The 2008 film The Other Boyn's Girl revolves around Henry VIII and his wife, telling the story of two daughters of the Pauline family in the court who compete for favors. The exquisite costume props and theme music in the film bring the audience into the romantic and mysterious medieval court. After the release of the movie, a wave was set off, and this drama depicting the law of fighting for favors in the palace surprised many people who were familiar with history, and they showed that there was some gap with historical facts.
Looking through A Brief History of England by the British author Simon Jenkins, we find that this history turned out to be like this:
The first wife did not give birth to a man, and Henry VIII transferred his affection.
In 1526, Catherine was in her 40s. Due to frequent miscarriages, her body is in decline before it is old, and the chances of giving birth to a male heir are slim. At this time, Henry VIII openly pursued Anne Boleyn, a light-bodied, ice-and-snow-smart girl with black eyes and long black hair. Educated in Paris, Anne's French dress, music, dance and ingenuity amazed the court. Anne's sister Mary had been Henry VIII's mistress, but Anne refused his pursuit, even though he sent her a large amount of jewelry and promises. During henry viii's marriage to Catherine, she would not agree to his pursuit.
The Field of Cloth of Gold
The fate of England reached a critical juncture, on the one hand, Catherine could not give birth to a prince, and on the other hand, Anne's reluctance to agree to Henry VIII's pursuit. Henry VIII was made worse by the fact that he had gained weight, was frustrated, and injured one of his legs during a horse-drawn contest, in the words of Wolsey: "Half the country is in danger... He secretly developed a hatred for the whole of Christendom. "Most kings were troubled by external troubles, but Henry VIII was tormented inside. He threatened: "I will never let go of a man who makes me angry or a woman I want." "He had an iron heart to marry Anne.
There is still much debate about the impact of the "king's great question" on the contradictions between church and state. But there is no denying that this requires an imminent opportunity. Anne is said to have accepted Henry VIII's courtship in 1527, but she accepted it on the condition that the Pope annull his marriage to Catherine. The Pope was now imprisoned by Charles V of the Habsburgs, who was Catherine's nephew.
Obtaining a declaration by the Pope annulling Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine was no easy task. Leviticus states, "Do not peep into the nakedness of your brother's wife." In order to facilitate the current marriage between Henry VIII and Catherine, the Pope accepted that she had never slept with his brother Arthur. Henry VIII, on the other hand, is now trying to overturn the old sayings.
Insisting that Catherine and Arthur had been rounded, saying that the Pope had made a mistake, saying that his marriage to Catherine was illegal so that he could marry Anne. The problem, however, was that Catherine was adamant about not changing her mind and denied having sex with Arthur.
The divorce did not work, and the king came up with the idea of voting to determine his own happiness.
Henry VIII was in trouble. Wolsey desperately wanted a statement from the Church, and he even warned the Pope that if the Pope refused to do so, "the King has other solutions." But he failed. Desperate to turn to the others for help, Henry VIII approached a young Cambridge priest named Thomas Cranmer, who proposed the creation of a special council of European scholars in an attempt to solve the problem by bypassing the Holy See.
Wolsey soon lost ground. Stripped of his lavish palaces and titles, he was captured in 1529 and sent to the Tower of London. He died on his way from York South to the Tower of London. Like many who were once hot, he protested, "If I had served God with the diligence of serving the king, my Lord would not have made my sideburns snowy." The Christian church he built in Oxford is still there, but the corridors of the church are clearly unfinished.
Henry VIII confiscated the private palace that Woersi had built at Hampton Court and remodeled it in a fine post-Gothic style
The court was in chaos, and Henry VIII openly confronted Anne. But Catherine remained queen, and she with the tenacity characteristic of the Spaniards withstood the pressures and refused to admit that her marriage to Henry VIII was illegal. And she has strong allies at home and abroad. Henry VIII was faithful to his faith and refused to disobey biblical law, although Cranmer, who was obedient to him, pointed out that there was no pope in the Bible.
As Wolsey had expected, Henry VIII now began to take revenge on the church. Not knowing whether or not an anne was influenced by Anne's leaning toward Lutheran doctrine, Henry VIII convened Parliament in 1529 and asked it to take steps to address the problem of clergy abuse. In 1531, he declared that the king had a higher legal status than the church, and that he was entitled "as long as the law of Christ permitted." He did not allow the church to have the privilege of acting as a sanctuary, and he did not allow the church to collect taxes according to the will of the congregation, which was the main source of income for the church.
As for the annulment of the marriage, Sir Thomas More, who succeeded Wolsey as Lord Chancellor, told Parliament: "It is assumed that the King's move was not motivated by a whimsy or pleasure-seeking pleasure, and that the fact is not, as some irrelevant people have reported, that he did so in order to enjoy the good conscience and to ensure the legitimate succession of the throne." Henry VIII, however, soon began to have fun. He and Anne disappeared together for more than a month and exiled Catherine and her daughter upon returning to London.
The Holy See threatened him to expel him unless he "drove away his mistress Anne". In response, Henry VIII intended to send someone to the Pope, this time only about 5% of the money that the Church of England usually handed over to Rome. The resolution was passed well in the House of Commons, but in the House of Lords, the Church was strong and, of course, strongly opposed to doing so. Henry VIII lobbied, cajoled, and threatened in a three-pronged manner, subtly demanding that the House of Lords vote on "king's welfare." Thomas More was hesitant to turn the other cheek with Rome once and for all.
In 1532, More resigned as chancellor, refusing to recognize the king's position above the church, and his position was taken over by a wise young lawyer, Thomas Cromwell. In the same year, Henry VIII and Anne paid a state visit to France, and she returned pregnant. In January 1533, Henry VIII secretly married Anne, insisting that his marriage to Catherine had been nullified, so it was not a crime of bigamy. It is likely that Cranmer presided over henry VIII's marriage ceremony with Anne, and in return he was appointed archbishop of Canterbury and later became the dominant figure in the English Reformation. Anne was then crowned queen.
Photo excerpt from A Brief History of England / Translated by Simon Jenkins / Qian Feng