The Musical Education and Involvement of the Six Wives of Henry VIII
Abstract
The first half of sixteenth-century England was a land permeated by religious
upheaval and political instability. Despite being a land fraught with discord, it was a time
of great advances in education, theology, and the musical arts. Henry VIII, king of
England during this time, married six different women during his reign, which lasted
from 1509 to 1547. Each queen experienced a different musical education, which resulted
in musical involvement that reflected that queen’s own background and preferences. By
and large, each of the reasons discussed in this thesis; religious, financial, social, sexual
and even at times political, circle back to the idea of the manifestation and acquisition of
power. Inadvertently, the more power the queen or queen in training gained as she
climbed the social ladder, the better her chances of her survival were compared to her
lower- class counterparts.
Spanish born, Katherine of Aragon was raised at the court of Ferdinand and
Isabella, where she was educated in both singing and instrumental performance, as well
as dance. Katherine’s music education was meant to prepare Katherine to showcase her
fertility, which inevitably in her marriage, she failed to provide the kingdom with a male
heir. Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second queen, was raised in the English countryside in Kent,
and then travelled to the posh courts of Northern Europe, where she too learned singing,
dancing, and instrumental performance. Anne’s musical involvement had a seductive
quality which lead to a rapid ascension through the ranks of Tudor court society but
adversely lead to her ruination. Jane Seymour, raised on the country estate of Wulfhall, in
Wiltshire, had a simple music education through her Catholic upbringing. Jane’s musical
involvement, or lack thereof, was a direct reaction to Anne Boleyn’s detrimental musical
involvement and her minimal involvement was meant to showcase her chastity rather
than her charisma. German-born Anne of Cleves was raised in the Protestant belief that
music education impinged upon a woman’s purity. Anne’s musical involvement
demonstrates the transition not only into English society, but also how a woman’s
musical involvement changed with the change in marital status. As a single woman, Anne
was free to pursue the musical education she never had in her conservative Protestant
German upbringing. As the fifth wife, the young Katherine Howard received music
education specifically for her families, and her own, upward social mobility. In turn, she
gained the king’s attention and earned the most advantageous marriage possible.
However, as queen, like she failed to make the transition to the more serious role of
musical patroness, and continued living as if she were still a young girl at Lambeth,
immensely enjoying dance. Katherine Parre, Henry’s final and sixth wife, received a
musical education much modeled after Katherine of Aragon’s ideas for her own daughter,
Mary. Under Maude Parre’s supervision, Katherine Parre received training in
instrumental music, singing, and dance, at her families’ northern country estate. As
queen, Katherine’s musical involvement encapsulates pieces of each of the preceeding
queens in addition to enhancing her own sense of majesty and prestige. In turn, Katherine
Parre’s involvement would inspire future Tudor monarchs, Elizabeth and Edward, to do
the same.
Table of Contents
Introduction and literature review -- Henry VIII: humanism and musical education at the early Tudor Court -- Katherine of Aragon: Music, the pomegranate,and songs of childloss -- Anne Boleyn's musical education and musical performance: the maid, the marquess, and the queen -- Training in the spirit: religion and music in the lives of Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves -- Katherine Howard: music to her rise, dancing to her fall -- Katherine Parre and conclusion: born to sit on the highest seat of "musical" majesty
Degree
M.M.