Whether you know me personally or not, if you’re listening to the podcast you’re probably not surprised to hear I LOVE the six wives! I loved seeing the new musical SIX in London and in New York. I love the television specials. I fell in love with history and the Tudors and began my obsession with Anne Boleyn watching the BBC production from back in the seventies (rebroadcast on PBS here in the US). I am a big six wives fan.
It makes sense, then, that I wrap up my focus on books by looking at books about the Six Wives of Henry VIII. I decided to choose a book for each wife. The publication dates span more than 100 years, with the earliest book published in 1896 (!) and the most recent in 2014. Even 2014 feels like a long time ago, so I might have my next project identified!
My criteria was that the book focus on the wives instead of the husband—he makes appearances, of course, and inserts his larger than life body and personality into the books just as he did into his marriages. But for the most part, Henry is placed in a supporting role, the husband that brings this fascinating group of women together. So let’s meet the six wives through six authors’ views of them.
Amy License, The Six Wives and Many Mistresses of Henry VIII: The Women’s Stories (pub date 2014) and Katherine of Aragon.
Karen Lindsey, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived (pub date 1995) and Anne Boleyn.
Sarah Tytler, Tudor Queens and Princesses, (pub date 1896) and Jane Seymour.
Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, (pub date 1991) and Anne of Cleves.
Antonia Fraser, The Wives of Henry VIII (pub 1992) and Katherine Howard.
David Loades, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (pub 1996) and Katherine Parr.
I get the feeling that Henry VIII would describe his life with himself at the center, as the sun, with other people rotating around him, including these six women. But I think that in fact, the women had the real light—the intelligence, courage, determination, compassion, and abilities that created the power of Henry VIII’s reign. They were not just the power behind the throne, they were the power of the throne.
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