Love Letter 11
SINCE your last letters, mine own
darling, Walter Welshe, Master
Browne, Thos. Care, Grion of Brear-
ton, and John Coke, the apothecary,
be fallen of the sweat in this house,
and, thanked be God, all well recov-
ered, so that as yet the plague is not
fully ceased here, but I trust shortly
it shall. By the mercy of God, the rest
of us yet be well, and I trust shall
pass it, either not to have it, or, at the
least, as easily as the rest have done.
As touching the matter of Wilton,
my lord cardinal hath had the nuns
before him, and examined them, Mr.
Bell being present ; which hath certi-
fied me that, for a truth, she had con-
fessed herself (which we would have
had abbess) to have had two children
by two sundry priests; and, further,
since hath been kept by a servant of
the Lord Broke that was, and that not
long ago. Wherefore I would not,for
all the gold in the world, clog your
conscience nor mine to make her ruler
of a house which is of so ungodly de-
meanour; nor, I trust, you would not
that neither for brother nor sister, I
should so destain mine honour or con-
science. And, as touching the prior-
ess, or Dame Eleanor's eldest sister,
though there is not any evident case
proved against them, and that the
prioress is so old that for many years
she could not be as she was named;
yet notwithstanding, to do you plea-
sure,! have done that neither of them
shall have it, but that some other
good and well-disposed woman shall
have it, whereby the house shall be
the better reformed (whereof I en-
sure you it had much need), and God
much the better served.
As touching your abode at Hever,
do therein as best shall like you, for
you best know what air doth best with
you; but I would it were come there-
to (if it pleased God), that neither of
us need care for that, for I ensure you
I think it long. Suche is fallen sick
of the sweat, and therefore I send you
this bearer, because I think you long
to hear tidings from us, as we do like-
wise from you.
Written with the hand de votre seul,
H.R. 6 thoughts on “Love Letter 11”
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If Henry loved Anne so much why did he not have his marriage to her annulled and have her sent away, as he did with his first wife? Why did he have her killed? Surely a punishment less drastic would have sufficed. Why not do the same with her as he did with Catherine of Aragon?
Catherine and Mary caused Henry a real headache so there’s no way that Henry wanted to risk Anne and Elizabeth doing the same. There was the risk that Anne would not have gone quietly and stirred up trouble in the future.
I don’t agree it was strictly the potential problems posed by divorcing Anne that drove Henry to impose such a harsh punishment. I believe he felt betrayed and used. Henry did so much to secure her hand for the most part against the wishes and advice of the court, (Boleyns and Howards aside,) his subjects, the church, everyone. Henry changed the world to ensure she was his and sadly the hunt proved to be far more pleasing than the resulting marriage. She didn’t deliver what he had dreamed she would, she was never accepted as he believed she would be. After all in most eyes she was the harlet witch that had uprooted the good, godly rightful Queen that preceded her. The sentences she recieved were par for the course considering the crimes she had been convicted of. I think it was a combination of pride, regret, pressure, heartbreak and of course anger at the end result after having put so much at stake to obtain her for her to deliver (dare I say) another legitimate child without the desired appendage. There was no way she could live, after all she was a convicted coniving incestuous witch who had bewitched him to love her then cheated on him with a variety of courtiers and the devil himself. I think for Henry, the chase was the thing and then it was the combination of dissapointment, pressure, heartbreak and hurt pride that signed their death warrents.
Henry loved Anne SO very much! Anne had already bore Elizabeth and was pregnant with their 2nd child when Henry had his horrific jausting accident. Anne miscarries days after the accident – rumor has it the xhiks was deformed – a true sign, at that time, of the devil’s doing! So this started Henry’s downward thinking spiral regarding Anne. And, the fact that Henry no doubt took on mistresses foe his pleasure during her incapacities while pregnant, that also started Anne’s downward thinking spiral. Also, those closer to Henry had never liked his courtship and marriage to Anne, took advantage of every unfair situation to
put a bug in Henry’s ear where he eventually leaned in favor of his courtiers – Anne was no good and had to be removed immediately. Eventually Henry believes that Anne was having many affairs and was an adulterer, it was even said she had slept with her own brother! Given all this and the deformed baby, Henry was furious and his ego badly bruised. So, he had Anne labled a heretic, incestuous adulterer, and posessed by the devil – which caused him to fall in love with her – and had her, and her brother, beheaded.
It seems like once Henry had his mind made up to do something, he did it without regard to the consequences. It took the sting out of anything that made him look like a fool, or weak, and made him look strong and put him back in an authoritative light.
oh dear, what have you been reading ? that malformed fetus story is always bandied about even though i’m 99 percent sure that it’s been debunked. Always, always keep in mind that what was written about Anne in her own time was usually very much slanted against her and definitely had the agenda of poisoning her name and reputation. You just cannot acccept these stories at face value. Research and verify.
The deformed fetus argument wasn’t written until 50 years after her death by Nicholas Sander who wrote a lot of other terrible things about Anne and Elizabeth (e.g. sixth finger, protruding tooth, mysterious growth, etc.). I believe Claire has a whole video about this where she sites primary sources that describe the miscarriage in the moment vs. how it was described in propaganda pieces against her that were written in the late 16th century.