The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (WOMEN IN HISTORY)

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Emilia Fox, the actress, was asked by The Mail on Sunday what was in her holiday hand luggage. Her answer: 'A copy of The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir." (2003) I have a broad target audience, as attendances at my many events show - from children younger than 9 to seniors over 90! Both sexes too. But he is perhaps most famous for having six wives. Though married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, for nearly 25 years, Henry’s next five marriages lasted less than that combined.

What were your initial thoughts about e-publishing? Was it your idea or your publisher's? Were you hesitant? Excited? Apprehensive? Optimistic? Fill in the blank? Have those initial thoughts changed now that you've done it? With the extraordinary events of her life unparalleled in British history, Anne Boleyn is undoubtedly the most famous of Henry’s wives. In 1539, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the great abbey of Peterborough was closed and its lands and properties confiscated by King Henry VIII. However to increase his control over the church in this area he created a new bishop and Peterborough Abbey became a Cathedral. The third daughter, Maria (1482-1517), married her sister Isabella`s widower, Manuel I, King of Portugal, in 1500. Maria was the only one of the four sisters to enjoy a full and happy life. She gave her husband eight healthy children as heirs to his kingdom.

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By far the most famous of the sisters was the youngest, Catalina (Katherine) (1485-1536), who married Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, heir to the throne of England, in 1501. Arthur died six months later of a mysterious disease. Even more mysterious - and controversial - was the truth about whether the marriage had been consummated. For Katherine`s second husband was Arthur`s younger brother, who became Henry VIII, and in 1527, he applied to the Pope for an annulment on the grounds that his marriage to his brother`s widow was unlawful, since his brother had known her carnally. Katherine swore otherwise... She died, abandoned and a prisoner, in 1536. In the last years of his reign Henry grew moody, suspicious and famously obese, hobbled by personal intrigues and by the persistent leg wound from his jousting injury. His final marriage, to the widow Catherine Parr in 1543, saw his reconciliation with Mary and Elizabeth, who were restored to the line of succession. The Royal Arms, impaled with that of her own arms and that of the Seymour family. The blazon: [40] [43]

The Royal Arms, impaled with that of her own arms as Marquess of Pembroke, which alluded to several of her ancestors, however remote. The blazon: [35] [39] Katherine was born in 1485, the youngest daughter of the Spanish sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella. Piously reared and carefully educated, she was married at sixteen to Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII of England. Tragically, he died six months after the wedding. Katherine declared she was still a virgin, and the Pope issued a dispensation for her marriage to Arthur's younger brother, the future Henry VIII. For various political reasons, Henry VII would not allow the wedding to take place, but after his accession in 1509, the young Henry chivalrously married his Spanish princess, who was nearly six years his senior. the Pope for an annulIment. However, the Pope was then in thrall to Katherine's nephew, the powerful Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and dared not grant Henry's wish. After six frustrating years of tortuous and ultimately fruitless negotiations, the King broke with Rome, founded the Church of England, and had Archbishop Thomas Cranmer dissolve his union with Katherine. He had already secretly married Anne Boleyn. Henry tried to have his marriage to Catherine annulled to marry Anne. He argued that their marriage had been invalid because of Catherine’s marriage to his brother. Devout Catherine rejected this, saying that she and Arthur’s relationship had never been consummated. With the assistance of his powerful adviser Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry petitioned Pope Clement VII but was rebuffed due to pressure from Catherine’s nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Wolsey was forced from power for his failure and died in 1530 awaiting trial for treason.An abbey was first established at Peterborough (originally called Medeshamstede) in 655 AD, but it was largely destroyed by Viking raiders in 870. In the mid-10th century a Benedictine abbey was created from what remained, with a larger church and more extensive buildings. The church survived until an accidental fire swept through it in 1116. The present building was begun in 1118 and consecrated in 1238, and its structure remains essentially as it was on completion. The original wooden ceiling, completed between 1230 and 1250, survives in the nave, the only one of its type in this country and one of only four wooden ceilings of this period surviving in the whole of Europe. It has been over-painted twice, but retains its original style and pattern. While still married to Anne, Henry had fallen for her maid-of-honour, Katherine Howard, an empty-headed girl, but alluringly pretty. The Catholic faction at court encouraged the affair, and as soon as Henry was free, he made Katherine his wife. He was now nearing 50, his waist measured 54 inches, and he suffered from ulcerated legs and con­stipation, yet he could not keep his hands off his bride and openly "ca­ressed her more than he did the oth­ers". He showered her with jewels and gifts and indulged her every whim. So besotted was he that he did not notice her flirting with the young men of the court. Nor did he have any idea that Katherine had a past.