Ep. 109: Wives of Henry VIII

October 29, 2023 Peter Jans

Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

I’m Jans you Mnemonic Man and today's episode is on the very well-known 16th century King Henry VIII. Known for his multiple marriages Henry VIII was King of England from 1509 to 1547.

Now, I’ve both read a lot of material and listened to a lot of history podcasts on Henry VIII, and remarkably there seems to be two distinct sides to Henry VIII. The young, intelligent, easy going, athletic and very handsome Henry VIII. And the other, which unfortunately morphed into the extremely powerful, sadistic, overweight, tyrant.

Some have theories that this change may have been the result of a head injury which he suffered whilst jousting, where he actually nearly died. Or could it just be the old aphorism from British historian Lord Acton that says “Power tends to corrupt; and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

Whatever it was, he did wield his power, putting the pope and the catholic church to the side, and assuming the role of the head of the church of England, to merely enable a divorce from Catherine of Aragon that would not be granted by Pope Clement VII at the time.

Today’s mnemonic is on Henry VIII’s six marriages.

So, with no further ado, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hans_Holbein,_the_Younger,_Around_1497-1543_-_Portrait_of_Henry_VIII_of_England_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Wikipedia Summary

In common parlance, the wives of Henry VIII were the six queens consort of King Henry VIII of England between 1509 and his death in 1547.

In legal terms, Henry had only three wives, because three of his marriages were annulled by the Church of England.

However, he was never granted an annulment by the Pope, as he desired, for Catherine of Aragon, his first wife. Annulments declare that a true marriage never took place, unlike a divorce, in which a married couple end their union.[1]

Along with his six wives, Henry took several mistresses.[2][3]

The six women who were married to Henry VIII, in chronological order:

Catherine of Aragon

11 June 1509 – 23 May 1533

Anne Boleyn

28 May 1533 – 17 May 1536

Jane Seymour

30 May 1536 – 24 October 1537

Anne of Cleves

6 January 1540 – 12 July 1540[5]

Catherine Howard

28 July 1540 – 13 February 1542

Catherine Parr

12 July 1543 – 28 January 1547

Henry's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon lasted nearly 24 years, while the following five lasted less than 10 years combined.

Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, and Jane Seymour each gave Henry VIII one child who survived infancy: two daughters and one son, respectively.

All three of these children eventually ascended to the throne as King Edward VI, Queen Mary I, and Queen Elizabeth I.

In addition, Henry had a relationship with Bessie Blount, resulting in a son- Henry FitzRoy, although FitzRoy’s marriage was never consummated.

Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were first cousins, who were both beheaded due to accusations of infidelity.

Jane Seymour was the second cousin to both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

Several of Henry's wives worked in service to another wife, typically as a lady-in-waiting.

Anne Boleyn served Catherine of Aragon. Jane Seymour served both of her predecessors, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.

Catherine Howard also served her predecessor, Anne of Cleves.

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wives_of_Henry_VIII]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enrique_VIII_de_Inglaterra,_por_Hans_Holbein_el_Joven.jpg

Mnemonic

Wives of Henry VIII Mnemonic (in order) – CAr JACC

(Picture Henry VIII driving his car down Downing Street and getting carjacked by each of his six wives in order)

1. Catherine of Aragon

2. Anne Boleyn

3. Jane Seymour

4. Anne of Cleves

5. Catherine Howard

6. Catherine Parr

Five Fun Facts

1. Henry wasn’t supposed to be king. His older brother Arthur was, but unfortunately, Arthur died at age 15 of sweating sickness. Henry was next in line (let’s say a spare!) and managed to take the title along with his dead brother’s wife Catherine of Aragon!

2. Henry VIII was actually lucky to survive a jousting incident. He was thrown from his horse which then somehow landed back on top of him. He suffered a serious injury and was unconscious for two hours. Some say this incident caused a brain injury that turned him into a monster and led to his weight gain.

3. King Henry VIII orchestrated the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. This was carried out by Henry VIII because Pope Clement VII refused to grant him an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could then marry Anne Boleyn.

4. Henry VIII furthered the field of engineering with special mechanical devices made for him later in his life to help him get in and out of bed, and on his horse as a result of his burgeoning weight.

5. Despite inheriting a fortune Henry VIII died in debt, as a result of frivolous spending and gambling. Apparently, his daughter Mary had the same gambling proclivities along with a penchant for torturing and killing many people! Hence the sobriquet, Bloody Mary!

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HenryAndAnneBoleynPortraits.jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. Who was King Henry VIII's father?

Q.2. To which wife was Henry VIII's longest marriage?

Q.3. How many wives had Henry VIII beheaded, and what were their names?

Bonus Q. Which of Henry's wives was rumoured to have had six fingers on one hand?

Mnemonic Recap

Wives of Henry VIII Mnemonic (in order) – CAr JACC

(Picture Henry VIII driving his car down Downing Street and getting carjacked by each of his six wives in order)

1. Catherine of Aragon

2. Anne Boleyn

3. Jane Seymour