Too Many Wives

Before Christmas, I came up with what I thought was a brilliant plan. I own two history books, by two different authors, about the wives of Henry VIII. I thought it would be really interesting to read the two and compare them. The books are The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir, and The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser. Then at the library I spotted the book The Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII by David Starkey and thought that one more would be great! How interesting it would be to compare how each author saw the wives and interpreted the historical evidence.

Sadly, I was wrong. I finished the Fraser book, and only made it to Anne Boleyn in the Weir and Starkey books. It was just too many wives all at once! However, I think of the three, I preferred Fraser's book. She is sympathetic towards her wives, and I think a sympathetic biographer has a good relationship with her subject and can really pull in the reader's interest. Weir's book is factually excellent, but a little bit dry. Starkey's book is okay: I don't think he liked the wives all that much and boasted too much about his terrific new interpretations of the historical documents which meant that all other writers on the subject were wrong. Here are my notes on the Fraser's and Starkey's books as I was reading them.

Fraser:
"This is a very readable and entertaining look at Henry VIII’s six wives. Despite the fact that it is a non-fiction book, at times it reads like the best kind of historical fiction. Yet the book is thoroughly grounded in solid research. It is a pleasure to read and a good intro to Henry’s fascinating wives. Fraser takes the point that all the wives are to be pitied for being married to Henry VIII and so is sympathetic to all the wives in general. The feeling is transmitted to the readers: I feel sorry for Catherine of Aragon in her struggle against Henry VIII, but then I later feel sorry for Anne Boleyn, the woman who supplanted Catherine of Aragon in Henry’s affections. However, my feelings of pity for Catherine do not lead to corresponding feelings of rage against Anne Boleyn. Instead, one feels sympathy for all the wives caught up in the maelstrom that was Henry VIII’s later romantic life.

The book is split into sections roughly corresponding with the wives’ connection to Henry VIII. Katherine Howard and Anna of Cleves (author’s spellings) are joined together in one section as Anna’s tenure was so brief and she was so quickly supplanted by Katherine Howard. The reader really gets to know each wife well and know her background. Fraser moves beyond the stereotypes of Older Wife, Temptress, Good Wife, Ugly Wife, Bad Girl, and Mother Figure to reveal the personalities behind the crown."

Starkey:

As you can see from my notes below, I disagreed with a number of Starkey's conclusions - and that was only the introduction! As the book went on, it got a little better.

"Starkey seems to be too credulous with his sources and accuses Weir and Fraser of falling into the same romantic trap as Strickland. I would argue not so; they offer a balanced (especially Weir) view of the wives. Fraser is admittedly a little more sympathetic, but that’s okay for me; makes it readable. Already, based upon the introduction, Starkey appears to be too credulous with some of his sources including some of the testimony given by people at all the various court trials surrounding Henry’s confused matrimonial life. Unlike Weir and Fraser, Starkey does not seem to have given any thought as to the circumstances surrounding the testimony. Some of it was probably extracted by torture, others from people desperately trying to save their own skin – self-serving, as it were. You can’t always take that kind of evidence at face value.

Most of the things that Starkey presents as old established “facts” that he’s debunking have already been debunked by Weir and Fraser – they may be established “facts” to the popular mind, but not to the serious historical reader who has already done a lot of reading and research on the wives. For example – discussing a portrait he has apparently “uncovered” of Catherine showing her as blonde/red-haired to prove that she was of the same fairness as Henry instead of the sultry Spanish beauty she is often described as. Um, did he read Fraser or Weir’s books and look at any other portrait of Catherine? Nowhere in those books is she portrayed as a dark-eyed Spanish beauty – in fact Fraser and Weir especially go to some trouble to trace Catherine’s Lancastrian descent. He does not need to “prove” anything that has already been proven by other historians and other portraits – it is very clear that Catherine was just as fair as Henry."

In summary, then, do not try and read three non-fiction books on the same subject matter within a limited amount of time - you will burn out! But for those who are interested in learning more about the wives of Henry VIII (the real version, not the TV-Tudors version!), I will make some final suggestions.

If you are more of a casual historian, read the Fraser book. It is very readable and enjoyable and the reader gets a good sense of the wives and what they were really like, as far as that is possible. However, her family trees are terrible and full of errors, so don't go by them. If you're interested in family trees and a more in-depth look at the subject, read Weir's book. It is a little dryer than Fraser's, but more scholarly. Both books are equally well researched - the difference is in how the material is presented. I don't know if I can recommend the Starkey book having not finished it (I've read the Weir book many times) and having argued with him all through the introduction! The chapters on Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn were okay and I did enjoy some aspects of his characterization of Catherine. But ultimately it was just too much information on the same topic for me. Further, he seemed to be very self-congratulatory on his amazing "new" interpretations of the evidence which kind of put me off from the book a little bit. Also, for a book about the wives, it seems fairly Henry-focused. I prefer Fraser's thoughts on the subject: that the women should be pitied for having been married to Henry VIII as it could not have been easy! If anyone does choose to read the Starkey book, I'd be interested in your thoughts on it. And maybe, after a few months, I will pick it up and try again!