Elizabeth of York’s 1486 marriage to Henry VII united the Yorkist and Lancastrian claims and helped bring an end to the Wars of the Roses.
Decades later, Catherine of Aragon remained a loyal queen for over 20 years, but when she failed to produce a surviving male heir, Henry VIII sought an annulment. The refusal led to England breaking from the Catholic Church and the start of the English Reformation
WinkSprout22 on
The difference between a Tudor Rose and a Tudor Divorce.
HIGHGROUNDHUNTER on
King of Poland, Casimir the Great, had similar issue of not having a son, only daughters. He was really lustful person and when he had a son (even sons) they were bastards. In old times it really sucked.
OnlyBath9046 on
Elizabeth of York really set the bar too high for the rest of the Tudor wives
Tom_Bombadil_1 on
“Husband wants a son instead” rather underplays the fact that being unable to produce an heir pretty much guarantees a return to vicious civil war. The war of the roses lasted for 30 years and killed around 100k people when the population of England was like 2 million, around 5x more than the british population killed by WW2. Henry 8th was born only a couple of years after that ended, and would have been extremely aware of the risk of not having an heir.
Life-Cantaloupe-3184 on
Catherine had the unfortunate luck of her only surviving child being a girl. That obviously was not her fault, but women tended to be blamed when fertility issues arose in a couple at that time even if those problems aren’t really the fault of the man or woman. The big difference that worked in Elizabeth’s favor is not only did she have a stronger blood claim than her husband as the oldest daughter of Edward IV, making her important in stabilizing Henry VII’s reign because she couldn’t be allowed to marry elsewhere and ultimately passed her claims onto their sons, but she was also very fertile. She produced two sons who survived infancy in addition to two daughters. Three other children died young. In every other way Catherine and Elizabeth were both ideal queen consorts. Catherine just couldn’t control for the fact her husband desperately desired a legitimate son, probably due to a mix of both real political factors and personal vanity, and she was unable to give him one.
PumpkinsDieHard on
Catherine of Aragon deserved so much better.
ParanoidAndroid10101 on
Henry VIll is memorable for his chronic wife addiction. He had six wives, all called Catherine.
He was a Catherine-aholic.
Or Catholic for short.
fluffstuffmcguff on
While there were political explanations for a lot of this, tbh I don’t think we can set aside that Henry VII and Henry VIII had very different personalities. VII for all his faults seems to have been a genuine family man in a way VIII wasn’t.
9 Comments
Elizabeth of York’s 1486 marriage to Henry VII united the Yorkist and Lancastrian claims and helped bring an end to the Wars of the Roses.
Decades later, Catherine of Aragon remained a loyal queen for over 20 years, but when she failed to produce a surviving male heir, Henry VIII sought an annulment. The refusal led to England breaking from the Catholic Church and the start of the English Reformation
The difference between a Tudor Rose and a Tudor Divorce.
King of Poland, Casimir the Great, had similar issue of not having a son, only daughters. He was really lustful person and when he had a son (even sons) they were bastards. In old times it really sucked.
Elizabeth of York really set the bar too high for the rest of the Tudor wives
“Husband wants a son instead” rather underplays the fact that being unable to produce an heir pretty much guarantees a return to vicious civil war. The war of the roses lasted for 30 years and killed around 100k people when the population of England was like 2 million, around 5x more than the british population killed by WW2. Henry 8th was born only a couple of years after that ended, and would have been extremely aware of the risk of not having an heir.
Catherine had the unfortunate luck of her only surviving child being a girl. That obviously was not her fault, but women tended to be blamed when fertility issues arose in a couple at that time even if those problems aren’t really the fault of the man or woman. The big difference that worked in Elizabeth’s favor is not only did she have a stronger blood claim than her husband as the oldest daughter of Edward IV, making her important in stabilizing Henry VII’s reign because she couldn’t be allowed to marry elsewhere and ultimately passed her claims onto their sons, but she was also very fertile. She produced two sons who survived infancy in addition to two daughters. Three other children died young. In every other way Catherine and Elizabeth were both ideal queen consorts. Catherine just couldn’t control for the fact her husband desperately desired a legitimate son, probably due to a mix of both real political factors and personal vanity, and she was unable to give him one.
Catherine of Aragon deserved so much better.
Henry VIll is memorable for his chronic wife addiction. He had six wives, all called Catherine.
He was a Catherine-aholic.
Or Catholic for short.
While there were political explanations for a lot of this, tbh I don’t think we can set aside that Henry VII and Henry VIII had very different personalities. VII for all his faults seems to have been a genuine family man in a way VIII wasn’t.