PREVIEW： Epochs #265 ｜ The Life of Henry VIII： Part III
Episode Stats
Harmful content
Misogyny
6
sentences flagged
Toxicity
1
sentences flagged
Hate speech
18
sentences flagged
Summary
The story of Henry VIII and his affair with Anne Boleyn, his first wife Catherine of Aragon, and how he fell in love with the Queen consort, Catherine's younger sister, Anne, Duchess of Norfolk, and their affair led to the birth of the Tudor dynasty.
Transcript
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Hello and welcome back to Epochs. If you remember last time we were talking all about Henry VIII.
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So we should just continue the story straight from there. If you remember last time we had
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got up to the point basically where Wolsey is the most powerful man in the country under the king
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himself and we talked a little bit didn't we all about the power dynamic relationships between
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France, Spain, Imperial Spain and England and how we're just beginning to get up to the point where
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Henry realizes that he really wants needs a son and that his wife Catherine of Aragon isn't going
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to be able to give him one but he can't divorce her or have his marriage annulled because well
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it's the 16th century and they're catholics and only the pope could give him that and the pope's
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not going to give him that because the pope is under the control of the spanish who is related
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to catherine of arrogant so they just won't that's not going to happen so this is the whole point this
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is probably the most famous part isn't it of the story of henry viii all to do with getting rid of
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his old wife one way or another finding a new wife and trying to sire a son with her so should
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we just pick up the story as always I'm reading from Professor Sir Charles Oman a late 19th
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century early 20th century professor of history from Oxford University one of the best to ever do
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it a gold standard and Sir Winston Churchill and his history of the English speaking people
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who borrows heavily from Sir Charles Oman but we also get a fair few more details and and
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Churchill is a great prose writer isn't he so I should be reading for both of those all right
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let's pick up the story with a little bit of Professor Omar who wrote it will be remembered
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that Henry had been asked by his father to Catherine of Aragon the widow of his brother
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Arthur Prince of Wales marriage with a deceased brother's wife was illegal a papal dispensation
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had been procured to remove the bar because of course the Spanish emperor wanted the pope to do
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that, so it got done. See how it works? So a special papal dispensation had been procured
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to remove the bar, and Henry had married Catherine on his accession, as soon as he
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became king after his father's actual death, so that he could not plead compulsion on the part
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of his father. The marriage was not a wise one, for the Queen, though a very gentle and virtuous
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woman and die-hard Catholic, was six years older than her husband, had no personal attractions
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and was delicate in health. All the children whom she bore to Henry died in infancy except one,
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the Princess Mary, the Lady Mary, the Princess Mary, who of course will play a massive part in
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everything going forward. By her 1527, Catherine was a confirmed invalid. She showed all the signs
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He, Amelia, was the only surviving male of the House of Tudor
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And could not bear the thought of leaving the throne to a sickly girl
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It was obvious that Catherine would bear him no more children
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Again, very rudely she was described as being barren as a brick
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And regardless of the duty and respect that he owed to her
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he began to think of obtaining a divorce and marrying a younger wife. His project took a
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definite shape when his eyes were caught by a beautiful Anne Boleyn, a niece of the Duke of
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Norfolk, and one of the maids of honour. Becoming desperately enamoured of her, he resolved to press
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for a divorce at once. Woolsey, who saw that the kingdom needed a male heir, undertook to procure
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the Pope's consent to the repudiation of Catherine end quote so there we go we're we're now in this
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phase of the reign and there's a lot more to it than what Oman tells us there when people look
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into it in lots and lots of detail as much detail as we can with the surviving records this this
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story of Henry VIII sort of falling in love with and becoming besotted with Anne Boleyn remember
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Remember last time we talked about Mary Boleyn, her older sister, another niece of the Duke
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of Norfolk, that Henry had just taken her as a lover at some point?
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Henry had loads of lovers, like kings at this time, they could and did just take all sorts
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of partners, but they're all illegitimate and not really talked about.
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Well, one of those, just one of the many, was Mary Boleyn, but he'd had his way with
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rather than just give the king whatever he wants.
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where the king is actually looking for something
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He's looking for something more than just a bedfellow.
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he actually wants and needs a wife now she's only the niece of the Duke of Norfolk so in other words
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not massively aristocratic and not not really important in and of her own right she's certainly
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not a big heiress or or you know a princess or a duchess or anything but nonetheless she will
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probably do so Amberlynn makes the calculation correctly isn't it that okay I could potentially
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You know, rather than just being one more fling
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but you know it's a bit of a tightrope isn't it because apart from anything else it's dangerous
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not to give Henry exactly what he wants immediately isn't it we've been through that we've talked all
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about that for the last couple of episodes haven't we Henry's the type of man type of king
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who doesn't take kindly to anyone not not giving in to him straight away I mean women is something
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slightly different slightly different not massively different but it's a slightly different
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he's not truly a Caligula or a Genghis Khan where if he says he wants to sleep with you and you say
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no he just he just immediately kills you on the spot or has you killed it's not that but you know
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it's dangerous if you refuse him too much he might just go off you and that's it and you're out of
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favor then and you'll never be in court again and your whole family may even be ruined right so it's
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the high stakes for her for the Bolin family or for the the entire Norfolk family it's high stakes
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a balancing game you know you could become Queen of England and therefore their children the Duke
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of Norfolk's progeny his family will be the royal family so there couldn't be any more on the line
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again you play your card slightly wrong with Henry very slightly wrong and it's all off forget about
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it, he'll move on to someone else. Charles Omar goes on saying this. But this task, i.e. Wolsey's
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task of trying to get the Pope to give Henry VIII a formal divorce or annulment, but this task
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proved more difficult than he had expected. Popes were generally indulgent enough to kings who would
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pay handsomely for their heart's desire. But the reigning pontiff, Clement VII, was in an unhappy
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position he was completely at the mercy of the emperor charles v whose troops had lately taken
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and sacked rome so let me quickly talk about that we're in the reformation here as i keep saying
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it's the age of luther and there'd been a protestant army marched on rome well it's
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charles v's army it's a spanish army but a lot of them are german a lot of the mercenaries a lot of
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the actual fighting men are German. And so he surrounded Rome and then when the men entered
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Rome, the idea was to just get the Pope, not kill him or anything, but just get him, take him prisoner
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essentially, get him, take him under your power. And that's sort of it. That was all that was
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necessary politically. That's all Charles V really wanted or needed. But when the German Protestant
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mercenaries got into rome they went a bit berserk not like you know not scorched earth not one brick
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on top of another not like a carthaginian sacking where there's no city left after it and every man
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woman and child is dead not that but they did they did go and sort of sack rome ruined it a bit i
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mean it's already been sacked dozens of times since the ancient world but nonetheless they
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sacked it again destroyed lots and lots and lots of things killed lots and lots of people all sorts
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even by an emperor by the way i talked all about clement the seventh thing in my videos all about
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the medici he's one of the medici popes isn't he quite a venal impious pope as far as popes go
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and one goes on saying charles was resolved that his aunt catherine should not be divorced and pope
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clement was mortally afraid of offending him instead therefore of granting the demand of
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Henry VIII, he played for time and appointed two cardinals, Wolsey himself and the Italian Bishop
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of Salisbury to investigate the question. So that's the thing. The Pope can't give Henry what
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he wants, but in order to play for time, he says, okay, I'll send a special papal legate to look
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into the situation. Again, it's all a gambit to play for time, but you know, pretending that he
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might do it, pretending that if his special papal legate, the Cardinal Campeggio, if he goes and
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spends a few days, weeks, months even, looking into the court, looking into all the details,
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all the documents about Henry VIII and his brother Arthur and Catherine of Aragon's original marriage
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and everything that's gone on and the original papal dispensation in the first place to let
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Henry marry Catherine of Aragon in the first place, this papal legate, he'll look into everything,
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With the suggestion being that he will find in Henry's favour
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You know, this sort of thing might be able to string it out for a year or two
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And in that time, the whole politics of everything might change
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Charles V of Spain's armies might be called away elsewhere
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I mean, it's the only real card the Pope has got
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As though the Pope finds himself in an impossible situation as well
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Henry and Wolsey hoped to force a prompt decision
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And summoned the king to send his case to be tried at Rome
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Campeggio finally can't draw it out for any longer
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But the Pope still doesn't want to completely alienate the King of England
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One of the three most powerful men in Western Europe
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Henry wrongly thought that this check was due to some bungling
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not seeing that the Pope's fears of the Emperor were the real cause. He at once withdrew his
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support from the great minister Wolsey though Wolsey needed it more at this moment than ever
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before for he was in great disfavour with the nation both for his arrogance and for the heavy
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taxation which he had imposed on the land or rather Henry had made him impose on the land.
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he had actually demanded from parliament the unprecedented tax of four pence on the pound
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from all men's lands and incomes and though the house plucked up courage the house of parliament
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plucked up courage to resist this extortionate claim he obtained as much as two pence it's all
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very quaint isn't it in 1529 the cardinal fearing to meet another parliament had recourse to the old
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device of benevolency on a larger scale than ever and if you remember benevolences is basically just
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theft basically just going around saying the crown demands this amount of money now you're loyal
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aren't you you still want to be alive don't you so give me your money that's what benevolences
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are in this instance papal benevolences are something else so make sure you know the difference
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And dismissed him from the office of Chancellor
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you know again in hindsight Wolsey was really good at his job he said that about a number of
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people he said that about Thomas Cromwell years later years after the Cromwell years he said oh
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he was really good actually I shouldn't have just got rid of him by the way just to let you know
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Thomas Cromwell who will come into this story later I've got a whole epoch haven't I in
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conversation with Luca was it even a two-parter all about Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell just
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to remind you if you haven't watched that one Thomas Cromwell this time is Cardinal Wolsey's
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right-hand man, or one of his right-hand men. He's very, very low-born as well. He's just the son of
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Putney Blacksmith. He's a complete nobody, really. Capable as an administrator and a politician,
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basically. But he's just one of Woolsey's right-hand men. Anyway, he'll come up later in the
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story, perhaps not even this epoch. Well, maybe. We'll see. We'll get to it. Oman goes on saying
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this. His place as the king's chief councillor, Cardinal Woolsey we're talking about here,
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Riches and power beyond your wildest reckoning
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But if he decides he doesn't like you and you're out
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rather than his own but Henry chose to ignore this fact and to win a cheap popularity by
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persecuting his old and faithful servant again that speaks volumes doesn't it about Henry's
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character we said this earlier didn't we in one of the previous episodes but Henry on some level
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quite often would seem jovial and nice and friendly and joke about and laugh about and be
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kindly and conversational with normal people and all that sort of thing but he had that year
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where he could be absolutely deadly, a ruthless, unbelievably ruthless, mean, cruel even. The idea
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that someone served him absolutely faithfully, brilliantly really, for 15 odd years. But now
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Henry's decided, it's just annoyed him a bit. And Henry's decided it's in his interest, Henry's
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interest, to completely destroy him. He just did it, just does that. He doesn't care. Anne Boleyn
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Because this has dragged on for a few years now
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Very very quickly, no, this has dragged out over
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Anne Boleyn and Norfolk, because they're just waiting
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Anne Boleyn and Norfolk are exasperated by the delay in the king's divorce
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The cardinal was impeached for having accepted the title of legate from Rome
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Without the king's formal leave many years before
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when the king would be happy to have an English cardinal, but he's trying to find something to
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get him on, formally, even legally, remove him, disgrace him. So he chooses that.
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Oman says, Henry had made no objection at the time, and it was pure hypocrisy to pretend
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indignation now. But Wolsey was declared to have incurred penalties under the statute of
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which forbade dealings with Rome conducted without royal leave. He was condemned, deprived of all his
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enormous personal property, and sent away from court to live in his archbishopric of York, i.e.
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steal all your money and lands, send you away, send you up north to York. He'd never even been
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to York. Whilst we get together more charges and a kangaroo court, and while we get all our ducks
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in a row to probably charge you with treason maybe even execute you just go up north and stay quiet
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and be there get out of sight and one says a year later henry again commenced to molest him and he
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was on his way to london to answer a preposterous charge of treason when he died in leicester as
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much of a broken heart as of any disease he had been arrogant and harsh in his day of power but
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he had served his master so faithfully that nothing can excuse Henry's ingratitude.
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Unfortunately for England, he had taught the king the dangerous lesson that he could go very far in
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the direction of absolute and tyrannical government and escape from the consequent
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unpopularity by throwing over his ministers. Henry used this knowledge to the full during the rest of
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his reign, end quote. Very good point that Professor O mentions there because it does set
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exactly that it sets the scene for how Henry conducts himself going forward that he can do
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really really bad things basically tyrannical things or order other people to do them and
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then when it gets out of hand and the people are upset there's even revolts and riots and
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all sorts of things blame it all on that same person and then disgrace them and do away with
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them even execute them just play that that that gambit replay that over and over and over again
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yeah it's almost too easy isn't it if you're ruthless enough to do it and
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Henry VIII it certainly is easily is we hope you enjoyed that video and if you
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did please head over to lotusseaters.com for the full unabridged video