SIX WIVES The Queens of Henry VIII David Starkey Contents Family Trees vii Introduction x HENRY’S WEDDINGS 1 PART ONE: QUEEN CATHERINE OF ARAGON 1. Parents: a power couple 11 2. Education for power 15 3. Power weddings 18 4. England 21 5. Negotiations 24 6. Arthur 26 7. Preparations 28 8. Delays 31 9. Dogma 33 10. The journey 38 11. Arrival 40 12. Meeting 44 13. Hubris 48 14. London 52 15. Wedding and bedding 58 16. The morning after 62 17. Nemesis 73 18. A new marriage? 79 19. Hard times 87 20. Harder times 93 21. Hope and despair 99 22. Queen 106 23. Honeymoon 114 24. A son 120 25. War 123 26. Regent 135 27. The breach with Spain 149 28. The quest for an heir 155 29. On the shelf 160 30. Mary 164 31. Marrying Mary 179 iv C ONTENTS PART TWO: RIVAL QUEENS Divorcing Catherine 32. The preliminaries 197 33. Trial in secret 205 34. Between trials 212 35. The legate 221 36. The Brief 225 37. Trial in open court 232 38. The aftermath 248 Anne Boleyn 39. Beginnings 257 40. Debut 264 41. Henry in love 278 42. Sole mistress 284 43. Henry and Anne: ‘Our Matter’ 285 44. Mistress and Minister 294 45. Anne’s envoy 304 46. Wolsey reascendant 313 47. Co-operation? 317 48. Wolsey’s triumph 325 49. The sweat 330 50. Turning point 335 51. Disillusionment 339 52. Wolsey’s fall 355 53. Injurious remedies 367 54. Cranmer 384 55. The Royal Supremacy 408 56. Wolsey’s end 421 57. Attacking Catherine 433 58. Preliminaries to marriage 445 59. Anne’s marriage 462 60. Archbishop 467 61. Divorce Absolute 477 62. Coronation 489 63. Christening 503 64. Resistance 510 65. Hearts and minds 524 66. The death of Catherine of Aragon 541 67. Reaction 549 68. Fall 554 69. The Tower 569 C ONTENTS v Jane Seymour 70. She stoops to conquer? 584 PART THREE: THE LATER QUEENS 71. A Conversation 611 Anne of Cleves 72. From Queen to sister 617 Catherine Howard 73. ‘Virtuous and good behaviour’? 644 74. Interlude 685 Catherine Parr 75. A courtier’s daughter 690 76. Queen Catherine 711 77. Queen Regent 731 78. The test 752 Notes 766 Index 819 About the Author Other Books by David Starkey Cover Copyright About the Publisher Note on Spelling I have put all English names, including Catherine, into their modern form. I have anglicised French ones (on grounds of familiarity) and put those in all other languages into their modern form in the relevant language (Juana and Juan and Sebastiano). Foreign titles (Duke, Archduke, Commander) are also anglicised. A few names, such as Ferdinand of Aragon and Catherine of Aragon, have breached the rules, once again on grounds of familiarity. David Starkey Family Trees THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK Edward III Edward Lionel John of Gaunt m1 Blanche of Lancaster m3 Catherine Swynford Edmund Thomas The Black Duke of Duke of Duke of Prince Clarence York Gloucester Richard II Philippa Henry IV John Beaufort Richard Anne m Edmund m Anne Stafford, Earl of Mortimer* Stafford Roger Mortimer Henry V m1 Catherine John Richard m Humphrey Earl of March of Valois 2m Owain Tudor Cecily Neville Anne Mortimer* Henry VI Edmund m Margaret Humphrey Henry Edward IV George Richard III Edward Duke of Clarence Duke of Buckingham Henry VII m Elizabeth Edward V** Richard** Edward Margaret of York Duke of York Earl of Warwick Countess of Salisbury Arthur Margaret Henry VIII Mary Reginald Ursula Pole m Henry, m Catherine of m James IV m1 Catherine of Aragon* m1 Louis XII of France Cardinal Lord Stafford Aragon* of Scotland m2 Anne Boleyn m2 Charles Brandon Pole m3 Jane Seymour Duke of Suffolk m4 Anne of Cleves m5 Catherine Howard m6 Catherine Parr * = appears twice on this page. ** = the 'Princes in the Tower' THE LANCASTRIAN DESCENT John of Gaunt m1 Blanche of Lancaster m2 Constance of Castile m3 Catherine Swynford Philippa Catherine John Beaufort m Joao I, King of Portugal m Enriques of Castile Eduarte Maximillian I m Mary John Beaufort Holy Duchess of Ferdinand Isabella of Portugal m Juan of Castile Roman Burgundy Margaret Beaufort m Edmund Tudor Emperor Isabella of Castile m Ferdinand of Aragon Henry VII, m Elizabeth of York King of England Alfonso, m1 Isabella 2m Manoel* Juan m Margaret Juana m Philip I, Maria m Manoel,* Catherine m Arthur Margaret Tudor Henry VIII Mary Tudor* Prince of King of later Regent King Archduke King of of Aragon* m James IV, King of England m1 Louis XII, Portugal Portugal of the of Castile Portugal King of Scotland m1 Catherine of Aragon* King of France Netherlands m2 Charles Brandon m2 Anne Boleyn Duke of Suffolk m3 Jane Seymour Miguel Charles V, James V, Holy Roman King of Scotland Emperor Jean, Count of Angouleme Charles, Duke of Orleans Philip II, King of Spain m Mary I, Queen of England Mary Queen Elizabeth I Edward VI, of Scots Queen of King of England Charles, Count of Angouleme Louis XII, King of France England m Louise of Savoy m1 Jeanne of France m2 Anne of Brittany * = appears twice James VI of Scotland, m3 Mary Tudor* and I of England Francis I, King of France m1 Claude of France m2 Eleanor of Austria THE FAMILY OF HENRY VIII Edward III John of Gaunt m1 Blanche of Lancaster m3 Catherine Swynford Edmund Plantagenet, Duke of York Henry IV John Beaufort Richard, Earl of Cambridge Marquess of Somerset m Anne Mortimer Henry V m1 Catherine m2 Owain Tudor John, Duke of Somerset Richard, Duke of York, of Valois m Cecily Neville Henry VI Edmund Tudor m Margaret Beaufort Edward IV m Elizabeth Woodville Henry VII, m Elizabeth of York King of England Arthur m Catherine of Aragon* Margaret Henry VIII, Mary m James VI, King of England m1 Catherine of Aragon* m1 Louis XII, King of France King of Mistress: Elizabeth Blount m2 Charles Brandon, Scotland m2 Anne Boleyn Duke of Suffolk m3 Jane Seymour m4 Anne of Cleves m5 Catherine Howard Stillborn Prince At least Mary I, Died Henry Fitzroy, Elizabeth I, Edward VI, m6 Catherine Parr Henry 4 stillbirths Queen of Duke of Richmond Queen of King of (died in and/or England and Somerset England England infancy) miscarriages * = appears twice on this page Introduction he Six Wives of Henry VIII is one of the world’s great stories: indeed, it contains a whole world of literature within itself. It is Tmore far-fetched than any soap opera; as sexy and violent as any tabloid; and darker and more disturbing than the legend of Bluebeard. It is both a great love story and a supreme political thriller. It also has an incomparable cast of characters, with a male lead who begins as Prince Charming and ends as a Bloated Monster with a face like a Humpty-Dumpty of Nightmare. While, among the women (at least as conventionally told), there is almost the full range of female stereotypes: the Saint, the Schemer, the Doormat, the Dim Fat Girl, the Sexy Teenager and the Bluestocking. Finally, it evokes, like the best historical novels, the peculiarities of the behaviour and mind-set of another age – the quirks of sixteenth- century etiquette and love-making; the intricacies and passions of religious faith and practice; the finer points of heraldry, genealogy and precedence; the gleaming stiffness of cloth of gold and the unclean roughness of the hair shirt. But it also touches the timeless universals of love and honour and betrayal and death. What is strangest of all, it is true. And, being true, it is supremely important. For the reign of Henry VIII is a turning point in English history second only to the Norman conquest. When he came to the throne, Henry was the Pious Prince who ruled an England at the heart of Catholic Europe; when he died, he was the Great Schismatic, who had created a National Church and an insular xi T HE Q UEENS OF H ENRY VIII politics that shaped the development of England for the next half a millennium. Once, historians – who imagined that England was somehow ‘naturally Protestant’ – thought there were profound social and religious reasons for the change. It is now clear there were none. Instead, it came about only because Henry loved Anne Boleyn and could get her no other way. And he stuck to what he had done, partly because it tickled his vanity, but also because no succeeding wife was able to persuade him out of it. It is, of course, a story that has often been told before. It was given its classic shape as long ago as the nineteenth century by Agnes Strickland in her immensely influential Lives of the Queens of England. Within this vast work, the number and importance of the Queens of Henry VIII made them, as Strickland herself recognised, virtually a book within a book. Strickland’s historical discoveries were equally important. She used all available printed sources. She charmed (she was very pretty, especially for a scholar) her way into the national archives of both Britain and France. And, unlike the male historians of her time and long after, she realised the importance of cultural history and made effective use of buildings, paintings, literature and the history of manners. The result was that she invented, more or less single-handedly, the female biographer as a distinctive literary figure, and established the lives of women as a proper literary subject. It is a formidable achievement. But there is almost as great a drawback to Strickland’s work.