Compare Anne to Katherine

As another contributor compared Henry's first two wives, I will be comparing the two wives after bride number three, Jane Seymour. The cases of Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard illustrate just how mercurial Henry the VIII could be- kind and extremely generous on one hand, to emotional, violent, and vengeful.

Anne arguably had the best result from being married to Henry. Plucked from the small kingdom of Cleves, she came from a very religious family who was chosen for their Protestant connections. Her brother, the Duke of Cleves, ruled over Anne with a tyrannical attitude and expected Anne to embody the strict expectations to be a proper Protestant lady of means.

Interestingly, her sister might easily have been selected to be Henry's fourth bride. Henry commissioned his court painter, Hans Holbein the Younger, to paint Anne and her younger sister, Amalia. After receiving both portraits, he selected Anne to be his next consort.

Although Anne was not without intellect, she was not brought up in the same way as English ladies. She could not dance or play music nor could she speak English when she arrived to her new home. Thus, her first meeting with Henry VIII went so disastrously.

Henry, hearing his bride was staying nearby, raced in disguise to meet her, as he so often do with his prior wives. He came across Anne and greeted her with a hearty kiss on the mouth. Anne, completely confused by this large, unknown man being so intimate with her, slapped Henry and then spat right afterwards. Henry, so used to seeing himself still as the dashing, young Lothario of old, was humiliated and immediately stormed out.

There was no recovering from that catastrophe. Although Henry did go through with the marriage grudgingly, he never did consummate his marriage and was already looking for ways to escape his vows. Anne for a time was blissfully ignorant. Free from the constraints of her brother's rules, she heartily embraced English customs, abandoning her native dress and working hard to learn English.

Over time, she realized that Henry was unsatisfied with her and what a precarious position she was in. Fearful of Anne Boleyn's fate, she was amenable to the annulment settlement that Henry presented to her. Using her precontract with the Duke of Lorraine as grounds for annulment, Anne of Cleves went from Queen Consort to his "sister". Henry was kind to Anne, giving her several properties to generate income and given her precedence over all other noble women, besides any future wife of his.

Although her brother attempted to persuade Anne to leave England following the dissolution of her royal marriage, Anne had grown to love England and its people. She lived a comfortable life as an independent lady, with regular appearances at the Court and royal events. Never again was she beholden to a husband and she happily lived in her adopted country for the rest of her days.

Catherine Howard, the youngest of Henry's brides, would have done well to have learned from Anne's example. Although she came from one of the noblest families in the land, the formidable Howard clan, her childhood and early teen years passed under the extremely lax guardianship of her step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. She grew up with several other girls and from an early age, loved to flirt with the opposite sex, a quality she shared with her cousin, Anne Boleyn.

Small and pretty, Catherine had several trysts before she left for court. Her indiscretions would lead to eventual downfall. Her music teacher, Henry Mannox, fooled around with her and Catherine lost her virginity to Francis Dereham, a secretary to the Dowager Duchess. Although historical record does state for sure the nature of their relationship and future plans, Francis would later attest that he left for Ireland to acquire funds to marry her and had already been referring to her as his wife.

Although she could read and write, she was not a scholar and excelled most at dancing. She had a bright personality and loved fine things. Her biggest dream was to marry a handsome, wealthy man.

When the opportunity came for Henry to select ladies for Anne of Cleves' household, the wily Howard patriarch, the Duke of Norfolk, helped secure a spot for Catherine. Her vivacious nature immediately capture the attention of Henry, who already was displeased with his new bride. As plans materialized for Henry to become free, he turned most of his attention to Catherine, who enjoyed the luxurious gifts he gave her.

Although Catherine enjoyed the attention and wealth given to her by the King, she still harbored hopes of a young, handsome husband. Fate would not go her way. Catherine would become Henry's fifth wife. For a time, things seemed perfect, at least on the surface. Henry was infatuated with Catherine. No one had captured him like this since Anne Boleyn and he no longer felt old or ugly.

Unfortunately, Catherine's youth and impulsive nature made her a poor queen. She started an affair with one of Henry's favored companions, Thomas Culpepper. In addition, several people from her household abroad joined Catherine at court and whisperings of her inappropriate liaisons there reached the ears of Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Cranmer discovered the affair and Catherine's brief spell as Queen was abruptly shattered. Henry was hurt and grief-stricken. Catherine was imprisoned for three months before being beheaded, around age 16-17 (records differ).

Coming from a proper English upbringing, Catherine might have been a great queen. Unfortunately for her, her wild, impetuous nature was not reined in and it led to her ruin. Anne of Cleves came into a situation no one expected her to survive after she so humiliated her powerful husband. However, fate had a funny sense of humor and she ended up in the most stable, enjoyable situation of any of Henry's brides. Two very different women with two very different outcomes from their time as consort to the powerful Henry VIII, Catherine Howard and Anne of Cleves both earned Henry's ire, but only one paid with it with her life.

Henry VIII had two wives named Anne and three named Katherine. I will compare Anne Boleyn, his second wife, to his first wife, Katherine of Aragon.
As the name indicates, Katherine of Aragon was Spanish, the daughter of the Isabella and Ferdinand who sponsored Christopher Columbus. Katherine was first married to Arthur, Henry's older brother and heir to the throne. When the young Arthur died, Katherine married Henry. 
After 20 years of marriage and no male heir, Henry divorced Katherine on the grounds that it had been a sin for him to marry his brother's widow. He then married Anne Boleyn. This caused a break with Rome, as the pope would not permit or recognize the divorce. Consequently, Henry established the Anglican Church, with himself as head.
By all accounts, Henry loved Katherine for many years. He also, at first, loved Anne. Neither of these first two wives bore him a son that lived past infancy. Each of these wives, however, bore one healthy daughter that lived to adulthood and became queen. Elizabeth, Henry's daughter by Anne, became queen after Mary, Katherine's daughter, died.  
Both Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn were disposed of by Henry when marriage to them became inconvenient. Henry divorced Katherine and beheaded Anne. He would also behead Anne's cousin, Catherine Howard, who was his fifth wife.