Mention Henry VIII and most people think either (1) robust ginger guy, gnawing on a turkey leg, or (2) ABC’s “The Bachelor” 500 years ago.  His appetite for food, drink, and women is well-known, but the fact that he was married to his first wife for 20 years is not. What went wrong? When and how did he go from settled-down to serial groom?

We have to remember that, while Catherine of Aragon was married to the king for two decades, this was actually her second marriage. Before she married Henry, she was married to his brother, Arthur. This is starting to sound creepy, isn’t it?

The “ick” factor isn’t as bad as it may seem. Arthur, Henry’s older brother, was the heir to the throne and a newlywed at just age 15. And then, dead – possibly of a sweating sickness. His Spanish princess, Catherine, was also sick but recovered to find herself a 16-year-old widow in a country far from home.

Arthur’s dad, Henry VII, wasn’t that eager to ship his daughter-in-law back to Spain since her father (Ferdinand, the king of Aragon) had handed over quite a wad of cash as her dowry. Instead, Henry Senior pocketed the money and simply matched her up with his next available son, the tall and handsome Henry Junior.

This next part is important: She was able to marry Henry only because she swore to the pope that her marriage to The Other Tudor Boy was never consummated. This, for the church, meant that they weren’t actually “married” to begin with and that she was free to marry Henry without being seen as an adultress or trollop of some sort.

Fast-forward a few decades into the marriage and ginger-haired Mr. Turkey Leg still had no boys to carry on the family business, so he figured he’d just divorce Catherine and remarry. A devout Catholic, he looked to the Bible to guide his decision and found his “ah-ha!” moment in Leviticus 20:21.

This passage states that a man who marries his brother’s wife will be childless (and for Henry VIII, “childless” and “no sons” were practically synonymous). Therefore, Henry believed that God was punishing him for having married his brother’s wife. Even Arthur’s servants had claimed that, the morning after his wedding, he asked for wine, stating that  (TMI alert!)  he had “been in Spain, and it was thirsty work.”

However, Catherine continued to deny that they ever had relations, even though onlookers claimed they were a fun and loving young couple for the short time they were married. Catherine was very popular, and her reputation is still very good to this day. Did she lie? Why would she? But at the same time, why wouldn’t a young couple who seemed to be happy and in love not consummate their marriage?

Do we believe what he said? Or what she said?