I've been considering Henry the VIII a lot lately. Specifically comparing him to his 3rd great nephew Charles the II. I have contemplated who was worse to be married to. Obviously Henry wins due to executing two of his wives. Still I found my conclusion to be remarkable. Why? Because Henry tried to be a "good man." He wanted to be viewed as a moral and godly example for the English nation and he attempted to maintain that image for the entirety of his life. He failed there of course. MAJORLY. Yet why is that the case?
Henry was the second son of Henry the VII. Meaning, he was not raised as the heir to the throne. He was raised to be the religious one. At that time, in England that meant to be a devout Catholic. On one hand, he took this very seriously and devoted much time to religious study. On the other hand, he liked hefty amounts of feasting, sex and sports. Despite these excessive pursuits as a young man he was still viewed as a "Defender of the faith.' Indeed Pope Leo X had declared him thus due to his book proclaiming papal supremacy. Henry hated Martin Luther and all protestants for his whole life. Yes, even after his notorious break with Rome he considered himself Catholic to his dying day. As King, he HAD the power to divorce his first wife. He broke with Rome because divorcing his wife was a SIN, but an annulment granted by the Pope was not considered sinful. A fair share of monarchs had put aside their spouses this way for decades. Yes, divorce was taboo, but ending marriages was not. The Pope likely would have granted the annulment if the King of Spain hadn't threatened his life. The King of Spain who just so happened to be the brother of Henry's unwanted wife. Oh the drama! It was important to Henry to be moral. It was important to Henry to have a legitimate son to be his heir. A girl would not be sufficient. The patriarchal imperative must be upheld in an the ideal church blessed son. He denied all of his sickly illegitimate sons. Yet would later adore is sickly legitimate one. Anne Boleyn had to die. She had failed to give him a son, and worst of all their cursed marriage had jeopardized his soul. In his mind, framing her for adultery was justified. She was a witch. A witch he loved enough to give her a merciful beheading. His next beheaded wife wasn't so lucky. She had actually committed adultery and he wanted to forgive her, but he had already set the precedent that adultery was treason and treason meant death. Henry was a romantic and believed in love at first sight. So when his soon to be fourth wife didn't recognize him in disguise he felt it couldn't be true love. That and he thought she was ugly. Such a charming fellow. His sixth and final wife's main fault was that she was a protestant who believed in reading her bible. Henry was very upset by the growth of protestant practice within his personal branch of Catholicism, and almost had her beheaded, but then he remembered women shouldn't be taken seriously, and instead threatened the men who tattled on her. Probably one of the nicest things he ever did. Another nice thing he did was legitimize his two daughters. Some guess he did it out of guilt for beheading and or isolating to death their Mothers. He had a conscience. He considered himself to be a devout man.
Then there is Charles the II. The King who loved to party, and did not hide it. The King who was raised in Catholic France, but gave that up to be a protestant King, because why? Money, fame, and partying! He was not faithful to his wife, and not subtle about it. He was not interested in love or the opinion of the church. He is quoted to say he was interested in women only for their bodies and not their minds. He said this when one of his mistresses went insane, likely from venereal disease that he probably gave her. While he never tried to legitimize his many illegitimate kids. He also never denied them and gave them titles and wealth. He had no interest in divorcing his childless wife. He didn't care about not having his own heir. From what I can tell, he had no interest in Religion at all, until his painful deathbed where he is said to have converted to, did you guess? Catholicism. A life of selfish indulgence and yet he was a better man than the religious Henry the VIII.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/tudor-england/henrys-divorce-from-catherine/
http://royalcentral.co.uk/historic/why-did-henry-viii-seek-an-annulment-of-his-marriage-to-catherine-of-aragon-2-28373
http://englishhistory.net/tudor/anne-of-cleves-and-henry-viii-marriage/
http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/katharine-parr/
http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/catherine-howard/
http://www.anglicancatholic.org.uk/about-the-anglican-catholic-church/
http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/stuart_33.html
http://www.historytoday.com/tim-harris/charles-ii-reality-behind-merry-monarchy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS8TIrt1s2M
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/rear-window-the-merry-protestant-who-died-a-catholic-a-royal-conversion-1407235.html
