Royal polygamy for Henry VIII

[Hierophant]

Considering he broke with Rome anyway, why didn't he simply declare his divine office equivalent with the Old Testament prophets, thereby granting him the right to take multiple brides. You could even let Catherine remain as Queen, being succeded at her death by a younger wife. It would also allow him to keep his daughters legitimate.

I know there were a few polygamist during the Reformation. Could Henry pull it off?

 

[MerryPrankster]

I think there was actually serious discussion of this, since the NT doesn't explicitly forbid polygamy.

That said, I would imagine it would be quite controversial.

Plus, depending on just how many sons result from him going full-bore polygamous, we might have some kind of war of succession when the old man kicks off.

(I'm imagining different countries backing different claimants based on religion and things go downhill from there.)

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

IIRC, the pope offered to view any and all issue that he had with the Lady [Anne] as legitimate. However, I think that came at the same time as countenancing the pharaonic marriage between Princess Mary and Fitzroy, indicating how desperate the papacy was to keep England in the Church.

Though I think Henry was too much of an old-school Catholic to work on such a basis. Although I think it was Philipp of Hesse that commented: "that if Solomon, king of Israel, had 500 wives, why should he not have two?"

Still, it might make for fun times in England if Henry does decide to go that way. I don't say either Anne or Catherine would agree, though. Both were proud (to the extent of being arrogant) and strong-willed women, neither of whom would tolerate the other, especially a pro-Spanish Catherine versus the pro-French Anne.

 

[Uhura's Mazda]

Well, a hardline Catholic would say that this is OTL

Just like what happened with Philip of Hesse, most of the other rulers and a fair amount of the English populations would be a bit squicked out, making pro-Catholic rebellions easier to raise because of the propaganda value of a bigamist on the throne. English diplomacy would take a tumble as well and Anne Boleyn's children would be viewed as ineligible for the throne by foreigners and Catholics as OTL.

It's interesting to note that Philip of Hesse's second marriage was morganatic, so Henry could do the same as a sop to traditionalists. ie Anne's kids would only be eligible for the throne after Mary Tudor's family expired. There's no precedent for morganatic marriage in England, but the only non-noble who had married into the royal family hitherto had been Eleanor Woodville/Wydville (I think? Unless Edward III's mistress/nurse married him or Humphrey of Gloucester married Eleanor Cobham - I can't be bothered to check atm) so anyway, Henry could start a tradition of morganatic bigamous marriages in England.

However, we're not going to see Kings with harems a la Istanbul: Martin Luther refused to countenance polygamy unless the wife was a leper or otherwise unable to engage in sexytimes, and even then, I don't get the impression that he was very keen on the idea. So Anne Boleyn would in all probability be a one-off, or at any rate a rare occurrence in English royalty, let alone the Continent.

 

[Imperator Maximilianius]

Almost certainly not, for two reasons.

1. Henry was selfish and ruthless, but he wasn't an idiot. Taking more than one wife would be an unnecessary risk. Polygamy would outrage more people than he could afford, and reduce his support base. The magnitude of this kind of sex scandal would paint a massive target on his back.

2. Henry's commitment to Protestantism was lukewarm and self-serving. In many regards, England was still basically Catholic. I seriously doubt he'd do something so radical.

 

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

Almost certainly not, for two reasons.


2. Henry's commitment to Protestantism was lukewarm and self-serving. In many regards, England was still basically Catholic. I seriously doubt he'd do something so radical.

Henry's commitment to Protestantism was non-existent. He viewed the CofE as the Catholic Church in England, NOT as being any sort of Protestant church.

Remember, he wrote a treatise blasting Luther's theology (which is what led the Pope to give him the title Defender of the Faith).

Sure, he allowed vernacular services, but that's hardly 'protestantism' unless the Roman church since Vatican II are Protestant, too....


OK, so he allowed more reforms later in life, but initially he was very 'catholic'.

[pet peeve #291]