Some of that was circumstantial (KOA having not had a living son, JS dying shortly after having one), and some of it was definitely due to his own like…issues (to say the least, lol), but I don’t think those issues were closely linked with “oh, my wife doesn’t remind me enough of my mother, we’re cancelling that right away”.
And so many similarities are more likely incidental than anything else, imo? ‘Oh, EoY and KoA were both considered beauties by the standards of the day’, I mean…not entirely out of the ordinary for a king to wish to marry a beauty by the standards of his time? And they weren’t super similar beyond that; KOA was more politically involved (and had been an ambassador) than EoY I’d say.
Anne Boleyn wasn’t considered a beauty by those standards; and the way she’s described makes her sound like she didn’t look much like EoY did, either: “of middling stature, swarthy complexion, long neck, wide mouth, bosom not much raised[…] eyes which are black and beautiful”.
And idea put forth by Russell (not the EoY part, but kind of ties into this rhetoric sideways– JS was his ‘favorite’ because he reminded him the most of EoY’s model of queenship) that’s used to support this is pretty weak also.
I.e., Henry didn’t want a politically involved wife, and “Anne becomes Catherine” (Tudors pushed this narrative also):
“A similar pattern had been played out with the King’s first marriage when, for the first four years, Henry had revelled in Katherine of Aragon’s role as Spain’s de facto ambassador to London, but then, after 1513 – perhaps upset at her success as Regent during his absence – he accused Katherine of duplicity and set about deliberately sidelining her from politics.”
What is the basis for this comment about ‘sidelining’? Or jealousy, for that matter?
There weren’t ever, to my knowledge, similar comments made about EoY, and I think KOA likely serves as the best example against this idea because that was his longest marriage.
there’s likely a significant connection between the prevalence of depression in the United States and our extreme wealth disparity (we have the highest wealth inequality in the world, Sweden and the U.K. falling behind us); but it’s trendier to blame it on how we’re ‘too fat’, ‘don’t exercise enough’, and are not eating organic enough or w/e 🙂
Hottest take of all time…..Anne clearly excited Henry into signing her death warrant. She should’ve known to keep him calm, obviously Too bad she just…didn’t…know…better.
Actually now that I think of it, the whole condescending “she didn’t know any better” tends to be more commonly said/implied towards Katherine Howard. Not too fond of it then, either.
Worsley focused on COA’s miscarriages, and didn’t even bother to mention Anne’s. There was screentime dedicated to Blackfriars, but none to Anne’s trial. There was screentime dedicated to COA’s last deathbed letter, but none for Anne’s execution speech.
Hm, I don’t remember the context for it (if she was saying that has been the perception of her ever since, or if she was saying it is a declaration), but I do remember finding her take on Anne rather…anemic…and lackluster.
As far as the wives “as you’ve never seen them before” (iirc the tagline/ hook was something like that), I mean…no? Not really? I definitely didn’t watch it feeling like “I’ve never seen them presented in this way before!” There weren’t really any dimensions added, imo.
Anne Boleyn had been sent off to the countryside to get her out of the way, because Henry needed to convince everybody that his reason for wanting to end his marriage was nothing to do with her at all. Katherine knew otherwise, and the Queen insisted on giving evidence in person, in open court.
I mean……it didn’t have nothing to do with Anne, but this implies it also had nothing to do with anything else. That there had been a female heir to the English throne in the last 350 years, or that there had been one that was able to keep their throne…ever.
This is marketed with the title “Secrets of the Six Wives” too and like…what were the secrets, exactly? I didn’t learn anything I hadn’t already known before.
The “new” things it presented were ~flairs that showed a lack of research– COA wouldn’t have insisted a subject call her “Your Majesty” right after the Battle of Flodden, because no monarch in Europe was using that title until Charles V in 1519.
Hottest take of all time…..Anne clearly excited Henry into signing her death warrant. She should’ve known to keep him calm, obviously Too bad she just…didn’t…know…better.
Actually now that I think of it, the whole condescending “she didn’t know any better” tends to be more commonly said/implied towards Katherine Howard. Not too fond of it then, either.
Worsley focused on COA’s miscarriages, and didn’t even bother to mention Anne’s. There was screentime dedicated to Blackfriars, but none to Anne’s trial. There was screentime dedicated to COA’s last deathbed letter, but none for Anne’s execution speech.
Hm, I don’t remember the context for it (if she was saying that has been the perception of her ever since, or if she was saying it is a declaration), but I do remember finding her take on Anne rather…anemic…and lackluster.
As far as the wives “as you’ve never seen them before” (iirc the tagline/ hook was something like that), I mean…no? Not really? I definitely didn’t watch it feeling like “I’ve never seen them presented in this way before!” There weren’t really any dimensions added, imo.
Anne Boleyn had been sent off to the countryside to get her out of the way, because Henry needed to convince everybody that his reason for wanting to end his marriage was nothing to do with her at all. Katherine knew otherwise, and the Queen insisted on giving evidence in person, in open court.
I mean……it didn’t have nothing to do with Anne, but this implies it also had nothing to do with anything else. That there had been a female heir to the English throne in the last 350 years, or that there had been one that was able to keep their throne…ever.
This is marketed with the title “Secrets of the Six Wives” too and like…what were the secrets, exactly? I didn’t learn anything I hadn’t already known before.
Hm, I don’t remember the context for it (if she was saying that has been the perception of her ever since, or if she was saying it is a declaration), but I do remember finding her take on Anne rather…anemic…and lackluster.
As far as the wives “as you’ve never seen them before” (iirc the tagline/ hook was something like that), I mean…no? Not really? I definitely didn’t watch it feeling like “I’ve never seen them presented in this way before!” There weren’t really any dimensions added, imo.
Definitely a fic about Anne, would just have to pick if the setting would be at Hever, or at private lodgings Henry gave her in Windsor Park in 1528, at York Place in 1531, maybe a hunting trip to Hundson…
Henry VIII wasn’t as widely-hated in England as pop. history genre claims.
The Reformation, of course, wasn’t universally popular by any means. He was certainly hated and there were definitely dissenters, but to claim he himself was “widely-hated” by the English people during his reign is erroneous, and it probably actually slides farther on the other side of the spectrum.
Actually, considering the religious upheaval, and considering the excommunication of the Pope (which allowed any Englishmen to rebel and depose him, said it was not treason to do so, and that those that did so would still go to Heaven) it’s incredible that there weren’t more rebellions than there were.
His reign was nearly 40 decades, and all in all there were only four rebellions. For roughly the first 16 years, there were none. None of the rebellions were aimed at deposing Henry.
The first was in 1525, against a high tax. The ringleaders of this one were pardoned after Wolsey interceded for them. There was also the Kildare Rebellion, the Pilgrimage of Grace, and Bigod’s rebellion.
In contrast, Henry VII had six rebellions during his reign, some calling for his deposition, within the span of 11 years. Edward VI had three rebellions within the same year. Mary I had one rebellion with the aim of her deposition within her reign of five years. Elizabeth I had seven rebellions, some with the aim of her deposition, within the 45 years of her reign.
So, doing the ratio of years vs. rebellions/uprisings, Henry VIII actually had the least among the Tudors, and none for his deposition.
That is rather remarkable, and the question of why exactly this was (despite the costly wars, despite how the Reformation hit those in poverty the hardest, despite the alleged extremely high number of executions– 72000 seems very unlikely) is a matter that deserves further examination and attention.
Too bad she just…didn’t…know…better.
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