Henry VIII horrific lives of his 6 wives spotlight
Henry VIII Six Lives: Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded and Survived
Gallery view of a portrait of Henry VIII in the style of Hans Holbein the Younger
Henry VIII 6 wives and lives exposed
Six Lives: Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived – wives of Henry VIII.
This rhyme encapsulates in six words the fates of Henry VIII’s wives. The National Portrait Gallery is hosting an exhibition that explores the agency, influence and cultural impact of the lives of the women who married Henry VIII with historical paintings, miniatures, drawings and the queens’ personal possessions – including their own letters and books.
Six Lives of the Queens of Henry VIII, National Portrait Gallery, London
To understand the story, one must begin with Henry Tudor, whose rise to power was a politically complicated and messy affair. He became Henry VII and father of two surviving sons, one who succeeded him as Henry VIII.
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Henry VII was cunning and had arranged a political marriage, with a large dowry, for his first born son, Arthur, with the daughter of the king and queen of Spain (Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile).
When he was fifteen, Arthur married sixteen-year-old Katherine of Aragon.
Katherine of Aragon (c. 1520) by Unknown artist © National Portrait Gallery, London. By permission of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church Commissioners; on loan to the National Portrait Gallery, London
He died six months later, but Arthur’s father, Henry VII wanted to keep the dowry, so he pledged his second son Henry, who was ten at the time, to marry Katherine. However, Henry VII was still holding out for a better alliance and delayed the wedding.
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Seven years later, Henry VII died, leaving Henry VIII as heir to a vast fortune, yet also with a paranoid obsession with having legitimate sons.
Anne of Cleves (c1860-62) by Edgar Degas after Hans Holbein the Younger, National Portrait Gallery, London
For Henry to legitimately marry Katherine of Aragon, they needed a dispensation from the Pope, arguing that her first marriage, to Arthur, was never consummated. The Pope granted their request.
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Katherine of Aragon served as a loyal wife and queen for twenty-four years. She was raised and educated to be a queen and taught Henry how to be a king.
Katherine of Aragon gave birth to Queen Mary I
Four years into their marriage, he trusted her as regent while he was fighting in France. She successfully coordinated the Battle of Flodden and repelled King James IV of Scotland.
Even though she was pregnant six times, she had only one child who survived into adulthood, the future Queen Mary I.
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The failure to deliver a boy and Katherine’s advancing age led Henry to petition the Pope to annul the marriage.
This did not happen; instead, Henry named himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England, thereby separating the country from the Catholic Church.
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Katherine lived the rest of her life as the Princess Dowager… divorced.
Anne Boleyn (late 16th century, based on a work of c.1533-6) by Unknown English artist © National Portrait Gallery, London
Anne Boleyn was one of Katherine’s ladies-in-waiting. Her sister Mary had already been the king’s mistress, but the feisty, witty and seductive Anne would not consent to the king’s advances without a proposal.
Anne Boleyn gave birth to Queen Elizabeth I
Some suggest it was she who proposed to Henry the break from Rome. The marriage lasted three years. She provided a daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, but no son.
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It was around this time that Henry had a terrible jousting accident; a lance pierced his helmet, and he was knocked out for several hours. From then on, Henry gained weight, and his personality may have changed.
This and her tempestuous nature and sharp tongue led Anne’s court enemies (Catholics) to conspire against her.
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Without Henry’s protection, the accusations of adultery, incest and treason stood, and she was… beheaded.
Jane Seymour (c.1537) after Hans Holbein the Younger © National Portrait Gallery, London
Jane Seymour gave birth to King Edward VI
The day after Anne Boleyn’s death, Henry VIII got engaged to Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to both previous queens.
She was obedient and did not challenge Henry. They were married for seventeen months, and she gave him a son, Edward VI. Tragically, complications shortly after childbirth left Jane… dead.
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Court advisors persuaded the king to make a marriage alliance with the powerful German Protestant House of Cleves, sight unseen.
Anne of Cleves (c.1860-62) by Edgar Degas after Hans Holbein the Younger. Photo © Christie’s Images / BridgemanImages. Private Collection
The trusted portrait painter, Hans Holbein the Younger, was sent to produce paintings of Anne of Cleves. Holbein may have exaggerated her beauty. Henry decided to make their first meeting a surprise.
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He did this by not announcing who he was; Anne, not knowing this, was unimpressed with the advances of this ageing and overweight man.
Anne of Cleves, Bartholomaeus Bruyn the elder, 16th century, National Portrait Gallery, London
Anne of Cleves divorced after 6 months
Henry and Anne were likely not attracted to each other, and their six-month-long marriage was never consummated. She had the good sense to agree to a large settlement in return for a… divorce.
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Henry’s fifth wife was the teenager Katherine Howard. She had a youthful energy and vivaciousness that appealed to the weary king.
Probably Katherine Howard (c.1540) by Hans Holbein the Younger © The Buccleuch Chattels Trust
But she came from a power-seeking family that looked at their own interests rather than that of an inexperienced teen.
Before the wedding, she had a relationship with a music teacher that may not have been consensual. While married to the fifty-year-old king, she had another affair.
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Henry reacted with the Act of Attainder, a law that stated that if any woman married the king without declaring her sexual relationships of the past, it would be considered treason.
Katherine Howard beheaded after 17 months
Without a foreign power to protect her, her seventeen-month marriage ended in a… beheading.
Katherine Parr also came from within Henry’s court, but as a mature thirty-two-year-old, she was able to navigate court theatrics.
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Her only miscalculation came when she proposed Protestant reforms that angered the Catholics who were plotting against her.
Katherine Parr (c.1547) attributed to Master John. Photograph: Fraser Marr Photography © Private Collection, London
She gained the king’s protection by insisting she only tried to simulate conversation to distract him from his leg pains.
After that, she was the wife the ageing Henry needed and befriended his surviving legitimate children, Mary, Elizabeth and Edward.
Katherine Parr (c1547) attributed to Master John, National Portrait Gallery, London
Queen Katherine Parr survived
Katherine Parr was married to Henry for four years, longer than most of his other wives, apart from Katherine of Aragon.
Henry passed away at the age of fifty-six, leaving Katherine Parr as the Queen who… survived.
Edward VI, Henry VIII’s son by Jane Seymour, was king of England from age nine until he died at age fifteen. Because he was underage, the country was ruled by a regency council.
Jane Seymour, Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger, c1540, National Portrait Gallery, London
During this time, the government implemented Protestant reforms. His rule was followed by Queen Mary I, who ruled for five years and reversed Edward’s Protestant reforms.
Her half-sister Elizabeth I ruled for forty-four years and restored and strengthened Protestant reforms.
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Henry VIII’s behaviour ranged from magnanimous and loving to barbaric and self-serving.
Forty-nine years of rule under his daughters reveals that his obsession for a male heir was unnecessary.
Anne Boleyn (late 16th century, based on a work of c1533-6) by Unknown English artist, National Portrait Gallery, London
Jane Seymour provided a brief but calming reprieve and a male heir. The marriage to Anne of Cleves was a mistake but was quickly rectified.
More likely, it was an excuse for the lusts of a powerful man. Each of these women influenced him. Anne Boleyn seduced him away from a healthy marriage with Katherine of Aragon and instigated the country’s split from the Catholic Church.
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Marrying the teenager Katherine Howard was a descent into madness, for which she paid the ultimate price.
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Katherine Parr drew Henry out of the madness and brought the family back together.
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Seeing the consequences of these relationships 500 years gone is a reminder that the history of Henry VII’s life was full of intrigue and drama, more so than six words of a children’s rhyme would allude to.
Text Martin Wray / Photos courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery
