History Documentary hosted by Dan Jones and Suzannah Lipscomb, published by Channel 5 in 2016 - English narration
Information
------------------------------
When a 17-year-old Henry VIII took the throne back in 1509, he would've expected to end up in the history books. That's what happens when you're the King of England. What he definitely couldn't have foreseen is that he'd become one of his country's most famous sovereigns, but largely due to his positively scandalous love life. The Tudor monarch started his own church, changed the constitution and became the first English king of Ireland - and yet it's his six wives (and some of their demises) that everyone remembers.
King Henry VIII's reign was defined by his marriages. Coercion, manipulation and ultimately murder were all employed. Wives were selected and discarded for political and religious reasons and in a desperate attempt to sire an heir. Famously he married six times over his 36 year reign. The six queens were formidable individuals. Some were ambitious, some brave, some ruthless - and between them they shaped the man who began as a Renaissance prince, became a monster and ended a regretful old man. In turn they shaped England itself.
Henry VIII's hunt for the perfect queen is one of the most shocking sagas in history. Across four decades he was driven by passion, obsession and vengeance - and wed six very different women. From the bold Katherine of Aragon to the ambitious Anne Boleyn, the saintly Jane Seymour to the shocking Anne of Cleves, and the seductive Catherine Howard to the dangerous Katherine Parr. This is the story of these six exceptional women, and how, together, they created a king - and changed history forever.
Join historians Dan Jones and Suzannah Lipscomb as they explore what these turbulent relationships tell us about England's legendary king. This 4-Part series is an original and enlightening look at the real people at the centre of the action during one of the most turbulent, passionate and violent periods in English history.
Series written and directed by Chris Holt ; An Oxford Film and Television and GroupM Entertainment Production For Channel 5
4) Part 4
Aged only 16 to 17 when they tied the knot, Catherine Howard's marriage to Henry shared two things in common with Anne Boleyn's: their beginning and end. Both started in far from ideal circumstances and both came to a head-less conclusion. In an inauspicious start, the two were wed on the same day Cromwell was executed - partly for his role in arranging Henry's previous marital affairs. Still only a teenager, Catherine would meet the same fate less than two years later after being accused of committing adultery.
Henry's third Catherine was his final one - and his last wife as well. Besides holding that honour, she held another that seems quite fitting and also rather modern - with three other husbands to her name, she's the most-married English queen. Two came prior to Henry and one after his passing. Thanks to her book Prayers or Meditations, Catherine also became not only the first English queen to publish under her own name, but the first woman. She outlived Henry by only a year, but played a part in ensuring his daughters were officially restored to his line of succession. Without her, both Mary and Elizabeth I's reigns wouldn't have happened.
Naive teenage bride Catherine Howard had a sexual history that incited the king to take brutal action. Mature Catherine Parr became a mother figure for Henry's children and the king's nurse during his twilight years. Dan Jones and Suzannah Lipscomb present this illuminating history documentary revealing Henry's final two wives. Both had startlingly different characters and fates.
