Henry VIII

Lesson 7: Surviving Henry. Henry VIII and Katherine Parr.

Henry's death

My most dear lord, king and husband, The hour of my death now drawing on, the tender love I owe you forceth me, my case being such, to commend myself to you, and to put you in remembrance with a few words of the health and safeguard of your soul which you ought to prefer before all worldly matters, and before the care and pampering of your body, for the which you have cast me into many calamities and yourself into many troubles. For my part, I pardon you everything, and I wish to devoutly pray God that He will pardon you also... Lastly, I make this vow, that mine eyes desire you above all things. Katharine the Quene. Part of the last letter of Catherine of Aragon to Henry VIII

He desires that he be laid in the chair of his college at Windsor and that an altar shall be founded for the saying of daily mass while the world shall endure. (1)

The death of Henry VIII occurred January 28, 1547 – in the early hours of the morning, whilst holding the hand of a cleric and not a wife. Although he had been clearly a very sick man for years, mystery shrouds the actual medical condition that caused Henry VIII’s death. Not only did the King not wish to face the prospect of his impending death,(2)but also the men surrounding Henry VIII wished to hide the true state of the King’s health from the eyes of the world as they moved all the pieces in place for the beginning of Edward’s reign; the ridding of threats to Henry VIII’s throne and dynasty continued to almost the final moments of his reign.

In Henry’s last days, the Seymour faction permanently removed their main threat to their control of Henry’s heir Edward after his father's death. After a brief imprisonment in the Tower, along with his aging father, Surrey, the poet son of the Duke of Norfolk, was executed only days before the King’s death on what seems to be trumped up charges of ‘fidelity to the King. ’ (3) . His father simply may have escaped sharing the same fate because his old master breathed his last breath before Norfolk need breathe his. Going against the more commonly stated view that Norfolk would have been executed too – Weir believes that Henry VIII actually reprieved him before his death. (4)

Just weeks before his death, Henry VIII sent his wife and daughters to spend and celebrate their festive season at Greenwich Palace. (5) Interestingly, Antonia Fraser states that the King never saw Catherine Parr again, (6) whilst Weir gives an account where the King calls Catherine to his bedside the day before his death. “It is God's will we shall part,” he said, sending her away when the emotion of the moment became too much for him. (7)

Despite believing he died in the Catholic faith, Henry VIII set the stage for a Protestant England. His son and heir was educated by men with strong leanings toward this faith, and many of the men surrounding him at the time of his father’s death were hard line Protestants – especially Edward’s uncle, now, with Henry’s death, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. Somerset took the title of Protector of the Kingdom despite Henry’s will that had appointed sixteen executors as equal regents for Edward’s minority. (8)

A majestic King who ‘immeasurably enhanced the standing of the monarchy,’ (9) Henry’s subjects mourned his passing with sincere grief, knowing that a strong King had been replaced by a boy King. I suspect many also gave a collective sigh of relief. Henry died at aged fifty-five, after a reign lasting over thirty-seven years, and was buried, as requested, with ‘his loving wife, Queen Jane.’ (10) Henry VIII request for a ‘daily mass while the world shall endure’ only lasted the first year of son’s reign. (11)

[Undoubtedly] the rarest that lived in his time. I say not this to make him a god, nor in all his doings I will wot not say he has been a saint. He did many evil things, but not as a cruel tyrant or as a hypocrite. I wot not where in all the histories I have read to find one King equal to him. (10)

What do you think?

(1) Robert Lacey; The life and times of Henry VIII; General Editor: Antonia Fraser; George Weidenfeld and Niclolson and Book Club, London; 1972, page 217

(2) Alison Weir; Henry VIII; King and Court; page 502

(4) Antonia Fraser; Henry VIII and his six wives; page 391

(4) Alison Weir; Henry VIII; King and Court; page 498

(5) Alison Weir; Work Cited; page 499

(6) Antonia Fraser; Work Cited; page 391

(7) Alison Weir; Work Cited; page 501

(8) Antonia Fraser; Work Cited; page 394

(9) Alison Weir; Work Cited; page 505

(10) Alison Weir; Work Cited; page 503

(11) Alison Weir; Work Cited; page 504

Reference: The wives of Henry VIII, by Antonia Fraser. Although more than just one book will be referred to during this course, The wives of Henry VIII is the main reference 'text.' Written in a very readable manner, this book is a very sensitive account of the six women who became the consorts of Bluff King Hal. Antonia Fraser's research is always excellent.

Please note my edition (published in Australia) is called Henry VIII and his Wives

In Henry VIII, the King and the Court - a wonderfully researched book - Alison Weir brings alive Henry VIII in all his glory and his magnificent court, not fearing a bit of controversy along the way. This is a must read for people interested in the period.

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