Posted on Mar 7, 2019
Henry VIII letter to pope pleading for divorce reproduced
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On March 7, 1530, English King Henry VIII's divorce request is denied by the Pope. From the article:
"Henry VIII letter to pope pleading for divorce reproduced
Replica of 1530 petition to Vatican to allow monarch to divorce Catherine of Aragon will cost €50,000 It weighs in at 2.5 kilos, has 81 wax seals dangling from it and at €50,000 (£43,000) costs more than the average piece of Vatican merchandising.
But the perfect replica of the letter sent by British nobles to Pope Clement VII in 1530 demanding a divorce for Henry VIII was hailed by historians as crucial to understanding why England is a Protestant country when it was unveiled in Rome today.
"To understand England we need to have this document in mind," said the historian David Starkey, who was present at the launch in Rome.
After languishing lost in a drawer at the Vatican's secret archive until the 1920s, the letter has been painstakingly reproduced by an Italian firm, which plans to turn out 200 copies at a rate of three a month for libraries and collectors.
When the pope denied Henry VIII the divorce he craved from Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn, the English king broke with Rome.
Academics and churchmen queued to peer at the scratchy handwriting of the signatories on the parchment, who made up 70% of the House of Lords at the time.
According to Starkey, the document says more about Henry's pressure to get his divorce than any Protestant rumblings in England.
"Very few people were remotely interested in ideas from Germany," he said, adding that Henry was more interested in Anne Boleyn, "who had been to France where women learned to manipulate men.
"This document was the start of what would turn into an avalanche of propaganda against Rome and wicked foreign ways," he said.
"It is so impressive and overblown precisely because it was needed to give a false idea of national unity against papal power," he added. "Even today it helps explain England's strange attitude to the European Union."
A damaged copy of the letter missing many of the seals is kept at the National Archives at Kew. Two of the new reproductions have already been ordered by private Italian collectors.
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Our model allows people to support us in a way that works for them. Every time a reader like you makes a contribution to The Guardian, no matter how big or small, it goes directly into funding our journalism. But we need to build on this support for the years ahead."
"Henry VIII letter to pope pleading for divorce reproduced
Replica of 1530 petition to Vatican to allow monarch to divorce Catherine of Aragon will cost €50,000 It weighs in at 2.5 kilos, has 81 wax seals dangling from it and at €50,000 (£43,000) costs more than the average piece of Vatican merchandising.
But the perfect replica of the letter sent by British nobles to Pope Clement VII in 1530 demanding a divorce for Henry VIII was hailed by historians as crucial to understanding why England is a Protestant country when it was unveiled in Rome today.
"To understand England we need to have this document in mind," said the historian David Starkey, who was present at the launch in Rome.
After languishing lost in a drawer at the Vatican's secret archive until the 1920s, the letter has been painstakingly reproduced by an Italian firm, which plans to turn out 200 copies at a rate of three a month for libraries and collectors.
When the pope denied Henry VIII the divorce he craved from Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn, the English king broke with Rome.
Academics and churchmen queued to peer at the scratchy handwriting of the signatories on the parchment, who made up 70% of the House of Lords at the time.
According to Starkey, the document says more about Henry's pressure to get his divorce than any Protestant rumblings in England.
"Very few people were remotely interested in ideas from Germany," he said, adding that Henry was more interested in Anne Boleyn, "who had been to France where women learned to manipulate men.
"This document was the start of what would turn into an avalanche of propaganda against Rome and wicked foreign ways," he said.
"It is so impressive and overblown precisely because it was needed to give a false idea of national unity against papal power," he added. "Even today it helps explain England's strange attitude to the European Union."
A damaged copy of the letter missing many of the seals is kept at the National Archives at Kew. Two of the new reproductions have already been ordered by private Italian collectors.
We made a choice…
… will you support it today? Our journalism now reaches record numbers around the world and more than a million people have supported our reporting. We continue to face financial challenges but, unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall. We want our journalism to remain accessible to all, regardless of where they live or what they can afford.
This is The Guardian’s model for open, independent journalism: free for those who can’t afford it, supported by those who can. Readers’ support powers our work, safeguarding our essential editorial independence. This means the responsibility of protecting independent journalism is shared, enabling us all to feel empowered to bring about real change in the world. Your support gives Guardian journalists the time, space and freedom to report with tenacity and rigour, to shed light where others won’t. It emboldens us to challenge authority and question the status quo. And by keeping all of our journalism free and open to all, we can foster inclusivity, diversity, make space for debate, inspire conversation – so more people have access to accurate information with integrity at its heart.
Guardian journalism is rooted in facts with a progressive perspective on the world. We are editorially independent, meaning we set our own agenda. Our journalism is free from commercial bias and not influenced by billionaire owners, politicians or shareholders. No one steers our opinion. At a time when there are so few sources of information you can really trust, this is vital as it enables us to give a voice to those less heard, challenge the powerful and hold them to account. Your support means we can keep investigating and exploring the critical issues of our time.
Our model allows people to support us in a way that works for them. Every time a reader like you makes a contribution to The Guardian, no matter how big or small, it goes directly into funding our journalism. But we need to build on this support for the years ahead."
Henry VIII letter to pope pleading for divorce reproduced
Posted from theguardian.com
World History
Church
Religion
Divorce
Monarchy
Posted 6 y ago
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