The lives and legacies of these extraordinary women will be revealed. They married Henry VIII and lived as queens, but most died in shame and dishonour. Their legacies remain, through the institutions they created when they were queen; their children; their stories told and retold through books and films and theatre. Come and meet these fascinating women who were Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, and Survived.

DELIVERY MODE

• Hybrid (F2F & Online simultaneously

SUGGESTED READING

• Henry Ellis, The Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn & other correspondence & documents concerning the King and His Wives
• Julia Fox, Sister Queens (Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile)
• Antonia Fraser, The Wives of Henry VIII
• Robert Hutchinson, The Last Days of Henry VIII
• Elizabeth Norton, Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s Obsession
• Elizabeth Norton, Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s True Love
• Elizabeth Norton, Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII’s Discarded Bride
• Linda Porter, Katherine the Queen (The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr)
• Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII
• Alison Weir, Elizabeth of York
• Alison Weir, The Lady in the Tower
• Margaret Campbell Barnes, My Lady of Cleves, A Novel of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves
• Susannah Dunn, The Confessions of Catherine Howard
• Susannah Dunn, The Sixth Wife
• Carolly Erickson, The Last Wife of Henry VIII
• Susan Higginbotham, Her Highness, The Traitor
• Nora Lofts, The Concubine
• Robin Maxwell, The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn
• Jean Plaidy, Murder Most Royal (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard)
• Sandra Worth, The King's Daughter

COURSE OUTLINE

• Katherine of Aragon: Princess of Aragon and Castile, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella; Married to Arthur, Prince of Wales and then Henry, future Henry VIII; Refused to step aside for the upstart Anne Boleyn; Died in poverty and obscurity
• Anne Boleyn: Noli me tangere, from chaste maiden to king’s whore?; Anne risks all to bear a son for the King; Accused of witchcraft, beheaded for treason, leaving behind the infant Princess Elizabeth
• Jane Seymour: Country bumpkin or conniving consort?; Balancing submissiveness and influence: Queens were expected to be obedient wives while also fulfilling political roles; Mother to Edward VI
• Anne of Cleves: The worst meet-cute in history?; From Queen to ‘beloved sister’; Educational backgrounds and capabilities of different Tudor queens
• Catherine Howard: Cousin to Anne Boleyn, destined to be queen?; Illiterate, vain, selfish and desperate to be loved; The double standards in expectations of marital fidelity for kings and queens in Tudor England.
• Katherine Parr: Last of the early Tudor Queens, with many secrets of her own; Intelligent, secret reformer, fond of a debate with the King over theology; Survived her marriage to Henry, only to be plunged into further scandal when young Princess Elizabeth was living with her
• Pretenders to the Throne: After Edward VI dies in 1553, rival claimants emerge for the throne; Lady Jane Grey, Queen for Nine Days; Margaret Douglas, daughter of eldest daughter of Henry VII

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Analyse the role of royal marriages in Tudor England as political tools for alliance-building and dynastic purposes.
2. Evaluate the importance placed on women's ability to produce heirs in the context of Tudor succession policies.
3. Critique the double standards in expectations of marital fidelity for kings and queens in Tudor England.
4. Evaluate the challenges faced by Tudor queens in balancing the expectations of being both submissive wives and influential in the fields of politics and religion.
5. Compare and contrast the agency of different Tudor queens in their marriages, considering factors such as background and circumstances.