Catherine of Aragon…
It was generally believed that Henry married COA as a favour to his dying father, but somehow I seem to doubt that, don’t know why? I just think Henry married COA because she was there, and that he wouldn’t have to fork out money to find another Bride. Henry 7th death was kept secret from all those save his mother I believe for a few days, I guess this was to allow the reins of government to pass smoothly from father to son, but why was this deception necessary?
I have often wondered why Henry 7th named M.B as regent too. Did Henry 7th have so little faith in his son’s abilities to take the role of Kingship properly?
Henry married COA , and perhaps he enjoyed playing the role of being her saviour, and I believe that he did have some affection for her. Their marriage for the most part in the early years was happy, but her failure to produce a living son was one of many problems that they had within their marriage. I also believe that he wanted to be married to show M.B and the rest of England that he was old enough to rule and have children.
COA good hearted through she was had a habit of making Henry feel inferior and treated him rather like a child. I don’t think she intended to but perhaps it was something she did without thinking about it. Being that she was older than him perhaps she thought she knew better than him, and to a certain degree she probably did. I believe she could be quite domineering sometimes and that is perhaps what Henry got annoyed with.
Henry as we know went to France in 1513 in what I believe was a pathetic attempt to recapture the victories of Henry 5th but put simply he hadn’t got the balls or the courage that Henry 5th had, plus he was going up against a King although he was old wasn’t stupid and was an ardent fighter. The only real victory Henry achieved in France was the Battle of the Spurs, so called because the French army simply ran away when they saw Henry and his crew coming down the hill at them.
The battle was won without so much of a drop of blood spilt from either side. So I wouldn’t call this anything major.
Although Henry did capture a few French Nobles sending 1 or 2 to England as his prisoners among them the Duke to Longville, who played a part in 1514 when Mary (Henry’s Sister) married the French King Louis. I’m not sure but I believe he was Louis’s proxy at their wedding and accompanied her to France.
In the meantime COA had to deal with James 4th of Scotland who decided to have a bash at taking the English throne, after all Henry had left a woman in charge and what did woman know, that was James’s reasoning I think, but of course COA showed Jimbo and the Scots Army that she wasn’t Isabella’s daughter for nothing and completely destroyed him and his army. Instead of being humble etc. she chose to rub it in Henry’s face that she was better than him, because she had killed a King, whilst he was just a silly boy playing at soldiers abroad.. In her letter to him she states you have sent me a live Duke and I have sent you the coat of a dead King that must have narked Henry.
COA however good a Queen was forever promoting the good graces (or so she thought) of her nephew and of the Spanish alliance, even though her nephew had let England down again and again.
England to COA nephew was just a vast bank a way of getting money to pay for their war with France so they didn’t need to bankrupt their own resources. In short England was a laughing stock in the eyes of COA’s nephew and I rather think that French King was laughing at England too.
Although Charles did triumph over France none of the promises that he made to Stinky about him having France’s throne ever came to pass, nor did England gain any wealth from it.
Stinky I believe started to turn against COA even before Leviticus reared its head, as COA always seemed to be trying to say she was better than him, and for the most part treated him like a petulant little boy. (Although to be fair to COA he did rather act like that sometimes). Once Mary was born I think she got a lot worse, as she started to dictate what she wanted for a her daughter, and because Stinky had decided that it would better for him and for the country in general that Mary should marry into France, this was something she found abhorrent, and I rather think she blamed Wolsey for it, as he was forever trying to keep the middle path between all 3 countries. I can’t say I blame him, as wars were costly and there were still people who believed that the Tudor dynasty was upstarts. So laying a tax on the people to fund a war with very little hope of success could be the straw that would break the camel’s back and say sod this for a lark we would be better off with so and so for King at least he would promote peace and harmony and we wouldn’t have money robbed off us by a butcher’s cur.
In conclusion I think that COA brought out Stinky’s petty spite, malice, and deep distrust and arrogance of the Spanish and French people.

Anne Boleyn
Stinky fell passionately in love with her and it stayed with him all his life, and I think that of all the wives, what influence Anne brought out in him was something that shaped the rest of his life. He never forgot her or forgave himself for her death.
COA’s influence was a mere formality.
Anne brought out a whole range of emotions and feelings from him which perhaps was what affected his mind mentally.
Firstly there was jealously. Stinky was jealous of any other man’s attention of Anne. We know that when he discovered her arrangement with Percy he literally went off the deep end. Why?
Stinky conveniently found a way of getting rid of Wyatt from the scene. It was then and only then that he declared he was interested in her. I’ve got to admire her stance here as she made it quite clear that she would never be his mistress. Anne is not to blame for Stinky’s mindscape, as I believe he had made his mind up to get rid of COA even before Mary was born. Anne’s statement just made him make his mind up that COA had to go. At this stage I don’t believe that Stinky had planned to make Anne anything more than a mistress.
Wolsey had been banging on to Stinky about forming a marital alliance with France and I think Stinky was giving it serious consideration. Anne was to be a pleasant pastime, until Wolsey had done his bit with France.
Anne of course proved cleverer than her sister and made it clear that she would be everything to him or nothing, so Stinky decided that he wanted her above a French bride and told Wolsey, to by all means conclude a peace deal with France but he would not marry a French princess.
Anne fell in love with Stinky once she realised that he was deadly serious in making her his Queen, but I think there were times when even she began to doubt his sincerity, which is why I think she took herself off to Hever sometimes, basically to make sure that she wasn’t wasting her time chasing her tail. I think the book she gave him was the last act of desperation to make him see that see wasn’t going to messed around any longer by him. If he truly wanted her then he was to get off his arse and fight for her. This also brought out the passionate side of his nature and not just for her.
Thomas More once said “if the Lion knew his own strength it would be hard for any man to hold him” and that was certainly true.
Tyndale’s bible brought out the vindictive side of Stinky, and as a result of his vindictiveness the religious houses suffered; I also think that some of this vindictiveness was directed towards COA, who was known by all Nuns and Monks for her extreme piety.
Stinky’s greed also came out as he simply wait to get his hands on all the money that these religious houses brought in, although I don’t think he actually got as much as he thought he would, as I feel that Cromwell embezzled some of the money away for himself, it was also perhaps Cromwell’s way of keeping Stinky under control, to a certain degree.
Anne I think saw through Cromwell, she was no fool and saw what Cromwell’s little game was, and Anne tore him off the appropiate strips when he needed it.
Anne’s failure in giving Stinky a son killed the love he had for Anne, or did it? Stinky started getting very paranoid and I think that the tiltyard accident affected the balance of his mind to such a degree that he believed that every problem he had from something to a headache to a toothache was Anne’s fault. So in that respect that brought out Stinky’s fear and anger, which Cromwell used to good effect, and whispered rumours that Anne had done the dirty on him which played on Stinky’s paranoia. Jane being around didn’t help Anne any and she must have voiced an opinion or 2 about her to Stinky, rumour has it that Anne tried to send her up to Northumberland and was actually on route when Stinky found out and sent a handful of his men to fetch her back?
COA’s death and Anne’s miscarriage in 1536 sealed the fate of Anne, and nothing she did or said would have saved her. Stinky wanted her dead and nothing would stop him. I wonder though if she hadn’t of miscarried and had gone on to have the child even if it had been a boy, and by all accounts the physicians at the time who examined the foetus said that it bore the chartaristics of a male. Would she have lived? Or would Stinky still got rid of her? Rumours about her had started back in the late summer or even before 1535. Stinky believed or chose to believe that she drove him to execute More and Fisher, and people believed that she was responsible for the bad Harvest of 1535 too. Which lead me to believe that it’s possible that Stinky was suffering from Ergot poisoning, sorry about using a twee word, but it’s something which I believe is wholy possible and would go a little way in explaining Stinky’s attitude towards Anne at this time.
As for executing Anne with the sword I don’t really know how to explain this one? I’m inclined to think that it’s possible that Anne herself asked for the swordsman, although there is no documentary evidence from her to suggest this, it could have been a verbal request brought to Stinky by Kingston, or maybe Anne herself may have mentioned to Stinky early on in their relationship that she had seen executions done by sword when she was in France. I know that she was mortally afraid of fire, as she as a child at Hever she allegedly witnessed a servant burned to death in a stable fire. Burning at the stake was the general method of executing woman, so at least she was spared that. But I also believe that she knew just how clumsy the axe could be, and if she was to die she wanted her death to be swift and as pain free as possible. If Anne did indeed witness a fire in Hever when she was young, one actually has to ask how young? Again this questions her DOB.. It was said that she went to France at the age of 7, with Mary Tudor’s entourage, in 1514, yes I agree very young, but her father must have held some amount of power to actually manage to wangle a position in Mary Tudor’s household at that time, making Anne’s DOB at 1507.
In conclusion Anne brought out Stinky’s Jealousy, Suspicion, Greed, Paranoia, Anger, vindictiveness and Passion.

Jane Seymour.
Well she was Queen for so little time, you may ask “well what possible influence could she have had” actually I think she brought out the fearful side of his nature when she died it hammered the point home that he wasn’t getting any younger, and that the grim reaper could strike at any time, and not just at him now of course he had a Son to think of and that again I believe intensified his paranoia, as well. I also feel that Stinky’s self-pity started rear its ugly head too during Jane tenure or should I say after her death.
In conclusion Jane brought out Stinky’s Self- pity and Paranoia and fear to full effect.

Anne of Cleves
Again one has to ask as she was only Queen for 6 months “What influence did she bring out?”
The answer here is complete loathing, and again self-pity. It also brought his spite and vindictiveness to the fore again, as his behaviour towards Cromwell during this whole debarkle proved. Cromwell yes made a mistake in choosing AOC, but for whatever reasons, he only did what he felt was best for Stinky and for the realm. Cromwell isn’t solely responsible for this screw up with AOC, Holbein must share some of the blame for using his poetic brush licence and going too far, in making AOC appear more than she was. Actually I think she wasn’t too bad looking. I think Anne actually had a lucky escape as she did live a relatively happy life although I think she was rather lonely at times.
In conclusion AOC brought out loathing, self-pity spite and vindictiveness. With Cromwell paying the price of the spite and vindictiveness

Katherine Howard.
Poor Katherine just a silly little kid who couldn’t control herself. But hey she was a teenager all teenagers make screw ups.
Stinky saw her through rose coloured spectacles and believed that she was his perfect wife, when she betrayed him a whole Niagara falls of emotions fell out. Poor Katherine paid a terrible price
In conclusion the influence Katherine had was Hatred, Self-Pity, heartbreak, self-loathing Anger bitterness Spite vengefulness vindictiveness and perhaps the fact that he had made a fool of himself over Katherine brought his paranoia out too, as he knew that people would be laughing at him for his stupidity with marrying KH in the first place. In fact Francis of France wrote a letter to him stating that “he was sorry to hear of the wanton and naughty behaviour of the Queen “Stinky must have felt like Francis was rubbing his face in it , well I suppose he was so I think we must also include embarrassment here too.
Katherine Parr
She was perhaps the calming influence that Stinky needed although she did push things a little too far and almost lost her head for being a little too vocal in her opinions, but somehow she survived Stinky’s emotions and kept her head.
In conclusion K.P was the calming influence and perhaps helped to except that he wasn’t as all powerful as he first thought he was when he tossed Wolsey out on his ear, in short K.P exposed him for what he really was a silly little boy, who was frightened of his own shadow. I also think that she influenced to except that he would never again be or have what he once had, he was no longer the Golden Boy of his youth, and nothing could alter that, she also taught him humility and to her credit got him to except the children for who and what they were. Too little and too late to change any feelings towards their father, but at least things were cordial and sunny between them. K.P also made Stinky except that he had made mistakes in his life and executing wives willy nilly and people he had called friends was the wrong thing, his only real friend was Charles Brandon, and when he died Stinky just gave up, there was nothing left for him now, all the friends he knew in his youth were either dead or had been executed by him.
The people hated him and that the only forward now for the Tudor Dynasty was Edward and the poor kid had some pretty big shoes to fill too. Stinky knew that the Seymour boys would control and use Edward for their own gain, but he also knew that his time on Earth was limited and there was nothing he could do or say to Edward to help him take responsibility for what was going to happen.