Claire | June 12, 2016
On this day in history, Sunday 12th June 1530, Queen Catherine of Aragon got rather cross with her errant husband, Henry VIII, telling him to “quit the evil life he was leading and the bad example he was setting”. Here is an account of the confrontation from Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador: “On this same […]
Claire | March 15, 2016
Breaking news! Yes, on this day in history, 15th March 1532, King Henry VIII used “foul language” to William Warham, Archbishop of Canturbury, after the archbishop criticised the king in the House of Lords when Parliament was discussing the proposed annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Carlo Capello, the Venetian ambassador, recorded […]
Claire | January 29, 2016
Today is the anniversary of Catherine of Aragon’s burial at Peterborough Abbey in 1536, so I just wanted to pose a question: “Was Catherine of Aragon right in fighting for her marriage and not accepting the annulment?” I’d love to hear your views on this so please do leave a comment. Allow me first to […]
Claire | June 12, 2015
According to Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, on Sunday 12th June 1530 Catherine of Aragon had words with her husband Henry VIII, “exhorting him to be again to her a good prince and husband, and to quit the evil life he was leading and the bad example he was setting.”1 Catherine went on to tell […]
Claire | January 5, 2015
On 5th January 1531, Pope Clement VII wrote to Henry VIII following a plea from Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s wife. In his letter he forbade Henry to remarry while the case for the annulment was still on-going and threatened him with excommunication if he took matters into his own hands and disobeyed Rome: “At […]
Claire | November 30, 2014
On 30th November 1529, St Andrew’s Day, Catherine of Aragon confronted her husband Henry VIII about the way he was treating her, saying that she had “long been suffering the pains of Purgatory on earth” and that she was “very badly treated by his refusing to dine with and visit her in her apartments”. It […]
Claire | November 8, 2014
On 8th November 1528, at Bridewell Palace, King Henry VIII made a public oration to “the nobility, judges and councillors and divers other persons” to explain his troubled conscience regarding the lawfulness of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. In this speech, the King explained that due to his worry that Mary was not his […]
Claire | September 29, 2014
On 29th September 1528 Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio, papal legate, landed at Dover on the Kent coast. He had arrived in preparation for hearing the case for the annulment of the marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, at a special legatine court. You can read more about this in my article […]
