Personal transformations are not clear cut or simple to comprehend fully. An individual’s life is complicated and raw. It is difficult to draw a straight line in order to explain a fundamental life passage. At times these critical passages are not always beneficial or enlightening for the individual, but instead turn them hard and wearied. Often transformations change the individual for the worse. For those in power or in the public eye, these transformations are often necessary for survival. For centuries monarchies have been testing the limits of their character, and pushing people to the edge in order to transform into what they deem to be an effective ruler.
When examining sixteenth century monarchs, it is evident that transformations occurred for survival, reputation, and perhaps for the good of their realm(s). I will be examining three monarchs and applying a transformational narrative model to each of them in order to explain how they each transformed over time, for worse or better. Interestingly, all three of these monarch’s lives have intertwined in some way, furthering complicating their already complex and turbulent reigns as powerful European kings and queens. In the case of two of these monarchs, transformations occurred during the course of their time in power, changing their international or domestic policies – and creating the persona of a hard exterior in order to be feared by their subjects and those abroad. For the last monarch, a crucial transformation occurred before she took her seat on the throne. It is clear that some of these transformations are necessary for success and others were a combination of personal distress, dissatisfaction and conflict. I do not plan on detailing each individual’s life, but instead their critical moments leading to these personal transformations, forever altering their lives and often the people around them. Also, I am not planning on including supporting characters or intertwining details of each person’s life, unless necessary to explain one’s transformation. Transformation is often inevitable for some people; how it is brought on and how it changes an individual marks changing points in history for three these monarchs.
Henry VIII (1491-1547)
Henry Tudor was a tempestuous and complicated character, although he did not always have the fickle reputation that is depicted today. Henry VIII ascended to the throne in 1509 and was characterized as a “brilliant scholar and sportsman whose good looks, splendid physique and kingly bearing were the talk of Christendom” (Weir, 1996, p. 1). He enjoyed tournaments as well as elaborate pageants stemming from classical and allegorical themes, spending large amounts of money on costumes and scenery (Weir, 1996). Aside from the more “superficial entertainments, Henry delighted in the company of scholars, artists and musicians, and his court become a renowned center of culture” (Weir, 1996, p.1).
According to numerous scholars, as soon as Henry ascended to the throne, he immediately married Princess Catherine of Aragon, who arrived from Spain in 1501 to marry Henry’s older brother, Arthur. Arthur and Catherine’s marriage was short lived because the young prince died six months after their wedding. Changes started to occur in Henry when Catherine failed to produce a living male heir to the English throne. At this time Henry conveniently fell in love with one of Catherine’s maids of honor, the witty and stunning Anne Boleyn (Weir, 1996). His quest to replace Catherine with Anne as his wife began to change the course of history and Henry personally as a monarch.
Henry’s transformation from virtuous prince to “wife-killer” can most likely be explained through the snake model. I believe events in Henry’s life, particularly those surrounding the middle of his reign, had shed him from year to year. He was once Europe’s most virtuous prince and by the end of his reign he turned into the tyrant he is now referred to in popular culture. As Lipscomb (2009, p. 23) explained, there were many misconceptions about Henry at the time his death, such as, “Henry VIII is seen has misogynistic, ruthless, egotistical, fickle, predatory, infantile and a sex-obsessed glutton.” Henry’s first transformation occurred when he began to seek a separation from Catherine of Aragon around 1527. Despite being married for twenty unperturbed years, “the couple had suffered a series of heartbreaking miscarriages, stillbirths and cot deaths” (Lipscomb, 2009, p. 36). Henry was under the notion that one of his key responsibilities as monarch was to secure the Tudor dynasty with a living male heir of age to rule independently without a regency or group of councilors. The fear of lacking a male to succeed the throne would suggest that Henry whole heartedly believed that he was being punished by God for marrying his brother’s widow (Lipscomb, 2009).
As Lipscomb (2009, p. 37) writes, “This realization coincided with the discovery of the witty, captivating Anne Boleyn.” Henry meant to replace Catherine with the young Anne in the hope of producing male heirs to the throne. He argued that according to “Levictus 18:16 and 20:21, the union of a man and the wife of his brother was contrary to the law of God” (Lipscomb, 2009, p. 38). When Henry realized this argument was not going to hold up, especially with Catherine’s overly supportive nephew, King Charles V, he called for an alternative strategy in order to obtain his divorce. This strategy was discovered in the year 1528, when Anne Boleyn had given Henry William Tyndale’s book, The Obedience of a Christian Man, an evangelical work that stated it was “shameful” for kings to be forced to submit to anyone but God himself. The discovery of Tyndale’s book, in combination with an “increasing warmth Henry felt towards the ideas of royal supremacy and divine-right kingship” (Lipscomb, 2009, p. 39), further fueled Henry’s ambition to rule as King and Supreme Head of the Church of England. Lipscomb (2009, p. 39) continued to explain, “The English crown had always subscribed to the notion of the divine right of kings to rule.” Anne Boleyn had now introduced Evangelical thought to Henry, setting into motion radical changes in England that could not be reversed. Henry married Anne secretly in his private chapel on January 25th, 1533 (Borman, 2010). Anne was then officially recognized as queen of England on April 12, 1533, with her coronation following six weeks later (Borman, 2010). The break from his first wife, from the Catholic Church, and his marriage to Anne Boleyn marked the point where Henry’s skin began to shed, fuelling his later transformation.
Large factions, mainly Catholics, in England and abroad never recognized Anne as Henry’s lawful wife and waited eagerly for her demise. That time came in 1536, which was arguably Henry’s end in many ways. Lipscomb (2009) provides numerous examples which support the theory that 1536 was the year of Henry Tudor’s undoing. The events that may have contributed to Henry’s transformation from righteous ruler to an ill-tempered tyrant started early in the year. They include:
- Catherine of Aragon’s death, January 7th, 1536
- Henry’s mistreatment of the Princess “Lady” Mary, which he later seemed to regret
- Henry fell from his horse while jousting a couple of weeks later
- Anne Boleyn miscarried a boy the day of Catherine’s funeral
- Parliament passed the Act for the Dissolution of the Smaller Monasteries, March 1536
- “Discovery” of Anne Boleyn’s alleged adultery with a number of men, Spring 1536
- Anne Boleyn’s execution, May 19th, 1536
- Henry’s marriage to Jane Seymour, May 30th, 1536
- Henry reached “old age” (45) by Sixteenth Century standards, June 28th, 1536
- Princess Elizabeth was declared illegitimate, leaving no legitimate heir to the throne
- Henry’s much adored illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, died at 17 years of age, July 26, 1536
Many of these impactful events were of Henry’s own doing, but nonetheless shaped the monarch’s world views and perceptions of identity. This year took a distinctive toll on the virtuous prince. Through each one of the above occurrences, Henry began to “shed” some of the allure and carefree demeanor he displayed earlier in his reign and became more jaded and untrusting. According to Lipscomb’s (2009, p. 104) research, Eustace Chapuys, the Spanish ambassador, reported that the king told Cromwell “he felt himself already growing old, and doubted whether he should having any child by the Queen.” Furthermore, Lipscomb (2009) wrote, “He [Henry] became jaundiced and disillusioned by the events of 1536. Mistrust and paranoia were not characteristics associated with Henry VIII before 1536; they were afterwards.”
Henry seemed to “reverse the shedding” at certain points in his life after that year. At times during his transformation, Henry experienced feelings of rehabilitated youth following the birth of his son Edward, his marriage to the young and lustful Katherine Howard (although soon retracted by her betrayal and eventual execution), then again at his wedding to his sixth wife, the intelligent and wealthy Katherine Parr (Lipscomb, 2009).
The events of 1536 not only transformed Henry’s character and view of the world, but he also transformed physically. He gained an enormous amount of weight, suffered from gout, and was constantly battling an infected ulcer on his leg brought about by a jousting accident. While physical transformations do not always accompany character transformations, they add intensity to the changes. While the skin a snake sheds may not be the full measure of the new snake’s girth or length, it is a record of an identity outgrown.
Elizabeth I (1533-1603)
Elizabeth Tudor was born on September 7, 1533 to Henry VIII of England and his second wife, Queen Anne Boleyn (Felch & Stump, 2008). Anne Boleyn was expected to produce a male heir to the English throne and instead had Elizabeth. The princess came into the world under turbulent circumstances and she therefore symbolized changes in England. Her mother was a zealous Protestant reformer and her parent’s marriage occurred only because of Henry’s dismissal of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and his break with the Catholic Church and Rome (Felch & Stump, 2008).
Due to the disappointment of Elizabeth’s gender and Anne Boleyn’s subsequent miscarriages following Elizabeth’s birth, Anne’s time as queen of England came to a bitter end when Henry VIII and his most intimate councilors plotted her downfall in 1536. On May 19, 1536, Queen Anne Boleyn was executed as a traitor at the Tower of London. She left behind Elizabeth, not quite three years old and declared a “bastard” (Felch & Stump, 2008). After her mother’s execution, Elizabeth’s place at the English court was confusing and precarious. She was no longer styled as Princess Elizabeth, but instead styled “The Lady Elizabeth.” She was still housed with the royal children, but was no longer eligible for the line of succession. After her father’s death in 1547, Elizabeth faced many turbulent and painful years when she was accused of plotting and overthrowing during both her brother and sister’s reigns (Hulse, 2003). During such interrogations and fearing for her own life, Elizabeth’s health suffered as she pleaded her case to her siblings’ interrogators. Hulse (2003, p.3) wrote, “As a royal princess during the reigns of her brother and sister, the young Elizabeth was at the center of speculation, rumor, and even plots about the possibility that she too might eventually hold the scepter.”
Elizabeth does not seem to fit into a “classical” transformational narrative model. Her life was never simple or elementary from the moment she entered this world through her parents’ controversial marriage. Within the structure of the eagle model, Elizabeth’s life would be best told with some slight changes made to the model’s initial structure. Instead of existing in a “basic, pre-socialized identity,” Elizabeth was thrown into a country torn by conflicting religious views and an unwanted marriage between her father, the king of England, and her mother, a member of the nobility with strong opinions and a fiery temper. As Hulse (2003, p. 3) wrote, “Elizabeth I of England was indeed one of those rare individuals who changed history from the moment of her birth. Her father, Henry VIII, broke with the Roman Catholic Church in order to marry his second wife, Anne Boleyn, and to legitimize their expected child.” Elizabeth’s social and family context of identity formed at a young age when she became aware of her mother’s execution and recognized her new place as Henry VIII’s daughter, but no longer heir to the English throne. Her trans-social context began after her father’s death and her precarious positions during her brother’s, then sister’s, reign. She was constantly being suspected of treason and looked upon as a “danger” to both her bother and sister’s positions as reigning monarchs. One of the most marked transformations of Elizabeth’s life happened as a result of Wyatt’s Rebellion1 in early 1554. Elizabeth was sent to The Tower by the orders of her sister, Mary I, to be interrogated regarding her involvement in the plot. Bucholz and Levin (2009) wrote, “Mary was convinced that Elizabeth had known about and encouraged the rebellion” (p. 59). In Susan Kay’s (2010) Legacy: The Acclaimed Novel of Elizabeth, England’s Most Passionate Queen – and the Three Men Who Loved Her, she described Elizabeth’s week long stay in The Tower as one that “transformed her life.” The prospect of being executed as a traitor just like her mother changed Elizabeth and made her fearful and untrusting which lasted for the rest of her life.
Elizabeth reached a visionary and spiritual experience at the end of her sister’s reign. Bucholz and Levin (2009) wrote that “at times Elizabeth was in such despair in the Tower that she considered asking Mary, like her mother, be executed by a French swordsman” (p. 65). As Elizabeth was shoveled from royal prison to royal prison, she began to overcome thoughts of hopelessness and defeat. Despite Elizabeth’s fear of losing her life earlier in Mary’s reign, she now faced the prospect of finally becoming queen of England, her most cherished desire (Bucholz and Levin, 2009). When Mary I died on November 17, 1558, Elizabeth’s triumphant transition to the throne was smooth. Prior to her death, Mary officially recognized Elizabeth as her heir to the throne.
As the final step on the eagle model, Elizabeth reached her “horizon” on her memorable and exultant ride into London as the next queen of England. “Elizabeth was loudly cheered; those who had loved her as Princess Elizabeth in her difficult journeys and days of disgrace could now celebrate her triumphant return to the city as queen” (Bucholz and Levin, 2009, p. 69). As history records, Queen Elizabeth I went on to rule in one of England’s more glorious times, her reign remembered as the “Golden Age.” As Bucholz and Levin (2009) wrote, “Once queen, Elizabeth never forgot what she had learned in self-preservation and self-presentation during her dangerous travels in the reign of her sister” (p. 70). Through her trials and tribulations as Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth was able to rule effectively where a lesser monarch may have been overcome (Blumberg, 1995). Instead, at the end of her life she was celebrated by a number of poets and artists for her “divine personage.” During her forty-five year reign, she became a “symbol of the nation, England’s icon” (Blumberg, 1995, p. 68).
Catherine de Medici (1519-1589)
There are not many accounts or biographies of Catherine de Medici. Rather, there are a number of historical fiction novels about her, focusing on the turbulent course her power took as queen mother during the French Protestant rebellions. According to Bucholz and Levin (2009), queens have been receiving scholarly attention these days in the form of historical novels, with filmmakers, dramatists, etc. But the focus has not been on queen regents alone. Instead, many novelists have focused on the lives of consorts, mother queens, and dowager queens for serious academic consideration (Bucholz & Levin, 2009). Unlike Elizabeth I, Catherine de Medici was not born as an heir to a succession. Instead, she was an Italian noblewoman betrothed to the heir of the French throne, Henri II (Knecht, 1998).
Catherine’s narrative is best told through the butterfly model. Her journey begins after her marriage to Francis of France’s second son, Henri, Duke of Orleans. During her time as dauphine of France, she moved through everyday life with all the standard luxuries of royalty. According to Knecht (1998, p. 20), “Catherine seems to have adapted well to her new environment.” Her position was small, yet she appeared content as she moved through life like a caterpillar as France’s dauphin.
Despite her ease at the French court, Catherine’s marriage to Henri, “was fraught from the start,” due to political reasons that significantly lowered Catherine’s worth as a bride as an advantageous match for France (Knecht, 1998, p. 28). In addition to her perilous position as a dauphin of little standing, Catherine’s husband preferred his mistress, Diane de Poitiers to his wife. In 1536, Catherine’s position drastically changed after the death of Henri’s older brother Francis, the first heir in line to the French succession. The country was now going to be left Francis’s second son, Henri and his wife, the Florentine Catherine de Medici (Knecht, 1998). When Francis I died in February of 1547, Catherine was crowned queen at the age of 28.
According to Knecht (1998), Catherine’s political influence was very minimal during her husband’s reign. Instead, King Henri consulted with his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, for political advice. Henri allegedly “spent a third of each day in her [Diane de Poitiers] company” (Knecht, 1998, p. 38). In order to adequately serve her role as queen to one of Europe’s most powerful countries, Catherine closely attended to her royal children; according to Knecht (1998, p. 34), “Catherine was a very devoted mother.” Catherine continued on in a private, separate environment in order to prepare her for the transformations that were about to occur in the years following. Despite being limited in her political influence, Catherine often acted as regent when her husband went abroad. Reluctantly she shared “the presidency of the council with Jean Bertrand, Keeper of the Seals, and that all decisions were to be taken by a majority of councilors” (Knecht, 1998, p. 43).
Catherine’s life took another dramatic turn. This time the event would be life-altering, again transforming her role and position in France. On July 10th, 1559 Henri died in a jousting accident, leaving his kingdom to his young son, Francis, so that “the untimely death of Henri II revealed the weakness of an essentially personal monarchy” (Knecht, 1998, p. 59). Knecht (1998, p.59) explained, “ Whereas he [Henri] and his father had been strong men who could lead their armies in battle and command the loyalty of the nobility, Francis II was a mere boy of fifteen and a sickly one at that.”
Catherine had to share her power as queen mother with her daughter-in law, Mary Stuart1, as well as Mary Stuart’s powerful French uncles, who were staunch Catholics and implemented strict policies within the realm. Catherine had very little influence during the reign of her first son, Francis II. Again it was not until his death in 1560 that the French government fell solely into her hands (Knecht, 1998). Catherine emerged as the political butterfly when her young son, Charles IX, came to the throne as another boy king. She reigned as queen mother until he reached his majority in 1563 and thereafter she continued to hold her power over him (Knecht, 1998).
Catherine’s reputation began to get maligned over the years. She is frequently portrayed as a ruthless ruler and overbearing mother. When she transitioned into her position as queen mother with reigning powers, however, she took on a different point of view.
It is not clearly stated what Catherine’s religious ideologies were. During the height of her power she made some decisions that left her reputation badly damaged through time. The events that lead to these misconceptions are as follows:
- Catherine dedicated her influence to preserving a balance between the French Protestants and the Roman Catholics
- Catherine, being a Catholic herself, tended to support the Catholics, but her political inclinations led her to switch her support to the Protestant cause
- When she discovered the growing Protestant rebellion over her son, Charles, she hastily concocted a plot to assassinate the Protestant leader, Gaspard II de Coligny
- Coligny’s death subsequently lead to the death of 50,000 other Protestant at the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
After the death of her son Charles, Catherine’s power began to decline in 1574 during the accession of her third son, Henry III. As Catherine’s life played out, it appears the height of her power, or her “butterfly stage,” came about in a steady manner. Although Catherine’s power was brought to a fierce halt when her Protestant son, Henri, came to the throne with every bit of the strength and power of his father and grandfather. At this point, Catherine seems to have slipped back into a caterpillar state until her death on January 5, 1589. Catherine’s story is not “traditional” in the sense that her butterfly stage transformed her life for the best and she prospered until her remaining days. Instead Catherine experienced a regression back to her original state as a caterpillar at the French court.
These models only serve as a specialized lens to witness what turns and twists people’s lives can take as they transition into different stages of their lives. Most individual’s lives are complicated and take a number of twists, turns, and transformations in order for them to end up at their final destination. Although I could not provide a biography for each of these monarch’s lives, the above details best explain how transformation occurred, what events lead to the change, and how they changed personally and as rulers.
References
- Blumberg, A. (1995). Great leaders, great tyrants?: Contemporary views of world viewers who made history. Connecticut: Praeger.
- Borman, T. (2010). Elizabeth’s women: Friends, rivals, foes who shaped the virgin queen. London: Bantam.
- Bucholz, R., & Levin, C. (Eds.) (2009). Queens & power in medieval and early modern England. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
- Felch, S.M., & Stump, D. (Eds.). (2008). Elizabeth I and her age. New York: Norton & Company.
- Hulse, C. (2003). Elizabeth I: Ruler and legend. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
- Kay, S. (2010). Legacy: The acclaimed novel of elizabeth, england’s most passionate queen – and the three men who loved her. Chicago: Sourcebooks Landmark.
- Knecht, R.J. (1998). Catherine De’Medici. New York: Longman.
- Lipscomb, S. (2009). 1536: The year that changed henry VIII. England: Lion Hudson.
- Ridgway, C. (2011). The Anne Boleyn Files. Retrieved from http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/.
- Weir, A. (1996). The children of henry viii. Ballantine Books: New York.
