Henry VIII married six times. By most accounts, he was a great king, perhaps the greatest king England ever had, but when he died he was insane. His brain was racked by syphilis.
|
|
If there is no son or daughter, the complex rules of England selects another member of the royal family to be the king.
King Henry the 8th had three children. Each had a different mother. The eldest was Mary. Her mother was a Catholic. Next was Elizabeth. Her mother was Anne Boleyn. The third was a boy, Edward. He was to become the next king, but he died as a child at age 15.
Each of the wives of Henry the 8th was carefully selected. Yet, these marriages were unsuccessful. When Henry 8th became king, England was a Catholic country. The Church was ruled by the Pope. The Protestant Reformation was starting to sweep Europe. Martin Luther, a Catholic Priest, nailed his thesis to the church door in 1517. Many religious leaders rebelled against rule by the Pope.
The Catholic Church did not allow divorce under any circumstances. Therefore, when Henry the Eighth became dissatisfied with his wives and wanted a new wife, he was in a difficult position because the church forbade divorce.
Therefore, Henry 8th formed a new church which was not ruled by the Pope. All of the People of England were ordered to follow this church. This church did allow divorce. It became the first Protestant church. The church still exists. It is called "The Church of England". In America, it is called the Episcopal Church.
The most controversial and most important marriage of King Henry the Eighth was to Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn had a flirtatious manner and was friendly with the courtiers, perhaps too friendly, because she was accused of adultery. This led to a trial.
Three different men testified at the trial that they had had sexual intercourse with Anne Boleyn, while she was the wife of King Henry 8th. However, all three men had been tortured into confessing this. Nevertheless, they repeated their testimony that they had had sexual relations with Anne Boleyn even when they were not being tortured.
Anne Boleyn was convicted and sentenced to death. Her head was chopped off on May 19, 1536. The heads of the three men were chopped off as well.
History has always presumed that Anne Boleyn was innocent, that the trial was rigged, and that her husband, King Henry 8th, had her head chopped off just so that he could get another wife.
However, history often fails to take into consideration one important fact: Henry 8th may have had actual proof that Anne Boleyn was not a proper woman, because she had syphilis and she had given that disease to Henry 8th. In addition, her daughter, who became Queen Elizabeth, is believed to have had congenital syphilis, the type of syphilis which is transmitted only from mother to her child. For this reason, Queen Elizabeth was bald, a sign of congenital syphilis, and she never married, of course because she had syphilis and would have given this disease to her husband.
At the time of these events, a great epidemic of syphilis was sweeping Europe. In general syphilis can only be transmitted through sexual intercourse. Columbus had discovered America in 1492. It was believed that the men of Columbus had had sexual intercourse with the American Indians and had brought the disease back to Europe. By 1533 when Queen Elizabeth was born, millions of people in Europe were infected with and eventually died of syphilis.
If Anne Boleyn was guilty of adultery, she could have contracted syphilis from one of her many lovers. If she then gave this disease to King Henry 8th, he would have known almost for sure that she had slept with other men and had brought this disease to him and to his subsequent children.
Because of this, his line of the royal family was wiped out. After the death of Queen Elizabeth, no descendant of King Henry 8th ever ruled England. The next king was James, who came to be regarded as one of the worst kings that England ever had. During the reign of James and his son, Charles, England became engulfed in religious wars between the Catholics and the Protestants until the Protestants finally prevailed.
It seems likely that Anne Boleyn really was guilty of adultery and that her beheading and execution were justified.
King Henry the 8th did the right thing by having his wife's head chopped off.
Sam Sloan
Sam,
A few points about your Henry VIII page you may wish to consider:
(1) I've read several biographies of Henry, none to my recollection claimed that he had syphilis. Neither his fourth nor his last wife, both of whom outlived him, showed evidence of the disease. Mind you, he may not have had sex with his fourth wife - he married her unseen and found her to be rather ugly. In any event Henry had plenty of mistresses. If Anne had the disease it would be just as likely that she caught it from him. If you have a source on Henry's disease please let me know.
(2) Henry's first marriage lasted quite a while - longer than most today. Had his wife had a son there is no reason to believe that it would not have lasted their entire lives. Had his third wife lived that might also have been the end of his marrying. But she was ill even before they met.
(3) The church did indeed permit the divorce of powerful people for reasons of state. Various theological excuses could be called up to justify any desired result, even divorce. The King of France, for example, had been allowed to divorce his wife so that he could marry (against her wishes) the heiress of Brittany, thus annexing that Celtic dukedom to France. This is why Henry was so angry - he was being denied what was granted to other monarchs. But his wife's family had the pope under control and the divorce was never going to be granted.
(4) The church of England was not the first Protestant church. There had been Protestants in England since the late 1300s (followers of Wycliffe, known as Lollards) though they were driven underground. And of course both Huss and Luther predated the Anglican church.
(5) Anne was in the way - and she gave birth only to daughters, Henry was in love with Jane Seymour, and worst of all, Anne commented too publicly that Henry was no longer always able to have sex (he had been a strong and handsome man when younger, but was now quite heavy and not always well). No king would forgive that. By this time even his illegitimate son was dead, so he must have been desperate for a son.
(6) I don't think any historian believes that Elizabeth had syphilis. She was not bald when young - many women lose much hair with age - and she lived too long to plausibly suffer from that disease.
(7) The English civil war was essentially between Church of England Protestants and other Protestants. The Catholics were a minor factor, though they were on the side of the King, whose wife was catholic (and whose sons became catholic, in the case of Charles II in secret). They were important in Ireland, of course, but after 1588 there was never any chance of a Catholic England.
William Hyde
I have been reading about this subject since I was a kid, but I rely on my memory and cannot always cite my sources.
It has often been said that Henry the 8th had Syphilis. Perhaps recognized history books don't say it, but I am sure it is widely believed that this was the case.
This is obviously a hot topic with religious implications, which explains why this subject would be avoided.
I remember reading in a high school history class that it was believed that Queen Elizabeth had congenital syphilis, which is why she remained a virgin.
Again, I was reading about this around 39 years ago and cannot recall where.
One source I do recall is a book entitled "The Trial of Anne Boleyn". I believe that is the same as "The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn" which I cite on my page. This is my source for my statement that "Three different men testified at the trial that they had had sexual intercourse with Anne Boleyn, while she was the wife of King Henry 8th. However, all three men had been tortured into confessing this. Nevertheless, they repeated their testimony that they had had sexual relations with Anne Boleyn even when they were not being tortured."
That quote comes from the aforementioned book.
Even though this may be an unsatisfactory answer, I still believe my conclusions to be correct or at least worthy of consideration.
For example, I learned from making this page that it is now a virtually a proven fact that Syphilis came from the New World and was brought back by the men of Columbus or shortly thereafter.
What I would like to do it add your letter as a footnote to my page, if you will give me permission for that.
Sam Sloan
Sam,
A lot is said about famous people which is clearly untrue. Even fairly respectable sources will refer to George III's insanity as early as 1776, while this is patently untrue. We all like a good story.
Even though this may be an unsatisfactory answer, I still believe my conclusions to be correct or at least worthy of consideration.
Sure, I'm not saying you should take down the page. Some of my comments were simply on points that do not bear on your hypothesis, while others show where I am dubious about the Syphilis, particularly as regards Elizabeth I.
For example, I learned from making this page that it is now a virtually a proven fact that Syphilis came from the New World and was brought back by the men of Columbus or shortly thereafter.
Well, in older books that I have read (circa 1960) this was commonly regarded as fact, but I think that historians doubt it more now.
If you are interested you could ask about it on soc.history.medieval. There are some very competent people there.
As a side note, your site was mentioned on talk.origins today.
What I would like to do is add your letter as a footnote to my page, if you will give me permission for that.
Sure, Sam. The email I sent you strikes me as a bit stilted. Still, if you want to use it feel free to do so.
Bill Hyde