Henry VIII was a very complex man. Few know that in defense of the Pope against Luther’s claims he wrote a treatise in DEFENSE of the Catholic faith. Erasmus was very impressed with the younger Henry, and there is no doubt that he was well educated and had tremendous gifts–an excellent physique until a fall at jousting caused a leg ulcer which never healed and was conducive to packing on the pounds in his later life; great personal magnetism; and a fine capacity in choosing the men who helped him run his kingdom, though he would discard them if they ‘failed’ him. (It took him a while with Wolsey; by the time he sent Cromwell to the block he was well on the way to despotism).
That being said, Henry’s executions of his two wives, Anne Boleyn and her cousin Catherine Howard, were judicial murders pure and simple. Before he beheaded Anne, he had her sign away hers and her daughter Elizabeth’s rights, on the ground that Anne had a precontract with Harry Percy of Northumberland. . .of course, if that had been the case, Anne was never legally married to Henry and thus did not NEED to die for adultery. But Henry, who thought she ‘failed’ him for not producing a son, and was angry at all that he ‘suffered’ for her, sent her to death quite cheerfully.
He sent Catherine LESS cheerfully. First, she was much younger than he. And she actually was guilty–not of adultery, though. Catherine was not a virgin when she married Henry. And he found out. And to ‘save face’ (and because a small group of his “new men” found Catherine, and her family, too “catholic” for their taste), Catherine was sacrificed.
And then, it was put in as an article of law, that whomever the king should marry would be a virgin. . .or a WIDOW. Henry wasn’t going to take any chances. . .
As for Constantine, not knowing nearly so much about the circumstances of his ‘excutions’ as I do about Henry’s circumstances, I won’t hazard a guess as to their legitimacy. However, the old saying is 'two wrongs don’t make a right" so even IF Constantine’s executions were just as wrong as Henry’s wouldn’t make Henry’s OK.
However, I have to thank you–I intend to hit the public library tomorrow to do research on Constantine now. I appreciate your giving me a new historical research project!!
