FuckyeahHenryVIII

On this day in history…

Sometimes the difficult part about running this blog, apart from the obvious factors that I cannot be as active as I would sometimes like yet I still thank my loyal followers for their patience. Anywhom, one of the most difficult part about the blog is that I often find many things in English history when I do my “Today in history”s yet the question is, does it relate to the Tudor period or Henry at all? I’ve come to the conclusion recently that I will widen my scope to include not only Henry VIII, but the Tudor house (his father, his brother, his children…etc) but his ancestry also. It will still of-course revolve around Henry but let’s shine some light on the periods leading to Tudor supremacy that not many know about, shall we?

On this day in 1422, King Henry V of England dies in France thus leaving his son Henry VI to the throne at the ripe age of…9 months. King Henry V, most popularly known for his battle of Agincourt and claiming of France to the English throne, was a huge influence in the early childhood of Henry VIII whose tales of glory and battle had a heavy impact on his mind. Henry VIII would go onto a French campaign in the beginning and end of his reign that looked oddly resembling Henry V’s glory.

Regardless, King Henry V’s death came with odd timing. He sailed back to France for his last military campaign with all but the French crown tucked under his arm, intending to sail back to England as not only the English King but French King. Things were looking great for the almost 36 year old. Still, he died suddenly, apparently from dysentery and his only son with his wife Catherine of Valois, was named King of England. Henry VI would go on to be named King of France 2 months later when his grandfather, Charles VI of France died.

Why does the Tudor house relate to this seemingly small event? Simple. After the death of her husband, Catherine of Valois went onto an amorous relationship with Owen ap Maredudd ap Tudor of Wales. She could not marry without permission of her son’s regency council who was weary of her and how she would raise her son, thus it would be treason for her to marry but clearly she was looking for a piece of normalcy in this match. Owen was a Welsh soldier and courtier, descended from a daughter of a Welsh Prince. During the French campaign, he was Seward to King Henry. Catherine of Valois and Owen Tudor were thought to have married though a parliament act not long after named the marriage invalid under the grounds of a new bill that stated that no dowager Queen could marry without the King’s permission. Since her son was so young, the regency council would need to give her permission which they would never do thus she took things into her own hands.

They went onto have 6 children. After Catherine’s death, Owen was involved with the War of the Roses though was an early casualty when he was captured at Mortimer’s Cross while leading Henry VI’s forces against the future King Edward IV. He was executed but not in vain for his son, Edmund Tudor would go onto marry a decedent of Edward III, Margaret Beaufort. From forth Margaret Beaufort and Edmund Tudor would come Henry Tudor. Sound familiar?

Today in history…

The Nun of Kent was executed.

ELIZABETH BARTON, “the maid of Kent,” was, according to her own statement, born in 1506 at Aldington, Kent. She appears to have been a neurotic girl, subject to epilepsy, and an illness in her nineteenth year resulted in hysteria and religious mania. She was at the time a servant in the house of Thomas Cobb, steward of an estate near Aldington owned by William Warham, archbishop of Canterbury. During her convalescence she passed into trances lasting for days at a time, and in this state her ravings were of such “marvellous holiness in rebuke of sin and vice” that the country folk believed her to be inspired. Cobb reported the matter to Richard Masters, the parish priest, who in turn acquainted Archbishop Warham.

The girl having recovered, and finding herself the object of local admiration, was cunning enough, as she confessed at her trial, to feign trances, during which she continued her prophecies. Her fame steadily growing, the archbishop in 1526 instructed the prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, to send two of his monks to hold an inquiry into the case. One of these latter, Edward Bocking, obtained her admission as a nun to St Sepulchre’s convent, Canterbury. Under Bocking’s instruction Barton’s prophecies became still more remarkable, and attracted many pilgrims, who believed her to be, as she asserted, in direct communication with the Virgin Mary. Her utterances were cunningly directed towards political matters, and a profound and widespread sensation was caused by her declaration that should Henry persist in his intention of divorcing Catherine he “should no longer be king of this realm… and should die a villain’s death.” Even such men as Fisher, bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More, corresponded with Barton.

On his return from France in 1532 Henry passed through Canterbury and is said to have allowed the nun to force herself into his presence, when she made an attempt to terrify him into abandoning his marriage. After its solemnization in May 1533, her utterances becoming still more treasonable, she was examined before Cranmer (who had in March succeeded to the archbishopric on Warham’s death) and confessed. On the 25th of September Bocking and another monk, Hadley, were arrested, and in November, Masters and others were implicated. The maid and her fellow prisoners were examined before the Star Chamber, and were by its order publicly exposed at St Paul’s Cross, where they each read a confession. In January 1534 by a bill of attainder the maid and her chief accomplices were condemned to death, and were executed at Tyburn on the 20th of April. It has been held that her confession was extracted by force, and therefore valueless, but the evidence of her imposture seems conclusive.