Hello, and thanks for downloading the Renaissance English History podcast.

I'm your host, Heather Tesco, and in our journey back to the 16th century this week, we're going to talk

about Henry VIII's wives, basically to get them out of the way. It's not that I'm against

talking about Henry's romantic trials and tribulations, but there's so much more to him than his

love life, yet that's what so often gets remembered of him. So I don't want

to spend a lot of time in this podcast series talking about his divorces and annulments,

but I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about it at all. The saga actually started with Henry's

brother named Arthur after the legendary king, when his father, Henry the 7th, wanted

to consolidate power after the Bloody Wars of the Roses.

Henry VIII was actually a second son, who was being groomed for a life in the church.

Arthur was born in 1486, and when he was only about two years old, his parents began negotiating his marriage

to a foreign princess. It was quite common for parents to begin marriage negotiations when their

children were still very young. Not only could the negotiations take a long time, but after the

agreement was finally reached, the family was already linked, so they could be allies for each other.

Henry the Seventh had to find a special bride for Arthur, not just any old foreign princess.

His hold on the throne was still quite shaky, and he needed a powerful foreign ally to give him legitimacy,

as well as provide for a smooth succession when the time came for

Arthur to inherit the throne.

He settled on the youngest daughter of the powerful ruling couple Ferdinand and Isabella

of Spain. Many of us heard their names for the first time in grade school, learning

about the voyage of Columbus, as they

had bankrolled that expedition.

...