Agnes Strickland's Queens of England, Vol. 1. (of 3): Abridged and Fully IllustratedStrickland, Agnes
History
Agnes Strickland's Queens of England, Vol. 1. (of 3): Abridged and Fully Illustrated
Strickland, Agnes
Queens -- Great Britain -- Biography
That was enough for him; she could scarcely have said anything that
would have suited him better, and he at once set to work to make her
position as unpleasant as possible. His first move was to dismiss all
her foreign attendants, and supply their places with English ladies of
his own selection.
By this time he was in love with the young and beautiful Katharine
Howard, niece to the Duke of Norfolk, and had decided to make her his
wife as soon as he could manage it. The leaders of the Catholic party
favored this union, and hoped at the same time for the downfall of their
great enemy, Cromwell. They were soon to be gratified, for Henry now
required a tool, who would not be guided by the nice feelings of a
gentleman, for carrying out his plans. Cromwell was not such a one,
and he must be put out of the way. In this reign of terror nothing was
easier, and in less than a month he was arrested and shut up in the
Tower.
A few days later Anne was sent to Richmond under pretence {419}that her
health required change of air, and this was the prelude to the divorce
for which Henry had now grown impatient.
Archbishop Cranmer had performed the marriage ceremony, and it now
became his duty to divorce the king for the third time in less than
seven years. This was accomplished by unanimous consent of the clergy
July 13. As the queen was a stranger to English laws and customs, she
was spared the humiliation of appearing before the council.
When everything was settled, Suffolk, Southampton, and Wriothesley
were appointed to go to Richmond to get the queen's consent. She was
so alarmed when she saw them that before the true object of their visit
could be explained to her she fell fainting to the ground. No doubt the
poor woman thought she was on the point of having her head cut off.
When she recovered consciousness, she was told that if she would resign
her title as queen Henry would adopt her for a sister, and that she
should be endowed with estates to the value of £3,000 a year. This was
an immense relief, and Anne expressed her willingness to resign her
honors with such alacrity that the lords were quite surprised.
When Henry heard this, and saw the paper she had signed to that effect,
he could not believe that she was so ready to part with so supremely
precious a person. Fearing that she might relent, he wrote to his
council requesting them to have her write a letter to her brother
explaining her position, and expressing her earnest desire for the
divorce.
Anne then wrote her mother and brother that she was honorably treated,
and felt quite cheerful and contented. She hoped that no dispute would
arise between her native land and England, where she purposed spending
her life, and begged them in no way to interfere, no doubt dreading that
if they did so it would be visited on her head.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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