Today in 1528 Henry VIII spoke to the “nobility, judges, councillors, and divers other persons,” at Bridewell Palace. He wanted to talk about his troubled conscience, because he believed that his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was not legal. He said that because of his worries that Mary was not his lawful daughter, he had sent for a papal legate to know the truth and settle his conscience. He said, “If it be adjudged that the Queen is my lawful wife, nothing will be more pleasant or more acceptable to me…If I were to marry again, I would choose her above all women.” But he added that, if the marriage were ruled unlawful, “…then shall I sorrow, parting from so good a lady and loving companion.”
Henry thought he could take care of it swiftly and easily, but that wasn’t to be of course, and the question of the legality of his marriage would drag on for five more years until Henry simply separated from the Pope, thus setting into motion the English Reformation.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested link:
Episode 109: Divorce in the Middle Ages (The Precedence for Henry’s Divorce)
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.