Part 1, Katherine of Aragon: Chapter 6 Summary and Analysis

Chapter six narrates, in considerable detail, the first several years of Henry VIII's reign, and of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon. The author creates a sense of complicated, and simultaneous, political and emotional maneuvering, all grounded in Henry's desire to secure the power and reputation of his kingdom. He acted on this desire, she asserts, in several ways—all of which, she adds, were at times aided, at times initiated, at all times supported by his devious, manipulative chief minister, the low-born but highly ambitious Cardinal Wolsey.

First and foremost, Henry acted on his desire for both the security and longevity of his family's power by keeping Katherine almost constantly pregnant. The author narrates how she had "conceived six, possibly eight, times" and yet had only one living child, the future...