Henry VIII. and His Wives
HENRY VIII. married Anne Boleyn "much about St. Paul's day," January 25, 1533. Catharine, his lawful wife, was divorced on the 23d of May following. On May 19, 1536, he had Anne beheaded. The next day, May 20, he married Jane Seymour. Jane died October 24, 1537, and on that same day Cromwell, his minister, wrote to Lord William Howard that "his grace would again couple himself" and that the king desires that Lord William will report of "the conditions and qualities" of the French king's daughter, and those of the widow of the Duke de Longueville; and similar instructions to inquire into the conditions and qualities of particular ladies, were sent to other courts of Europe. On December 9, Henry's ambassador at Brussels wrote in recommendation of the duchess of Milan that, "She is not so pure white as was the late queen, whose soul God pardon; but she hath a singular good countenance; and when she chanceth to smile, there appeareth two pits in her cheeks, and one in her chin, the which becometh her right excellently well." By a kind providence, however, the dimple-cheeked duchess was saved her dimples and perhaps her head.