Episode notes
Did Henry VIII Have Erectile Dysfunction? The Anne of Cleves Bedroom Mystery
Did Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves ever actually "do it"?
Henry claimed that his marriage to Anne was never consummated because he found his new wife so unattractive that he simply couldn't bring himself to have sex with her.
But what if we've spent nearly 500 years looking at the wrong person?In this video, I take a fresh look at the contemporary evidence surrounding Henry VIII's short-lived marriage to Anne of Cleves. From their awkward first meeting at Rochester and Henry's extraordinary complaints about Anne's body, to intimate testimony from his physicians, allegations about his sexual performance that surfaced at George Boleyn's trial, and Anne's supposedly naïve conversations with her ladies.
Could Henry have been experiencing intermittent erectile dysfunction? Could wounded pride, lack of attraction and performance anxiety have played a part? And what can Henry's subsequent relationship with the young Catherine Howard tell us?Perhaps there was nothing wrong with Anne of Cleves at all.Perhaps Henry VIII couldn't have sex with Anne... and Anne got the blame.
Join me as I delve into the evidence and share my own theory about what may really have happened in Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves's royal bedchamber.What do you think? Let me know your theory in the comments.