King Arthur Virginity

Catharine of Aragon was Arthur’s widow, and seven years after his death Henry VIII married her on June 11, 1509 when he was seventeen years old . The new prince, Henry VIII, did not waste any time in experimenting with his new found power. He quickly found two ministers his father greatly disliked when he was alive, and he had them arrested and then executed. Execution soon became Henry VIII’s standard way of punishing anyone who crossed his path.

One of the successes, was Prince Arthur’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and the ensuing dowery. In 1501, Prince Arthur married Catherine of Aragon, in order to help secure an alliance with Spain, which was achieved for the time being. More importantly, however, was the dowery that Henry received for this arrangement. This was £200,000, which was a massive sum of money, considering the £8,000 that the King of Scotland made, however was not the £400,000 that Henry had initially asked for. Still, a significant sum of money remains, and helped England’s financial situation.

Cramner appealed to Parliament to confirm that Henry’s marriage to Catherine was invalid. Henry secretly marries a lady in his court, Anne Boleyn, in 1533. He decides to officially break with the Catholic church the following year and makes himself the head of the Church of England. He appoints Cramner as his new Archbishop and Cramner publicly declares the marriage between King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon as invalid.

Kathryn Howard was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard, a younger brother of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. She was also first cousin to Anne Boleyn. Kathryn came to court at about the age of 19 as a lady in waiting to Anne of Cleves and there was no doubt that the spirited young girl caught Henry’s attention. Sixteen days after he was free of Anne, Henry took his fifth wife, Kathryn Howard, on July 28, 1540. Henry was 49 and his bride was no older than 19. King Henry lavished gifts on Kathryn and called her his ‘rose without thorn’ and the ‘very jewel of womanhood’. Less than a year into Kathryn marriage the rumors of her infidelity began. In a way, one couldn’t blame her for seeking the company of handsome young men closer to her age. But for that to happen even only in courtly flirtations, was dangerous for a Queen, especially one who came from a powerful family with a lot of enemies. By November 1541, there was enough evidence against the Queen that Archbishop Cranmer informed the King of Kathryn’s misconduct. At first Henry did not believe the accusations, but he agreed to allow further investigations into the matter. There was enough evidence and

Lord knows Arthur had craved sex so much his bollocks ached, and the waiting felt as if it was going to kill him at times, but he knew how important it was for Guinevere to wait until marriage before they were joined. Since Arthur understood Guinevere’s feelings were more important than the whims of his cock, he agreed they’d wait.

At this point Henry started to look back to Catholicism after the horrendously failed marriage of Anne by Cromwell, and so the Catholic supporters at court urged marriage to the young Catholic Catherine Howard. Catherine was very young and very ‘bouncy’, which the king adored, but she was extremely inept and even more frivolous than the now-aging king. The king preferred to admire her rather than sleep with her, and so Catherine sought companionship with the King’s favorite, Thomas Culpeper. Once the affair was found out they were, shockingly, both executed and Henry once again turned his head back towards the Protestant reformation. Henry’s sixth and final marriage was again to a Protestant named Catherine Parr. Catherine was a peacemaker

In spite of his happiness he mourned the death of Jane in 1537 when she died a month later after their son was born. Henry’s fourth marriage to Anne of Cleves was his shortest one. They were married in 1540, but he later divorced the twenty four year old after six months of marriage because he found her unattractive. Of course Henry Viii had fallen in love with his fifth wife, Catherine Howard in 1540. But in the end she was beheaded when she was about 21 in 1542 for having love affairs.

Her marriage was tuff, although she loved him, Henry was more in love with his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, which he spent most of his time with. Diane gained a lot of influence in the governing of France. This bothered Catherine, but she kept her personal feelings to herself.

Henry VII faced a multitude of problems with his marriages, as well as his dealings in foreign matters. His marriage with princess Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, helped unite of the countries of England and Spain. Though, in order to divorce Catherine and marry his mistress, Anne Boleyn, Henry declared Protestantism as the national religion of England, which was Catholic at the time of his marriage with Catherine.

As king of England, Henry has the power and the unquestionable authority to act based off his own desires even if they are not legally or morally acceptable. Because his current wife, Catherine, who was also his brother’s widow, has failed to birth a son, he wishes to divorce her and take Queen Anne as his new wife. Without a male heir to the throne, Henry’s lineage will come to an end and England will be left without a successor. He admits this to More during their meeting in Act 1, saying,

On March 30, 1533, he became Archbishop of Canterbury, and forced him to hide his marriage. Once his interview was approved by the Pope, Cranmer declared King Henry's marriage to Catherine void**. and four months later Henry was married to Anne

King Henry the VIII was born in 1491 to Henry Tudor VII and Elizabeth of York, making him their third child, but second son. He was named after his father, Henry VII, and since he was the second son, he was not expected to be King. King Henry VII eldest son Arthur, Prince of Wales was to take the thrown and become King of England, that is until his death unexpected death. When little Henry was ten years old, he attended Arthur and his bride Catherine of Argon’s wedding. Four months after the marriage began, it ended, with Arthur 's death. There was a signed treaty that stated Catherine would be allow to marry the next heir to the throne – Prince Henry. It was considered necessary for a papal exemption to be issued permitting Henry to wed Catherine because she was his dead brother’s wife, and this marriage was restricted in Leviticus. At the time, and for the duration of her life, Catherine denied that her marriage to Arthur had even been fulfilled, so no agreement was required. In any case, both the gatherings in Spain and England needed to make certain of the authenticity of the marriage, so consent from the pope was looked for and got. The marriage did not take place however. Henry became King Henry the VIII of England when Henry VII passed on April 22, 1509, which changed his life forever.

During his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry conducted an affair with Mary Boleyn, Cary, were fathered by Henry, but this has never been proved, and the King never acknowledged them he did Henry FitzRoy.In 1525, as Henry grew more impatient with Catherine’s inability to produce the male he desired,he became enamoured of Mary Boleyn’s sister, Anne, then a charismatic young woman of 25 in the Queen’s entourage. Anne, however, resisted his attempts to seduce her, and refused to become his mistress as her sister Mary Boleyn had. It was in this context that Henry considered his three options for finding a dynastic successor and hence resolving what came to be described at court as the King’s “great matter”. These options were legitimising Henry FitzRoy,which would take the

Catherine of Aragon was the youngest child of the monarchs of Spain – King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella – and was born in 1485. She was educated in several languages, law, bible, history, and genealogy. She also developed a strong religious identity. To expand Spain’s power, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella had Catherine marry Prince Arthur of England, son of Henry VII, making her Princess of Whales. Five months later, Prince Arthur died, leaving Catherine a widow. However, when Henry VII died and his son, Henry VIII, took the throne, Catherine married the new king of England and became the Queen of England. The people of England gladly accepted their new queen. Unfortunately, Catherine’s inability to produce a son made Henry VIII frustrated, and he secretly married Anne Boleyn. The Archbishop of Canterbury declared Catherine and Henry VIII’s marriage invalid, and Catherine was refused permission to see her only child, Mary.

The split from Rome had made England vulnerable and Thomas Cromwell had suggested his next wife to be of a political match, much like the first. Anne of Clebes was the chosen match. The marriage took place on January 6, 1540, and by then Henry was already looking for ways to get out of the marriage. The King did not find his new bride attractive and had found an attraction to a young Kathryn Howard. Anne gave the King no problems with his annulment proceedings.