Henry VIII: Wives One and Four Quiz

Answer: Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon was the youngest surviving child of the power couple, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Their ruling family, the House of Trastámara, was considered to be the most prestigious European house of the day.

Catherine was named after her great grandmother, Catherine of Lancaster, who was a granddaughter of King Edward III. That made her Henry VII's third cousin. While growing up in Spain she received the best possible education that any girl of her time could expect. Able to read and write in Castilian Spanish and Latin, she could also speak French and Greek. Not only that, but she was also well taught in cooking and needle crafts, music, dance, courtly manners, and religion.

And - she was apparently quite lovely. Henry VII was said to be "delighted with what he saw" upon her arrival. Arthur said that he was happy to "behold the face of his lovely bride", and, at the beginning of their marriage, Henry VIII was said to be frequently seen kissing her in public.

Answer: Catherine of Aragon

The first years of her marriage, from 1509-1518, Catherine experienced six pregnancies. Only two of the babies were born alive. A son named Henry, born in 1511, lived almost two months before dying unexpectedly. A daughter named Mary was born in 1516.

It appears that young Mary lived in a loving family for the first years of her life. Like her mother, she was given the best education possible. She had been baptized a Catholic and was deeply religious. There is no doubt, however, that her parents' marriage issues deeply affected Mary over time, and the situation worsened when Catherine refused to live out her life in a nunnery. Mary was send to live in Wales in 1525 as the Princess of Wales, a position that didn't really exist, and returned to England in 1528. By 1531 she was no longer allowed to see her mother, and was not granted permission to visit when Catherine was dying in 1536. Once her parents' marriage was declared void, many people regarded Mary as a bastard.

As it turned out, contrary to Henry VIII's belief, women could rule England. After her father and her brother, Edward VI, died, Mary became Queen in spite of the fact that her brother tried to exclude her from the line of succession. She spent her reign as Bloody Mary, trying to undo the religious reforms that her father had made, and unpopularly marrying Prince Philip of Spain. She ruled England for five years, from 1553 to 1558. When Mary died, her younger sister Elizabeth worked to reverse the "reforms" that she had made.

Answer: Catherine of Aragon

So, after Arthur's death left Catherine a young widow - she was only sixteen - a difficult decision had to be made. Henry VII did not like the prospect of returning the half of Catherine's dowry that had already been paid. Should he marry her himself? No. It was decided that Catherine would marry the second son, Henry, Duke of York; this marriage agreement, however, could not be accomplished overnight.

The Roman Catholic Church prohibited affinity as the result of marriage - the idea that all of their kin became part of the one flesh between a husband and wife. A marriage, then, between a man and his brother's widow was strictly prohibited. Catherine had to prove to the pope's satisfaction that her marriage to Arthur had never been consummated, which she did to his satisfaction. The pope eventually granted the dispensation that was necessary in order to allow Catherine and Henry to marry.

Arthur had died in 1502; it took seven years for all of the legalities to be resolved before the couple could marry. The two were then legally married from June 11, 1509, until May 23, 1533. They apparently experienced a mutual attraction, and it seemed that the marriage was a great success.

Answer: Catherine of Aragon

When Henry realized that Catherine was well past her child-bearing years, and became interested in her younger lady-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn, he proposed that Catherine just retire to live in a nunnery; she refused. After that his only recourse was to hope that Pope Clement VII would allow for an annulment from the special dispensation that had been received years previously.

After so many years of being unable to produce a male heir, Henry began to claim that he was being punished. He interpreted a passage from Leviticus 20:21 to mean that his marriage had been wrong in the eyes of God. In order for this to work, he really had to go out on a limb and claim that Catherine had not really been a virgin when they married. Clement did not buy Henry's explanation, and the Protestant Reformation began in England.

Sadly for Catherine, this meant that she would live the remainder of her life - just about three years - as a virtual outcast, kept away from her daughter and moved from place to place. The only title that she was allowed to retain was Dowager Princess of Wales, the title that she was given when her first husband, Henry's brother Arthur, died.

Answer: Catherine of Aragon

In 1513, before leaving to participate in a military campaign in France, Henry VIII designated Catherine as Regent of England and gave her the titles Governor of the Realm and Captain General. While Henry was away, the Scots invaded England and it was Catherine who ordered that an army be raised.

Although she was pregnant at the time, Catherine dressed in full armor and rode to deliver a speech to the troops. At the Battle of Flodden Field, King James IV of Scotland was killed, and Catherine sent James' coat to her husband to use as a banner at Tournai in modern day Belgium, where he was involved in a siege of the city.

Answer: Both

Several years passed before permission was received that Henry, Duke of York, could marry his brother's wife. Henry VII died on April 21, 1509, and Henry VIII had just ascended the throne when the couple married on June 11, 1509. On June 24 Henry VIII and Catherine were anointed and crowned together by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Westminster Abbey. Up until the time of her death, Catherine maintained that she was the only legitimate Queen of England, and her servants were expected to address and treat her as such.

Although Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn were the only wives who had an official coronation during which they were crowned Queen, all of the wives held the title Queen Consort at one time or another during their marriage. Anne of Cleves was the Queen Consort from January 6, 1540, until July 9 of the same year.

Answer: Both

First it must be said that Henry couldn't afford to treat his foreign wives in the same manner he treated the English ones. Beheading a foreign princess could spark an international incident that wouldn't bode well for England.

When Henry initially brought up the idea for an annulment of his marriage with Catherine, she emphatically refused. While Pope Clement VII seemed to be his only hope, he was in a bad situation himself, being held as a prisoner by Catherine's nephew, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. There was some talk about allowing Henry to have two wives, but plans were not progressing fast enough for Henry; in the end he took the matter into his own hands, annulled the marriage, and secretly married Anne Boleyn. This was done, of course, after he had issued the Act of Supremacy, which broke England from the Catholic Church and made Henry head of the Church of England.

It did not bode well for Anne's marriage when Henry VIII told Thomas Cromwell, "I liked her before not well, but now I like her much worse", when he admitted that the marriage had not been consummated. When Anne heard that her marriage was over, just three days before the annulment was issued, she was understandably scared to death. Thinking about what had happened with Catherine of Aragon and Ann Boleyn had to be especially frightening. She really only had two choices; she could return to Cleves and be controlled by her brother, perhaps forced into an unwelcome marriage or, worse yet, become a worker in his household. Or - she could cooperate. Perhaps she was the first to think, "Stay calm and carry on".

That proved to be a wise decision. The stated reason for the annulment was that the marriage was non-consensual and unconsummated. Henry raised the question about the circumstances surrounding her earlier betrothal, saying that their marriage might not be legal. In addition, he questioned her virginity. Off the record, it could have been that one of Anne's ladies - Katherine Howard - had sparked his interest!

Answer: Both

At the age of three Catherine of Aragon was betrothed to King Henry VII's son, Arthur, Prince of Wales. This arrangement was quite the coup for the King, as it not only created an alliance with the powerful Spain, it also strengthened the Tudor claim to the monarchy. Catherine's English linage came from the marriage of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and father of King Henry IV, to Constance of Castille, who was his second wife. Henry's lineage came from Gaunt's third wife, whose children were born out of wedlock and only legitimized after Constance died and he could legally marry their mother. Henry's ancestors had not been legally able take the throne of England, and the Tudor line was not accepted as legitimate by some royal houses in Europe. Anyway, the two were married by proxy in 1499 and corresponded with letters written in Latin. They were both fifteen when Catherine came to England and were officially married ten days later, taking up residence at Ludlow Castle. He thought she was lovely, but indicated they had trouble communicating since they had both learned different pronunciations of the Latin language.

In 1527, when Anne was eleven years old, she was betrothed to nine-year-old Francis, who became Francis I, Duke of Lorraine, later in life. Because Francis was not ten at the time of the agreement - which was the age of consent - the agreement was called off in 1535. There is no account that suggests that the two ever met in person.

Answer: Both

By the time Henry VIII wished to put Catherine aside, she really had no other recourse but to stay in England. Her powerful parents were no longer alive, and there was nothing in Spain to which she wanted to return. Leaving England - as her husband wanted - seemed to be giving up the fight and admitting that what he said, that she really hadn't been a virgin when they married, was true. She, however, swore that she had been a virgin to her dying day. Even though it will never be confirmed one way or the other, it is still a topic debated and discussed to this day. In addition, she was almost destitute, having been moved from one place to another during the last years of her life. Her final communication with her husband forgave him and asked him to take care of their daughter and make sure her servants were paid. Catherine died on January 7, 1536.

Like Catherine, there was nothing for Anne to gain by going back to her home country. Although they had been pretty close, toward the end of Anne's life, Mary I thought that she might have somehow been involved in Protestant intrigues. Nevertheless, when Anne died in 1557, Mary not only sent condolences to Anne's family, but she saw that Anne had a proper Catholic funeral in England. Anne was the only one of Henry's wives who was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Answer: Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves, born in 1515, was the daughter of John III, Duke of Cleves, and Maria, Duchess of Jülich-Berg from the House of La Marck. Because of her father's rule over territorial German holdings, Anne was considered to be a German princess by birth. At the time Cleves was a state in the Holy Roman Empire; it was later a Prussian province and is now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Cleves was part of the Schmalkaldic League. Formed in 1531, the purpose of the League was to protect Protestant German states from the attempts of the Holy Roman Emperor to reinstate Catholicism. The fact that Henry VIII would even consider a marriage to Anne suggests that Cleves was well respected in the European politics of the day.

Anne was well educated, but not perhaps in the subjects that the King liked best. She could read and write in German, and was well versed in domestic activities like cooking and needlework. Music and dance were NOT part of the curriculum. It does appear, however, that Anne was willing to learn. On the way to England to marry Henry she asked to learn one of his favorite card games.

Answer: Anne of Cleves

It was written that Anne danced with Catherine Howard at her wedding (some sources say that it was at Christmas), in spite of the fact that it occurred only 16 days after Henry had their marriage annulled. She was also close friends with Mary, Henry's oldest daughter, even converting back to Roman Catholicism when Mary became Queen. Anne participated in Mary's coronation procession and congratulated her upon her marriage to Philip of Spain.

Henry VIII had Catherine Howard beheaded shortly after they were married and, although Catherine Parr outlived Henry (who died in 1547), she died shortly after in 1548. Edward VI, Henry's only son died in 1553. Some sources refer to Anne as The Great Survivor. Not only did she learn to speak English and how to dance, she also traveled to her different properties and seemed to have had the time of her life.

Answer: Anne of Cleves

Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, died shortly after giving birth to their son, who became Edward VI. While one would think that Henry would be relieved at the prospect of finally having a male heir, he did realize the importance of having a spare, considering what had happened with his brother's early death.

Thomas Cromwell, Henry's chief minister, convinced him that a marriage that created a Protestant religious alliance would be a good idea. While Henry was unsure of the plan, he agreed to send his court artist, Hans Holbein the Younger, to Cleves to produce portraits of both Anne and her sister. Based on the portrait, Henry choose Anne.

Eyewitnesses said that she was quite lovely, tall and slim with long blond hair - definitely NOT a Flander's mare - a nickname that was given to her sometime in the late 17th century - and that the portrait was true to life. So, why is there so much talk about the inaccuracy of the portrait? Someone had to share the blame with Thomas Cromwell, who many believe was beheaded at least in part for his role in arranging the marriage. But that's another complicated story!

And - by the way - Catherine Howard's marriage to Henry only lasted ten days longer than Anne's. Remember, Catherine Howard lost her head over the matter.

Answer: Anne of Cleves

The first meeting of Anne of Cleves and Henry VIII was said to have been a great disappointment to him. They met on January 1, 1540, after she had traveled to England with a group of English merchants. Her family was not available to make the trip with her as her father had recently died and they were in mourning.

Charles Wriothesley, a contemporary of the pair who was a herald, wrote "Wriothesley's Chronicle", a book about the reigns of Henry VIII and his three children. In the book, he described their first meeting, where Henry wore a disguise to visit Anne for the first time, thinking his "beloved" would recognize him. He was wrong, and apparently was greatly offended that she had basically ignored him, and pushed him away according to some sources. He left the room and returned dressed in more kingly robes. Did Anne really understand that this was the King of England? Maybe, maybe not.

Fearing that his actions might offend her family, Henry continued with plans for their marriage, however, he had his doubts as to if the couple would be compatible. In Anne's defense, it must be pointed out that she was twenty-four at the time and he was forty-eight, overweight from years of inactivity due to an old jousting wound that may have still have been festering.

Answer: Anne of Cleves

Anne was very wise to accept the King's decision, as it appears to have greatly improved the quality of her life after the marriage was annulled as compared to Catherine's.

As the King's Beloved Sister, Anne's settlement included Richmond Palace and Hever Castle, as well as other properties and a generous income. She was allowed to move with relative freedom about the court, and Henry declared that "she would be given precedence over all women in England save his own wife and daughters".

After the execution of Catherine Howard, Anne's brother asked if Henry would consider another marriage with his sister. Of course, that never happened. Why should Anne want to get remarried? She was one of the wealthiest women in all of England!