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Lessons from women in history

Agatha Ngai

MANY PEOPLE see the six wives of King Henry VIII as victims of his dominant ego. Two were divorced, two executed, and one died shortly after giving birth to Henry's only son. Only one survived him. These women, from different backgrounds, all had their fate sealed by the same man, a man who desperately longed for a male heir throughout his life.

But many also believed that the first wife Catherine of Aragon and her immediate successor Anne Boleyn were capable of governing a kingdom and might even do better than Henry, had they been given the chance.

Catherine (1485-1536) was 'humble and loyal'. She not just a a queen, but a Spanish ambassador to England. When the king was engaged in a war in France, she even held off a Scottish rebellion in England. However, in the male-dominant world, Catherine was only a tool for a political marriage of power, and a machine to produce a prince.

Her parents, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, had planned to marry Catherine off to an ally when she was four. She carried six children for Henry, but only a girl survived. The child Mary was later declared illegitimate when the king's six-year-long petition of an annulment came to the end and he divorced Catherine.

Anne Boleyn was a legend. She threw Catherine out of the royal court and married the king in triumph in 1533. But only three years later, she was beheaded. Subject to many accusations, she died infamously, charged with witchcraft and adultery.

Her demise belied the motifs interweaving the letters 'H' and 'A' that could be seen everywhere in court. Anne was strong but not strong enough to spare her the pain that came from the king's desire for a son. She was a devoted mother but not enough to hide her disappointment at the birth of her first child, Elizabeth, who had been mistaken for a boy while in the womb.

History is never boring. Learning from it, we can hope for a better tomorrow.

Useful Web sites

Learning through TV

The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, on ATV World tonight at 10pm, is a programme by Dr David Starkey, who cleverly blends facts with the dramatic reconstruction of historical events.

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