History Documentary hosted by David Starkey, published by Channel 4 in 2001 - English narration
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"Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived". Six lives summed up in a school rhyme. The women who married Henry VIII have become defined not the way they lived but the way their lives ended. They are seen as victims of a bloated tyrant, deserving pity, but not respect. However, have we under-estimated them and are historians right to have merely portrayed them as bit-part players in Henry's story?
In this series Dr DAVID STARKEY, the eminent historian and presenter, reveals them to be vibrant, powerful individuals who showed great dignity, when faced with exile from the King's favour, or even the executioner's axe in the Tower of London.
Queen, lover, mother, outcast, victim and survivor -- this is how historian and series narrator David Starkey assigns the roles of the six wives of Britain's most famous monarch Henry VIII in the sexual intrigue and cut-throat power politics of his long reign from 1509 to 1547. The series THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII takes a fresh approach and presents each wife's story from her perspective.
Perhaps no one in history had a more eventful career in matrimony than Henry VIII. His marriages were tumultuous and complicated, and made instant legends of six very different women. Henry took his first bride, Catherine of Aragon, when he was 17. Their 24-year marriage was a relatively stable prelude to what followed. Anne Boleyn, a pretty, French-educated Protestant who was the mother of Elizabeth I, was eventually beheaded. Jane Seymour served as a demure contrast to the vampish Boleyn, and gave birth to Henry's longed-for son (Edward VI). After a brief marriage to the plain Anne of Cleves, Henry married a flirtatious teenager, Catherine Howard, who would be the second of his brides to lose her head along with the king's favor. Finally, there was Catherine Parr, a shrewd Protestant bluestocking.
Through the women's own words and powerful dramatizations, we learn that the wives were not pitiful victims or pawns but rather knowing players in a high-stakes game and remarkable individuals who managed to show great dignity even when facing exile and death.
Using dramatic reconstruction and passionate narration, eminent historian and presenter Dr David Starkey focuses on the stories of the women themselves, revealing in intimate detail their experiences of sex, childbirth and the glamorous, dangerous life at court, including the deadly intrigues that dethroned them.
Series Producer: Mark Fielder ; United Productions for Channel Four Television
4) Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr
Henry is once again encouraged to marry, as sets his eyes on Katherine Howard, an aristocratic sixteen-year-old girl who was a lady-in-waiting of Anne of Cleves. Katherine, who is the niece of the Duke of Norfolk and a cousin of the late Anne Boleyn, is flirtatious and promiscuous, and her energy makes the aging king feel lively. The early months of their marriage are happy, but Henry becomes upset when, after six months, she is still not pregnant. Katherine becomes involved with a handsome, young man named Thomas Culpeper. Rumors of her affair are brought to the king, who does not want to believe them but, after being given proof, has no choice. She is found guilty of presumptive treason and beheaded. Henry later becomes infatuated with the widowed Catherine Parr. However, she is in love with Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, the late Jane Seymour's brother. Henry sends Thomas away to Brussels on a diplomatic mission, allowing him to propose to Catherine. Feeling a sense of duty to complete the king and country's conversion to Protestantism, Catherine agrees to marry Henry. Being an educated woman, Catherine publishes a book on her views of faith, which leads many to accuse her of heresy. However, she tells the king her opinions are only those of a woman and, therefore, mean nothing. Shortly after, King Henry dies, leaving her a widow once more. Now, however, she is free to marry Thomas Seymour. Sadly, she dies after giving birth to hers and Thomas's daughter. She is buried at Suderly castle.
