SIX Part 1: Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn

Original Off-West End Cast (2017)

SIX is a modern retelling of the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII, the King of England from 1509 until 1547. This musical is presented as a pop concert where the wives hold a competition and take turns to tell their stories about their life and marriage. The purpose of this contest was to determine who had suffered the most during their marriage to Henry and the winner would become the lead singer. Their accomplishments and lives may seem small to some in comparison to Henry’s, they each have rightfully earned their place in history as an individual which I will be demonstrating in this three-part series blog.

Catherine of Aragon was Henry’s first wife and the two were married for 24 years, the longest of his marriage. Catherine was the youngest daughter of the Spanish rulers Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, the royal couple who funded Christopher Columbus' voyage. Like her siblings, Catherine was raised as a catholic and given the best education before she was sent to England at 15 years old to marry Prince Arthur, Henry’s older brother, only for Arthur to die shortly afterwards (Britannica, T.). As the purpose of the marriage was to create an alliance between Spain and England, Catherine remained in England and became the female ambassador in European history and was deemed an excellent one at that (Shah, T.). Once Henry ascended to the throne in 1509, he chose Catherine as his wife when they were 17 and 23, respectively.

Catherine proved to be an intellectual equal to Henry, was beloved by their people, named regent during his campaign against the French, and had even robe into battle, while heavily pregnant, to fight alongside her soldiers when King James IV of Scotland declared war. While the Scotland King was Henry’s brother-in-law, it made no difference as he was killed in battle and Catherine sent her husband a piece of the king’s coat, still covered in blood, as a trophy (Solly, M.). Sadly, Catherine delivered a stillborn child once more. She had been pregnant seven times but only her fifth child, the future Queen Mary I, survived past infancy. As she was unable to produce a male heir, she was preparing Mary to be Queen of England while Henry soon became involved with one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn.

Portrait vs SIX adaption of Catherine of Aragon

            Anne Boleyn was the daughter of Elizabeth Howard and Sir Thomas Boleyn and Henry’s second wife. Anne spent most of her childhood in France, receiving the best education, becoming involved with the arts, and served the royal family before returning to England. After working at the castle for several years, Henry began to notice Anne and wanted to make her his mistress, which Anne refused (Britannica, T.). It is unknown if Anne was pushed by relatives to pursue the growing relationship or if it could have been her own ambitions that led her to refuse Henry, increasing his desires for her, in the hopes of him divorcing Catherine, and making Anne his queen (Catton, P.).

During this time, religion played a large factor in their lives and as the catholic church forbid divorces, Henry declared that he was unable to have children with Catherine because of the fact she was once married to his brother which made their marriage “incest” and should be granted an annulment (Theanneboleynfiles). This argument did not hold up in court as evidence soon surfaced and revealed his own affairs with Anne’s sister, Mary Boleyn, years prior to his relationship with Anne and Henry's marriage to Catherine was allowed by the Pope as Catherine argued her marriage to Arthur had never been consummated. Furious at Catherine for not stepping down, the trial lasted for seven years and resulted in Henry separating Catherine and their daughter Mary, now 15, and would only allow the two to see each other if they both supported the annulment, which they refused.

Seeing no other way to marry Anne, Henry broke away from the Catholic Church, named himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England and then divorce Catherine and married Anne. Anne gave birth to a girl, the future Queen Elizabeth I, soon after their marriage. Henry was now a Protestant, like Anne, and intended to raise Elizabeth as such. Mary, now 17 and still a catholic, was declared an illegitimate child, stripped of her royal titles, and was no longer in the line of succession. Catherine would die at the age of 50, leaving the people of England to mourn her while Henry prevented Mary from attending her funeral.

Portrait vs SIX adaption of Anne Boleyn

            Anne was disliked by her people, especially by Thomas Cromwell, the Chief Minister, as they two repeatedly fought over funds as Anne wanted to donate to charitable causes (Borman, T.).  Anne attempted to become involved in politics as Catherine had but Henry soon became interested with Anne’s lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. After Henry had a jousting accident and hit his head, many historians believe it caused severe damage and explains his irrational behavior in the years to follow (McGreevy, N.). After three years of marriage, she was soon charged with adultery with various men and incest with her brother. As Henry was becoming more involved with Jane and Anne had only been able to give him one daughter, its historians believe that Henry and Cromwell might have devised a plan to dispose of Anne, giving Henry an easier path to marry Jane instead of having another divorce. Anne was convicted and then beheaded for her crimes which has now become one of the most talked about moments of English’s history and left many wondering if there were any truth to her conviction.

While SIX does not have the ability to dive into the depths of their stories, we are given a glimpse of who they were and what they survived through. Overall, Catherine was an intelligent, brave, and strong Queen who fought alongside her people in war and was more than ready to train her only daughter to be a ruler. Never would I have imagined a Queen, a heavily pregnant queen, would go off to fight in battle during this time period. She suffered from the loss of her children and the years Henry spent trying to divorce her but she fought for her rightful place as Queen of England. Even though she was unable to prevent it, she was never forgotten by her subjects who mourn her death. As for Anne, she is a much more complex queen. Although the stage adaption portrays her as a woman who only wants to have fun and seemingly mocks Catherine for not being as great as she is, it is unknown if the real-life Anne went after Henry for her own ambitions or was following the orders of her family. There is no doubt that whether she did this on purpose or was a victim in all this, she did break a marriage apart which led to the mistreatment of Catherine which SIX demonstrates when showing the tension between the two queens. While she was not a notable politician like Catherine, Anne was a lover of the arts and tried to use her wealth and power to donate to the poor which angered some of the most powerful men surrounding her, a fact that gets lost within her marriage to Henry. It’s clear Catherine and Anne were quite different but there’s no doubt that both women suffered at Henry’s hands and many of their accomplishments, or attempts to help their kingdom, have seemingly been forgotten.

References

Borman, T. (n.d.). Thomas Cromwell & The downfall of Anne Boleyn. Tudor Times. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://tudortimes.co.uk/guest-articles/thomas-cromwell-and-the-downfall-of-anne-boleyn/cromwell-and-anne-boleyn

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2021, May 15). Anne Boleyn. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anne-Boleyn

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2022, January 3). Catherine of Aragon. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 27, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Catherine-of-Aragon

Catton, P. (2018, April 20). How Anne Boleyn Lost her head. History.com. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://www.history.com/news/anne-boleyn-beheaded-facts

McGreevy, N. (2020, November 6). Researchers Find Remnants of Jousting Field Where Henry VIII Almost Died. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/jousting-henry-viii-tudor-history-180976221/#:~:text=On%20January%2024%2C%201536%2C%20England%27s,himself%20trapped%20beneath%20the%20animal.

Shah, T. (2019, August 11). The Secret Lives of Tudor Women- Catherine of Aragon. Girl Museum. Retrieved March 28, 2022, from https://www.girlmuseum.org/the-secret-lives-of-tudor-women-catherine-of-aragon/

Solly, M. (Ed.). (2020, October 14). When Catherine of Aragon led England's armies to victory over Scotland. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-catherine-aragon-led-englands-armies-victory-over-scotland-180975982/

Theanneboleynfiles. (2010, April 13). Wouldn't it of been weird for Catherine of Aragon to marry her husband’s brother? The Anne Boleyn Files. Retrieved March 28, 2022, from https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/resources/q-a/wouldnt-it-of-been-weird-for-catherine-of-aragon-to-marry-her-husbands-brother/