Lynn1225… Not too big of a surprise that Henry would want, CW, the recent widow of his best friend Charles Brandon for himself.   

MegC…Seven months before getting pregnant must have been a lifetime for Jane also.

Lyn1225 said:

Was there a time that Henry considered a seventh wife. I have read he was interested in Catherine Willoughby while married to Catherine Parr.

 

 

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In Feb 1546, Chapuys wrote to Charles V telling him that there were rumours there would be a new queen for Katherine Parr remained childless whilst ‘Madame Suffolk’ was talked about as a successor. The duchess of Suffolk had proved that she could bear children (she bore the duke of Suffolk two male heirs), and she was a widely liked and respected figure.

This does not mean that Henry VIII ever contemplated marrying the duchess. Chapuys, who merely mentioned the rumour and does not state that he believed it to be true, added that the king ‘shows no alteration in his behaviour to the Queen’. In other words there was never a serious chance the duchess would become Henry’s seventh queen. Melissa Franklin-Harkrider, who has done extensive research into the duchess and her role in evangelical circles, mentions nowhere that her subject could have possibly been advanced to that degree.

There remains the question of why the rumours were put about. The instant answer is that it was promoted by Katherine Parr’s enemies – by leading religious conservatives. This makes little sense for her supposed successor, the duchess, was just as ardent an evangelical as the queen. In fact, the duchess was far more obvious about her views, even resorting once to dressing her dog up as a bishop and calling him ‘Gardiner’ (after Stephen Gardiner, the leading conservative bishop). Clearly they were not going to replace the queen with someone of similar views.

John Foxe, from whom we gain many stories from the time of Henry’s marriage to Parr, recorded that the King rebuked Gardiner for having discussed the Queen’s sterility. Gardiner was accused of having spread such rumours to topple his opponent before deciding to focus upon the Queen’s faith in order to destroy her. We must remember that Foxe, who was not a witness to these events, was purposely attempting to present Gardiner as a deceptive, superstitious and wicked individual who did everything to remove evangelicals, whom Foxe regarded as the righteous, from their positions of power. Additionally, Foxe recorded this in his momentous work, Acts and Monuments, otherwise known as ‘Book of Martyrs’ which contained a detailed account of the Marian martyrs. And who was the man instrumental in seeing the heresy laws revived under Mary I?…….Bishop Gardiner, of course! That it is not deny Gardiner of having tried to remove Katherine – clearly he was appalled by her views and wanted her gone – but to replace her with the duchess of Suffolk was an absurd notion from his POV.

Idle and malicious gossip always existed at court. Chapuys told Charles that the idea Parr was to be put aside was owing to her ‘sterility’. She had been married two times previously and bore no children, and there was no sign that she would produce another heir for the King. This was probably no fault of her own, but her inability to have children before becoming queen was going to mean she became the subject of cruel gossip. In 1543, parliament ratified a new Act of Succession that accommodated a place for Katherine’s prospective heirs by Henry. Though Henry did not rely upon Katherine to produce a son the way he did some of her predecessors, the issue of the queen’s fertility was still an important one.  

However absurd these rumours were, it did not mean Katherine was unaffected by them. Susan James, the expert on Katherine, mentions that she ordered new locks for her chamber in Feb 1546; clearly she knew that there some out there against her, attempting to find ways to encourage the King to remove her. But her actions should not be seen as an indication of the accuracy of the rumours. Clearly Henry was still attracted to Katherine and found her company pleasing. This may explain why he was readily forgave her following her attempts to patch things up after their famous row regarding religion and her discovery of the King’s decision to have her investigated. Instead of being paranoid about the situation and keeping aloof, Henry was willing to believe she had made a mistake and that she was truly sorry about her actions. His behaviour after the affair is quite telling – he showered her with jewels and fine clothing, and continues to show favour towards her family, especially her brother.

Was Gardiner a kinsman of the Duchess of Suffolk? 

Did Henry ever speak out about the fact that Katherine Parr was not getting pregnant as he did with his other wives? Or did he know why? Was he impotent throughout this marriage? 

wreckmasterjay said:

I think if he had lived to a ripe old age he could have quite easily taken another couple of wives, lets face it he got bored easily and wasnt faithful to any of them!

So true, wreckmasterjay, so true!