Blast from the Past discussion

Ahhhh...the infamous Henry VIII. I feel like he is probably the most talked about king from history...is there anything in this section that you found surprising or is a new fact for you? Has your opinion changed about him??

I loved that this section of the book went deeper into hygiene and food practices from the 1500s. A lot of the women had miscarriages, and I wonder if it was due to the fact that they drank more wine and ale than water back then, or if there was another underlying cause? Also, didn't know that Anne Boleyn had 6 fingers on one of her hands. I was surprised that Borman didn't talk more about Henry's separation from the Catholic Church since that was a HUGE part of his reign. Also, she shied away from going more into depth about Henry and Catherine of Aragon's divorce. I read Alison Weir's book on Katherine of Aragon, and the divorce proceedings took up decades.

Robyn wrote: "I loved that this section of the book went deeper into hygiene and food practices from the 1500s. A lot of the women had miscarriages, and I wonder if it was due to the fact that they drank more wi..."

Also, hands up if you would NOT be volunteering for the job "groom of the stool"?

Lol both hands!!! 😂😬

I know what you mean, it was a huge part of his reign and in surprised to see it glossed over also so far there hasn’t been any mention of the accident Henry had damaging his leg...this is primarily what put a stop to his sporting pursuits, there was also rumour that Henry had banged his head and had mild brain damage and this is what led to his radical personality change.

I did like the fact that the book didn’t get held up in The Great Matter because the last books I’ve read on the subject do get in a sort of holding pattern when they reach this time in his life. I am really digging getting some the gory details on some things like you’ve all mentioned, especially medical, bedroom, and food related topics.
It’s amazing there’s always something new to be learned about Henry the 8th but this book did impart a lot of new knowledge to me!

I feel the same, I feel I have learned loads already! I feel so sorry for Anne, I feel like she was set up so she could get rid of...I don’t think she was guilty of everything she was accused of, especially having sex with her brother...Katherine is my favourite queen and one of my role models and I feel towards her for how she was treated but it also made me sad that even after Anne had married Henry she was still referred to by the court as the concubine!