Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII

Starkey cannot be accused of romanticising history, and he successfully blows apart some of the more cherished romantic anecdotes surrounding Henry's queens. It transpires that Henry probably didn't nickname his fifth wife his "rose without a thorn" and that Catherine Parr, his sixth, certainly didn't act as a nurse to her ailing husband. Starkey is similarly unprepared to prop-up misconceptions and stereotypes. He refuses to present Catherine of Aragon as a saint, despite the best efforts of numerous other historians and novelists to present Henry's first wife as a perfect wife, mother, queen and Christian. Rather, Starkey shows Catherine to have been admirable, politically-important and dignified; but he also shows that she could be deceitful, incalcitrant and naive.

Anne Boleyn (to whom most of the book is devoted) emerges as a more likeable individual than she does in Alison Weir's narratives. Anne's political and religious impact is the main focus of Starkey's narrative but he also reveals Anne's charisma, intelligence and style (even if he also relates how she could be a temperamental drama queen when she wanted to be!) Starkey also manages to construct a new (and more convincing) timetable for Henry's affair with Anne, and persuasively argues that Henry had a much larger part to play in Lord Percy's enforced marriage than previously believed.

Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves do not occupy an inordinate a mount of space in this book (Starkey admits as much himself in the introduction, claiming that space is going to be given according to each wife's importance.) Jane emerges as a somewhat pretentious, haughty, cold and uninteresting individual; whilst Anne of Cleves seems pleasant but none too bright.

The weakest section is probably that on Catherine Howard. Although the book does shed new light on Catherine's legendary "romance" with Thomas Culpepper, it can at times become a bit silly in its attempts to react against Victorian values culminating in Starkey's view that we can see a kind of "virtue in promiscuity." It also seems that too much intelligence and cunning is accredited to Catherine who was, essentially, an ordinary if thoughtless young woman.

The section on Catherine Parr is illuminating and enjoyable to read. Catherine is shown to have been religiously-motivated, courageous and quick-witted; not the dull bluestocking of popular myth.

Politically, there hasn't been a study which explores the six wives' role better. Neither Weir, Loades, Lindsey or Fraser's books explore the impact Henry's wives had on society, religion and government to the same extent as Starkey does. Furthermore, Starkey also has a real feel for personality and the six queens are liberated from their stereotypes and emerge as far more believable human beings than they do in many other historical books. Starkey's narrative cannot be faulted on bias either, unlike the works of Weir or slipshod scholarship, like those of Carolly Erickson. The book is enjoyable, superbly written and illuminating. Both experts and new-comers to the Tudor era should read Starkey's wonderful "Six Wives".


An extremely interesting and refreshing approach to a well known story.   August 19, 2007
little_miss_sunnydale (South Gloucestershire, England)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

David Starkey's work on the six wives of Henry VIII is a unique biography on these six women. Starkey, unlike some other historians who have approached the same subject, has not reiterated an already well known story, but instead has set out to question the common conceptions of these women whilst also rejecting the need to become too revisionist. This mixture is best observed in the portrayal of the first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Catherine's virtuous position that has been rewarded to her by her devoted fans is questioned and Starkey reveals a more pragmatic and human perception of her. She was a woman of faults, capable of lying (as highlighted in her letter to her father Ferdinand after her first failed pregnancy), capable of immense pride and stubbornness and he accept the traditional idea that Catherine believed her position to be the rightful one.

Starkey goes on to challenge more misconceptions, for example the portrayal of Catherine Parr. Was she really this nurse figure that Victorian historian Agnes Strickland loved to promote? Oddly enough, she wasn't in the sense that Strickland meant. Parr was an intelligent woman, so intelligent that when she realised Henry's jealousy over her cleverness and the conservative's factions plot to overthrow her, she played the `submissive wife' card, declared that as a woman she didn't know better and submitted to Henry. Starkey manages to describe this change without making Katherine appear as a woman who compromised her intelligence, but as a woman who know how to survive.

The portrayal which I couldn't completely agree on was Starkey's view of Anne Boleyn. He certainly highlighted her intelligence, and unlike some other biographies in the six wives (like Weir's), he notes her level of knowledge about the divorce proceedings and her political achievements. However his views on Anne's relationship with the Princess Mary are questionable. Instead of showing how Anne and Mary equally despised each other, both made poor comments towards one another and how it was understandable why both disliked each other, he places more blame on Anne and relies far too much on Chapuy's accounts for her relationship with Mary. Chapuys, the Spanish ambassador, whose contemporary accounts are very valuable to us, was undoubtedly biased and hated Anne. His accusations have often proven to be false (like how he liked to declare that Anne and Henry's marriage had broken up long before it had and suspecting Anne of poisoning Catherine in Jan 1536), so relying on his claims of what Anne was doing to Mary is unfair and of course does not highlight what Mary was saying back at Anne.

Starkey does come up with several interesting and probable theories, one of which is the issue of Henry and Anne's first marriage. Starkey argues that Anne, who had denied Henry sexual intercourse throughout the duration of their courtship, would not have given in to his demands unless she and undergone some form of a binding ceremony with him. And Edward Hall, the councillor mentions that Anne and Henry were married in Dover on the 14th Nov 1532 and later again in the same month. This goes against the traditional idea that Henry and Anne married after she became pregnant sometime in Dec 1532. It's a very plausible argument and it makes sense that Anne would only give in to him once they had married.

Starkey's work on the downfall of Katherine Howard is excellent, especially his work on the testimony of Thomas Culpepper, who was accused of committing adultery with Katherine whilst she was Queen. Starkey's conclusion as to their relationship is brilliant and I completely agree that whilst Katherine led an indiscreet life before marriage, the possibility of her committing adultery with Culpepper were slim and even they were found guilty on intent to commit adultery rather than actual committing the act.
Anne of Cleves is dealt with briefly as is Jane Seymour, although in both cases their different personal faiths and their importance to the conservative or reformist factions in court is well examined.

Personally, I think that Starkey's work on the six wives of Henry VIII is the best I have read so far on these well documented and unfortunate women. Starkey like Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser wishes to tell us this important story, but unlike the other two, he is not attempting to merely reiterate the already known and is prepared to make excellent theories and back them up with careful researched evidence. Unlike Weir, he does not attempt to show an overwhelming bias towards one wife and attempts to show their respected faults and qualities. The main problem of the book is that it would have been nice to have had more on the last four wives, yet in fairness Starkey has identified that the beginning of the remarkable, dramatic changes within sixteenth century English society and in Henry VIII himself, occurred under his first two marriages and therefore much more observance needs to be paid to them. Henry also had longer relationships with Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn and as this book wishes to focus on the women at the time when they were in Henry VIII's life, then again it makes sense more time is allocated to the first two. Overall it's a superb piece of work that is accessible for all and if you are going to read one piece of work on the six wives, then I really recommend you pick this one!


The women behind one of the most well known British Kings   March 29, 2004
girl running
33 out of 40 found this review helpful

I'm a student of Ancient History and Egyptology rather than British History. However, it is British History which has always been my first 'love'.

The first account I ever read about Henry and his wives was in the Horrible History series (Cruel Kings and Mean Queens - which, by the way, I would recommend to everyone, child or adult), when I was quite young (perhaps about 8yrs?). It was, by no mean, my favourite aspect at the time. I didn't have a favourite British monarch back then.

And I don't now.

However, I came across this recently and decided to buy it. I was intrigued by these women (amongst others in history) and thought to myself "why not learn more?"

I'm glad I made that decision, for while I have not read anything else other than this and some brief articles about Henry's queens, I found it very thorough. It deals with everything, from the personal intimate details to the fully political (and public) aspects of their lives.

It begins with Catherine of Aragon (I've decided to use the spelling in the book for all the names!), a strong Catholic woman (who you can't help but have some admiration for). Anne Boleyn follows - an equally strong 'Protestant' (who I really didn't like at first for her treatment of Catherine, but I did eventually). You may find yourself thinking of Anne's downfall before you get there in a kind of smug way, but then feeling a little ashamed when it comes to the crunch. These personalities and characteristics are reflected in their daughters (Mary and Elizabeth respectively). Starkey devotes over half of the book to Catherine and Anne.

Poor Jane who follows seems a bit boring in comparison to her striking predecessors, as does Anne of Cleves (who becomes Henry's 'sister'). Catherine Howard livens things up a bit as does Catherine Parr after her (who also goes a bit too far with her religious views for Henry's liking).

Starkey also peppers his work with eerie comments, such as "in a few months, she would be dead". (I don't know if that one is actually there, but you get the picture!)

I would thoroughly recommend this book to absolutely anyone who is even remotely interested in Henry's wives - you will not be disappointed!