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Monday, December 19, 2011

The 12 Days of a Tudor Christmas Day 7

Day 7

Catherine of Aragon Giveaway

cahterine of aragon yhst-51816236815316_2186_318864664 tea 456

Day 6 Winner is: Colleen Turner. Please send you mailing address to:
newroyalreviews at yahoo dot com

Once again, great responses. I love seeing your thoughts upon the matter and hope that you are enjoying these questions.

Did Henry love Catherine of Aragon? It’s the question that many Tudor authors and scholars ask find themselves debating about. I personally believe that Henry loved Catherine yet the age difference, Catherine’s inability to provide a male heir, and Henry’s belief that his marriage was unlawful in the eyes of God that caused a rift to develop between them.

Catherine was born 16th of December, 1485. Henry was born six years later on the 28th of June, 1491. Sixteen years later she married Arthur Tudor. A ten year old Henry was Catherine’s escort to her wedding. Dressed all in white Henry was in awe of Catherine and like the Henry most of us have read about, he showed off for Catherine in the form of dance. In fact, he danced so vigorously with his sister that he had to remove his doublet, which left him only in his shirt sleeves.

Catherine’s marriage to Arthur was short-lived, and she soon found herself a window in a foreign land. At the mercy of her father-in-law, Henry VII, Catherine’s future in England was uncertain. After the death of his father and his own ascension to the throne, one of Henry VIII’s first acts was to marry Catherine.

He professed his love for her through poetry, songs, pageants and jousts. No one in England doubted that they were in love. And at this point in time their ages were perfectly suited, Henry was 18 and Catherine 24. They enjoyed the same actives, accompanied each other on pilgrimages, and when Henry was in England shared the hours discussing political and religious matter. Henry often sought her advice on matters of State and when he was on campaign he left Catherine as Regent. Catherine was a worthy Regent and her orchestration of the Battle of Flodden proved to be one of the pivotal battles during Henry’s reign.   

The death of their children began to take a toll upon Henry and he began to fear the Lord was punishing him for taking his brother’s wife. And it was the following verse from Levities Chapter 20 Verse 16 that plagued Henry.

“If a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an impurity; he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.”

By this time, the age difference was starting to become a factor as well. At 35 Henry was in the prime of his life, excelling in sports, dancing till the wee hours of the morning, and campaigning in foreign lands. Catherine now at 41 was becoming weary. The death of the her children, her inability to provide an heir, and her decision at this point in her life to sit back and take in the Court rather than to be a part of it created an unbridgeable chasm.

I believe that it was Henry’s love for Catherine that saved her from the block. If they would have been closer in age, I believe that the outcome would have been differently.

Answer to the Tudor Trivia question: Why was Catherin’s name spelled with a “C”?
Catherine was born Catalina de Aragón. Henry VII deemed the name Catalina too foreign to be accepted by the English, thus she became Catherine of Aragon. She was the only wife of Henry’s to sign her name with a C.

Today’s Giveaway is the:
Catherine of Aragon Pack.

cahterine of aragon yhst-51816236815316_2186_318864664tea 456

This pack includes the following:

1 copy of  Catherine of Aragon: The Spanish Queen of Henry VIII by Giles Tremlett
1 Disappearing Wives Mug (courtesy of Target)
1 tin of Pomegranate Green Tea from The Republic of Tea

I have to say that I own and *love* this mug. When hot water is added the wives disappear. 

 

Today’s Rules:
1. Leave a comment with your name and an answer to the questions:

In your mind, who was Henry VIII?

Tudor Trivia Question:

The Battle of Flodden took place in 1513. It was England against Scotland, what was Henry’s connection to this battle?

2. Giveaway is Worldwide.

3. You do not need to leave your email address as the winner will be announced the next day. The winner will also be announced on the right side of the blog under the Royal Winners banner. You have until the 23rd to respond with your shipping address. You may want to subscribe to Royal Reviews via feed burner which is located in left side of the blog so that the winners and new giveaways will be sent directly to your inbox.

4. Followers will receive an extra entry so make sure you let us know if you follow us. You will also receive an extra entry if you post about the giveaway.

16 comments:

brokenteepee said...

Henry VIII was a good ruler who descended into madness I believe. He was doing fine until he started obsessing about an heir, younger women and the church. I feel as he aged he just started losing it and no one could help him because of his supreme power. If anyone got in his way he killed them.

Flodden is so damn complicated between Scotland and England. England and France. Scotland and France. OY! Power, land, power, land. Take your pick. Oh, and throw in a bit of religion. Henry was fighting Louis. James was siding with Louis so he fought Henry. Henry wanted to be the boss of James...*sigh* If women ruled the world I think it might have been slightly more peaceful.

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traveler said...

Henry Vlll was an absolute ruler who in his youth was attractive and charismatic but became morbidly obese later on. He was obsessed with a male heir, hense his marriages. He was responsible for the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church.
Flodden was the largest battle in numbers fought between the Scots and the English army with the English winning.
I am a subscriber.

Anonymous said...

He was a stong ruler politically. strang points of views.

hard to comment on the battle of flodden

i subscibe

petite said...

Henry Vlll was a larger than life king, literally and figuratively. He spent like a drunken sailor, increased his palaces from 12 to 55, was considered a Renaissance man with his education and fluency in several languages. He was an author and composer as well.
Flodden was a war which occurred between France, England and Scotland. James lV declared war on England to honor the Alliance with France. Henry the Vlll was instrumental in this conflagration.

miki said...

Hi,

i think Henry VIII was a man obsessed by power and he didn't want to share it. he thought that if you didn't think like him you were an ennemy and ennemy must be destroyed

As for the Flodden battle. Scotland was an ally of France and to prove this alliance it went again England the ennemy of France ( at that time)

i follow by email

all the best

(tahnks you for opening it worldwide)

Colleen Turner said...

Yay, I'm so glad I won day six! Email sent :).

Okay, to me Henry VIII was a man born into a roll he wasn't groomed for and therefore wasn't always ready to take. He seemed to want to not only be "king of all things" so to speak, but also wanted to be a poet and artist as well. He wasn't really sure what he wants, from religion to women to friends, and so just changed his mind as his whims developed. This is pretty basic but this is what I think about him at the core :).
Thanks again!

Maureen said...

To me Henry VII was a harsh ruler who was obsessed with having a male heir. He had to have believed himself above most others to have split from the Catholic church which has such amazing power at the time.

Liz V. said...

Henry VIII is a prime example of a tyrant who perverted judicial and ecclesiastical forms to commit murder "lawfully".

Henry was in France during the Battle of Flodden, fought by James partly to keep some of Henry's troops from France.

Unknown said...

Henry was a complex man. One who believed in compassion, but never learned what it meant. I don't think the man learned to love either.

Flodden is complicated to say the least. The political drama and religious fighting led to the bloody field at Flodden. James and Henry weren't ever friends, but add that James and Louis were friends, and it became bitter.
I follow you!

penney said...

Henry V111 was a great King he did suffer a lot from gout. I always found him interesting!
Penney
Merry Christmas!
luvhistoricalromance AT gmail.com

Cheryl Esselman said...

Henry VIII was King during the Battle of Flodden Field. England was victorious in this war that involved Scotland and France. King James of Scotland even lost his own life during this war. The Earl of Surrey was left in charge of England's defense as King Henry VIII was away fighting in France.

Linda said...

Henry allowed power to go to his head, believing himself to be above the rules. His dissolution of the abbeys, and destruction of the beautiful churches, etc. is the worst of the worst. Therefore, in my mind he was a disaster as a king. Battle of Flodden was fought while Henry was in France, and was approved by Catherine.
I'm fascinated by the disappearing wives mug. What fun! Hope I win. Thanks for the giveaway.

Literary Chanteuse said...

I think Henry was a spoiled royal and was given in to every indulgence as a child but of course grew up and even as an adult was always that same child deep down.

James IV king of Scotland and Henry had an alliance with France. Henry however decided to invade France and James true to the alliance invaded England. This is the battle of Flodden.

Carolyn said...

Henry VIII was a charismatic ruler who tried to bend the world to his whim.

James started the battle of Flodden as a ruse to lure Henry back from France.

I am a new follower of your blog. I use the rss feed.

Thanks for a really fun giveaway!

Carolyn

Mystica said...

Henry VIII's rule was always overshadowed by his anxiety and longing for sons. That became the pivot of his existence and he saw the lack of them as shadows lurking in every corner.

The wonderful thing of Henry VIII is that he gave us Elizabeth I.

Anonymous said...

I think Henry was misunderstood.

Hiliary