Alison's brief and possibly very boring guide to how Henry VIII felt about his wives:
1. Catherine of Aragon - when Henry became king aged 17, he was into chivalry and gallantry and all that sort of stuff, and he thought that a young chevalier should be married, and technically the idea was supposed to be that he'd marry Catherine anyway so she was the obvious choice, and also I think he liked the idea of romantically rescuing her from her years of being ignored and left with little money after Arthur'd died, and he does really seem to've loved her :-). It all started off very well, and she was very popular in England ... but then they had no surviving sons, Catherine (who was 5 years older than him anyway) aged more quickly than he did, and it all went pear-shaped :-(((. 2. Anne Boleyn - had been at the French court and learnt "Frenchwomen's ways" LOL, and there seems to be this thing in England that Frenchwomen are more elegant, glamorous, sophisticated etc than Englishwomen LOL. That seems to've been a lot of the attraction. & the fact that she treated him mean and kept him keen ... until he eventually married her and the arguments started. 3. Jane Seymour - knew to keep her mouth shut and not nag and so seemed like a pleasant contrast to Anne. Plus she was a good stepmother to his daughters. 4. Anne of Cleves - he married her because he needed a political alliance with another Protestant state, but he decided she was ugly and looked like a "Flanders mare" so they never got very far and the marriage was annulled. 5. Catherine Howard - after the Anne of Cleves being ugly thing (not that she actually was), Henry decided to go for youth and beauty ... except that Catherine was more interested in other blokes, both before and during their marriage. If you look at the pictures of Henry by that time, it's no wonder! 6. Catherine Parr - Henry decided that youth and beauty weren't such great things after all, and went for someone a little older and a lot more sensible, but it was rather hard luck on Catherine who wanted to marry Jane Seymour's brother Thomas. Which she later did. Except that he was more interested in Elizabeth, but that's another story. Also, Henry had a bad ulcer on his leg because of a riding accident, and various other health problems, and apparently Catherine was a good nurse, and she also got on very well with his kids. However, she was also a very convinced Protestant, and he thought she was too involved in politics, so this marriage nearly came to grief as well ... but then Henry died.
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1. Catherine of Aragon - when Henry became king aged 17, he was into chivalry and gallantry and all that sort of stuff, and he thought that a young chevalier should be married, and technically the idea was supposed to be that he'd marry Catherine anyway so she was the obvious choice, and also I think he liked the idea of romantically rescuing her from her years of being ignored and left with little money after Arthur'd died, and he does really seem to've loved her :-). It all started off very well, and she was very popular in England ... but then they had no surviving sons, Catherine (who was 5 years older than him anyway) aged more quickly than he did, and it all went pear-shaped :-(((.
2. Anne Boleyn - had been at the French court and learnt "Frenchwomen's ways" LOL, and there seems to be this thing in England that Frenchwomen are more elegant, glamorous, sophisticated etc than Englishwomen LOL. That seems to've been a lot of the attraction. & the fact that she treated him mean and kept him keen ... until he eventually married her and the arguments started.
3. Jane Seymour - knew to keep her mouth shut and not nag and so seemed like a pleasant contrast to Anne. Plus she was a good stepmother to his daughters.
4. Anne of Cleves - he married her because he needed a political alliance with another Protestant state, but he decided she was ugly and looked like a "Flanders mare" so they never got very far and the marriage was annulled.
5. Catherine Howard - after the Anne of Cleves being ugly thing (not that she actually was), Henry decided to go for youth and beauty ... except that Catherine was more interested in other blokes, both before and during their marriage. If you look at the pictures of Henry by that time, it's no wonder!
6. Catherine Parr - Henry decided that youth and beauty weren't such great things after all, and went for someone a little older and a lot more sensible, but it was rather hard luck on Catherine who wanted to marry Jane Seymour's brother Thomas. Which she later did. Except that he was more interested in Elizabeth, but that's another story. Also, Henry had a bad ulcer on his leg because of a riding accident, and various other health problems, and apparently Catherine was a good nurse, and she also got on very well with his kids. However, she was also a very convinced Protestant, and he thought she was too involved in politics, so this marriage nearly came to grief as well ... but then Henry died.
The End.
Sorry for the long waffle!
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