Posted in #BitOfFun, #QuickFireThoughts, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, Katherine of Aragon, Katherine Parr, Tudor 7 Comments Who would win ‘Tudor Big Brother?’Īs I was watching the Celebrity Big Brother Final on Friday, a strange thought occurred to me. Have I underestimated his feelings for Catherine Howard? Were his feelings for his first wife genuine love that faded with time? Were his lasting affections for Jane entirely rooted to the fact that she had delivered a son? I want to know what you think! It’s a toss up, but I’m going to land on ‘no.’Īnd now…over to you geeks. During her time, he still lauded the memory of Jane – but then she had given Henry his only son. But it’s difficult to see that a flame was burning. But I am prepared to be out-argued on this one… He was hurt by her betrayal but I’m not sure the feelings ran deep. Catherine Howard – Perhaps the trickiest one of all.There is newly discovered evidence that – ah sorry, can’t keep this up! No. Anne of Cleaves – Actually I have an unusual but credible theory on this.As Roxette might say, “it must have been love.” She was the Queen that he always mourned and remembered. But we have to go on what we have – and remember that no love is without questionable motives. And who knows what would have happened had she lived. She was in the right place at the right time and being the polar opposite of Anne certainly helped. Yep, with Anne it was love heart and soul. I also don’t think the violent reversal in his feeling suggests it was never love to start with and that, in part, may have been fuelled by feelings of betrayal. Anne Boleyn – Surely this is a no-brainer? I guess you could argue it was infatuation rather than love but I think that’s splitting hairs.As I’ve argued in another post, Henry was probably unfaithful to Katherine within a year of their marriage. Alison Weir argues that Henry’s ‘love’ for Catherine was never really passion. He was keen for the alliance with Spain (of which her father was effectively King) and wanted to appear like a man rather than a boy. Katherine of Aragon – He was certainly enthusiastic about marrying her and treated her (in public) fairly well to start with.What we’re looking for in this post, are indications of Henry’s passion and commitment to his respective spouse feelings driven more from the heart than a logical pragmatism and a passion that was deeper than physical. It’s not 100% clear what it means to us today, let alone how we decipher it against the backdrop of the Tudor marriage market and different expectations about fidelity on the part of the husband. Of course, ‘love’ is a subjective term at the best of times. It’s one of those fairly meaningless questions which can’t be proved wrong or right either way – but hopefully you’re getting the gist of this blog by now. Want to kick it off with some #QuickFireThoughts on which of his wives Henry VIII was actually in love with. If I haven’t said it before, let me say it again – we are super cool people! This week we’re going to have a post about the Henry VIII era every day.
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