The Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn & Other Correspondence & Documents Concerning the King and His Wives

by Henry VIII, Henry Ellis

The king and his wives-letters and documents History is full of notable figures, but far fewer in number are those who have become iconic. An indisputably iconic figure, even among the many great kings of England, is the towering figure of the Tudor monarch, King Henry VIII. He was, of course, the father of Queen Elizabeth I, Gloriana, an equally renowned monarch of her own golden age. She sought always to be and be seen as her father's daughter, but posterity preserves what it will of a life in the public consciousness and so aside from Henry's unmistakable and imposing personal appearance what is most remembered of him by many is that he was married on six occasions and habitually terminated his relationships with an axe at the executioner's block-though this occurred only twice perhaps indicating more moderation in Henry's character as a husband than he is usually credited with. There has always been something seductively attractive about this powerful man, capable of great tenderness and romance, an artist, poet and musician-and yet a ruthless and unscrupulous tyrant capable of incredible insensitivity and cruelty. This volume contains an engrossing selection of correspondence, reports and other documents concerning Henry and his wives. The central part of the book is a famous collection of love letters sent by the king to his second wife Anne Boleyn, one of his spouses who lost her head to be superceded by another beauty of the court Jane Seymour, one of Anne's ladies in waiting. In this special and unique Leonaur edition these letters are added to by the inclusion of correspondence and other documents concerning the fate of Henry's sometimes unfortunate women and the events that surrounded them.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

124 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 2011

About the author

Henry VIII succeeded Henry VII, his father, from 1509 as king; after divorce from Catherine of Aragon as the first of his six wives compelled him to break from the Catholics, the act of supremacy of 1534 established the Church of England.

His insistence on a divorce with Catherine of Aragon as his first wife in 1533 caused his break with Rome and the beginning of the Reformation.

Anne Boleyn served as queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as his second wife.

Jane Seymour, queen of England from 1536 as his third wife, gave birth to Edward VI, his heir, and afterward died.

Anne of Cleves served as queen of England from January 1540 to July 1540 as his fourth wife.

From 1547, Edward VI, his son with Jane Seymour|, reigned as king of England and Ireland.


Elizabeth of York at Greenwich Palace bore Henry as the second son. Arthur, Prince of Wales and older brother of Henry, predeceased his father. He enjoyed Margaret and Mary, his two sisters. Arthur died, making Henry next in line for the throne. Henry married widow of Arthur. People credit this talented composer and author. Orders of famously unpredictable and temperamental Henry VIII, however, executed many of his subjects.

This perhaps most famous monarch and Thomas Cromwell, the archbishop of Canterbury, split from the Roman pope, and he married six times.

His physical decline and huge obesity dominated his later reign. Henry lay dying in 1547 with last words, reportedly, "monks monks monks", with certain historians consider as a reference to eviction during the dissolution of the monasteries.

Reviews

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda disappointed. :(

I was expecting there to be comments before or after the letters but there weren’t, which meant a lot of wasted time trying to center myself on the time frame of each correspondence.

Interesting collection, just wish it had had more direction in it. It was a treat to read the fragments of Katherine Parr’s letters though!!