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Thanksgiving is just around the corner, it's getting dark REALLY early in the evenings now, so there's plenty of time for reading great books these days!  With my fascination with history the past couple of years, I reached back into the 1500s to learn about King Henry VIII of England - well, more about The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir.

Having already read about Martin Luther and the birth of Protestantism in Europe, it was only natural that I look into the formation of the Church of England, and King Henry VIII.  What better way to get to know the man (Henry VIII) than by learning about his six wives?  Beginning with Katharine of Aragon, then Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Katherine Parr.  Henry seemed to have a fascination with women named "Katherine," didn't he?

There were so many great quotes in the book, but here's my favorite:

It would be true to say that Henry's contemporaries saw him as something more than human.  One called him 'the greatest man in the world', another 'the rarest man that lived in his time'.  He certainly possessed exceptional qualities of leadership and a charismatic personality.  No king of England has enjoyed such posthumous publicity as he, and no king before him or after him ever held such absolute power, nor commanded such respect and obedience.  This is the measure of the man.

In his capacity as a husband Henry's worst failings were glaringly obvious.  The deepest, most abiding passion in his life was for Anne Boleyn, yet it was a destructive one, souring with the familiarity of marriage and leaving the King embittered.  Her death was contrived for political reasons rather than emotional ones, and Henry did not scruple to get rid of her for the sake of expediency.  It is possible to feel sympathy for him after his discovery of Katherine Howard's promiscuity, yet we must remember that his sorrow did not prevent him from executing an ignorant seventeen-year-old girl as a traitor.  His marriages to Katherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves were both annulled, and Katherine was treated with appalling cruelty.

The guiding motive behind his treatment, or ill-treatment, of these four of his wives was the King's very real need for a male heir, something that was always at the forefront of his mind.  It should be remembered, in his favour, that Katherine Parr showed a very genuine grief at his death, and that - apart from one occasion, when it appears that Henry kept an open mind about Katherine's activities, until proof was available - they were extremely contented together, as their letters prove.  Nor did Jane Seymour find Henry less than a loving, if overbearing, husband.  What turned the King into the ruthless tyrant of latter years was to some extent Katherine of Aragon's stubbornness and Anne Boleyn's ambition.  Taking into account the ever-present problem of the succession, it is impossible to dismiss Henry VIII as the cruel lecher of popular legend who changed wives whenever it pleased him.  (pp. 531-532)

Alison Weir's style of writing kept me interested in this book from beginning to end.  At times, I felt as though I was living in the 1500s, so descriptive is her account of the times.  I'd highly recommend this book!

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