Read Online A Journey Through Tudor England by Suzannah Lipscomb - Free Book Online
Authors: Suzannah Lipscomb
Ads: Link
Leemput [see T HE W ALKER A RT G ALLERY ] that recreates, in miniature, a painting that was almost certainly finished when Jane was pregnant with Edward. A full-length portrait of the boy-king, nearby, mimics his father’s famous stance in the mural. Finally, The Family of Henry VIII painting of 1545 outside the Chapel Royal depicts Henry VIII at the proud centre of his family, between the youngEdward, his favourite wife, Jane Seymour, and Princesses Mary and Elizabeth. (The other two figures are almost certainly Henry’s court fool, Will Somer, and a female fool called Jane.)
The only trouble is that this last picture is fictional. Jane Seymour did not live until 1545; in fact, she never left the childbed where she had so victoriously given Henry his much desired son. Just two weeks after Edward’s birth, she died of puerperal sepsis, or childbed fever. Her heart and innards are buried in the chapel, while the procession to her funeral at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle started from Hampton Court. The joys and griefs of Henry VIII echo off the walls of this, his most incredible surviving palace.
AN HEIR AND A SPARE
Henry VIII’s life was dogged and determined by his hope of having sons. He, and most people of his time, believed that one of his most important tasks as King was to provide at least one adult male heir to succeed him peacefully when he died.
This was not misogyny on Henry’s part; rather, there was no precedent of female rule: England had never had a crowned queen regnant (a ruling queen, as opposed to a queen consort). In the twelfth century, Matilda, the daughter of Henry I, had succeeded to the throne and was immediately challenged by her cousin, Stephen of Blois. Their struggle for the throne led to civil war in England, and Matilda was never crowned. Henry VIII feared that if one of his daughters succeeded him, it would prompt civil war or, worse, shewould marry a foreign prince and bring England under the rule of a foreign power (as indeed did occur when Mary I married Philip II of Spain). For this reason, in sixteenth-century France, under the ‘Salic law’, women were not able to succeed to the throne.
So Henry needed a son. He also needed that son to be at least fifteen years old by the time of his death. Children could not rule alone and, instead, would be governed by a regent or group of councillors. This was never ideal — as the example of Richard III and the ‘Princes in the Tower’ had shown, regents were not always to be trusted, and if there were many councillors, their tussle for power over a young king might also endanger the peace and security of the country.
Henry VIII had grown up aware of his history: he knew that in the thirty years before his father became king, England had been in an on-off state of bloody civil war, fought between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists (the Wars of the Roses). The marriage of his father and mother, he a Lancastrian, she a Yorkist, had brought peace, and the last thing that Henry VIII wanted was to return England to bloodshed. He needed a line of adult princes to prevent it from happening again.
This meant making haste: Henry himself had been only seventeen when his father died at the age of fifty-two. He was worried that if he didn’t have a son by his early thirties, he might die in his fifties without an adult male heir. Sadly, that was exactly what came to pass. His son Edward was only nine when Henry died. Nor was one son enough. Children died easily. Henry’s own brother, Arthur, had died at the age of fifteen. Henry’s own sons — the illegitimate Henry Fitzroy [seeF RAMLINCHAM ], and his legitimate heir, later King Edward VI — died aged seventeen and fifteen respectively.
So, having sons remained a priority for Henry VIII until the end; the peace and prosperity of England rested on the fruit of his wives’ wombs. Ironically, he could never know that all three of his legitimate children would reign; that his youngest
The only trouble is that this last picture is fictional. Jane Seymour did not live until 1545; in fact, she never left the childbed where she had so victoriously given Henry his much desired son. Just two weeks after Edward’s birth, she died of puerperal sepsis, or childbed fever. Her heart and innards are buried in the chapel, while the procession to her funeral at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle started from Hampton Court. The joys and griefs of Henry VIII echo off the walls of this, his most incredible surviving palace.
AN HEIR AND A SPARE
Henry VIII’s life was dogged and determined by his hope of having sons. He, and most people of his time, believed that one of his most important tasks as King was to provide at least one adult male heir to succeed him peacefully when he died.
This was not misogyny on Henry’s part; rather, there was no precedent of female rule: England had never had a crowned queen regnant (a ruling queen, as opposed to a queen consort). In the twelfth century, Matilda, the daughter of Henry I, had succeeded to the throne and was immediately challenged by her cousin, Stephen of Blois. Their struggle for the throne led to civil war in England, and Matilda was never crowned. Henry VIII feared that if one of his daughters succeeded him, it would prompt civil war or, worse, shewould marry a foreign prince and bring England under the rule of a foreign power (as indeed did occur when Mary I married Philip II of Spain). For this reason, in sixteenth-century France, under the ‘Salic law’, women were not able to succeed to the throne.
So Henry needed a son. He also needed that son to be at least fifteen years old by the time of his death. Children could not rule alone and, instead, would be governed by a regent or group of councillors. This was never ideal — as the example of Richard III and the ‘Princes in the Tower’ had shown, regents were not always to be trusted, and if there were many councillors, their tussle for power over a young king might also endanger the peace and security of the country.
Henry VIII had grown up aware of his history: he knew that in the thirty years before his father became king, England had been in an on-off state of bloody civil war, fought between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists (the Wars of the Roses). The marriage of his father and mother, he a Lancastrian, she a Yorkist, had brought peace, and the last thing that Henry VIII wanted was to return England to bloodshed. He needed a line of adult princes to prevent it from happening again.
This meant making haste: Henry himself had been only seventeen when his father died at the age of fifty-two. He was worried that if he didn’t have a son by his early thirties, he might die in his fifties without an adult male heir. Sadly, that was exactly what came to pass. His son Edward was only nine when Henry died. Nor was one son enough. Children died easily. Henry’s own brother, Arthur, had died at the age of fifteen. Henry’s own sons — the illegitimate Henry Fitzroy [seeF RAMLINCHAM ], and his legitimate heir, later King Edward VI — died aged seventeen and fifteen respectively.
So, having sons remained a priority for Henry VIII until the end; the peace and prosperity of England rested on the fruit of his wives’ wombs. Ironically, he could never know that all three of his legitimate children would reign; that his youngest
Similar Books
