Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Question from Brittany - Martin Luther and support for Katherine of Aragon
I was in the process of writing a paper on my favorite wife of Henry the 8th, Katherine of Aragon, when I searched her on wikipedia to get reference links from the bottom of her page to check out. I would never use anything from wikipedia in a paper because it isnt always reliable, but I came across a part of the page that said that Martin Luther supported Katherine in the king's Great Matter. This little fact did not have a note at the bottom to verify it, so I'm not sure if it's true or not. I tried googling anything about Luther and Katherine to see if anything more would come up, but I'm still not sure. Is there anything that either Luther or Katherine wrote that mentions his support of her? And if so, where might I find it so I can cite it in my paper?
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6 comments:
I do not think it was the case Martin Luther giving his support directly to Queen Katherine, however he did not support Henry VIII decision/reason to annulled the marriage .
This is true. I've read it in both Weir, and possibly Fraser's bios. But definatly in Weir's.
Also, the Wiki page has lots of interesting information, even if there isn't a source on the page, if you google the facts they come out to be prefectly true. So I'd suggest having a read of it, it's a good article. :d
Luther about the divorce:
"Before I should approve of such a repudiation, I would rather let him (Henry) marry a second queen...Even if there should be a divorce, Catherine will remain Queen of England, and she will have been wronged before God and man...No, my friend, if you are bound to a woman, you are no longer a free man; God forces you to stay with wife and child, to feed and rear them".
Heiko A. Oberman's biography "Luther" , pg 286
Luther about the divorce of king and queen:
"Before I should approve of such a repudiation, I would rather let him (Henry) marry a second queen...Even if there should be a divorce, Catherine will remain Queen of England, and she will have been wronged before God and man...No, my friend, if you are bound to a woman, you are no longer a free man; God forces you to stay with wife and child, to feed and rear them".
Heiko A. Oberman's biography "Luther" , pg 286
I guess Martin Luther did give his support to Queen Katherine of Aragon after all. However, in that ERA wasn't it believe that if you do not have the approval of the church, you were not really married? Henry VIII and Anne did not have the approval from any religion. Not the catholic church, nor protestant. So I wonder if Henry VIII looked at them as really being married.
Of course Henry VIII considered himself legally married to Anne Boleyn (at least at the start), because only the legitimate offspring of the monarch is entitled to inherit the throne. A good example is found in Charles II. When he died in 1685, he had ten children, but they were all illegitimate, and the crown passed to his brother, James II.
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