A Word on "Bloody" Mary

It was on this day in 1553 that Queen Mary I of England, eldest child of King Henry VIII, had her coronation as "Queen of England, Ireland and France". She came to the throne in a rather jubilant atmosphere as the vast majority never regarded the Lady Jane Grey as legitimate in any way and her brief bid for power only lasted a little more than a week. However, since her death, Queen Mary I has been vilified to the extent that even all these centuries later she is still known as "Bloody Mary". This is really unfortunate as, despite her reputation, Queen Mary I was not a cruel or heartless woman. She was, rather, a perhaps overly zealous woman, more concerned with principle than politics and an early case of what happens when your enemies write your popular biography.

It is also unfortunate that the case of Queen Mary I is often, to this day, seen through a partisan, religious, glass. The truth is that the Tudor period was a time of intense religious zeal in Christendom and neither Catholics nor Protestants were particularly tolerant of each other. Queen Mary herself had been persecuted, not tortured by any means but certainly persecuted, for her adherence to Catholicism and her refusal to change and embrace Protestantism. Yet, her villainous reputation stems entirely from the fact that she had several hundred Protestants burned alive during her rather short reign for heresy. That is true and by modern standards it is horrific but there are a few facts people should keep in mind before being too harsh towards Queen Mary (and that includes many Catholics who blame her for the failure of their cause in England).

Queen Mary I actually began her reign with a very tolerant attitude toward those who had tried to prevent her from taking the throne, those who had persecuted her mother and the most adamant Protestants of the Church of England. It was only after this attitude of reconciliation was not returned that she likewise became more intolerant. Though often blamed, her husband King Philip II of Spain, actually urged against taking repressive measures, for political reasons of his own. It is also true that Queen Mary had fewer Protestants put to death for their religion than either her father before her or her younger sister after her would have Catholics put to death for their faith, the caveat being that Queen Mary I reigned for only a few years while Henry VIII and Elizabeth I reigned for a much longer period of time. All the same, most of those who were put to death would have or could have justly been put to death anyway for treason but the Queen decided to put them to death for heresy, by burning, rather than for treason which called for a slower and more gruesome means of execution.

Despite her reputation, Queen Mary I was not cruel or heartless. She had a very soft spot for her younger brother and predecessor King Edward VI, though he was raised a radical Protestant and, despite some frustrations, could never bring herself to be too harsh toward her younger sister Elizabeth. She was very fond of children, likely all the more so since she was never able to have any of her own, and would visit the homes of humble common people and always give money to the mothers of small children, who she invariably fussed over. Her ladies-in-waiting and all those who knew her best and spent the most time with invariably described her as kind, considerate and compassionate. It was only that, on the subject of religion, she would not bend to what was expedient. She was a firm believer that the Catholic Church was the only true church and, as such, the humane thing to do was to stamp out heresy ruthlessly so that more souls would not be lured away from the path of righteousness. She inflicted nothing on any Protestant that she would not have been willing to endure herself if the roles were reversed.

Most today would certainly regard what she did as unspeakably cruel and this is not the place to argue over that but the point is that the Queen herself certainly did not see it so. The last evidence of that is in the manner of her death. Her final hours show a woman with a clear conscience who did not dread the judgement of the Almighty. In stark contrast to her more beloved sister, Queen Elizabeth I, who died in agony, tormented by terrifying visions, Queen Mary I died calmly, peacefully, with visions of angelic children playing around her. She was a zealous woman but she was not an evil woman or a heartless woman and should not be portrayed as such.

Princely Profile: Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, “Ipse Rex”

Known as the personification of the problems in the Catholic Church of his time, Cardinal Wolsey was worldly, wealthy and ambitious. Yet, like most figures of the Renaissance or any period in history Wolsey had his good points as well as his failings. He rose to prominence during the reign of King Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty and was a major figure at court as well as acting as an envoy to the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian. When Henry VIII came to the throne Wolsey's star was to rise even higher, and the young king had complete trust in the clever churchman. One way this came about was mutual ambition. Henry VIII wanted power and glory and would abide no one who tried to discourage him. Wolsey realized this and was always eager to encourage the King's ambition as a way of realizing his own.

It was a policy that worked as in 1514 Wolsey was given the prestigious position of Archbishop of York. In September the following year he was elevated to the rank of Cardinal and only one month later Henry VIII made him Lord Chancellor of England. This was the apex of his career, holding the most powerful office in the kingdom and the red hat of a Prince of the Church. It was quite a rise from someone who had been born the son of a butcher. For some time their relationship was good. The King was obsessed with wars and jousts and pageantry and had no interest in the work of administration, which was therefore left in Cardinal Wolsey's capable hands. Even his worst enemy could not deny that Wolsey was committed, hard working and extremely good at his job.

Problems did not arise until that pivotal moment in English history when King Henry VIII fell for the seductions of Ann Boleyn and became determined to put away his lawful wife Queen Catherine of Aragon. Cardinal Wolsey, ever devoted to the King, did his best to solve the problem but knew that the Pope would refuse. He earned the wrath of Ann Boleyn who tried to turn Henry against him, and other than the King, Wolsey had few friends. His rise from humble origins disturbed the aristocracy, and many envied his extreme wealth, it often being said that he lived even more luxuriously than the King himself. Wolsey was also the perfect illustration of all the problems in the Church that devoted men like St Thomas More were demanding be corrected. He became very fat, extracted fees from those given posts in the Church, was absent from his see in York, had fathered illegitimate children and had done little to strop the spread of Lutheranism/Protestantism in England. When he failed to gain the annulment Henry wanted some accused him of purposely not trying hard enough because of an ambition to be elected Pope.

Because Queen Catherine was the aunt of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Cardinal Wolsey was pushing a foreign policy of closeness with France, he would have liked nothing better than to see the Queen put away. However, he did not approve of Henry marrying Ann Boleyn, who it seemed to many had cast a spell over the King and was driving him to make revolutionary changes in the kingdom simply to satisfy his lust. When the Cardinal could not get a swift judgment in Henry's favor, the king grew impatient and his enemies among the nobility and especially Ann Boleyn, closed in on Wolsey. He was dismissed as Lord Chancellor, stripped of his role as Papal legate, deprived of all offices save the archbishopric of York and was later forced to sign over all of his possessions to the King.

Later, when it was found that Wolsey had not been at fault for the king not obtaining his divorce, he was pardoned and returned to York to try to act as the shepherd he was supposed to have been. However, he had powerful enemies that would not relent and they produced forged documents claiming that the Cardinal had been in secret negotiations with the King of France and demanded that he be tried for high treason. When the King's officers came to arrest him he famously said, "Master Kingston, I see the matter against me now it is framed; but if I had served God as diligently as I have done the King He would not have given me over in my gray hairs". Cardinal Wolsey, however, was never tried or executed for the charges against him as he died before the matter could be concluded on November 29, 1530.

Consort Profile: Katherine Parr

Katherine Parr, famous for being the last of the ill-fated six wives of King Henry VIII of England, was born in or around 1512, the eldest child of Sir Thomas Parr, Sheriff of Northamptonshire and Comptroller to the King. Her mother had been an aid to Queen Catherine of Aragon and Katherine Parr was named after the Queen who was her godmother. The family rose in importance during the reign of Henry VIII and Sir Thomas Parr was a good friend of the monarch. As a child, Katherine was well educated and very intelligent, learning French, Italian and Latin. She had no interest in the usual feminine pastimes and preferred more intellectual pursuits. Coming from a good family, she was only twelve when her mother started negotiating for an appropriate husband for her (she herself had only been 17 when she gave birth to Katherine) but it took some time to make a match. Finally she was married to Sir Edward Borough, Baron of Gainsborough who was 63 whereas Katherine was only 14 at the time. Naturally, he had been married before (his wife having died) and he already had three children. Still, this was not that uncommon at the time and the wedding went off without a hitch.

Katherine had stepchildren older than she was but this odd arrangement was not to last long as Lord Borough died not long after in 1528, leaving Katherine a widow and probably giving her a rather pragmatic or even cynical view of marriage. She was a free woman briefly but only a couple of years later in 1530 she was quickly snatched up by John Neville, Lord Latimer of Snape Castle. She was 18, he was in his late 30’s and had been married twice before. It was during her time as Lady Latimer that Katherine first caught the eye of King Henry after the execution of his fifth wife Katherine Howard. She was 31 with a husband whose health was failing and the King began sending her presents. After his last marriage he had been a little reluctant to marry again and even when he made up his mind to, he found brides much harder to come by. Most of the princesses of Europe had come to view the “job” of Queen consort of England as anything but desirable. No perks could be worth the risk of ruinous divorce or beheading. So, once again, the only option the King seemed to have was marrying one of his own subjects.

In 1543 Lord Latimer died leaving Katherine Parr a free, still attractive and wealthy woman in her own right. She remained at court after the death of her husband because of the growing possibility of romance with Sir Thomas Seymour, brother of the late Queen Jane and so uncle to the future King Edward VI. Seymour was everything Katherine was not. She was responsible and intelligent, he was hot-headed and unscrupulous. She was principled and he was mercenary. Yet, he was famously handsome and Katherine was as susceptible as many otherwise intelligent women in falling prey to the dashing image of a ’fancy’ man. For his part, Seymour was anxious to gain the considerable fortune Katherine had and she was not an unappealing woman on her own. Marriage rumors soon began to circulate. It was then, however, that the King intervened and it soon became clear that he wanted Katherine for himself even though Katherine, like most women at this point, had not the slightest desire to be wed to the old, increasingly ailing and notoriously cantankerous monarch. Still, she put her own feeling aside and did what she considered her duty even after Henry had Seymour put out of the way by sending him as his ambassador to Brussels.

Her reluctance notwithstanding, Katherine Parr was probably the most qualified of any of the recent consorts to be the wife of Henry VIII. She was experienced at being a wife and being a nurse to a dying husband. She had a winning personality, was very charming, an excellent conversationalist and seemed interested in everything. What could have been problematic was her intelligence. She was very well read and loved religious arguments and theological discussions. In the past, the King had shown very little tolerance for this, especially when the source was his wife who he traditionally preferred to be demure, submissive and obedient. However, after his last wife, he might have considered this less important that the fidelity that Katherine Parr was quite known for. There would certainly be no surprising revelations concerning the past when it came to Katherine Parr. She would also be acceptable to the Protestant faction at court as she was very vocal about her belief that the King was supreme in religious matters and that the Pope in Rome was a horrible monster who was a worse persecutor of the people of God than the Biblical Pharaoh of Egypt. Just what Henry liked to hear.

So it was that on July 12, 1543 King Henry VIII and Katherine Parr were married, one of the witnesses being Henry’s ex-wife Anne of Cleves, and almost everyone was happy at the news. Her submission to the King in religious matters was immediately tested when he had three Protestants burned for heresy in Great Park at Windsor but the new Queen made no objection even though her Lutheran sympathies were well known and a cause for concern in more Catholic quarters. As Queen consort, one of things Katherine is most known for is her work in bringing about a reconciliation in the often dysfunctional Tudor Royal Family. Mary and Elizabeth had both, at various points, been declared bastards by their own father. Mary had seen her mother cast aside and waste away under house arrest until her death at the hands of the King, Elizabeth knew her father had her mother put to death on absurd charges of adultery and the little prince Edward had been a source of intrigue and a jockeying for position almost since the day he was born. Reconciliation was both needed and long over due if the House of Tudor was to be expected to long survive.

The reconciliation between the King and Elizabeth was the most significant of all. Edward was his hope for the future, Mary he had known the longest and become accustomed to but until Katherine went to work the King had never been comfortable around his second daughter, perhaps because the memories she evoked of Ann Boleyn were too painful than he liked to admit. Queen Katherine took Elizabeth under her wing and supervised her education, meaning that the woman who was destined to gain fame as England’s greatest queen was in very good hands. Princess Mary, having for so long been discarded, was thrilled at simply being treated as she deserved, like a royal princess and the daughter of a King. Prince Edward was kept the most from her but she still managed to have a positive influence on the boy and he developed a real affection for her. For perhaps the first time since Henry VIII put away Katherine of Aragon the English Royal Family was together and at peace with each other. No small accomplishment that.

In affairs of state, the influence of Queen Katherine was negligible. After Queen Marie of Guise rejected the proposal that her daughter marry Prince Edward, Henry VIII sent an English army to invade Scotland which sacked and burned numerous cities, religious houses and ultimately accomplished nothing more than making the Scots hate England more than ever before and make them even more dependent on their alliance with France. Henry VIII had done what few Scottish kings ever managed to do: uniting the squabbling nobles of Scotland, at least for a time and on the sole basis of their hatred of England. Katherine played little to no part in this but she did surprise some by influencing the King to keep Princess Mary as second-in-line for the throne after her younger brother, despite the two having very different religious views. It was good for peace in the family and would be good in keeping on friendly terms with the Empire at a time when England had been acquiring more enemies than was healthy for a country not exactly at the peak of its power. So impressive was Katherine in her dealings with the family, foreign officials and so remarkable was her intelligence that Henry felt no hesitation about naming her regent to rule on his behalf when he left for his long-planned invasion of France.

As with almost everything in post-Catherine of Aragon England, the one most controversial aspect of Queen Katherine was her religion. It is often misunderstood that England was Catholic before Henry wanted a divorce and then Protestant after he broke with Rome in order to give himself one. It was not that simple. There were traditional Catholics like Princess Mary who despised giving up an inch of the “old religion”, there were pro-Lutheran Protestants who wanted a total religious “do-over” in the country and then there were the people like Henry VIII often was who were somewhere between these two. They might have despised the papacy and the religious orders but they still considered themselves part of the historical Catholic Church and viewed Protestant beliefs in many instances as heretical. Because of this it can sometimes be disputed as to whether this or that individual fit into the Catholic or Protestant camps. There were also numerous people who crossed back and forth between the two depending on the prevailing political winds.

Katherine Parr, based on her background and her own writings, was firmly in the Protestant camp though not everyone would have known it at the time. Eventually there was no getting around the fact that she was more religiously radical than Henry VIII and the Catholic faction at court tried to convince the King she was no good for him. However, Katherine was a good enough wife that she had little trouble in getting Henry to overlook her religious opinions. It is also true that she enjoyed religious debates and could participate in them without rancor or hatred toward those she was arguing with. Henry VIII, despite his rejection of the authority of Rome, did not consider himself a Protestant and, indeed, despised them. Nonetheless, his marriage to Katherine was an overall happy one. She was attentive to him, conversed with him to take his mind of his problems and ailments and in his declining years she was an able and conscientious nurse to him. She was a remarkably dutiful wife given that she probably never really loved the king at all in the way most people today would understand it. Before Henry VIII died he left orders that she be treated as Queen of England for the rest of her life, as if she were still the royal consort and he made generous provision for her.

Thomas Seymour quickly returned to Katherine and less than a year after the death of Henry the couple were finally married. This caused some raised eyebrows at court but it was nothing no one couldn’t get over. She continued to write, her works being quite well received and, to the surprise of all, at the age of 35 she gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Mary Seymour who was born in 1548. Sadly, Katherine died of fever less than a week later.

Consort Profile: Queen Ann Boleyn

Of all the famous “Six Wives of Henry VIII” probably none among them is as famous or has been the focus of as much attention as his second wife Ann Boleyn. To some she is a scheming home wrecker, to others a virtuous victim. History has been a rough ride for Ann Boleyn but, for the most part, has probably served her well. In her own time she was deeply unpopular and could be seen as made to measure for the part of villainess in the story of the marital problems of the second Tudor King of England. Yet, it was her offspring who became probably the most celebrated Queen in English history and who set the country on the political and religious course maintained almost ever since, the effects still around today and so, because of that, Ann Boleyn has not been consigned to the proverbial dust bin of history. Even today she has as many defenders as detractors and she remains, to some extent, a controversial figure, still talked about, written about and even made the subject of numerous dramas, television shows and feature films. Few can still spark such heated debate as Ann Boleyn.

Even the date of birth of Ann Boleyn is argued over, most putting it sometime in or between 1501-1507. She was common born but had titled, well connected parents and at an early age was sent abroad to be educated. Her schooling in the Burgundian Netherlands was typical but it was in France where she first began to turn heads. Originally to serve Mary Tudor, once she was out of the picture she remained, along with her sister Mary Boleyn, to serve Queen Claude of Valois. Claude ran a tight ship and with her Ann learned discipline while her sister did not. She became one of the many mistresses of King Francis I and later King Henry VIII as well, embraced quickly and abandoned quickly. Ann would not make the same mistakes. By most accounts she was not drop-dead gorgeous, yet, her bearing and behavior caused her to have the same effect on almost all the men around her. She had alluring eyes, was graceful, charming, witty, an expert at fashion, an excellent dancer and rather flirtatious. She learned all about ‘court politics’ and, even at an early age, showed great ambition and determination. Ann was a woman who knew what she wanted and how to overcome obstacles to reach her goals.

There was hardly anyone at the French court who was not impressed with her. She made herself a joy to be around in almost any company. She liked to sing, gamble, hunt, exchange jokes and was a great conversationalist. Later many would claim that she also became an expert at what we shall politely refer to as ‘bedroom antics’ while in France, however, it is hard to determine the truth of those claims as most appear after opinion had turned against her whereas, at the time, she was reported to be quite virtuous. Some find that hard to believe but, even if she was not pure as the wind-driven snow she must have been very discreet about her affairs and that could be almost as great a recommendation for the circles she moved in. In 1522, when relations between England and France were growing worse, she returned to her homeland and, thanks to her family, was promptly given a place at court as one of the ladies-in-waiting to Queen Katherine of Aragon. It did not take long before she caught the eye of King Henry VIII, always a man easily distracted by women and growing increasingly frustrated with his older wife and her inability to provide him with a male heir.

The King came on strong but Ann resisted. She was not prepared to be just another mistress and Ann told the King, in so many words, ‘if you like it, put a ring on it’. Whether this was Ann being virtuous or playing a clever game has been endlessly debated and the answer will only ever be known to Ann herself. If it was a strategy it was a fine one as Ann gained the status of “forbidden fruit” in the eyes of Henry VIII. The longer she resisted the more the King had to have her and the more willing he became to move heaven and earth, even change the religion of an entire country and isolate his country in order to have her. This was when religion entered the story of Ann Boleyn in a big way. Ann has been accused of being a Lutheran, which she was not though she would defend them when necessary. However, she was what was known then as a “reformer” or essentially what we would today call a Protestant. She did influence the King in this regard but it would, perhaps, be giving her too much credit to say that she single-handedly turned him away from the Catholic Church simply by whispering sweet Protestant nothings in his ear. By this time Ann, though not a mistress, was recognized as the King’s “other woman” and thus the start of a growth in unpopularity on her part.

Henry VIII would try to get his own way within the Catholic Church but his patience was near exhaustion. Ann knew she had the King wrapped around her little finger and, perhaps unwisely, began making enemies in some pretty high places. Cardinal Wolsey was certainly at the top of that list. He warned the King against trying to divorce Queen Katherine. She was the aunt of the King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, she had been married to Henry for quite a long time already, had a child with him and the King had received a papal dispensation in order to marry her in the first place. Cardinal Wolsey was certainly no pious churchman but he was realistic and informed statesman and knew that, for all of these reasons, the Pope would never agree to Henry divorcing his wife. This made him as much an enemy to Ann Boleyn as the Queen herself and, though it seemed impossible, when Henry had to choose between his chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, and Ann Boleyn it was Ann who won the day. When Wolsey failed to obtain the answer from the Church Henry wanted his political career was over and there was no doubt that Ann was to be the replacement for Queen Katherine as consort of England.

This made Ann many enemies, at one point she was nearly attacked by an angry mob, as people across the country, especially women, saw her as a home-wrecker and Queen Katherine as the faithful, long-suffering wife about to be ‘traded-in’ for a younger model. However, there was no turning back. Ann even gave in to the King a little early and the future Queen Elizabeth I was already conceived when Henry VIII broke with Rome, declared himself “Supreme Head of the Church on earth”, annulled his marriage to Queen Katherine and married Ann Boleyn. For Ann, the newly declared Queen of England, it was the zenith of her life. She loved Henry, they were married, she was Queen and while she certainly had enemies, none could touch her. Everything seemed to be going her way but, alas, problems were not slow in rising up. More than anything else, Henry wanted a son and a son was not forthcoming and Ann, for all of her intelligence, strength and charm, could do nothing to influence the mechanics of nature.

The King also began to be put off by many of the qualities which had first drawn him to Ann. He no longer found her assertiveness attractive. She was educated, intelligent and didn’t mind showing it and he didn’t like that. She was bold and opinionated and he didn’t like that and she was not bashful about speaking her mind and he didn’t like that either. As tensions grew Ann also became more unpleasant herself. People complained about her lavish spending, her cruelty toward her step-daughter Mary and many blamed her for dissolution of the monasteries, the religious innovations that divided the country and the execution of popular and respected Catholics such as Sir Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher. All of this only seemed to make Ann more defiant and her public image was certainly not helped when she wore a bright yellow dress to a party after learning of the death of Queen Katherine. This all had an impact on the King as well and he began to likewise blame Ann for all of his misfortunes, whether it was the rebellions that broke out or the growing political isolation of England by the great Catholic powers of France, Spain and the Empire. Of course, Ann was not responsible for all of this, but she made for a convenient scapegoat, often by others, such as the King, who were themselves just as much or more responsible for the state of affairs than she was.

Eventually, Jane Seymour caught the roving eye of the King and in regards to Ann, as sympathetic as some might be to her plight, one cannot help but remember the saying that, ‘if he will cheat with you, he will cheat on you’. With no sons forthcoming and discontent growing in the country (which Henry was content to lay totally at the doorstep of Ann) the King determined to get rid of her. About a month after he started moving in on Jane, the King launched an investigation against Ann for treason in April, 1536. In the years since, even those not inclined to look with favor on Ann have agreed that the charges against her, adultery and even incest, were totally false and certainly excessive. Nonetheless, the King was determined to ‘change his woman’ and had already proven, with Ann’s cooperation, that he could do it and would stop at nothing to get his way. On May 17 she was executed, though Henry at least had enough sympathy to send for an expert swordsman from France to conduct the beheading so it would be as quick and painless as possible. Still, he made no provision for her burial at all and in less than two weeks was already married to Jane Seymour.

Since that time, Ann has been featured in numerous media, even up to the present day in several movies and television series. Opinion about her remains divided. Protestant opinion is, rightly, positive and Catholic opinion, just as rightly, is negative. However, it is probably the negative image that prevails more often than not even amongst disinterested historians. This is probably partly due to the fact that, after her death and particularly after the accession of Queen Elizabeth I, the Protestants went a little overboard in portraying her as a pristine saint. That, she certainly was not. She had many admirable qualities but employed them in less than admirable pursuits. However, her execution was certainly unjust and it is unfair that she alone was made to suffer for decisions made by others. Even if she urged them toward those decisions, she was certainly not solely culpable. For myself, I recognize the injustice of that even though, like others, I cannot feel very sorry for her given how she came to that unenviable position. She had played a dangerous game, and in the end, was hoisted with her own petard.

MM Video: The Virgin Queen

The Cause for Queen Katharine of Aragon

I direct the attention of all Catholic readers to the official website for the cause of Queen Katharine of Aragon, tragic first wife of King Henry VIII of England. She has always been a favorite of mine, for her deep religious devotion, courage, sense of duty but also her great fidelity. The loyalty she held firm to toward her husband, even to her last breath, is, to me, probably the greatest evidence of her saintliness. How many people could do that after all the woman had been through? Anyway, she was a great woman, I have no doubt she is in Heaven and I fully support her cause. Also, a tug of the forelock to Tea at Trianon where I first found out about this.

MM Movie Review: Elizabeth

There have been few films such as the celebrated 1998 bio-pic "Elizabeth" which are as brilliant as they are atrocious. As filmmaking goes, "Elizabeth" deserves every honor it was given and certainly Cate Blanchett was deserving of her Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in her role as the "Virgin Queen". However, "Elizabeth" also deserves to be known as yet one more contender for the position of the most horrific excuse for a historical film ever produced on the Tudor era of England. It is a very competitive field (even before television got into the act). How can I say this without sounding too hysterical? Well, put it this way: history is thrown out the window, run over by a truck and then stomped on. Get the idea?

The story is certainly an attractive one. It follows the young Elizabeth, starting in the final days of the reign of her sister Queen Mary I (who, as usual, is ugly and villainous less modern Brits fail to recognize her), following her through her own reign as she faces constant harassment from Scotland, France, Spain and even the dastardly Pope while dealing with a stressful romance with the Earl of Leicester. The problem is certainly not in the acting, which is superb. The cast contains some of the best in the business, masters of their craft and even a living legend or two. The characters are interesting, deep and well done in every way aside from the occasional cartoonish villain but these are pretty much restricted to Catholic clergy so everyone else, hero or villain, is in pretty good shape.

Catte Blanchett is Queen Elizabeth I, the young innocent who must overcome and find her inner strength; Geoffrey Rush is Sir Francis Walsingham, the unscrupulous, loyal, bisexual spymaster and secret police chief; Christopher Eccleston is the imperious, duplicitous and finally traitorous Duke of Norfolk; Joseph Fiennes is the tempestuous, lusty and frustrated Earl of Leicester, Sir John Gielgud appears as the murderous Pope (Pius V, I presume) and Lord Richard Attenborough is the faithful, fatherly and stressed Sir William Cecil. So, again, it is a superb cast and they have a truly epic period of history to work with, tailor-made for great filmmaking. As a film, it is lavish, dramatic, gripping, visually stunning and immensely entertaining. As anything even pretending to be history it is absolutely insulting to the name.

I knew I was in trouble as soon as I saw the opening scene: the wicked Catholic Bishop Gardiner having some saintly Protestants burned alive for heresy on order from "Bloody Mary", who is herself depicted as a vile, raving tyrant. In fact, the records show Mary I was the least of all her dynasty in having people executed. Moreover, Bishop Gardiner had no one in his own diocese executed, had opposed the Queen marrying Philip II of Spain and was generally considered a moderate. However, the historical lies in this movie are far too many to record every one. The Earl of Leicester is shown frolicking with Elizabeth at the start when he should have still been in the Tower for treason. The Duke of Norfolk is shown as one of Elizabeth's earliest enemies in a Catholic conspiracy, which he was not. His anti-Elizabeth actions came much later in the plot surrounding Queen Mary Stuart, and he was always vague about his religion but never declared himself to be anything other than an Anglican. In fact, he is shown urging Queen Mary to have her sister killed to keep her off the throne when, in truth, Mary was not thrilled with the thought of this herself and was persuaded to allow Elizabeth's succession only by her husband, King Philip II of Spain (who, again, is portrayed as a horrible villain so as not to confuse the Brits).

Keep up, there’s more. William Cecil is portrayed as an elderly and ready to retire statesman when in fact he was a robust, young man when Elizabeth came to the throne. Sir Francis Walsingham is depicted as a scheming, murderous homosexual whereas, while certainly scheming, he never killed anyone himself and was a happily married family man and a devout Protestant - certainly not a homosexual. The Duc d'Anjou is shown as a bizarre, cross-dressing pervert whom Elizabeth finds abhorrent, yet another fabrication. In fact, the Duc d'Anjou never came to England and the Queen was quite taken with him and considered him very seriously to be her husband or at least pretended so to annoy the Spanish. There is also at least a possibility that the romance with Lord Robert, Earl of Leicester was never sexual, and Elizabeth may well have been a 'real' "Virgin Queen". I tend to doubt it and in these day and age it seems positively unbelievable but, in fairness, I have to say that a case can be made for the Queen being as good as her title.

Leicester was also certainly not involved with any kind of plot against the Queen, nor was there a great falling out between the two, and contrary to the film, his marriage was a well known fact at court and Elizabeth met with him many, many times before her death. (let me catch my breath) It is also untrue that Leicester ever had affairs with the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, whom she kept a close eye on and no one ever sent the Queen a poisoned dress. The plot at the center of this film also never happened in anything like the way it was portrayed. It seems the filmmakers simply took all of the schemes against Elizabeth, invented some intrigue of their own, and put them all together, stuffed them in a blender and hit “mix”. Much of it seems to be connected to the historical trap set for Queen Mary Stuart, yet, she is never seen or mentioned in the film.

Who is mentioned is her regent, the Queen Mother of Scotland Marie d'Guise, played by the captivating Fanny Ardant. The part was, to me, one of the most interesting of the film and Ardant gives a spectacular performance of an intriguing character. Yet, fond as I am of devious, warrior-queens, there is no truth in any of this. Queen Marie d'Guise was no scheming zealout, never a threat to England (though Protestant England was certainly a threat to her) and it is a total fabrication that she was poisoned by Sir Francis Walsingham after a night of passion. Marie d'Guise died of natural causes while trying to reconcile the feuding Scots. At the time of her death, she bore no resemblance to the character on film. Instead of Fanny Ardant's attractive, mature woman look, imagine an older, heavier woman with swollen extremities and a case of dropsy. I'm a fan of Marie d'Guise, but as much as I would rather picture her as seen in the movie, it is simply not accurate. Not at all.

However, the film as a whole, as good as the look of it was, that look was totally inaccurate. Most of the sets look like they should be in a movie about the Middle Ages rather than Renaissance, Tudor England. The palaces all seem dark, dank, dreary (insert dungeon-like metaphor here). That may do for scenes in the Tower of London, but the court of Queen Elizabeth lived in much more splendid and cheerful mansions and palaces. The dingy, Gothic sets have about as much to do with Elizabethan England as the assassination attempt on the river barge (yet another fabrication).

Believe it or not, I could go on, but I think you get the picture. Still, I cannot overstate how much talent was shown in this movie, and how entertaining it was. Yet, as excellent as it was in the art of cinema it was absolutely horrific in the history department and paints a distorted view of the Tudor era and Queen Elizabeth. It opened with a lie and, fittingly enough, ended with one as well: although it is a powerful scene, Elizabeth did not start wearing white makeup and portraying herself as the statue-like "Virgin Queen" until well into the latter part of her reign. Oh, the humanity...

Today in English History

It was on this day in 1559 that Elizabeth I became "Queen of England, Ireland and France", thus starting the famous Elizabethan Era of English history, romanticized ever since as a golden age of English greatness. I say "romanticized" only because it was, and still is, not to take anything away from the great accomplishments of her reign. Very few English monarchs have had such a lasting impact on England and Great Britain as a whole than Queen Elizabeth I. To be sure, the odds against her were great in many ways. That she became queen at all is somewhat remarkable given the circumstances. At a time when a queen regnant was an extremely unusual thing, consider also that she was the younger daughter with a brother and an older sister before her, her father, King Henry VIII, had her mother be-headed and she was of such questionable birth that at one point her own father declared her illegitimate. Obviously this would not seem to be the background of someone destined for monarchial greatness. She inherited a country that was religiously divided, surrounded by hostile powers and whose most recent military campaigns had ended in failure. Hardly the stuff of which world powers are made.

Consider also that, during her reign, she did many things that would cause most any other monarch to be dismissed as a total failure. Starting from a position of friendship she managed to tick off the most powerful nation in Western Europe at the time, supported rebel forces (even republican ones) against the lawful monarchs, had a fellow queen put to death (setting a dangerous precedent for that family), she failed to ever marry and secure the succession by producing legitimat offspiring (which especially at that time was considered probably the first and foremost duty of any monarch) and she suffered one of the most humiliating English defeats at the hands of a rebel army in Ireland. Not looking good is it? She was also vain, jealous, spiteful and, possibly worst of all for a ruler, extremely indecisive. And yet...and yet...she was great. England beat the odds, put down the first roots of a global empire, humbled the mightiest powers in Europe, experienced a flowering of art, music and literature all under her reign to the point that even her most bitter enemies could only stand amazed at what she accomplished.

Consort Profile: Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves, fourth of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England, has the distinction of being wife to the massive monarch for a shorter period than any other and yet, arguably, coming out of the experience better off than any of those before or after her. She was born Anna von Jülich-Kleve-Berg on September 22, 1515 in Düsseldorf, Germany to the Duke of Cleves who was known for his friendship with Erasmus and his staunch but moderate Protestantism. Her mother was Catholic but her father had opposed the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and over the years her family became quite famous among the Protestants of Germany and thus came to a measure of fame in the Protestant community across Europe. This was the primary reason for her recommendation to the post of queen consort of England, though that was certainly not her idea as she was a famously naïve and innocent young lady. She had, early in life, been betrothed to the 10-year-old future Duke of Lorraine but this was broken off. It was the Chancellor of England, Thomas Cromwell, who first proposed the match to King Henry VIII.

The King had been disinterested in marriage since the death of his last queen, Jane Seymour, with whom the King had, at times, had a stormy relationship with but who had since been elevated to the status of the ideal wife; she had given the king his long sought after son and heir and she was now dead. Who could compete with Jane? King Henry VIII had divorced one wife and executed another, provoked wars and rebellions and changed the religion of his country in his drive to have a son. Now that he had one he was in no hurry to start the process all over again. However, Thomas Cromwell wanted the King to marry. Never a real Protestant at heart, there was always a fear of the King being drawn back into the Catholic camp and Cromwell had long ago nailed his colors to the mast of the Church of England. A Protestant marriage was what was called for and probably the only possibility as most of the other prestigious royal ladies were Catholic and no royal woman was anxious to marry the King of England who had humiliated, divorced and imprisoned his first wife and had his second beheaded.

Cromwell discovered Anne of Cleves who seemed like the ideal choice. He knew nearly nothing about the woman herself but the German state was minor enough to embrace the idea of one of their own becoming Queen of England despite the unsavory marital history of the King and the duchy was, like England, opposed to the Emperor and could prove a useful, if minor, ally against him. The marriage would also ensure that King Henry and England with him remained firmly Protestant. With any luck she might even give him a royal ‘spare’ as added insurance against the loss of the rather frail Prince Edward. The King was finally persuaded to look into it and he sent Holbein over to paint a portrait of the lady as Henry VIII, having no real desire for a wife, wanted someone physically attractive if he was going to go to the trouble of marrying at all. Impressed with the results, Henry decided he would have her and the marriage negotiations began, resulting in a very binding contract with no small amount of what we would today call “small print”. Cleves may have been anxious to have one of their own as queen but they were under no illusions as to what Henry was capable of when it came to dealing with his wives.

Finally talked into eager anticipation (by himself as well as Cromwell) the King was looking forward to meeting her. When he did, however, he was less than impressed to say the least. He found her utterly repugnant and though he forced himself to be polite in her presence he heaped the most descriptive insults on her to others and referred to Anne, famously, as the “Flanders Mare” though from her portraits she does not seem very equine in appearance nor was she from Flanders. Henry VIII tried to get out of the marriage and was positively enraged with Thomas Cromwell for putting him into such a position, yet, the marriage contract was so iron-clad that no way out was found. The German court had taken great care to ensure that Anne of Cleves did not go the way of the tragic Catherine of Aragon. On January 6, 1540 Anne and King Henry were married by Archbishop Cranmer in Greenwich. Henry did not consummate the marriage and cast doubts on her virginity, yet based on Anne’s comments it seems she was completely innocent of the ‘facts of life’.

Less than seven months later, all the while Henry doing his best to avoid his wife, the marriage was finally annulled after a suitable agreement was reached by which Anne of Cleves could be assured of a comfortable life for the rest of her days. She was to hold the status of the King’s “sister”, given a generous pension and fine accommodations for agreeing to the annulment which was given on the grounds of non-consummation and her previous childhood betrothal to the Duke of Lorraine. The discarded Queen seemed to take it all in stride and she certainly fared better than Thomas Cromwell who was sent to his death at the hands of an incompetent executioner for the high crime of giving the King a wife that displeased him. There must have been some hard feelings on the part of Anne and the Cleves house, such would only be natural, yet after Henry had his next wife sent to the chopping block Anne’s brother the Duke actually suggested Henry and Anne be remarried but of course the King would have none of that.

Anne of Cleves remained fairly popular and well liked by those around her and the Tudor Royal Family for the rest of her life. She kept on good terms with all and made no trouble for anyone. When Henry VIII died she greeted the new Queen Mary I and Princess Elizabeth when they arrived in London and she was present at the coronation of Queen Mary. When the Queen brought England back into religious union with Rome, Anne of Cleves, recommended because of her Protestant faith, accepted the change and became a Roman Catholic. Her family might not have approved, staunch Lutherans that they were, but neither had they approved of her adherence to the Anglicanism of Henry VIII so that was not much of a surprise. Again, she kept mostly to herself, stayed out of politics but remained friendly with Queen Mary I, congratulating her on her marriage to King Philip II of Spain. Mary provided her with a new residence at Chelsea Old Manor when her health began to fail and Anne of Cleves died on July 16, 1557 just before turning 42. She was buried in Westminster Abbey, the most unloved wife of Henry VIII yet the one who had outlived all the rest.

The Elizabethan Era

It was on November 17, 1558 that Elizabeth I, of the House of Tudor, became “Queen of England, Ireland and France”. There was a time, years ago, when I was a struggling university student pepped up on classes in British literature, Tudor history and the like that my admiration for “Good Queen Bess” was so complete as be approaching idolatry. Because of some personal changes and deeper studies my opinion has certainly modified since then. “Good Queen Bess” was not all that good to certain peoples and segments of society nor was she responsible for most of the great achievements of the Elizabethan Era. In fact, she was a quite indecisive ruler who tended to put things off until they resolved themselves or someone else resolved it for her. She was also quite irresponsible as a monarch in many ways, particularly in her refusal to secure the succession by either marrying and having children or naming an heir to the throne. There was also the execution of Mary Queen of Scots which I, as a monarchist, have a huge problem with and the trial and execution of one sovereign monarch by another is not something I am going to ever get past. Trust me.

Now, having said all of that, Queen Elizabeth I still must stand out as one of the most significant, effective and success monarchs of England. She was a woman of great political instincts, great determination and was one of the greatest monarchs ever, in my opinion, when it came to mastering the public image of monarchy. If the almost divine image of the “Virgin Queen” is not completely accurate the Queen still deserves a great deal of credit for putting that best possible image forward and making it stick. If every monarch were so talented in the area of public relations republicans would positively be an endangered species if they exist at all. Some have attributed this to post-Elizabethan writers embellishing the accomplishments and popularity of Elizabeth I, and that may be true to some extent, but it is certainly not the whole truth. The abilities and accomplishments of Elizabeth I were widely recognized in her own time and even by her enemies. The Pope famously said that if only Elizabeth I were Catholic she would be their “most beloved daughter” and noted that while ruling only half an island she had made herself feared by France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. She was evidently doing something right.

Above all, Queen Elizabeth I was a very pragmatic ruler. On the religious question she was not known for firm convictions. Before coming to the throne she had declared herself a Protestant and a Catholic depending on who held power. She was always opposed to the more extreme Protestants yet she recognized that it was the anti-Catholics who were her base of power and so she was certainly never going to be friendly toward the Catholic Church. There were terrible persecution of Catholics though it was not as bad as it could have been. In the area of politics she was also more practical than principled. She supported Protestant rebels in Scotland to keep the pro-French regent and queen there in check, she supported the Dutch against the Spanish to keep Philip II occupied and supported the Protestants in France for the same reason. Her support for the ‘English Sea Dogs’ against Spanish shipping also helped thwart a powerful enemy without a direct confrontation. The defeat of the Armada was a pivotal event in English history and while she may not have been directly responsible for that, in as much as she would be blamed if the Armada had succeeded she deserves credit for its defeat. She opened trade with the Muslim world, sending arms to Morocco, as a way to support their war against Spain and she sent the first English ambassador to the Ottoman Empire who were at that time almost constantly at war with the Empire. For a time she even considered a military alliance with the Turks against the Spanish but nothing ever came of it.

It was during the reign of Elizabeth I that there also first came to be complaints over various methods of the Crown for obtaining funds without the support of Parliament which led to some problems. However, the Queen was very adept at dealing with this problem with a speech to Parliament that played on emotions, protesting her ignorance of the corruptions that existed and of her boundless love for her people and her country. This was no long-term solution and as we know the problem would arise again and again after Elizabeth was gone, coming to a head under Charles I. This, in a way, relates to the only negative aspect of the Queen’s mastery of public image and public relations. The devotion was to her personally, Gloriana, the iconic embodiment of England and English greatness and as happens this meant that such loyalty was not focused on the monarchy and would not carry over to her successor. This was exacerbated by the fact that there was no Royal Family to speak of and the only potential successor was the King of Scots at a time when suspicion of all foreigners had been purposely aroused. The precedent set by the trial and execution of Mary Queen of Scots would also have severe repercussions later on as well.

Again, I have serious “issues” with Queen Elizabeth I and yet her significance cannot be denied and regardless of how one feels about her, Elizabeth I was obviously a queen of exceptional talent. Under her reign England again became a country that mattered after years of decline since the latter years of Henry VIII. Under her England mastered the sea, undermined Spanish power in such a way that Spain would decline and England would rise on the world stage as well as gaining a valuable lead on the French by playing off factions against each other. Her enemies could not help but admire her and even many of those she had executed went to their deaths pledging their loyalty to her. She embodied her country in such a way that her Protestant subjects all but worshipped her and even her Catholic subjects rallied to her against the Armada. She left England, if not the monarchy, stronger than she found it and left a legacy that no other British monarch has ever matched.

Cinema Royal: Genevieve Bujold

French-Canadian actress Genevieve Bujold starred as Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film "Anne of the Thousand Days". For someone coming from an admittedly partisan point of view, and as someone who views Catherine of Aragon as one of the greatest ladies in all of history, it is hard for me to find a portrayal of Anne Boleyn which I admire. Genevieve Bujold, however, strongly delivers. She certainly has the physical beauty to convince the audience she could motivate a king to tear his country in half to have her, however, in this film Anne Boleyn is portrayed as not really seeking for this to happen. Although she is portrayed as a woman with, I shall politely say romantic experience, she nonetheless wants nothing to do with the King who broke up her engagement and had left her sister abandoned after being his mistress. Rather than stringing the king along to get all the earthly glory she can, in this film Bujold portrays Anne as a woman who resists the king at every turn and hopes that she can put up so many obstacles the king will have to stop pursuing her and allow her to go her own way. Henry VIII, played by Richard Burton, tears down every obstacle though and finally wins her over, though as soon as she submits to love him he has fallen out of love with her and wants her gone whom he had once so desired. The part is played well (she won a Golden Globe for best actress and was nominated for an Oscar for the role) and gives Genevieve Bujold's Anne Boleyn a place amongst my Tudor film favorites.

Consort Profile: Jane Seymour

Queen Jane Seymour could well be regarded as the most successful of all the wives of Henry VIII. She was popular with the people and gave Henry his only male heir which instantly made her his favorite as can be seen by his request to buried next to her. She seemed the ideal wife and queen, but she brought with her a family that was to have quite an impact on English life long after Jane had left the scene. She was a small and quiet woman, but a woman with a devoted and courageous heart within her tiny frame. Jane was born around 1505 and when she was old enough she secured a position as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon. She was very impressed by Queen Catherine and adored her for her kindness and piety. Described as fair, pale, modest, even-tempered and of rather petite build she had the physical appearance Henry liked most and the gentle and reserved nature considered most desirable in a woman of Tudor times.

Jane first caught the eye of the King in September of 1535. By early the following year the King was obviously smitten with her, but Jane would not consent to being a mistress and made it clear that she was not the sort to return his advances unless Henry intended to marry her. The King was impressed by her modesty and morals and had to play the part of the gentleman caller, even having to put up with his meetings with Jane being chaperoned. Nonetheless, as Queen Anne was being tried for adultery things with Jane proceeded at a fairly quick pace. In fact, Anne was not even cold in the ground when Henry VIII and Jane Seymour were engaged the very next day after Anne was executed and were married less than two weeks later on May 30, 1536. Jane was the first of Henry's queens who was not crowned, but she quickly adapted to the role of queen consort and by the start of 1537 she was pregnant.

Quite unlike the demanding Anne, Jane took as her motto "Bound to Obey and Serve". All of the frivolity and extravagance of Anne was replaced with a more modest, strict and conservative household by Queen Jane. She banned all of the more immodest French fashions Anne had brought in and had all of her ladies dress in traditional, English fashions which were less revealing. Perhaps also remembering how Henry had a tendency to fall for the ladies around the Queen, she made sure that her maids of honor would not draw attention to themselves. Queen Jane was also hopeful that she could heal the religious rift in the country and her time as Queen coincided with the “Pilgrimage of Grace”. This was an uprising of northern Catholics intend on undoing the recent religious changes Henry had enacted. These people loved Queen Jane, and had more than enough strength to have overthrown Henry VIII had they desired it. However, Henry VIII used treachery to overcome them, and even used the name of Queen Jane in his deceit. He pretended to agree to all of the demands of the Pilgrims and even promised to give Jane a special role as Queen of the Catholic northern part of the country. He had no intention of doing any of this of course and as soon as the Catholics laid down their weapons he crushed them ruthlessly.

Queen Jane also hoped to bring about reconciliation in the Royal Family by having Princess Mary (daughter of Catherine of Aragon) brought back to court. Previously, Henry had declared Mary illegitimate and had subjected her to horrible humiliations and punishments and when the moment came for reconciliation, the will of young Mary finally broke. Henry changed none of his positions and Mary grudgingly recognized the King as Supreme Head of the Church, an act for which she would never forgive herself. Henry made it clear that he would never reverse himself on the religious question and he warned Queen Jane to stop meddling in politics or she would risk suffering the same fate as her predecessor. Queen Jane, ever the faithful wife, accepted this and determined to bear her sufferings in silence with only her sister Elizabeth Seymour and her sister-in-law Anne Stanhope to be her confidants.

All in all, 1536 was a year of great disappointment for Jane but everyone knew the key element was her pregnancy, which could decide her entire fate. The King did whatever he could to comfort her in her condition so desperate was her for a smooth pregnancy ending in the birth of a son. Jane gained a lot of weight and Henry even had quail brought in from Calais in France and from Flanders to feed her cravings. About a month later, on October 12, 1537 the long sought after dream of Henry VIII came true when Queen Jane gave birth to a son, the future King Edward VI of England. Henry was overjoyed and again Jane was the perfect woman in his eyes, the wife who had given him what he wanted most and what none of his others had been able to: a son and heir. Yet, the jubilation, sadly, was not to last long. Queen Jane, weakened by the birth, contracted puerperal fever and died a short time after on October 24 in her palace at Hampton Court. Henry VIII mourned her as he had no other. Despite her foray into politics, she had been his ideal woman, the one who had made everything right. He had her buried in Windsor Castle in a magnificent tomb he had built for the two of them there, and where he would one day join her.

Consort Profile: Kathryn Howard

In any review of the six wives of King Henry VIII, most attention seems to always focus on his early wives, especially the first two; the pious and loyal Queen Catherine of Aragon and her successor the ambitious and flirtatious Ann Boleyn. Much less attention is given to the later wives, some of whom historians actually know rather little about at the end of the day. One such wife was Queen Kathryn Howard, whom King Henry VIII called, "A rose without a thorn". Possibly nothing other than the loss of Queen Jane Seymour caused Henry VIII so much grief as Kathryn Howard. Since relatively few concrete facts are known about her and her marriage to King Henry, there has been throughout history conflicting views about what kind of woman she was. We are not even sure of the portraits of her are accurate. Some have regarded her as a selfish, wicked temptress while others assert that she was a victim of court intrigue, a lustful and jealous king and a family conspiracy; she was not perfect, but probably undeserving of her ultimate fate.

The image I have of Kathryn Howard is the popular cheerleader from high school, nice enough to everyone but not the best at thinking things through. From very early on she was very attractive and she knew it. Men were drawn to her like moths to a flame and she does not seem to have been the best at fighting temptation. However, most of what we "know" about her rather colorful life before her marriage is based mostly on rumor and accusations from enemies at court. Nonetheless, pure as the driven snow she most likely was not. It was the ambitions of her family that secured her a place at court and later aimed her at Henry VIII. After the disaster that was his marriage to Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII was quick to propose to the beautiful, young Kathryn. In July of 1540 Henry had his marriage to Anne annulled and on July 28 he married Kathryn Howard, though some believed that the 50-year-old, overweight monarch was unable to consummate the union.

Henry VIII was happy though. As far as he knew, Kathryn was perfect; a gorgeous young virgin who loved him in spite of his age and appearance. Kathryn was likely not so enthralled with married life. However, Henry continued to spoil Kathryn with the most extravagant gifts of luxuries of every kind. Queen Kathryn seemed the only good thing in the life of Henry, but the young girl was in an elaborately gilded cage. She wanted to socialize and dance but Henry was unable to at his age and so would often simply watch at parties while his teenage bride danced with the other strapping young men at court. For a young girl unaccustomed to denying herself anything, temptation was everywhere. The royal couple had scarcely anything in common and as much as Henry was infatuated with his bride in the full bloom of feminine teenage youth and beauty, she was disgusted by the sight of her aging, sickly and obese husband. In modern terms Kathryn was the prom Queen and Henry was the former captain of the football team who had become a cranky old man with a beer belly.

It is then not beyond comprehension that Queen Kathryn soon became infatuated with the handsome, young Thomas Culpeper. This was a particularly dangerous relationship as Culpeper was probably the one courtier closest to the King and the one he trusted the most. Henry VIII saw in the strapping young man everything that he used to be. Surrounding himself with younger men and having married his ideal "trophy wife" Henry VIII seemed every bit like a man going through a postponed midlife crisis. Now there was to be an illicit romance between the courtier he trusted most and the wife he believed to be as chaste and loyal as she was beautiful, the "rose without a thorn". Henry VIII was about to learn that even the loveliest roses have thorns, and sometimes the biggest ones.

Queen Kathryn, however, was nothing like her ambitious cousin Ann Boleyn. She had not actively sought out attention from the King, nor had she been his mistress or aspired to become his wife. Instead, she was plucked from her fun-loving life at court and thrust into a marriage with a man who spoiled her with every luxury imaginable, but for whom she never had any real feelings and to whom she was not the least bit attracted to or satisfied with. In quick order rumors of an affair between Queen Kathryn and Thomas Culpeper were hip deep. Not much is definitively known of their relationship. Like much of Queen Kathryn and her past and character most of the information that exists comes from rumors, second hand accounts and oftentimes from the accusations of people at court who were the enemies of her family and thus stood to gain considerably by ruining the reputation of Queen Kathryn.

Most have assumed that the two had a full blown affair, but there is actually no concrete evidence that their relationship ever became sexual though that is what is most often reported. Unfortunately, Kathryn was unaware or unbothered by the fact that the Queen is a public figure, and particularly in the Tudor court, it was impossible to keep a secret and soon more and more people were whispering about her and Culpeper. Kathryn was also naive and did herself no favors in the people she surrounded herself with such as past flames like Henry Mannox and Francis Dereham. As her enemies at court spread scandalous rumors, especially the Seymour clan, they hoped to regain the position they had enjoyed under Queen Jane. Yet, they had failed to take into account exactly how much the King had idolized Kathryn as the perfect woman, and the extent to which he allowed her to provide him with reassurance in his own mind that despite his age, appearance and temperament that he still "had it".

When the first reports of these rumors were put to the King he refused to believe them. However, as more stories were collected, doubt crept into the King's mind. With his fury slowly growing, Henry had Queen Kathryn placed under what amounted to house arrest with Lady Rochford to wait on her and interrogations began. Yet, even if the Queen had actually had an affair with Dereham before her marriage to the King, that was a sin but not a crime. Kathryn was threatened with the possibility of divorce and banishment until she finally admitted that she did have an inappropriate relationship before her marriage, though it had not progressed entirely to fornication.

It seemed as though the young Queen might weather the storm, but then someone came forward with a love letter from Kathryn to Thomas Culpeper. King Henry VIII blew into a rage perhaps even more pained than that which had cost Ann Boleyn her head. Not only had his perfect, ideal wife lost her virtue before marrying him, but now there was at least some evidence that she had committed adultery with his favorite courtier. Whether she actually had or not cannot be said with certainty, but for someone in her position, with her enemies and with the King believing it, evidence didn't really matter. Her fate was sealed. On December 8, 1541 Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham were executed at Tyburn for high treason. They were hung, stretched, disemboweled, quartered and beheaded.

A month earlier Henry VIII went to Parliament and presented the idea that it was treason, not just for the wife of the King to commit adultery as was already the law, but also for any woman who was not a virgin to marry the King. With the Parliament thus prepared, in January of 1542 Parliament considered the charges against Kathryn Howard. She was moved to the Tower of London on February 10, 1542 and two days later the bill of attainder Henry had proposed was passed. Kathryn was judged guilty of high treason and sentenced to death by beheading. The sentence was to be carried out the following day on February 13, 1542.

For someone who had not shown a considerable amount of thought in her actions, Kathryn Howard was surprisingly dignified in the matter of her death. The night before her execution she had the block brought to her room and repeatedly rehearsed how she would position herself on it so the execution would go as smoothly as possible. On the morning of her death she was calm and composed. In her final statement she asked that her family not be punished because of her own sins and asked the public to pray for the mercy of God on her soul. She lowered her neck across the block and the executioner took off her head with a single blow. Following the execution Kathryn was buried close to her cousin Ann Boleyn.

Whether she actually betrayed the King as horribly as is often believed we cannot say, but Henry VIII was no innocent victim himself, even if all of the lurid rumors were true. He had forced himself on a young girl who he should have known was totally unsuitable and could never have been what he wanted her to be. Locked in an arranged marriage with a man she did not love, surrounded by temptation as well as enemies who would stop at nothing to ruin her reputation and see her downfall, Kathryn Howard was effectively in a no-win situation from the first day Henry saw her.

Consort Profile: Queen Catherine of Aragon

One of the greatest English queen-consorts and a longtime favorite of mine Queen Catherine of Aragon was a 'woman among women' and it would be hard to imagine how she could be capable of such inner strength, such devotion, tenacity and even forgiveness and even fighting spirit without keeping in mind that she was very much her mother's daughter and that mother happened to be the formidable Queen Isabella of Castile. She was born in 1485 even as her parents Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile were fighting the last battles of la Reconquista; the longest war in history, to liberate Spain from the Moors. From an early age her character was shaped by two guiding forces; her fervent Catholicism and her betrothal to HRH Arthur, Prince of Wales, son and heir of King Henry VII of England. She thus saw it as her lifelong destiny to be Queen of England.

Unlike other girls of her era Isabella inisted that Catherine be extremely well educated and capable of being a monarch in her own right as she was. In 1501 Catherine and Arthur were married, both at a very tender age, but the two never lived together fully as husband and wife before Prince Arthur died of disease in 1502. This left Catherine in limbo and soon she was reduced to poverty at the hands of her miserly father-in-law. This only changed when King Henry VII died and his younger son became King Henry VIII. The new monarch decided that he would marry Catherine and after obtaining a papal dispensation the two were wed in 1509. From her first arrival she was beloved by the English people and their esteem for her only grew over time. As Queen consort her primary duty was to produce an heir to the throne but this proved extremely problematic. In 1511 she gave birth to a son but the boy, named Henry after his father, lived for only 52 days.

Nonetheless, Catherine was a hard working, learned and religious Queen who quite capably acted as regent for her husband while Henry VIII was away on the continent renewing the war with France. It was during this time that the Scots under King James IV invaded northern England and Queen Catherine met the crisis with courage and cool determination that would have made her mother proud. The army she sent north inflicted a crushing defeat on the Scots at the battle of Flodden in which James IV was killed. Catherine sent her husband the cloak of the late King of Scots as a trophy of her victory in his absence. She was also constantly furthering her own education and growing in her own faith. Yet, bearing children continued to be problematic. Numerous painful pregnancies ended with only one surviving child, Princess Mary, who was Catherine's pride and joy.

Eventually Henry, who had numerous mistresses, became infatuated with Ann Boleyn (sister to one of his previous mistresses) but Ann was not content to be used as her sister had been and demanded that Henry make her his wife and queen. Doubts were cast on the validity of his decades long marriage to Catherine and Ann also introduced the King to the new religious ideas of Protestantism of which he particularly favored the theory that the King, rather than the Pope, held final power over the Church as well as the state. Finally, Henry, who was totally infatuated with Ann Boleyn, became determined to divorce his older and long suffering wife and demanded that Catherine go away quietly and agree to an annulment by the Church. Catherine bravely refused, not only for herself, but to protect her daughter from being declared a bastard. Knowing that the clerics in England would bend to Henry's will (as all but the Bishop of Rochester did) she appealed her case to Rome and Pope Clement VII.

At the time Rome was occupied by the forces of the King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who happened to be Catherine's nephew. Obviously the Pope was not eager to risk the wrath of Charles but he also did not want to offend Henry who had heretofore been a loyal if not devout Catholic; who had even been given the title "Defender of the Faith" for his vehement condemnation of Lutheranism. In the end, the facts could not be denied and the Pope ruled in Catherine's favor. In the eyes of the Church she was Henry's true and only wife till death should they part. Henry VIII was not a man to be thwarted however, and though Catherine had seemed to win the day, he did something no one had thought he would have ever dared to do. Henry VIII broke with Rome and declared himself Supreme Head on earth of the Church of England. The people were outraged and the vast majority sided with Catherine as the faithful wife who had been wronged. They had nothing but hatred for Ann Boleyn whom they regarded as a home-wrecker who had bewitched the King in her ambitious grasp for the role of Queen.

Undoubtedly Catherine could have commanded a significant rebellion on her behalf by her sympathizers and those who refused to give up the Catholic faith in favor of the new government religion. Emperor Charles V also promised to invade England at once should his beloved aunt only give the word but this Catherine refused to do. Even while she was locked away under house arrest she refused all offers of rescue or rebellion on the grounds that she would not be the cause of any further suffering on the part of her English people. To the frustration of Henry, however, she refused to stop calling herself his true wife and Queen. Kept away from her daughter she finally died in 1536, forgiving Henry and worrying for his salvation with her last breaths. The King buried her as a dowager Princess of Wales rather than a Queen of England. He did not attend the funeral nor would he allow their daughter to. Catherine's life was over but her influence would be felt in English history long after her death even if she is one of the more overlooked of the famous 6 wives of Henry VIII.

Royal Guardians Profile: The Yeoman of the Guard

Recently Queen Elizabeth II honored the Yeoman of the Guard upon the anniversary of the death of King Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty, who founded the guard at the battle of Bosworth Field wherein he defeated King Richard III of the House of York, ending the Wars of the Roses in 1485. Their official title is "The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeoman of the Guard" and are considered the oldest military corps in Great Britain. They would be one of the contenders for the oldest overall but as they are a purely ceremonial and honorary body they must take second place to the Papal Swiss Guard which is still an active military force that is charged with actually protecting the Pope. The Yeoman of the Guard these days are made up of retired military personnel from the Army, Marines and Air Force (66 officers and men).

The Yeoman of the Guard take part in many ceremonial functions involving the British monarch such as the Royal Maundy Service, the Royal Garden Parties and they have also searched the cellars of Parliament before each state opening ever since the famous "Gunpowder Plot" of November 5, 1605. In the past, when the Guard was an actual military unit they saw action in many of the most famous battles in British history such as the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland and the battle of Dettingen in 1743 in which King George II became the last reigning British monarch to lead troops on the battlefield. Today the Yeoman of the Guard is made up of former British non-commissioned officers from the rank of sergeant and up between the ages of 42 and 55. They serve at about 30 events per year. The Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Lords is always their commander and new Yeoman are chosen by the monarch on the recommendation of the Lord Chamberlain. They are compensated for expenses but do not draw a salary.