#i always think of starkey's line for anne's: knowing anne one might suspect satire but the moment was too serious for that' | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fideidefenswhore · 2 years ago

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Many who knew Henry well seem to have responded to him not just with awe, but with affection. Charles Brandon was, in 1509, just an esquire in the old king's funeral procession, but he rose to become duke of Suffolk on the basis of friendship with Henry, and ended as his brother-in-law. Thomas Cranmer, for whom the king caused many difficulties, held his hand as he lay dying, and seems to have mourned him sincerely. More remarkably, his discarded wives could still speak of him with devotion. Katherine of Aragon wrote in her last letter to him, 'Lastly, I make this vow, that mine eyes desire you above all things.' Anne Boleyn, on the scaffold, said to the crowd, 'I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never, and to me he was ever a good, a gentle, and sovereign lord.' Anne of Cleves, often to be held to be the lucky one who escaped his clutches without harm, remained his friend for the rest of his life. These levels of attachment should warn us not to make easy assumptions.

Tudor England: A History, Lucy Wooding

#lucy wooding #ok so... a lot to unpack here and please no one reblog this to add stuff before reading my tags lol #bcus i don't entirely agree here but i do think she makes some salient points; and im going to get into it #1) so the example of catherine and AB...setting aside the debated veracity of catherine's letter #(and you can set it aside #she could make this argument different primary sources and it would still stand #like when catherine was informed henry married anne she literally refused to believe it. she said in his great wisdom he would #never do such a thing. so there is a degree of hero-worship even years into her exile and repudiation)#you can't really ignore the circumstances #which is that they have survivors they're leaving behind and they knew that and it would ultimately ; inevitably factor into what they #chose to be their last words....#that being said i don't think you can dismiss them as mere sycophancy / appeal to his better nature either #because last words were considered and are still considered; sacrosanct #it's not a time to lie or even equivocate the truth #i always think of starkey's line for anne's: knowing anne one might suspect satire but the moment was too serious for that'#and i would agree with that #i think it was all bound together: 1) an appeal for elizabeth's welfare and 2) a truth in part #or a truth that had been rather* . she does . maybe more significantly than has been recognized. use the past tense here #he must have been that to her for some period of time #when he stopped being so has been debated by historians ever since #he never was; or right after their marriage #or immediately after elizabeth was born. or immediately after her first miscarriage. or second . etc #anyway so tl; dr while i don't think it's quite as simple as what she's outline here and there are facets to all of the above #i do agree with the general thrust of what she's saying here #which is that...you know. henry was admired and loved by some very admirable people #so there must have been things to love about him #much as that is hard to reconcile with what we know about him and what he did.#that has to be acknowledged and given weight if our understanding of this era and court is ever #to be worth half a salt.

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