Incest and the Tudors

When the second wife of King Henry VIII of England, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded in 1536 she had been accused of "adultery, incest and plotting to kill the king". Modern historians find the accusations very unconvincing, but they cost her - and her brother - their lives.

Strangely enough some years prior to this tragedy King Henry had had no qualms of considering the possibilty of marrying off his young daughter by Catherine of Aragonia, Mary, to his own illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy, even though that would have been a clear incident of incest.

Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset (1519–1536), was the son of the king by his mistress, Elizabeth Blount. He was the only illegitimate offspring whom Henry VIII acknowledged and he obviously loved him dearly. However, the Tudors lacked legitimacy as they, after all, only had a feeble claim to the throne. That's why it was so important to the king to have male offspring.
The suggestion to marry off Princess Mary to her own half-brother, Henry FitzRoy, came when their father, Henry VIII, began the process of having his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. Those who were for this marriage thought that it would prevent the annulment and also strengthen FitzRoy's claim to the throne. It seems that they were anxious to prevent the annulment and Henry's eventual break with the Roman Catholic Church, so the Pope was even prepared to grant a special dispensation for their marriage.
To me even to consider such a "solution" is proof of a kind of double-standard that goes far beyond the modern use of that word: FitzRoy and Mary would commit the incest that cost Anne Boleyn her life the same year that the young son of Henry died ....