c
passages dealing with the personal sufferings of the Queens in their
distress; but I can only hope that the absence of much of this sentimental
and feminine interest from my pages will be compensated by the wider
aspect in which the public and political significance of Henry's wives is
presented; that a clearer understanding than usual may thus be gained of
the tortuous process by which the Reformation in England was effected, and
that the figure of the King in the picture may stand in a juster
proportion to his environment than is often the case.

MARTIN HUME.

LONDON, _October_ 1905.

CONTENTS

PAGE

CHAPTER I

1488-1501

INTRODUCTORY--WHY KATHARINE CAME TO ENGLAND--POLITICAL MATRIMONY 1

CHAPTER II

1501-1509

KATHARINE'S WIDOWHOOD AND WHY SHE STAYED IN ENGLAND 25

CHAPTER III

1509-1527

KATHARINE THE QUEEN--A POLITICAL MARRIAGE AND A PERSONAL DIVORCE 72

CHAPTER IV

1527-1530

KATHARINE AND ANNE--THE DIVORCE 124

CHAPTER V

1530-1534

HENRY'S DEFIANCE--THE VICTORY OF ANNE 174

CHAPTER VI

1534-1536

A FLEETING TRIUMPH--POLITICAL INTRIGUE AND THE BETRAYAL OF ANNE 225

CHAPTER VII

1536-1540

PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT--JANE SEYMOUR AND ANNE OF CLEVES 289

CHAPTER VIII

1540-1542

THE KING'S "GOOD SISTER" AND THE KING'S BAD WIFE--THE LUTHERANS
AND ENGLISH CATHOLICS 350

CHAPTER IX

1542-1547

KATHARINE PARR--THE PROTESTANTS WIN THE LAST TRICK 398

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

HENRY VIII _Frontispiece_

_From a portrait by_ JOST VAN CLEEF _in the Royal
Collection at Hampton Court Palace._

KATHARINE OF ARAGON _To face page_ 96

_From a portrait by_ HOLBEIN _in the National
Portrait Gallery._

ANNE BOLEYN " " 192

_From a portrait by_ LUCAS CORNELISZ _in the National
Portrait Gallery._

JANE SEYMOUR " " 288

_From a painting by_ HOLBEIN _in the Imperial
Collection at Vienna._

ANNE OF CLEVES