learnsim-blog

[fideidefenswhore]

What do you think about the whole Anne wanting the christening robe from Catherine that she brought from Spain?

The Lady, not being satisfied with what she has received already, has solicited the King to ask the Queen for a very rich triumphal cloth which she brought from Spain to wrap up her children with at baptism (en temps de la tesme (?) qu. baptesme?), which she would be glad to make use of very soon. The Queen has replied that it has not pleased God she should be so ill advised as to grant any favor in a case so horrible and abominable.

Chapuys to Charles V. (July 1533)

So, I mean...there's no record of this response, or any letters, that corroborate this incident? And there should ostensibly be a few, right? At the very least the letter requesting it and the letter of refusal.

All that's left, really, is to argue for the likelihood based on what we know.

Against: Anne doesn't seem to have wanted reminders of Catherine around? She didn't like that Henry's shirts were being made for her by that reason, it's theorized she "could not abide the sight" of monkeys because they were Catherine's favorite pets, etc.

Moreoever, the argument Borman has made that this was a symbol of legitimate royal blood, I mean...sure, it definitely was, but it was passed down through the Trasmataras? It seems strange that Anne would request it as seeing her future child as an extension of that dynasty, actually, it makes like...no sense. Had the christening robe been one used by Henry and his siblings, perhaps his mother and theirs, and for some reason Catherine had this in her possession, then it would make sense.

And doubly, the argument Henry was making at this time was that his children by Catherine could not have even be bona fides, because the marriage contravened divine law. So, the christening robe, as far as their perspective would have went, would actually be associated with illegitimacy (since it was used for the children of Henry and Catherine), thus asking for it would be contradictory to the beliefs they espoused, as would the imagery of that symbol.

Since it doesn't make any sense even as far as symbolism goes, if Anne requested it, the gesture could only have come from a place of cruelty and pettiness. There's reports of Anne being petty and cruel, so that does nothing to disprove anything, really. In this vein, Elizabeth Norton states that Anne “spotted  an opportunity to continue her persecution of Catherine”.

So, maybe the argument can be made that the request was not even so much a symbol of power and legitimacy, as it was that the robe was said to be very beautiful and Anne thus wanted to use it? With perhaps the added benefit that some of her detractors might recognize it and seethe, Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne

For: Anne did, if memory serves, take several items from the inventory of Catherine's goods and used them in her household, as did Henry. I have the quote of these items from a biography saved somewhere, I would have to find it, I can't remember if they were sort of more generic, utilitarian objects (gilt pitchers, that sort of thing) or if there were any that displayed Catherine's actual symbols. Either way, this demonstrates that Anne was not that adverse to reminders of Catherine surrounding her, so lends credence to the claim made by Chapuys here.