Tag Archives: Henry VIII
The Tudor Follies: How Ugly Was She?
Fresh from the keyboard of Mr. Al, here is the latest installment of the love life of Henry the VIII. *** Henry found Anne so unpleasant that he couldn’t do his royal duty with her. No royal duty, no babies. No babies, no point to being married. But what to do? Sending Anne back to Germany would probably spark a war that England couldn’t hope to win. Keeping a wife he found so repulsive that he couldn’t stomach having sex […]
The Tudor Follies: "Next!"
Mr. Al returns with the next segment from the life and times of Henry the VIII. Next up, Anne of Cleves. **** It was decided that a nice Protestant princess would fit the bill. A good looking one with large breasts if it could be managed. For the men around Henry, political and foreign relations were paramount. Especially from Cromwell’s perspective. Things weren’t looking good in Europe and England needed an ally to balance against any rapprochement that might spring […]
Tudors: The Rise and Fall of Jane Seymour
Having seen the first two of Henry VIII’s wives bite the dust we are back for another guest blog with Mr. Al. Let’s see how Jane fared. **** Apparently not one to shilly-shally, Queen-to-be Jane was busy with her wedding dress at the same time that Anne’s head was being chopped off. Some girls might, given the circumstances, have had reason to pause and consider what the future might hold. Some girls might. But not Jane. The marriage was announced […]
The Tudors: Anne In The Way
We will be doing two Tudors this week as Anne slides into her dreaded fate, a short one today and a long one tomorrow. **** By February 1536 the bloom was off the lily. Anne was, as far as Henry was concerned, never going to produce a male heir. She also began to vent her notoriously nasty temper on Henry. Something she had tried to avoid during their courtship. She even objected, loudly and in public, to his recreational sex […]
What Katherine Wanted
As promised, we continue with Mr. Al’s history of the Tudors. *** What Katherine wanted was a clear statement from the Pope that she was Henry’s lawful wife! She wanted it publicly acknowledged that she was the rightful Queen of England! Why was His Holiness being such a weenie about it? If Henry wouldn’t abide by the Pope’s decision, well, there was nothing she could do about that. At least the world would know that Henry’s actions were just plain […]
The Tudors – Henry and Anne Get It On.
Just so you know, I’m the one who comes up with the cheesy titles. Mr. Al never thinks to give me one. Anyway, when we left off Henry was about to discover something about his virginal queen-to-be not entirely to his liking. *** It turned out, or so Henry later claimed, that Anne had been “corrupted” while in France. That she had had sexual experiences that left her, technically, still a virgin. He did not elaborate on what the experiences […]
Three Men and a Tudor.
Mr. Al has written a very long piece of Tudor history. I asked him to slice off a piece for me, and this was the result: *** In November of 1529, Henry was still in love with Anne. But the strain to her of keeping a guy like Henry at arms length for five years was taking its toll. Although she didn’t seem to mind making enemies among those who were outside her family faction, her increasingly short temper and […]
Tudor Follies Continued – Anne Boleyn
Mr. Al continues his take on English history with a look at one of Henry VIII’s wives. ______ About Anne Boleyn. Although they ended up rivals, to put it mildly, Anne and Katherine were close friends for years. Anne entered Katherine’s service as a lady in waiting after serving for eight years with Queen Claude, (yes, that was her name.) of France. It was while in Claude’s service that Anne got her first lesson in the realities of a young […]
