, 'I am the door', 'I am the vine', 'Behold the Lamb of God', 'That rock was Christ', and other such references to Himself. You are not in these texts to take Christ for the material thing which He is signified by, for then you will make Him a very door, a vine, a lamb, a stone, quite contrary to the Holy Ghost's meaning. All these indeed do signify Christ, even as the bread signifies His body in that place. Anne again escaped this interrogation relatively unscathed.

On June 18, 1546 Anne wasn’t so lucky; she was arrested by Martin Bowes who ordered Anthony Kingston, the Tower Constable, to torture Anne in order to force her to name other Protestants. The intent of her torturers was likely to implicate the Queen, Kateryn Parr, and several of her ladies in waiting who were thought to be of a like mind as Anne.

In her own account written from prison, Askew claimed she fainted from the pain of torture, thus she was lowered from her ropes and revived. This wracking was completed twice. Repulsed by her obviously pain, Kingston refused to be party to further torture of the woman. He left the tower and sought a meeting with the King at his earliest convenience to explain his position and also to seek his pardon, which the king willingly granted. With the less enthusiastic Kingston out of the way, Wriothesley and Rich set to work themselves. They wracked her so hard that Anne’s body was drawn apart; her shoulders and hips were pulled from their sockets, her elbows and knees dislocated. Askew's tortured screams could be heard in the garden next to the White Tower where the Lieutenant's wife and daughter were walking. Despite her ordeal, Askew gave no names, and her torture ended when the Lieutenant ordered her to be returned to her cell. Unfortunately for Anne, her test of faith was far from over. She would be the first woman in England to face the fires of Smithfield.