The Six Wives & Many Mistresses of Henry VIII: The Women's Stories, by Amy Licence
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The Six Wives & Many Mistresses of Henry VIII: The Women's Stories, by Amy Licence
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For a king renowned for his love life, Henry VIII has traditionally been depicted as something of a prude, but the story may have been different for the women who shared his bed. How did they take the leap from courtier to lover, to wife? What was Henry really like as a lover? Henry’s women were uniquely placed to experience the tension between his chivalric ideals and the lusts of the handsome, tall, athletic king; his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, was, on one level, a fairy-tale romance but his affairs with Anne Stafford, Elizabeth Carew and Jane Popincourt undermined it early on. Later, his more established mistresses, Bessie Blount and Mary Boleyn, risked their good names by bearing him illegitimate children. Henry did not see that casual liaisons might threaten his marriage, until he met the one woman who held him at arms length. Anne Boleyn's seductive eyes helped rewrite history. After their passionate marriage turned sour, the king rapidly married Jane Seymour. Her death in childbirth left him alone, without wife or lover, for the first time in decades. In the quest for a new queen, he scoured the courts of Europe, obsessed with the beautiful Christina of Milan, whose rejection of him spurred him into the arms of Anne of Cleves and soon after the lively teenager Catherine Howard. Henry’s final years were spent with the elegant and accomplished widow Catherine Parr, who sacrificed personal pleasure for duty by marrying him while her heart was bestowed elsewhere. What was it like for these women to share Henry’s bed, bear his children or sit on the English throne? He was a man of great appetites, ready to move heaven and earth for a woman he desired; their experiences need to be readdressed in a frank, modern take on the affairs of his heart. What was it really like to be Mrs Henry VIII?
The Six Wives & Many Mistresses of Henry VIII: The Women's Stories, by Amy Licence- Amazon Sales Rank: #498332 in Books
- Brand: Amberley
- Published on: 2015-11-19
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.10" h x 1.20" w x 6.10" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 400 pages
Review By the author of In Bed with the Tudors: 'What really went on in Henry VIII's bedroom' The Daily Express
About the Author Amy Licence is the author of Royal Babies: A History 1066 - 2013, In Bed With the Tudors: The Sex Lives of a Dynasty from Elizabeth of York to Elizabeth I ('What really went on in Henry VIII's bedroom' The Daily Express), Elizabeth of York: The Forgotten Tudor Queen and Anne Neville: Richard III's Tragic Queen ('A fascinating story, well told' The Good Book Guide), all published by Amberley. She lives in Canterbury.
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Most helpful customer reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful. Highly readable account of Henry VIII’s love life, his wives & mistresses. By Sylwia S. Zupanec This new book by Amy Licence shows Henry VIII in an entirely different light. For years historians had tried to tell us that Henry was a prude and had only two, maybe three mistresses. That’s not what primary sources tell us, however. By piecing together sources from various stages of Henry VIII’s life, Amy Licence gives us a highly readable account of the King’s wives and mistresses. “Henry was a deeply private man and preferred to keep his amours known only to a small, loyal core of companions”: this is the main theme of this book. Licence’s work is heavily documented with primary source material and she also gives us new, intriguing theory about the marriage of Prince Arthur and Katherine of Aragon. This author’s style is eminently readable and I felt like I was there on the spot. Can’t wait for more titles from Amy Licence.
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful. What people do not realize is Henry's marriages and love affairs had more than enough drama By Annette Summary:In my opinion, it is unfair how Henry VIII and his relationships have been depicted on the movie screen and in books. Because most of the time it is an inaccurate rendering. Accuracy is swept away and replaced with theatrics that titillate. What people do not realize is Henry's marriages and love affairs had more than enough drama, adding to the reality of what happened is unnecessary. I'm thankful Amy Licence has not sought to write another biography on Henry VIII. Instead, she has written a study on Henry's relationships with his wives and mistresses. Henry was married six times. He had several affairs. All of the relationships began and ended on his terms. I've never thought of Henry as man who was not in control. But death had the last dramatic session in his life. A legacy of Henry VIII is his lengthy list of wives, especially concerning the circumstances of each relationship. I have been curious to know what Henry's enticement had been for these women? What was Henry like as a lover? Was "it" all a game and Henry the master chess player?Amy Licence defines, "three key phases of Henry's intimate relationships."1509-1525. A young Henry.1526-1537. The era dominated by a preoccupation for an heir.1537-1547. Henry's effort to "recreate the stability and happiness of a loving marriage."My Thoughts:The best writers know and write for their targeted audience. The most clever writers have a particular skill they have mastered. In Amy Licence's case, her particular skill is the culture and society of Tudor women.When I began reading The Six Wives and Many Mistresses of Henry VIII, I did not expect a Henry VIII biography. I expected and received a detailed study of Henry's love relationships.I'm compelled to feel strong empathy for Henry's first two wives. Long suffering Catherine of Aragon. She had been Henry's wife at his best. She had been Henry's wife at his worst. Catherine of Aragon had been Henry's wife longer than his other wives, but when Henry was finished with her, she was regarded as dead to his life. Likewise, is Henry's second wife Anne Boleyn. She is a favorite historical figure among readers and lovers of Tudor history. I love reading historical books on Anne. To read either a fact or fictional work on Anne, brings her passionate and vivid personality to life.Henry had wooed and coddled Anne for years, before marrying her after his divorce from Catherine, in which Henry had transpired and enacted.Before reading The Six Wives and Many Mistresses of Henry VIII, I had read books on Henry's mistresses, Elizabeth Blount and Mary Boleyn. Licence reveals several more mistresses in Henry's list.While reading the book, I wondered how Henry had time for a busy sex life? He was a powerful charismatic man. I also believe he "knew" women. I believe he made it a hobby to study women, at least for the benefit of his interests; and I believe this endeavor appealed to his large ego.Pregnancy, miscarriage, and birthing during Tudor times is explained. I was most interested to read about superstitions in regard to diagnosing pregnancy.A favorite quote from the book:"The greater the love he felt for them, the greater the suffering he needed to inflict upon them"Source: Free pdf copy from Amberley Publishing in exchange for a review.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful. I really like how Amy Licence goes very deep into the lives ... By Amazon Customer I really like how Amy Licence goes very deep into the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII and dispels many myths about their husband, namely that Henry was this very prude figure who only had two mistresses. Using contemporary evidence she shows it was the complete opposite. I also love how she focused on the early years of marriage between Katherine of Aragon and Henry VIII. They're always depicted as old and boring versus a young and more energetic Anne Boleyn who was ten times better and more beautiful than her predecessor but Amy Licence sets the record straight on this. Everyone believes she was old and prudish because that's certainly how she became when Henry annulled his marriage to her, but in the first years of their marriage the two were very passionate and contemporary beliefs about sex were not as conservative as we think. There were some sexual practices that the church allowed and that Katherine and Henry might've engaged on and even after she stopped having her period, he still visited her chambers and she continued to enjoy the feasts and participate in the many dances and plays. There is a lot of interesting details regarding her first marriage to Arthur from what she wore, what might have gone between closed doors which offers a great new possibility -and a very plausible one- regarding the consummation or non-consummation. Henry rode as Sir Loyal Heart and wore Katherine of Aragon's colors, their marriage was a true love match and she was not only his equal in many ways but she was also beautiful and albeit older like him, she was his first choice. He later claimed that he was fulfilling his father's dying wish but as Amy explains, this seems highly unlikely. Henry's choice of bride like his maternal grandfather, was to say to the world that he was his own person and king of his realm and he would not accept any other bride that was not his choosing and there was also another similarity between his first marriage and that of his grandfather's. Katherine was five years and a half older than him just as Elizabeth was older than him and also a widow. However she didn't possess the same luck that Elizabeth did giving Henry his longed for heir. The fact that Henry still continued to comfort her after she lost so many babies and their most prized-one, their new year baby, says a lot about their relationship as well as how many described it and how it was just so passionate and beautiful and Katherine loved to participate in all these great displays of love, affection, costuming and chivalry.But everything has an end and after Henry realized he wasn't going to get a son by her, his wandering eye turned to other women and here it's where Amy deconstructs the accepted version of events that Henry was a prude. He wasn't. He was just very discreet of his affairs unlike his French counterpart, Francis I. Henry had learned from his grandfather's mistakes who was not so discreet. Henry was a true masker and he was always very concerned with image and despite the reports that proved his many liaisons, he was successful in keeping most of his affairs private except for two and those are only known because of Henry Fitzroy and his marriage to Anne Boleyn.There is a lot of attention on Anne Boleyn as well and that's because you can't rule her out because she played an important part as Katherine once did, in English politics and religion. She was an intense advocate of the Reform, however the Reform as Amy explains was divided into many sects and although Anne was described as "more Lutheran than Luther himself" her actions seem to lean on more with the intellectual thought that Marguerite of Navarre (a woman she admired during her time in France, first serving her future husband's sister and then Queen Claude) adopted which was a combination of Swiss, French and English radicalism. Anne Boleyn may not have intended to become queen from the beginning as many series depict and indeed it may have been accidental and I think that's true since she had already learned the tough lesson with Percy that as a woman, especially an unmarried one, she had to be careful who she was with or who courted her. There are many passages in her chapters that reflect humanist thought on illicit affairs which Anne seems to have adopted. Amy Licence also challenges the reader by asking important questions such as was Anne really chaste during her waiting period for Henry to marry her or did they engage in any foreplay (as betrothal was regarded as close to marriage so some couples did in fact engage on this. This was ironically also the reason that Edward IV's brother Richard III used to invalidate his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville based on the convenient claim that Edward had promised marriage to someone else before he married Elizabeth) or did Henry look to someone else for comfort? Given Henry's actions and the wealth of primary sources that Amy has presented, it is very possible that a little of both happened. They might not have consummated their union but something did went on there such as kisses or caresses and then Henry went to someone else to have sex.Anne and Katherine however had tragic endings and both of them for the same reason: They couldn't give the king a son. Anne was beheaded, Katherine died but her death was a slow and sadder one because she was for three years waiting in vain for things to change and when she realized she didn't, she also realized she was going to die alone and abandoned by the man whom she had once been so passionately in love.The last part of the book focuses on the remaining four wives. I would've loved to have seen a little more on Jane Seymour, I believe she was not completely a pawn. She was certainly coached but she was not dumb and reading three biographies of her and other 'wives' book I believe she learned from experience and there was definitely more to her than met the eye. But it was probably due to the fact that her reign was so short that so little was dedicated to her.Anne of Cleves also has a negative stereotype that she did take time to deconstruct and show that there are many inconsistencies with the declarations of her ladies and servants that said the marriage was not consummated (when she could not speak very good English at this point) to the fact that she was relieved the marriage was over when she wasn't and after Katherine Howard's demise might have expected in vain to become his wife again and therefore as her brother hoped, revive the Cleves alliance and when this didn't happen and she found out about Henry's marriage to his last wife she was very angry because she didn't find Katherine Parr appealing.Katherine Howard is a special case and she continues to divide opinion after more than five centuries. There was certainly a sexual element to her regarding Mannox and Dereham and whether this was sexual abuse or voluntary, we will never know. The author believes it was likely the latter as Katherine was young and very naive and inexperienced she was easily led astray by these two more experienced and opportunist men. But her union with Culpeper is more confusing and it's likely to have been platonic but possibility that it may have been sexual is not ruled out.After Katherine's lovers were executed, she and Jane Parker, lady Rochford (widow of George Boleyn) followed them in that order. The last wife was none other than Katherine Parr who some still believe she was Henry's nurse but she wasn't. Henry had his own nurses and didn't need another one, at an advance age he knew he wasn't going to beget anymore children from anyone and wanted companionship from someone he could enjoy being with and that position fell on Katherine who had her eyes set on someone else (Thomas Seymour).Katherine like her namesake and Henry's first wife was not only very smart, but she was also pragmatic (perhaps even more pragmatic), charismatic and kind (she quickly won the hearts of the English people and her royal stepchildren and was particularly close to Mary whom she was closer to in age) and above all very learned knowing Italian, Latin, French and her love for learning encouraged her two stepdaughters to translate Erasmus and Marguerite of Navarre's writings respectively. She narrowly avoided death through kindness and humility and she was the only other wife besides the first Katherine, to be appointed as Regent.The Six wives and the many Mistresses of Henry VIII is a rich addition to my Tudor book shelves and to women's studies. This book is really a HERstory of the women of Henry's life written in a way that it hasn't been written before.
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