little_miss_sunnydale
Henry VIII’s annotations in his copy of the books of Solomon
Henry VIII’s copy of Miles Coverdale’s translation of the books of Solomon with his annotations. British Library, C.25.b.4(1), f. 4v. Printed by Edward Whitchurch in c.1545 and once kept in the Upper Library at Westminster Palace.
In February 1542, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, Katherine Howard, was executed in the Tower of London. Details of her pre-marital relationship with Francis Dereham and extramarital relationship with Thomas Culpepper, gentleman of the Privy Chamber, had eventually come to light, destroying Henry VIII’s affections for her. Cast as an immoral and adulterous queen, she was deprived of her position and condemned to death. Her remains were laid to rest in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula where Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, Katherine’s own cousin and fellow beheaded queen, was also buried.
By July 1543 Henry was married again, this time to the pious twice-married Katherine Parr. The inscriptions made by Henry in his copy of the translated books of Solomon dates to the time of his final marriage. Here the text distinguishes between the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ woman. On the bottom of the page in the margin, Henry has written ‘for wyfves’, drawing attention to the passage emphasising need for a husband and wife to not be ‘straungers’. ‘…be glad wyth the wyfe of thy youth’, the text commands which may seem an odd thing for Henry to mark out given he was certainly not content with the majority of his earlier marriages. But he believed his union with Parr was only his second legitimate match and clearly perceives it is a happy union that will last.
At the top of the page, Henry has bracketed several lines and written ‘bene’ – ‘good’ – in the margin. The lines refer to the immoral woman who has the ‘lyppes of a harlot’ but is ultimately as ‘bytter as wormewode, & as sharpe as a two edged sweard’. This woman ’regardeth not the path of lyfe’, but is concerned purely with her own pleasure and deceitful ways. The text urges men to ‘kepe thy waye farre from her, and come not nye the dores of hyr house’. Was Henry thinking here of his former, controversial wife? The text provides an intriguing insight into Henry’s own morality, tainted, as usual, with a deep sense of hypocrisy and self-righteousness.
Henry VIII’s annotations in his copy of the books of Solomon
Henry VIII’s copy of Miles Coverdale’s translation of the books of Solomon with his annotations. British Library, C.25.b.4(1), f. 4v. Printed by Edward Whitchurch in c.1545 and once kept in the Upper Library at Westminster Palace.
In February 1542, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, Katherine Howard, was executed in the Tower of London. Details of her pre-marital relationship with Francis Dereham and extramarital relationship with Thomas Culpepper, gentleman of the Privy Chamber, had eventually come to light, destroying Henry VIII’s affections for her. Cast as an immoral and adulterous queen, she was deprived of her position and condemned to death. Her remains were laid to rest in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula where Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, Katherine’s own cousin and fellow beheaded queen, was also buried.
By July 1543 Henry was married again, this time to the pious twice-married Katherine Parr. The inscriptions made by Henry in his copy of the translated books of Solomon dates to the time of his final marriage. Here the text distinguishes between the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ woman. On the bottom of the page in the margin, Henry has written ‘for wyfves’, drawing attention to the passage emphasising need for a husband and wife to not be ‘straungers’. ‘…be glad wyth the wyfe of thy youth’, the text commands which may seem an odd thing for Henry to mark out given he was certainly not content with the majority of his earlier marriages. But he believed his union with Parr was only his second legitimate match and clearly perceives it is a happy union that will last.
At the top of the page, Henry has bracketed several lines and written ‘bene’ – ‘good’ – in the margin. The lines refer to the immoral woman who has the ‘lyppes of a harlot’ but is ultimately as ‘bytter as wormewode, & as sharpe as a two edged sweard’. This woman ’regardeth not the path of lyfe’, but is concerned purely with her own pleasure and deceitful ways. The text urges men to ‘kepe thy waye farre from her, and come not nye the dores of hyr house’. Was Henry thinking here of his former, controversial wife? The text provides an intriguing insight into Henry’s own morality, tainted, as usual, with a deep sense of hypocrisy and self-righteousness.