The Turmoil Of Divorce For A Battered Wife

Divorced, beheaded, survived… the wives of Henry VIII

The Turmoil  Of Divorce For A Battered Wife

Henry VIII with Prince Edward and Jane Seymour

Henry VIII with Prince Edward and Jane Seymour

The larger-than-life character of King Henry VIII (1509-47) dazzles across the centuries.

He founded a national church, transformed government, built a strong Navy and encouraged a flourishing of the arts.

He is also remembered for the extraordinary marital merry-go-round that saw him wed six wives in his quest for a male heir (and ideally a spare) to secure the Tudor dynasty on England’s throne.

But what of those six wives, almost hidden in Henry’s monstrous shadow and recalled less by name than by their fates summed up in the well-known rhyme: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived? Far from the puppets implied, each is a fascinating flesh-and-blood figure and each dealt differently with Henry and the challenges they faced. The consequences determined the course of royal history.

The medieval ruins of Ludlow Castle offer an evocative starting place for the wives’ story. For it’s here that the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon was living with her husband Prince Arthur, elder son and heir of King Henry VII, when Arthur was suddenly taken ill and died in 1502.

Catherine, the pretty, gracious daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and his warrior-queen Isabella, had been married to cement a political alliance between Spain and England against France.

Now, aged just 16, she was a widow in a foreign land. But Catherine firmly believed in her royal destiny and after seven difficult years, a papal dispensation and a deathbed wish by Henry VII, her patience paid off.

She married Arthur’s brother, King Henry VIII in June 1509.

The match reaffirmed the political alliance, but 18-year-old Henry, 6ft 2in tall and “the handsomest sovereign”, was also in love with his diminutive, auburn-haired 23-year-old bride.

All bode well and she played the perfect wife and queen, whether devotedly embroidering her husband’s shirts or (ever her mother’s daughter) vigorously supporting Henry in his military pursuits.

In 1513 when the king went to fight in France, he made Catherine regent in his absence, a role that she performed with aplomb.

But there was one crucial role in which she failed: to provide Henry with a son and heir. The prince born in 1511 died within a few months and the one surviving child from six or seven pregnancies was a daughter, Mary, which simply would not do. As the queen grew older, she lost her looks and turned increasingly to her Catholic faith and study; Henry turned to mistresses.

Around 1526, the king’s roving eye alighted on one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn. The “fresh young damsel” refused to become his mistress, provoking a frenzy of frustrated royal passion. Anne issued a breathtakingly bold ultimatum: she could only surrender to Henry’s advances if he divorced his wife.

The king, believing Anne would provide his male heir, entreated the Pope to declare his marriage to his brother’s wife invalid, but the Pope refused, sparking Henry’s break with Catholic Rome.

Nor would Catherine go quietly, declaring her first marriage had never been consummated and she was the sovereign’s ‘true wife’.

In May 1533, after nearly 24 years of marriage, Catherine was divorced anyway and reduced to the title Princess Dowager.

Pious and noble to the end, she died in January 1536 at Kimbolton Castle in Cambridgeshire (now owned by Kimbolton School and open to visitors on certain days). In a last letter to Henry, she wrote, “For my part I pardon you everything, and I wish devoutly to pray God that He will pardon you also.” You’ll find her tomb in Peterborough Cathedral, but her ghost lingers at Kimbolton Castle.

Anne Boleyn’s story takes us first to her childhood home, Hever Castle in Kent.

Here you can view her portrait and also the Book of Hours (prayer book) she is said to have carried to the scaffold when her royal luck ran out.

A dark-eyed brunette, Anne was no conventional beauty, but she was feisty, witty and seductive, with a chic French education acquired while her father worked as a diplomat in Paris.

The Boleyns were an ambitious family and Anne’s sister Mary had already been the king’s mistress. But Anne was the one who shrewdly won the royal hand in marriage, in January 1533 – some four months before Henry’s actual divorce from Catherine. Anne, 32 years old, was already flaunting her pregnancy, although the eagerly anticipated son would turn out to be another girl, Elizabeth.

The new queen was widely reviled as an interloper, a social climber and even a witch (she had a sixth finger on her left hand) who had ensnared the king. People also blamed her for the religious turmoil that Henry’s break with Rome unleashed.

Indeed Anne was greatly attracted to the controversial religious ideas behind the Protestant Reformation; coincidentally they served her interests.

It was she who had given Henry The Obedience of a Christian Man by William Tyndale that stated the King, not the Pope, should have authority over the Church.

Hever CastleBut Anne was playing a dangerous game. Without allies, she fully depended on Henry’s favour, and as pregnancies came and went and no male heir was produced, the king’s favour began to turn elsewhere. The end came three years into her marriage: on 19 May 1536 Anne was beheaded on London’s Tower Green.

Despite the trumped-up charges of adultery and treason, she showed remarkable composure on the scaffold, calling upon Jesus Christ to “save my sovereign and master the King, the most godly, noble and gentle prince that is.”  Her headless spirit is said still to appear near Queen’s House and lead a ghostly procession of lords and ladies down the aisle of the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula where she is buried.

Just over a week after Anne’s execution, Henry married Jane Seymour, a former lady-in-waiting to his first two wives. This fair, pale-skinned, blue-eyed woman of respectable birth and standing was demure and virtuous. She was also a committed Catholic and dared to plead with her new husband to abandon the Dissolution of the Monasteries, perhaps hoping he would return to the ‘true faith’.

Her temerity earned her a stern rebuke, but any lingering resentment was swept aside when she gave birth to Prince Edward on 12 October 1537, in the royal apartments at Hampton Court Palace. It’s easy to imagine the king’s pride and relief as the infant was baptised in the sumptuous Chapel Royal.

Jane Seymour

But even in triumph came tragedy. Jane contracted puerperal fever and died shortly after the birth. Of all Henry’s spouses, it is his “most dear and entirely beloved wife” who is buried beside him in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

Meantime court advisors – and a flattering portrait by Hans Holbein – persuaded the distraught king to take another bride, who would bring with her a German alliance.

Anne of Cleves was shipped over, taking the trouble first to study English etiquette and learn card games that Henry played, the better to please him.

Unfortunately, when Henry met her in the half-timbered Old Hall behind Rochester Castle he took one look at her full figure and unfashionable dark complexion and bluntly declared: “I her not.”

The wedding went ahead regardless on 6 January 1540 but Henry, overcome by impotence, never consummated the union. Anne, apparently, didn’t realise anything was amiss.

Nevertheless she had the good sense to settle for divorce after six months, a handsome pay-off that included Hever Castle and the title of ‘the King’s good sister’.

She never remarried and lived until 1557, a rather sad stranger in a foreign land in her twilight years.

Henry, on the rebound, became infatuated with Catherine Howard, the flighty teenage daughter of the powerful Howard family. Her relations, spotting a superb opportunity for advancement, encouraged the match and Catherine, whatever her true feelings about marriage to a fat, 49-year-old king with leg ulcers, acquiesced, becoming his fifth wife in July 1540.

Chenies Manor House and garden

The marriage was over before it began. Licentious by nature, Catherine recklessly took up with a former lover, Thomas Culpeper, a trusted gentleman of the king’s Privy Chamber.

Visit Chenies Manor House in Buckinghamshire and listen for the ghostly footsteps crossing the gallery, said to be Henry heading for his wife’s room during a sojourn there that also included Culpeper in the royal entourage.

Then return to the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace, where Henry was informed of Catherine’s infidelity, and the Haunted Gallery, where the queen’s ghost is said to shriek, re-enacting her desperate run to the Chapel door to plead with the king for mercy. She was executed on Tower Green on 13 February 1542.

By now, Henry was really ailing, but he still had an eye for the twice-widowed Katherine Parr, who came to court in 1543. Born at Kendal Castle 31 years earlier, Katherine was “gracious, learned and pious” with “singular beauty, favour and a comely personage.

” She was also in love with Sir Thomas Seymour, brother to the late Queen Jane. So when the king proposed, she hesitated. Eventually – as her handwritten letter on display at Sudeley Castle in the Cotswolds records – she renounced her personal desire and followed what she believed to be God’s will.

She married Henry in July 1543 at Hampton Court Palace.

Hampton Court Palace Katherine certainly lived up to her motto, “To be useful in all I do.” She acted as Queen Regent while Henry embarked on a last, brief military hurrah in France in 1544 and she sensitively drew together all three of his children, Mary, Elizabeth and Edward, taking a close interest in their education.

More controversially, she began developing radical Protestant opinions that verged on the heretical. Only her quick wits when she overstepped the mark saved her from arrest: she argued that she sought to divert the king from his painful thrombosis through lively theological discussion!

When Henry died on 28 January 1547, Katherine hastily rekindled her romance with Seymour, married and retired pregnant to the Seymour home at Sudeley Castle. But she died following the birth of her daughter, in September 1548. Katherine received the first-ever Protestant royal funeral and her tomb is in St Mary’s Church in the castle’s beautiful gardens.

Six wives, six very different characters who influenced the king and history in a tale full of ‘what ifs’ and ironies. Not least is the irony that, despite Henry’s hankering for male heirs, his daughter by Anne Boleyn would prove to be one of England’s greatest monarchs: Elizabeth I.

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Источник: //www.britain-magazine.com/features/history/tudors/divorced-beheaded-survived-the-wives-of-henry-viii/

Causes of Wife Battering and Why Does a Battered Wife Stay?

The Turmoil  Of Divorce For A Battered Wife

What causes wife battering? Why would someone beat their wife?

Battered wives are often from homes where they are taught to be compliant and not voice their concerns and this leads them into a similar adult relationship. Men who have been in homes where wife battering occurred as children are more ly to grow up into wife batterers themselves.

Wife battering is a huge problem in the United States with millions of cases of battering occurring yearly, although one doesn't have to be married to be a victim of battering.

Same-sex couples can also experience battering. A battered wife can be of any race, socioeconomic status or educational background – anyone can be a victim of wife beating.

(Wondering if you're a victim of wife battering. Take the Battered Woman Test.)

Causes of Wife Battering

As wife battering is an organic behavior, there is no direct cause. No wife or any situation can cause a person to beat another. It's important to understand this, as victims often blame themselves for being battered when it is never their fault – no matter what the batterer says.

Within a relationship, though, there is typically a pattern to wife battering (read Cycle of Violence and Abuse). The phases are typically:1

  • A tension building phase
  • A wife battering episode
  • A “honeymoon” phase where there is a respite

During the tension building phase, the wife often “walks on eggshells” around her batterer and is aware of the fact that the tension is building. Little things may make the batterer mad such as a meal he doesn't or his wife being late. These minor infractions produce unreasonable tension in the relationship.

This tension eventually explodes in an acute wife battering episode. The battering may be a more minor push or slap or may be a major beating leading to broken bones or worse. The batterer may prevent the victim from receiving healthcare for their injuries and threaten the victim or others if the victim threatens to tell anyone about the abuse.

Once the acute battering is over, the batterer often tries to charm his way what has happened; promising to never to do it again and attempting to make amends by doing things buying flowers and being extra attentive. Typically though, the wife batterer has no intention of stopping and is simply trying to manipulate the victim into not telling others, believing “it's not that bad,” and that it's “all in her head.”

Why Does a Battered Wife Stay?

A battered wife may stay in a relationship for a variety of reasons. Battered wives often:

  • Feel the abuse isn't “real, ” or “isn't that bad”
  • Think they can change the abuser (Help for Batterers)
  • Believe it will never happen again
  • Believe that help won't work or that no one will believe them or that they deserve the abuse
  • Don't want to break up a family
  • Stay with a batterer because she feels sorry for him as he often comes from a history containing abuse
  • Are economically and psychologically dependent on the batterer
  • Are afraid to leave
  • Are afraid for the welfare of others ( their children)

But, of course, any level of wife battering is not okay and any wife who has suffered battering should get help for it immediately.

Persuading a Battered Wife to Leave

Often convincing a battered wife to leave their batterer is about convincing them that their false thoughts about the abuse are wrong. For example,

  • “Just because he only hit you once, that doesn't make it okay. Once is one too many times.”
  • “You cannot change someone else; only they can choose to change themselves.”

In addition, a battered wife often also needs someplace to go, such as a friend's house or a battered women's shelter. Taking care of the needs and safety of the wife as well as any children, and sometimes pets (which may also be abused), involved in the situation can help a woman decide to leave her batterer.

It's important to be non-blaming and non-judgmental in any scenario of wife battering, as the victims often already feel guilty and more guilt may make them believe that they deserve the abuse. This may make them even more reluctant to leave their wife batterer.

article references

next: Help for Battered Women: Where to Find It
~ all articles on domestic violence
~ all articles on abuse

APA Reference
Tracy, N. (2012, July 27). Causes of Wife Battering and Why Does a Battered Wife Stay?, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2019, June 17 from //www.healthyplace.com/abuse/domestic-violence/causes-of-wife-battering-and-why-does-a-battered-wife-stay

Источник: //www.healthyplace.com/abuse/domestic-violence/causes-of-wife-battering-and-why-does-a-battered-wife-stay

10 Most Bizarre But True Divorce Stories

The Turmoil  Of Divorce For A Battered Wife

Divorce is something that most people condone and most couples try and avoid. But when the situation is uncontrollable, divorce seems to be the only way out to live happily ever after. The number of divorce cases across the world is huge and with these bizarre reasons being added to the list, the number can only rise.

In America, 50% of all marriages end in divorce. That means one every two couples will eventually separate. Gone are the days where marriage was a sacred thing. Now it is more ly you will end up divorced rather than have a happily ever after.

Although there are many common reasons for divorce cheating, beating or even just meeting (an ex), these bizarre reasons will literally drop your jaw and widen your eyes.

10. You Are Beautiful On The Inside. NOT!

In China, a man named Jian Feng filed for divorce from his beautiful wife when he found out the truth about said beauty. The wife did not tell Feng about the plastic surgery operation she had done. She spent $100,000 on the procedure which gave her her stunning looks.

Feng was deeply in love with his gorgeous wife until the couple was blessed with a baby girl. According to Feng, the baby did not look him or his wife. In fact, he said that the baby was “horrifically ugly”. The wife feared being charged with adultery and she finally confessed.

Feng sued her, won and divorced the woman.

9. Fifty Shades of Divorce

A very rich and successful banker from London decided to divorce her husband the reason that he refused to pleasure her.

The 41 year old woman wished to spice up their marriage by reading and practicing some of the moves in the erotic novel “Fifty Shades of Grey“.

When she presented the idea to her husband, he refused and literally went crazy because of his wife’s obscure request. Since the book failed to improve their love and sex life, she decided to be single and “ready to mingle”.

8. I’m All In (Literally)

We all know that poker can sometimes go a bit too far and the players can at times lose whatever possessions they have. But this bet took the game to a very different level. A Russian man, Andrei Karpov, lost his entire savings in a game against his opponent, Sergey Brodov.

He really wanted to play more but had no more money to, so he did the unthinkable and bet his wife. Karpov lost the hand and with it, his wife. When Sergey showed up at Karpov’s home to take what he had won, his wife was absolutely furious. She then divorced Karpov and began a relationship with Sergey. They were later married.

Now, that is what you call a “Royal Flush”.

See also the list of 10 most expensive divorces.

7. Age Old Lie

Across the world, women find a need to lie about their age for some of the most outrageous reasons. But eventually, they have to come clean when they decide to settle down.

Unfortunately, a Chinese man found out that his wife for 10 years had lied to him from the beginning. She had told him that she was 24 when he plucked up the courage to propose but in reality she was 30.

When he found out the truth, he just could not believe it and saw no other outcome but divorce. For a small little number, she lost out on a happy marriage.

6. Marriage Is a Game

World of Warcraft is one of the biggest selling games in the world but the makers didn’t expect it to be a marriage breaker. When Jocelyn, a 28 year old gamer, presented her husband Peter with the World of Warcraft game for Christmas, that is exactly what they got.

When Peter got the game in 2004, he got so involved in it; he began to neglect himself and his wife. He stopped doing his chores as well as stopped paying the bills. In a matter of 9 months of playing the game, their 6 years marriage was called off.

If only there was a reset button for their life as there is in the game.

5. Running to Get Divorced?

In 2008, Wang Yueting, a 56 year old Chinese man was divorced by his wife because he ran across China to show his support for the Beijing Olympics. According to his wife, Wang sold his apartment and purchased a van and supplies for the run. He also hired a team of six men to help him on his mission.

On the side of the van, he painted the words “Support Beijing Olympics” in Chinese as well as in English. His wife warned him saying that she would divorce him if he went through with it.

He refused to listen as he believed she was bluffing but when he finished his run, she carried out her plans and divorced him.

4. It’s The Dog House For You

After being married for 50 years, Eliza, a 70 year old Romanian woman finally decided that she needed to be separated from her husband. She said that her husband had been spending all their money on feeding the stray dogs around their neighborhood.

Whatever pension had been coming in for the couple, the husband was spending on buying food for the dogs he so dearly cared for. But what he did not realize was that he was leaving their house empty and without any meals.

Eliza recalls her husband buying some scraps of food for just a couple of dogs initially and found it extremely touching but towards the end of their marriage, the husband was feeding over 20 stray dogs which meant food from the house was being taken out.

Unable to deal with the loss, she decided to file for divorce.

The reason behind the large number of stray dogs in Romanian cities is because during the 80’s many people were forced their homes in the country to live in apartment buildings in the city. These families left behind their belongings as well as their pets.

3. 550 Reasons to Leave

Imagine getting divorced for being a lover of animals? Yes, in fact in Israel, a man decided “enough is enough” when his wife adopted 550 cats and brought them all home. In 2002, the man’s wife surprised him with the litter and at first, he was fine with it.

They all got along very well and the extended family was extremely happy. But as the days and months passed by, he realized that the cats were in the way of everything. They crowded the kitchen, the bathroom and every other room in between.

The husband realized that his income was being spent mostly on cat food and not human food. That is when he snapped.

The husband then saw the cats stealing food from the dining table after he confronted his wife about the splurging on cat food. This was the last straw and he divorced his cat loving wife. His only wish was that she land on her feet.

2. Unchanged Status

This is probably the most hilarious reasons for divorce ever. We have all seen and maybe even been a victim to how can destroy a relationship in a matter of minutes. In a newly married couple of just 2 months, a wife files for divorce from her husband all because he forgot to change his status to “married”.

The wife who was 28 years old wished to divorce her husband who was a 31 year old businessman for the most ridiculous reason. The husband said since the marriage was so fresh, he got lost in his work and it slipped his mind about changing his status.

When taken to court, the judge sentenced the couple to counseling to try and sort out their predicament. Many lawyers have discovered that

is the reason behind one every five divorce cases in the world. These lawyers actually use as a tool to help them win their case as they can view all the required information online. This method helps a lot in child custody cases.

1. Nicknamed to Divorce

In the year 2009, a Saudi woman divorced her husband of 17 years when she learned of the name he was calling her. The woman went through his cell phone one day while it was out and she looked through the contacts when she came across her number stored under the name “Guantanamo”. As we all know, Guantanamo is a military prison in the United States.

Seeing this nickname, the woman was furious and immediately asked for a divorce settlement from her husband.

Although he said he thought it would be funny and believed that she would share his sense of humor, the wife could not bear the thought of her husband referring to her as a prison.

She said that the name was extremely harsh and rude in his part. He should have just stuck to the classics “baby”, “honey” or maybe even “wifey”.

Источник: //www.wonderslist.com/10-most-bizarre-but-true-divorce-stories/

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