the king’s great matter (and wolsey’s failure to secure the end to the marriage of catherine of aragon)

the king’s ‘great matter’

a euphemism used to reference henry’s desire to annul his marriage to catherine of aragon

when did prince arthur marry catherine of aragon?

november 1501

when did prince arthur die?

april 1502

when did henry viii become king?

1509

when did henry viii marry catherine of aragon? what was needed?

• june 1509

• required special papal dispensation due to catherine previously having married henry’s brother

  • ensured marriage was legitimate in the eyes of all and itself and all subsequent heirs were unrequited

when did henry and catherine have their first child?

1510 - stillborn daughter

when did king henry and catherine have their first son? how long did he live?

• 1511

• called prince henry

• died after 52 days

after the birth of a still born daughter in 1510 and prince henry (who died) in 1511, what children did they have next and when?

• 1513 - catherine gave birth to another still born son

• had 6 children in total, living or dead (many miscarriages)

• 1516 - gave birth to princess mary who lived to adulthood

when was henry viii’s only acknowledged legitimate child born? what was his name?

• 1519

• son of henry’s mistress, elizabeth blount

• henry fitzroy

how did henry viii ensure his illegitimate son, henry fitzroy enjoyed a prosperous life AND provided him a son to compensate for a lack of legitimate male heir

• 1525 - made his illegitimate son, henry fitzroy, duke of richmond AND lord high admiral of england

how did henry refer to his only acknowledged illegitimate son, henry fitzroy?

‘my worldly jewel’

when did henry viii decide to woo anne boleyn?

1526

how did henry make the initial decision to annul his marriage to catherine of aragon?

• 1526-27 - henry decided on an annulment of his marriage → DID NOT tell catherine

• 1527 - henry TOLd catherine about the annulment, negotiations with rome began

what is the name of the pope’s representative who was sent to rome to discuss the annulment?

cardinal campeggio

what were the initial steps of attempting to secure the annulment?

• 1528 - cardinal campeggio (pope’s representative) sent to england to discuss the matter

• 1529 - case recalled to rome, decision delayed

• 1529 - wolsey FAILED to obtain annulment → accused of PRAEMUNIRE

what is praemunire?

offence of asserting or maintaining papal jurisdiction AGAINST the supremacy of the monarchy

what were the 3 main causes for henry’s desire for an annulment and why?

1. succession → wanted new wife who would produce legitimate male heirs

2. conscience → increasingly believed marriage to catherine was against god’s will

3. love → had fallen in love with anne boleyn, wanted her to be his wife

what were the 3 attempts wolsey made to achieve the annulment (all of which failed)?

1. persuade the pope based on arguments from the bible surrounding the validity of their marriage

2. use of foreign policy to free pope from control of charles v after the sack of rome

3. make a judgement on henry’s case himself in england from position of papal legate

how did wolsey attempt to achieve the annulment through arguments based on the bible?

• based on scripture, attempting to justify annulment in eyes of catholic church

• COMPLEX argument, perhaps convoluted?

• argued validity of marriage rested on catherine’s claim that she remained a virgin → henry had been misled and their marriage was not valid

• argued that pope julius ii shouldn’t have granted dispensation for marriage

why did wolsey’s scripture based line of argument to gain the annulment fail?

• much disagreement from other theologians, believed only forbade from marrying sister in law whilst your brother was STILL alive

• pope didn’t wish to contradict his predecessor

• pope wasn’t in a position to look favourably on the annulment, controlled by charles v → saw the issue as a disgrace on family name and didn’t want auntie to suffer the embarrassment

how did wolsey attempt to use foreign policy to free the pope from the control of charles v and thus gain the annulment?

• 1527 sack of rome → papal states controlled by charles’ forces and pope virtually his prisoner

• aimed to secure pope’s diplomatic independence → wolsey allied with french (1527 treaty of amiens) and jointly declared war

• 1527-28 trade embargo on antwerp → hoped to defeat HRE outright, or at least distract charles enough to distance him from the pope and bully into acceptance

how did wolsey’s foreign policy initiatives fail to gain papal support necessary to secure annulment?

• english traders protested about suspension of trade → had no choice but to lift embargo

• HRE victory at june 1529 battle of landriano

  • 1529 treaty of cambrian → charles v and francis signed peace treaty w/ france renounced claims on naples and milan

• pope REMAINED under charles’ control

how and did wolsey become papal legate?

• attempted to dodge problem charles v persisted to be to the annulment

• requested for hearing of the annulment to be held in england where he’s papal legate and would thus make the ruling judgement

• gained agreement of the pope → sent cardinal campeggio to hear the case

what instructions was cardinal campeggio given went sent to england to hear the annulment case?

• delay the case

• ensure a decision was never reached

when was the hearing of the case of the annulment in england?

june 1529

what happened during the june 1529 hearing of the annulment?

• catherine made ONE appearance only → made heartfelt plea to henry

  • had public opinion on her side

  • catherine appealed to the pope for hearing to be held in rome

  • pope agreed → saw opportunity to frustrate annulment

  • court NEVER met again

why did wolsey’s attempt to earn the annulment through him bypassing the pope and granting it as papal legate fail?

• pope remained under the control of charles v

  • deliberately delayed situation → orders to cardinal campeggio

• wolsey and henry underestimated catherine’s ability to manipulate the situation to her advantage