Saturday, February 20, 2010

Would You Marry This Man?


I am currently fascinated by King Henry VIII. It all began in choir practice when we learned a beautiful anthem by John Joubert called O Lorde, the maker of al thing. Surprisingly, the words to this prayerful song are written by King Henry VIII. It was a side of him I had never experienced and prompted me to find out more. If you click on the title to this post called Would You Marry This Man? you will find the BBC series on Henry.

There I discovered a Henry who carried a prayer roll with him at all times as well as a psalter. This king was also an accomplished musician who played several instruments and composed music as well. More research took me to the British Library exhibition in honor of the 500 year anniversary of Henry's ascenion to the throne and an album of his music which I ordered.

Next, I listened
to an amazing historical biography called The Last Wife of Henry VIII by Carolly Erickson told from the viewpoint of Katherine Parr. I now have in my possession the biography of Henry entitled The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir.

Meet the wives: (Catherine of Aragon, Anne Bolelyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Kathyrn Howard, Katherine Parr)