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5 Women Who Deserve More Recognition
Here are 5 women in history who deserve more recognition. I have also included links to content about them so you can learn more :)
1. Maria Theresa, only female ruler ever of the Habsburg dominions
- Wikipedia
- "History Tea Time" Video
2. Josephine Holloway, the first African-American girl scout troop leader.
- Wikipedia
- Girl Scouts
3. Mary Tape, Chinese-American activist and desegregationist.
- Wikipedia
- "A Woman to Know"
4. Margaret Cavendish, philosopher, poet, and author, as well as Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyrne.
- Wikipedia
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
5. Sarah Winnemucca, Paiute activist and author.
- Wikipedia
- Smithsonian
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The Spectacular Writing of Jane Austen
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Readers have been entranced by the writing of Jane Austen for years and years. Though they were not very well known in her lifetime, her novels became more and more popular through the Victorian era and the 1900s, through republishing and school lists. By the mid 1900s, Jane Austen was revered as a great English novelist, and her popularity continued to rise. Fans of her work formed societies, where they would read, comment on, and celebrate the work of the author. Now, with several Hollywood adaptations of her novels, she is considered by many one of the greatest English authors of all time.
But why are we so fascinated by the writing of Jane Austen? In this article, I will answer that question.
She writes what she knows, and none of us know what she does. What I, and many others, find so interesting about Jane’s writing is that even though it is set hundreds of years ago in a world that no one now will ever live in or fully understand, it is not historical fiction. Jane was writing about things she had seen and lived in her own life, spending a lot of her life in gentry circles. She was alive during the time when marriage was a woman’s only choice, and she was writing what she knew. It’s just like if an author living in the year 2021 wrote about what it was like living through the COVID-19 pandemic — they would be writing what they know and have lived, and what people 200 years from now probably won’t live themselves. We get to learn what life was like in the regency era without having to crack open a history textbook — it’s so much more interesting and we are still learning.
Though they are all set hundreds of years ago, we still recognize the characters in our own lives. I think all of us probably know someone in real life, either a celebrity or personal friend, who reminds us of one of Austen’s characters. Maybe you only realized that someone was a worthy suitor after rejecting them, like Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice. Or maybe someone you knew in school thought they were better than everyone, like Emma Woodhouse in Emma.
Austen’s characters are realistic and balanced. Though none of them are actually bad people, they all definitely have flaws, many of which we can relate to. For example, Elizabeth Bennett is a fun, witty, and captivating woman but just doesn’t let herself see that Mr. Darcy is actually not so bad because of her prejudices against him. Even if Austen did not intend it, this sends a powerful message that nobody is perfect, and that everyone has flaws. Many authors tend to make their protagonists perfect, but that’s just not how humans work.
Though all of her novels include some sort of romance, they are much more realistic than other popular romances from any time period. Though they are still swoon-worthy at times, a lot of the conversations and interactions between the couples in her novels are really quite awkward! This is much more realistic than most of romance novels, especially the popular ones of Austen’s time.
They share their messages in a clear, but not tell-all way. Austen’s novels tend to let the reader discover the message, without blatantly giving it away. For example, in Pride and Prejudice, it is never literally said that you should not judge a book by its cover — but we get that message just through how the plot plays out. Austen tricks us into thinking that the heroine, the protagonist, knows everything by showing us her perspective, and then when the heroine discovers she doesn’t know it all, it shocks both the reader and the main character. It is fun to feel that you are on this journey with the character, not just watching from the sidelines. It is a good way to learn lessons.
They offer a fresh point of view. Most history books about before the 1950s are about men and based on resources by and from men, but not the works of Jane Austen! They show us the lives of women from the past, not men. It is interesting to see the fresh perspective, especially from someone who was a woman from the past!
They are full of gossip! Many say that reading Austen feels like exchanging gossipy letters with a delightfully wicked friend. Most of us find it fun to gossip, but also think it’s not kind to gossip about real life people, so reading gossip about fake characters from the past is a guilt-free way to indulge in hearsay.
Jane Austen is quite inspiring, as one of the earliest female authors who is still popular today. Though her writing is over 200 years old, we still relate to it, while also being fascinated by the day-to-day lives of regency-era people, especially women.
Resources -
“The wicked wit of Jane Austen - Iseult Gillespie.” TED-Ed. YouTube. URL.
“Jane Austen.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. URL.
“Reception history of Jane Austen.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. URL.
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“Queen Katherine Howard took her role as queen seriously. She exercised patronage, interceded on behalf of felons, fulfilled her religious obligations and was kind. She would have been as good a queen as any of Henry’s wives.”
— Josephine Wilkinson, Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII’s Fifth Queen (via jewelofwomanhood)
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Why Catherine Parr Did Not Have a Happy Ending
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Trigger Warning for Mentions of Sexual Ab*se and Childhood Sexual Ab*se
Out of Henry’s wives, Catherine Parr’s most common assigned role is the nurse -- she cared for Henry through his old age and to his death. Then, once she had done her duty and stood by him until his final days, she reached her happy ending -- she finally married the man she was destined to be with. The first part of this may be true, but I am here to argue that the second part isn’t.
Even in some modern representations of the six wives of Henry VIII, Thomas Seymour (Catherine’s husband after Henry) is shown as a good man who was Catherine’s “true love”. However, he was actually a horrible person. Of course, we cannot know for certain the exact feelings people held over 400 years ago. But we can assume based on what life was like for women back then, as well as the actions of Thomas, that this marriage was not true love.
For a bit of context, Catherine Parr was married twice before she married Henry VIII. She is actually the most-married English queen, as she was widowed after her first three marriages and then married again. We do not know much about her first husband, Sir Edward Burgh, or if they held love for each other. Edward was of ill health and died only four years into their marriage. Her second husband, John Neville, Baron Latimer, was twice-widowed and twice Catherine’s age. Despite this, they seemingly held affection for each other, and she, likely sincerely, mourned him after his death. Then, she began courting Thomas Seymour and was planning to marry him. However, she had also caught the King’s eye, and so Henry also proposed to her. Catherine knew that if she refused him, it would be “off with her head!”, so she accepted. She was married to Henry until his death in 1547, and then she married Thomas Seymour finally a few months later. However, this man was not her happy ending.
Here is why:
Nobles, especially noblewomen, didn’t usually marry for love back then. Women were just expected to marry, and it didn’t really matter if they loved their husband. It mostly mattered that he was a noble man. Women had more security if they were married, as they would not be expelled from society for being an “old maid”.
Thomas especially was not a good guy, even according to 16th century standards. Did you know that Thomas was later executed for a plot to steal King Edward and Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth’s power? And he also sexually abused Elizabeth during his marriage to Catherine, which would be awful no matter what, but was also considered bad then since Elizabeth was a princess. He was constantly trying to get more power no matter what it took. After Catherine’s death, he was caught trying to break into King Edward’s quarters, probably to capture him.
Catherine was quite an independent woman. She was a raging Protestant (which was considered heresy back then) and a female author (she was the first woman to publish a book in her own name in England). She was very opinionated and very educated. Some even say that Catherine was a proto-feminist: “The queen's assertiveness in The Lamentation (one of her books) has been interpreted as demonstrating her denial of the contemporary notion of the inferiority of the female sex.” - Conor Byrne, historian
Happy marriages and marriages for love were rare then. The modern idea of medieval marriage is sometimes inaccurate because of Henry’s habits in choosing his wives. However, marrying for love was pretty uncommon then, especially for noble people. I mean, if Catherine fell deeply in love with a poor farmer after Henry died, she wouldn’t have married him because she was a Dowager Queen of England, and therefore much higher in rank! That would be a scandal.
Thomas clearly didn’t truly love Catherine. In the short amount of time between Henry’s death and Catherine and Thomas’s marriage, Thomas actually proposed to Elizabeth, who was 13 at the time (25 years younger than Thomas!). And then, during their marriage, Thomas sexually abused Elizabeth behind Catherine’s back, and was eventually caught by her. This must have been heartbreaking, considering that she was very close with Elizabeth, and it’s usually upsetting for most people to find that their partner is cheating on them.
Remember, just because most of them were married, not all women from the olden times wanted to be married or loved their husbands, or even bought into the whole marriage thing at all. In my opinion, most of them probably didn’t! And women like Catherine especially not. And even if she did love Thomas, it is clear he had close to no respect or love for her, which is not a happy ending.
Resources:
“Catherine Parr.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. URL.
“Thomas Seymour.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. URL.
“Catherine Parr or Anne of Cleves - The Real Survivor of Henry VIII.” Historic UK. Historic UK Ltd. URL.
“Unseemly Facts about Catherine Parr, Last Wife of Henry VIII.” Factinate. URL.
“Did Thomas Seymour Sexually Abuse the Teenage Princess Elizabeth?” History Extra. Immediate Media Ltd. URL.
“Scandal at Chelsea: the courtship and marriage of Katherine Parr and Sir Thomas Seymour.” The History Jar. Powered by Wordpress. URL.
“Was Katherine Parr a feminist? By Conor Byrne” Tudor Society. URL.
“Young Elizabeth and the Seymour scandal.” Royal Museums Greenwich. Royal Museums Greenwich. URL.
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I’m back!
Hello, all! Apologies for being so inactive lately. I was busy finishing up the school year and then was busy with summer stuff, but I’m back on my blog stuff! I’ll be posting every Monday again, but I’m also trying to avoid burnout so if there’s a week I’m not inspired to write a post I’ll skip it :)
I’ll be finishing up the six wives series tomorrow and then just doing articles on any sort of women’s history topics for a while. See you all tomorrow!
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“My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.”
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Why Catherine Howard Was Not Just a "Stupid Teenager"
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TRIGGER WARNING: Discusses and mentions sexual abuse & harassment, r*pe, and childhood abuse
Catherine Howard, out of Henry VIII’s wives, is generally considered a stupid “bad girl”. In the last few years, this idea has come into question, partially due to the modern Me Too movement of women calling out men for sexual harassment and abuse.
Catherine usually gets this reputation from her series of sexual and/or romantic affairs, both premarital and not. This was the reason she was eventually beheaded on February 13, 1542.
There were three noted affairs that Catherine likely had. The first two were before she married Henry, while she was staying at her step-grandmother’s boarding house due to her being an orphan.
The first affair was when Catherine was about 13, with her music teacher Henry Mannox, who was at least in his twenties and probably in his thirties. We do not know if the two actually slept together, but there was definitely some sort of romance between them. It is unclear if this relationship was consensual or not, but we can guess that it probably was not, considering the fact that Catherine was so young and Henry was so old. This relationship occurred because the Dowager Duchess, Catherine’s step-grandmother, hardly supervised the many young girls who were in her care at all, resulting in men coming into their private chambers at night.
The second affair was when Catherine was about 16, with Francis Dereham, the Dowager’s secretary. Allegedly, they called each other “husband” and “wife”, and Francis entrusted Catherine with several wifely duties, such as keeping track of his money when he was away. Catherine and Francis both admitted later on that they did sleep together. Their relationship ended about a year later, when the Dowager Duchess found out. Francis was sent away to Ireland, and he and Catherine may have had intentions to marry once he returned. If they did exchange vows before sleeping together, they would technically be considered wed. Catherine later maintained that Francis had raped her, however.
Catherine’s uncle found her a place in Henry’s wife, Anne of Cleves’s, household, as he knew that Henry was losing interest in his fourth wife, and Catherine was known for her beauty. Henry’s eyes soon fell on her and he divorced Anne of Cleves.
Catherine married King Henry VIII in July 1540. She was probably about 17, and Henry was 49. During her marriage, Catherine may have been romantically or sexually involved with one of Henry’s courtiers, Thomas Culpeper. She may have considered marrying him before Henry proposed to her. The two were allegedly having secret meetings in Spring 1541, supposedly arranged by Jane Boleyn, one of Catherine’s ladies in waiting, as well as the widow of Catherine’s cousin, George Boleyn (brother of Anne Boleyn). Soon, all of this came to Henry’s attention and Catherine was sent to the tower of London and beheaded.
Here are the reasons that Catherine Howard wasn’t just a “stupid teenager.”
Women had very little power back then. Women were blatantly taught that they were inferior to men, and men were taught that they were superior to women. Women also had no legal rights.
Catherine especially had very little power. Catherine was a teenage orphan who had never had a good parental figure, and was not very well educated. She was noble, but poor. Until she was queen, men probably didn’t have hardly any regard for her, and so they would not feel guilty if they hurt her.
She was a child. What would we think of a 13-year old orphan having a romantic and possibly even sexual relationship with her much older music teacher today? Sounds pretty suspect, right? Catherine was quite young in all of her relationships, and was significantly younger than at least 2 of the men she had relationships with (Henry Mannox and Henry VIII).
Catherine said that she was raped by Francis Dereham. During Catherine’s trials, she quickly claimed that there had been no marital contract between her and Dereham, maintaining that he had raped her. Why don’t we believe her? The fact that many don’t believe this claim of hers would not be considered fair if this had happened in the modern era.
Sexual abuse and rape are still very common today, and women had even less power then. Even now, rape and other forms of sexual abuse are still very common, due to the continual systemic patriarchy. And then, women had even less rights. Of course sexual abuse was quite common then, even if the history books don’t call it that. People had different ideas of right and wrong back then, especially when it came to conduct with women. We need to take what men back then said with a grain of salt when it comes to sexual harassment and abuse. They did not have a fair understanding of what was fair in these cases.
Everyone says you can’t look back at the past with today’s eyes. But I argue that in some cases you do. If it is on the issue of sexism, racism, homophobia, etc, we need to consider it with today’s standards because primary sources from times in the past are often very prejudiced.
Catherine was a young girl who had gone through a lot before she was even 15 years old. Her mother died when she was very young and her father abandoned her soon after, sending her to an unsupervised boarding house where she was harassed and probably assaulted. She never had a good parental figure, and she was pushed around by men her whole life. She didn’t even make it to 20 years old, being executed for something that wasn’t even her fault.
Sexual Abuse & Harassment Resources
Sending love to everyone. You are not alone.
National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673
Donate to Rainn, anti-sexual abuse nonprofit: https://donate.rainn.org/
The K Howard Project (anonymous forum + support group for survivors): https://thekhowardproject.weebly.com
Resources (Many of these include very triggering content!)
“Catherine Howard.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. URL.
“Katherine Howard: Vixen or victim?” The History Press. URL.
“Tudor women.” Geni. URL.
“The Six Wives of Henry VIII - Part 2.” History Tea Time with Lindsay Holiday. Youtube. URL.
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preach 👏
everyone say it with me: we have enough documentaries and dramatizations of anne’s fall, what we need is more in-depth intricate depictions of her life. this woman’s life is always reduced to one of three things: 1) she was a scheming evil femme fatale boo whore, 2) tHe fALL oF AnNe BoLeyN, 3) “YEAH BUT SHE GAVE HIM ELIZABETH, IN YOUR FACE HENRY”. she was an intelligent, opinionated, charming, real woman who lived an interesting real life and the absolute dramatization of her traumatic death needs to stop. we’ve all seen it.
do not reduce her to her sex life, her death, or tie the whole story up in a neat little bow bc oh but her daughter was queen so i guess it all worked out.
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Why Henry VIII Was Lying About Anne of Cleves
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To preface this article, I would like to say that the words “pretty” and “ugly” are social constructs. There is no linear definition of beauty, and true beauty is not on the outside, but on the inside. The purpose of this article is to defend Anne of Cleves against Henry VIII and the people who believe his ridiculous claims that she was “ugly”.
Anne of Cleves is known as Henry VIII’s, supposedly, “ugliest” wife. Henry complained that she had deceived him with her portrait that he commissioned from Hans Holbein. He was able to get a divorce from her, claiming that she was already married to a man she had been engaged to when she was a child, but the engagement had been broken off. Anne remained in England as Henry’s honorary sister, and received a monthly pension from the king. Henry also gave her several castles. She is known to have been very generous and caring, especially to her servants.
Below I detail the reasons why Henry was probably lying when he claimed that Anne was “ugly”.
Henry’s second and third wives were also not reknowned for their beauty, but rather their personalities. Anne Boleyn was intelligent and quick-witted, and Jane Seymour was kind and caring. Anne of Cleves was both intelligent and kind, so even if Henry wasn’t physically attracted to her as he claimed, he probably did like her, or at least could have grown to like her, because of her personality.
Henry was humiliated. When he first met her, he broke into her room dressed as a peasant. This was a common love game in England at the time and he did this to make her happy. However, she was shocked and horrified at the site of the old, ill man and did not realize that it was Henry. She did not understand this love game because she was German, and it was not a thing in Germany. Henry was humiliated by this and it was not a good beginning to their relationship. He likely held this against Anne which ultimately led to their divorce.
They became friends after their divorce. This further proves my first point that Henry could have grown to like her. If she really was “smelly” like Henry claimed, he probably wouldn’t want her back in his court. And they were genuine friends after their marriage.
Her supposed “ugliness” was probably exacerbated by the trend of people criticizing her appearance and personal hygiene. It became fashionable to bash Anne after her marriage, and even after her death. In fact, the term “Flander’s Mare” used to describe Anne only started in the 17th century. This probably exaggerated and changed the public’s (and history book’s) perception of Anne’s beauty.
Ultimately, Anne’s appearance doesn’t matter. What does matter is that she was a lovely and kind woman who supported her stepchildren and cared for her servants. But the claims of misogynists from the past and present devalue her based on probably false claims that she was “gross” or “ugly”.
Recognize this woman, and all women, not for their appearance, but for their personality and their accomplishments.
Resources:
"Anne of Cleves." Hampton Court Palace. Historical Royal Palaces. URL.
Should I do a biography on Anne of Cleves? Let me know!
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Anne Boleyn's Execution
On this day in 1536, Anne Boleyn was beheaded at the Tower of London. In honor of this horrifying event, I will be posting her poem, O Death, Rock Me Asleep, which she wrote shortly before her death.
Warning: The poem is pretty sad and is about death so if you don't want to read that, just scroll past this post :)
O Death Rock Me Asleep
Written by Anne Boleyn shortly before her execution in 1536
O death! rock me asleep,
Bring me the quiet rest;
Let pass my weary guiltless ghost
Out of my careful breast:
Toll on the passing bell,
Ring out the doleful knell,
Let thy sound my death tell,
Death doth draw nigh;
There is no remedy.
My pains who can express?
Alas! they are so strong,
My dolour will not suffer strength
My life for to prolong:
Toll on, thou passing bell,
Ring out my doleful knell,
Let thy sound my death tell,
Death doth draw nigh;
There is no remedy.
Alone in prison strong,
I wait my destiny,
Woe worth this cruel hap that I
Should taste this misery?
Toll on, thou passing bell,
Let thy sound my death tell,
Death doth draw nigh,
There is no remedy.
Farewell my pleasures past,
Welcome my present pain!
I feel my torments so increase
That life cannot remain.
Cease now, thou passing bell;
Rung is my doleful knell,
For the sound my death doth tell,
Death doth draw nigh,
There is no remedy.
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Why Jane Seymour and Henry VIII's Marriage Was Not True Love
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Jane Seymour has a reputation of being the only wife that Henry truly loved. However, there are many reasons that this probably isn't true. In fact, if you look deep enough, you'll see that Jane's journey to the throne was not too different from Anne Boleyn's.
1. Similar to the Boleyns, the Seymours were also trying to get power through their daughters. Jane was the child of two very powerful courtiers. Her main purpose in life, as a noblewoman of her time, was to snag a rich husband. Just like Anne Boleyn, Henry's love for Jane was almost definitely orchestrated by her brother and father, not by organic or "true" love.
2. Jane was a Catholic and admired Katherine of Aragon. Due to this, it is very likely that she held resentment for Henry's treatment of Katherine, as well as his decision to split from the Roman Catholic Church. Doesn't sound like a good backdrop for love, does it?
3. Jane wasn't being herself in the relationship. When Henry started to get frustrated with Anne, the Seymours saw an opportunity to get more power for their family. So they shoved Jane in Henry's view, giving her directions of how to catch his eye. Since he was annoyed with Anne, who was anything but meek, Jane was told to play the doe-eyed, sweet and shy role. This is a similar technique that the Boleyns used with Anne Boleyn, actually (Katherine was devout and conservative and Anne was supposed to be free-flowing and progressive).
4. The one time that Jane stood up to Henry, he threatened her. During their marriage, Jane asked Henry to pardon those who participated in the Pilgrimage of Grace, a protest against Henry's decision to split with the Roman Catholic Church, as well as his decision to dissolve many monasteries in England for monetary gain. He refused to do so, reminding Jane of what happened to her predecessor, Anne, when she tried to meddle in his affairs -- insinuating that he would execute her if she got too involved in his political decisions. This further shows that they did not have true love for each other. On Henry's end, why would you threaten to kill someone you love? On Jane's end, it would be terrifying to be threatened by your husband, and it definitely wouldn't make you love him.
5. Henry was likely getting frustrated with Jane before she gave him a son. Before giving birth to Edward, Jane actually miscarried a baby in the first year of their marriage, and we all know that once his wife starts miscarrying babies, Henry gets annoyed. He was also probably annoyed with her for the slight "meddling" prior mentioned, and if he was getting annoyed enough to even insinuate an execution, he was probably pretty upset. If he only started loving her more than his other wives after she gave him a son and then died, that's pretty messed up. That does not sound like true love or even love at all. Love that conditional, love where you only earn it if you successfully give that person that one extremely specific thing that they value way too much, is not love.
The king's "favorite wife" does not, at all, mean true love. Jane may have been Henry's favorite wife but that is for two reasons: She wasn't, or at least pretended not to be, strong-willed, unlike her two predecessors and she gave Henry a son. This, however, does not mean that they held true love for each other. Because of the reasons above, it is unlikely that Jane was being herself at all in this relationship so there is no way that their marriage was a product of true love.
It is truly a shame that we have no idea who this woman was just because of the way that life was like for women back then. It didn't matter how you felt, what you thought or who your true self was, you were expected to do anything and everything to get a rich and powerful husband. So, let's stop labeling Jane as "boring" or "quiet", because we have no right to assume what she was like based on the accounts of the sexist men in her life.
Resources:
1. "Why Jane Seymour was actually one wily b*tch." F Yeah History. 6 August, 2018. URL.
2. "Jane Seymour (queen)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. URL.
3. "The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Meet the Wives. Jane Seymour." Thirteen. Educational Broadcasting Corporation. URL.
4. "Pilgrimage of Grace." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. URL.
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Why Anne Boleyn Was Innocent
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(This is a reworked article from when I first started my blog) Many historians agree that Anne Boleyn was not guilty of the crimes she was accused of, and even executed for. These crimes included adultery, incest, and plotting to kill the king. In this article, I detail the main reasons that historians, and I, believe she was innocent.
In her final confession, she plead innocent. According to History Extra, “Crucially, the night before [Anne Boleyn’s] execution, she swore “on peril of her soul’s damnation”, before and after receiving the Eucharist, that she was innocent – a serious act in that religious age.” This means it is highly unlikely she was lying when she claimed over and over again that she was innocent.
There is ZERO, and I mean ZERO, solid evidence to claim that she was guilty.
Others also argued her innocence. Even Anne’s arch-enemy, Eustace Chapuys concluded that everyone except for Mark Smeaton were “condemned upon presumption and certain indications, without valid proof or confession”.
Henry was engaged to his next wife, Jane Seymour, just the next day. Anne, just like her predecessor, had failed to give Henry a son, and Henry was desperate to have a male heir. It is unlikely that he just decided to do that on a whim the day after his last wife was killed.
Even though she is generally remembered as a so-called "risquĂŠ" woman, she was still noble. It was much less common for women to have premarital sex back then, especially for noblewomen, which makes it unlikely that the accusation of her having sexual relations before her marriage to Henry was true. Also, I think that 16th century standards of "risqueness' might be a bit misogynistic, and maybe, just maybe, a bit outdated.
The cards were unfairly stacked against her in the courtroom. Henry was the supreme head of the Church of England, and had been for only three years, so the rules that surrounded that were loose. Basically, he had ultimate power. If he wanted her to die, she would die. None of the men who were in the courtroom would have defied him, for they may have suffered the same fate that Anne later did. There were also many other men in court who disliked her. There was no one to defend her.
She was a bold and intelligent woman, which was considered unappealing at the time. Despite Henry’s clear “type” of bold women (Aragon, Boleyn, and Parr), he eventually grew tired of them all. We know that Anne was a very bold woman, and that was considered irritating for a woman to be at the time. No wonder Henry began to dislike her.
The final point I want to make is that we know that Henry was an awful person. Why do we focus so much on whether or not his second wife was a good person or not when there is no evidence that she was instead of talking about all of the horrible things her husband did. He had mistresses. He took sexual advantage of women. He was a corrupt king. He signed the death warrant sealing the fate of not just one but two of his wives, and also signed the death warrants of thousands of other people. In the end, Henry was the one who had someone killed. That is the ultimate crime.  Consider what Anne would be like in the modern day. She would be just your usual bold, outspoken woman who isn’t a virgin. That’s totally normal! It is important to consider people from history who were in oppressed groups from the modern perspective, for it is much more free of prejudice. Resources: 1. "Anne Boleyn: Why Did She Have To Die?" History Extra. URL.  2. "No innocent victim, apparently." The Anne Boleyn Files. URL.
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Why Katherine of Aragon Wasn't Lying
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The argument around what happened on Katherine of Aragon and Prince Arthur’s wedding night ended up shaping the religious future of the United Kingdom. However, Henry VIII’s decision to separate England from the Roman Catholic Church was in vain, for Katherine was not lying when she said that she had not slept with Prince Arthur. First, let’s just get it out there that this whole idea of virginity is a misogynist social construct. We should not put so much time into caring about women’s sex lives -- it’s objectifying and feeds into the patriarchy. We need to stop shaming women for when, how, or how often they have sex. We don’t do that to men!* Ok, onto the reasons.
Katherine was a very religious woman, and would not lie in front of the pope. Both when they were asking for a papal dispensation so they could get married and during the court battles when Henry claimed that their marriage was unlawful, she spoke in front of the pope, and considering her devout Catholicism she would not have lied in those situations.
Katherine continued holding her stance even after their divorce.Even after Henry and Katherine’s marriage was dissolved and he remarried to Anne Boleyn, Katherine continued calling herself the true wife of Henry, until the end of her life. Even after there was no chance they would be remarried, she continued arguing that she was a maid when she married Henry.
Henry’s side of the argument was very suspect, for three separate reasons. The first is that by the time that he started trying to divorce Katherine, he had already sent a love letter to Anne Boleyn, in which one line he expressed his wishes to be physically intimate with her -- though he was probably already infatuated with her 2 years prior to that. Henry was already onto the next. The second reason he was suspect was that Katherine had gone through menopause, and so could not have any more children. The Tudor dynasty was still fledgling, and he felt that it was necessary to have a male son, which Katherine could not give him. It makes sense that he would want a new wife who could give him a son, and claiming that their marriage was invalid was the most productive way of doing that. The third reason is that it could not have been plaguing his conscience as much as he expressed it was, for he was also applying for a dispensation ( the same type that he got with Katherine) to marry Anne, because he had slept with her sister, Mary, making her certainly as forbidden to Henry as he was accusing Katherine of being.
It is likely that Arthur was sickly. Though there is no concrete evidence behind this, many of Katherine’s Spanish servants reported that Arthur was not well at the time of his wedding to Katherine. It’s also likely that Arthur was born prematurely, which could cause health issues. Also, Katherine recovered from the sweating sickness that Arthur died of, which could be evidence that he was more sickly than her.
Arguments against Katherine being truthful include:
The morning after his wedding night, Arthur was heard bragging that “marriage was thirsty work.” My argument against this is that teenage boys often lie about sex. Both in the medieval era and now, boys having sex is considered a representation of their virility or masculinity, so of course they would lie about it.
Both being royals, Arthur and Katherine probably felt pressured to consummate their marriage. Arthur was in line to be only the second Tudor king, and he needed to continue the dynasty, and Katherine was a Catholic princess who was probably very aware that a marriage was only considered valid if the couple had sex. My argument against this is the fourth reason that I think she wasn’t lying. Arthur was very likely sickly, making “the act” difficult.
In the end, there’s no way that we can know what happened that night. The only two people that know for sure what happened have been dead for almost 500 years. The question we should be asking is why do we care? Shaming this woman for her sex life shouldn’t have been so influential to British history, and honestly shouldn’t have mattered at all.* *Yes I recognize that this comes across as hypocritical because this article is also discussing this event. But the goal of this article isn’t to shame Katherine, it is to defend her. I’m sorry if it came across as shaming -- please let me know if it did :) Resources for your Research:
“6 arguments that Katherine and Arthur didn’t “do it.” - for more deets on my argument
“Did Katherine of Aragon really come to her second marriage a virgin?” - for more deets on the other side of the argument
“Love Letter 1.” - to read the letter from Henry to Anne in 1527
“Queen Catherine of Aragon - Lindsay Holiday.” - for more info on Katherine
Citations:
Gareth. 22 July, 2020. “6 arguments that Katherine and Arthur didn’t “do it.” Royal History Geeks. Powered by Wordpress. URL.
Gareth. 25 February, 2016. “Did Katherine of Aragon really come to her second marriage a virgin.” Royal History Geeks. Powered by Wordpress. URL.
“Love Letter 1.” The Anne Boleyn Files. URL.
C N, Trueman. "Henry’s Divorce From Catherine." The History Learning Site, 16 Mar 2015. URL.
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The Six Wives Series
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For the next 6 weeks I will be doing a series on the six wives of Henry VIII! For the last year I've been doing tons of research on these six women so I am very excited to share their stories with you all! I will be posting every Monday. (The first two I did for my Weebly blog but I am reposting them here). May 3 - Why Katherine of Aragon Wasn’t Lying May 10 - Why Anne Boleyn Was Innocent May 17 - Why Jane Seymour & Henry VIII’s Marriage Wasn’t True Love May 24 - Why Henry VIII Was Lying About Anna of Cleves May 31 - Why Catherine Howard Wasn't "Just a Stupid Teenager" June 7 - Why Katherine Parr Never Had True Love June 14 - Historical & Modern Representations of the Six Wives
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Back on Tumblr!
Hello! I'm returning to Tumblr from Weebly! I'll be posting all of my Herstorshe content on this site now. Enjoy!
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Relocating the Blog!
Hello! Big news -- I’m relocating to a Weebly website! Please check me out at herstorshe.weebly.com :)
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Trend Defined: 19th Century Fashion: pt. 2
This period was a time of low morals (by 19th century standards), especially in England. George III was an ailing king, and had fallen ill many times, but after the death of his daughter Princess Amalia, he fell ill with a sickness from which he would not recover. This meant that his eldest son, Prince George, would be regent until the king either recovered or died. Prince George was the opposite of his devout father, being utterly extravagant and promiscuous. So, once the Prince became regent, the whole country started following his morals. He scandalously entered a false marriage with an actress, who had prior been his mistress. He also used England’s funds very loosely and became incredibly in debt. His father kindly cleared his debts, but on the agreement that the Prince would marry his cousin, Caroline of Brunswick. On first sight of each other, Caroline and Prince George despised each other, and their marriage was disastrous. The women’s fashion from this time represents this era of promiscuity -- the dresses and hairstyles revealed more of a woman’s actual body than most other periods prior to it, since before the body was covered with padding and huge skirts. Of course, nowadays showing your body isn’t so scandalous, but it certainly was then. Women’s fashion evoked the idea that women were supposed to be flirtatious and scandalous, which was very different from the normal idea that a woman should be demure and well-behaved. This was also obviously due to the low morals of the regent but also that fact that he literally married his mistress showed women and fathers that a promiscuous woman could attract the monarch so far that he would marry her. However, as goes with the fashion cycle, the big skirts and mid waistlines of the prior centuries made a return in the 1830s and ‘40s, around when Queen Victoria took the throne. These dresses were very similar in silhouette to those of the later 1700s, but some of them kept the low necklines and sleevelessness of the Regency fashions. Also, these dresses never became as insanely extravagant as those of the Rococo style. The Victorian era is also when we start seeing the corset as a must-have item in a woman’s closet, rather than the more common ‘stays’ of the Regency era. The corset drastically changed the trendy silhouette, with an hourglass shape being more popular than the straight silhouette of the Regency period. The main reason for this was that the general definition of womanhood was returning to its normal motherly and demure standpoint. In the Regency era, women were encouraged to be more flirtatious and romantic due to the low morals of the era. But Victoria had influence on the trends of the time, just as all monarchs did, and her motherly attitude molded the fashion to be more nostalgic of the past eras, while somewhat retaining its simplicity. When analyzing historical fashion and how it changed with the times it is important to remember that fashion was influenced by the same thing that it is influenced by today: celebrities. Back then, celebrities were wealthy and noble people, and the monarch was the omnipotent trend-setter. We have a similar hierarchy of trendsetters nowadays, it is just much more complex now that trends change much faster and more styles and resources are acceptable or available, both thanks to the internet and new other new technologies. Fashion is always evolving in a regular pattern: new idea, popularization of new idea, and, eventually, return to the old. The only difference is the change in what “the old” is defined by.
(check the "citations" on my blog page to view my resources)
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