I'm nearly done reading the biographies of the wives of Henry VIII. What an interesting lot of women. His first wife, Katherine of Aragon, was deemed an unsuitable spouse when she failed to produce a male heir. And because the temptress Anne Boleyn batted her eyes at the king. This was before science had discovered that it's the male's sperm that determines the sex of a child. Even if it had been known, I'm sure Henry would have found a way to make it the woman's fault, because he was, after all, THE KING.
In a scandal lifted straight from ancient tabloid headlines, Henry attempted to have the marriage annulled, based upon the fact that Katherine was once married to Henry's brother and that made it uncanonical (which, I think, means unsanctioned by the church). To make a very long story short, Henry established himself as the head of the Church of England and gave himself a divorce. It was a huge deal and took about eight hundred years to figure out (really only about eight). He married Anne B. and all was well and good for about six months and then he got bored. Like that's a new story. Anne also failed to give him a male heir, although she did produce Elizabeth, who would grow up and become the first Elizabeth and a force to be reckoned with. Henry got so tired of Anne and her independent ways that he had his underlings trump up charges against her that included adultery and incest, neither of which were true. Back then, that was considered treason, punishable by death. She lost her head; just think how many headless people would be in cemeteries today if that law was still in effect.
Next, Henry married Jane Seymour (I've pointed out in a previous post that this is not the same Jane Seymore aka Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman). She was a real nice lady, who was successful in giving Henry a son. She died just a few months after the child was born. The son died when he was 16. Seems like old Henry was not destined to have a son.
Next time on the Chrysalis Imaging Blog: Heads Roll
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