Not only was this day in 1533 an important day in the religious calendar, being Good Friday, it was also an important day for Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. It was on 11th April 1533 that Henry VIII ordered his council to recognise Anne as his rightful wife and queen, and to accord her royal honours.
The following day, the pregnant Anne Boleyn attended Holy Saturday mass “with all the pomp of a Queen, clad in cloth of gold, and loaded (carga) with the richest jewels.” A real statement!
In the meantime, the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, was busy working on the king’s “great matter”, the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
Also n this day in history, 11th April 1492, Marguerite de Navarre (also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Marguerite de France) was born. Click here to read more about her.
This was Anne’s triumph she was being officially recognised as Henrys legal wife and queen consort, she was basking in the love of her adoring husband and had the serene contentment of a pregnant woman who hoped her child would be the next King of England, none of his councillors dared argue with Henry Anne was his wife and queen and must be recognised as such, resplendent in jewels she attended mass the next day and all eyes must have been agog as she made her dramatic entrance, clad all in gold, the colour must have set of her dark colouring to perfection and the fabulous jewels she wore some may have come from the Royal collection and some a gift from Henry himself, but when we consider that Henrys anullment to his first queen had not been officially completed how can his second have been valid? Many historians down the years have debated on this as how could Anne be his lawful wife whilst he was still married to his first, Henry had Cranmer declare it invalid he and Katherine had never been married therefore according to his reasoning Anne was his first and only legal wife, but many grumbled that he had committed bigamy as years before the popes predecessor had granted the dispensation allowing him and Katherine to marry, who then was right? I consider Katherine was his true and legal wife and many at the time did also, no matter what Henry’s convenient conscience told him, for now he and Anne were not concerned about what the rest of the world thought, but he would have absolute obedience in his own kingdom, both strong personalities they were both determined that their marriage was accepted as legal as Annes child must be considered legitimate, this was her day of triumph however, as she settled in her seat in the chapel she must have prayed most earnestly that her child would be a prince.
FWIW, Scripturally, Katherine was Henry’s lawful wife — it wasn’t a Catholic vs. Protestant dispute, in that both Martin Luther and William Tyndale agreed with the Pope on this point. While Leviticus 20:21 prohibits marrying a dead brother’s widow, Deuteronomy 25:5 makes such a marriage mandatory where (as with Arthur and Katherine) there are no children. Furthermore, the New Testament (1 Cor 6:1-10) says that, instead of having disputes resolved by outsiders, someone in the church should do so — the dispensation means that the Pope resolved the dispute in favor of Deuteronomy.
If Henry didn’t like a rule, law, statute etc he simply changed it to suit his purpose.
True
Yes it had nothing to do with Catholicism or being Protestant, Henry although we know he simply believed what was convenient to him at the time, I actually think he did believe his marriage was cursed, as it says in Leviticus if he marries his brother’s wife he will have looked upon his brothers nakedness ( meaning sleeping with his sister in law) therefore the marriage will be childless, he had lost so many children I think it’s easy to say he did believe he had incurred the wrath of God, in which case the pope should never have allowed the dispensation, Henry was superstitious and very pious, Katherine on the other hand believed her marriage was lawful and God had taken her children from her for reasons of his own, she did not question the work of the almighty maybe she dared not.
Even though this was a great time for Anne she had to have been aware that she was being eyed disapprovingly by many people. Though I am happy for her I do not envy her.
Today you will acknowledge Anne as Queen and tomorrow you will do her homage and be happy about it, all grumbling will cease and that’s the end of it!
I can just imagine the loud silence and expressionless looks of the Council. Everyone knew this was coming, the rumours were already wild and the marriage was the best known secret around. It just wasn’t official yet. The majority may still have believed Katherine was Henry’s legal wife, but that was going to change, with legislation to follow, legislation enforced by an Oath. Once Thomas Cranmer who wrote to Henry to humbly ask permission to try the first marriage, held his Court at Dunstable and it was declared that Henry and Anne were lawfully married, Parliament could pass Acts of Succession which placed their children alone on the throne and declared his first marriage null and void. Mary was also going to be declared illegitimate, although the good faith clause of Katherine and Henry being ignorant that anything was wrong until Henry believed it must be invalid as he had no son, should have prevented this. As Michael says, Henry was now changing everything to suit himself. Even the new Archbishop asking permission to humbly try the marriage is just formalised as the King is pulling the strings. The Break from Rome is not yet complete so the Church officially has to give any ruling on the marriage and although Thomas Cranmer has been ordained in the Catholic rite, much to his discomfort, he is a reformer but ironically his appointment had to be confirmed by Rome. Henry is not yet fully Supreme Head of the Church in England (not of England as in so many documentaries) but still has the title conditionally. The Act of Supremacy in 1534 and a new Treason Act will make his position formal and legal. It was enforced by Oath and to deny the title was treason.
Henry can thus with confidence as he knows his new legislation will pass because his constant presence in Parliament will ensure that it does. So he can confidently declare his pregnant wife as Queen and give the appropriate orders and nobody is going to argue with him. In 1527 his Council most certainly would have implored and debated but now what could they do? It was a fait accompli and useless to argue with someone who had already made sure he had his own way. Henry and Anne were married, she was about to enter the public arena as Queen, a role she had occupied at Court for some time. Her moment had come and the Council could put up with it or they would be getting into a barge and going on a nice little trip to a lovely cosy cell with a good view of Anne’s coronation departure, from inside the locked doors of the Tower of London.
Katherine of Aragon may be Queen in the eyes of the world and the Church, and even the leading reformers on the continent, including Martin Luther, and as Esther says, William Tyndale, wrote to disapprove of his divorce, but under English law she was about to be removed from her lawful place. The Council might have been shocked, stunned, dismayed, but they knew were all the hearings and debated evidence of the last six years were heading, the marriage of Henry and Anne, her coronation and it seemed her elevation as Queen, without the decision from Rome. To many, England had two Queens, but which one did they support?