Henry VIII

Lesson 6: The Blushing Rose Without a Thorn. Henry VIII and Katherine Howard.

Back to Henry's court

This segment aims to help students understand the court of Henry VIII at the latter part of his reign.

St Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in the 12th chapter: 'Charity is gentle, Charity is not envious, Charity is not proud,' and so on in that chapter. Behold then what love and charity is amongst you when one calls another heretic and anabaptist and he calls him back papist, hypocrite, and pharisee. Are these tokens of charity amongst you? No, no, I assure you that this lack of charity amongst yourselves will be the hindrance and assuaging of the fervent love between us, as I said before, unless this is healed and clearly made whole. I must judge the fault and occasion of this discord to be partly the negligence of you, the fathers and preachers of the spirituality. For if I know a man who lives in adultery I must judge him to be a lecherous and carnal person; if I see a man boast and brag about himself I cannot but deem him a proud man. I see and hear daily that you of the clergy preach against each other without charity or discretion. Some are too stiff in their old 'Mumpsimus', others are are too busy and curious in their new 'Sumpsimus'. Thus almost all men are in variety and discord, and few or none truly and sincerely preach the word of God as they ought to do. Shall I now judge you to be charitable persons who do this? No, no, I cannot do so. Alas, how can the poor souls live in concord when you preachers sow amongst them in your sermons debate and discord? They look to you for light and you bring them darkness. Amend these crimes, I exhort you, and set forth God's word truly, both by true preaching and giving a good example, or else, I, whom God has appointed his vicar and high minister here, will see these divisions extinct, and these enormities corrected, according to my true duty, or else I am an unprofitable servant and an untrue officer. Part of Henry VIII's speech to Parliament in 1547.

The court of Henry VIII at the time of Katherine Howard’s execution was an entirely different place to his court at the beginning of Henry’s reign. Henry’s court in 1540 was a court where the King reigned absolutely. No longer was there a Queen who might choose to challenge the King with her own power base. No longer was there a red garbed carinal who muttered for a time ego et rex menus to foreign dignitaries; by 1540, no one at court dared to say, the King and I.

All treaded uneasily around this royal lion, a lion that not only roared but killed. And the lion ripped apart those closest to it, from the men who shared his daily life to some of the women who shared his bed. The golden morning of Henry VIII’s welcome to the throne now culminated to a blood drenched sunset.

By 1540, men at court knew that working hard for King Henry did not save your life – they only had to study the example of Cromwell to know that. Whether truly as a result of the King’s displeasure at being wedded to Anne of Cleves or the officially stated reason: suspicion that he planned to force upon the King and the Kingdom his alleged Lutheran leanings, Cromwell, now called the Earl of Essex, discovered himself in 1540 stripped of his symbols of rank and power. (1) Cromwell ended his life on the block on the same day the King wedded his fifth wife, Katherine, his thornless rose, who also soon wilted and became headless under the axe of Henry’s bloody vengeance.

The terrible death inflicted on the man who may have truly desired marriage to Katherine Howard, who indeed called her ‘wife, ’(2) as they bedded together under Katherine’s step-grandmother’s roof, gives us further insight regarding the extent of the King’s true vengeful nature. Pre-contracted or not, at the end of his life, Francis Dereham had much cause to regret ever calling Katherine Howard wife. Not only tortured before death, he died one of the most horrible deaths imaginable: hanged, drawn and quartered. Antonia Fraser suggests that his unmerciful death resulted through Henry VIII’s knowledge that it was Dereham who took Katherine’s virginity, and not himself. (3)

Those men and women close in blood to the King also knew that the relationship did not keep them safe from harm. King Henry VIII’s daughter Mary lived in great fear for her own life. Dare to act the rebellious teenager, and with more reason than most, then Mary’s royal father’s idea of discipline was threats of the Tower and execution. (4)

Mary had little cause to doubt his threats – not only knowing the miseries inflicted on her own mother, she also knew the sickening account about the death of her godmother, her father’s own elderly cousin, Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, murdered at her father’s command. Not understanding what crime she committed, this old woman was chopped to death by an inept executioner in one of the worst executions of the Tudor period. The only true reason for her death seems to be that Henry wished to lash out at her son, Cardinal Pole – who had stirred up trouble for the King abroad. (5)

His subjects far from court also knew the full power of his wrath. The same year that Jane Seymour felt within her the stirring of the King’s greatest desire, new risings in the north resulted in “dreadful executions” of many of his lowly subjects. (6) Yes – from low to high - there were evident grim warnings about the consequences of defiance, or getting in Henry’s way. In reality, fear now ruled Henry VIII’s court.

(1)Antonia Fraser; The Six Wives of Henry VIII, page 323

(2)Antonia Fraser; work cited; page 320

(3)Antonia Fraser; Work Cited; page 342

(4)Antonia Fraser; Work Cited; page 261

(5)Antonia Fraser; Work Cited; page 342-3

(6)Antonia Fraser; Work Cited; page 274

Reference:

Henry VIII and Wives, by Antonia Fraser. Although more than just one book will be referred to during this course, Henry VIII and Wives 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.

Question:
What is your opinion on Henry at this point of his reign?

For Your Enjoyment!

A free board game! Henry VIII: Intrigue in the Tudor Court