This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/11/catherine-aragaon-divorce-letter-auctioned-paris

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Catherine of Aragon divorce letter to be auctioned in Paris Catherine of Aragon divorce letter to be auctioned in Paris
(about 3 hours later)
A rare letter from Catherine of Aragon asking for the pope to block Henry VIII’s attempts to annul their marriage so he could wed Anne Boleyn is to be auctioned in Paris. A letter from Catherine of Aragon asking for the pope to block Henry VIII’s attempts to annul their marriage so he could wed Anne Boleyn is to be auctioned in Paris as part of a collection of letters written by women throughout history.
The historic missive, signed “Katherina”, is dated Windsor 3 October (1529) and is written in Spanish to a Roman Catholic cardinal who was a relative.The historic missive, signed “Katherina”, is dated Windsor 3 October (1529) and is written in Spanish to a Roman Catholic cardinal who was a relative.
It is part of a collection of about 1,500 letters, autographs and manuscripts – including one from Brigitte Bardot to a record company asking them not to release Je T’aime … Moi Non Plus, her suggestive duet with Serge Gainsbourg, and a passionate billet-doux to Victor Hugo from his mistress – going under the auctioneer’s hammer next week. It is part of a collection of about 1,500 letters, autographs and manuscripts going under the auctioneer’s hammer next week – including one from Brigitte Bardot to a record company asking them not to release Je T’Aime … Moi Non Plus, her suggestive duet with Serge Gainsbourg; and a passionate billet-doux to Victor Hugo from his mistress.
Spanish-born Catherine of Aragon, the first of Henry VIII’s six wives, fell out of favour after she was blamed for failing to produce a son and heir. Pope Clement VII had sent Cardinal Wolsey to persuade her to accept the annulment but the queen refused as it would make her daughter, Mary, illegitimate. Thierry Bodin, a manuscript expert who oversaw the 434-page catalogue for the auction entitled Women: Letters and Signed Manuscripts, said it was the only collection of its kind.
“It’s really the first time so important a collection in terms of both quantity and content and time period covered, has been seen,” Bodin told the Guardian.
“It covers women from all domains, historical figures, writers, actors, painters, scientists.”
Sylvie Robaglia, spokeswoman for the auctioneers, Ader-Nordmann, said: “The letters reveal how strong these women are. The letter from Catherine of Aragon is the centrepiece of the collection. In it we see her defending the throne for her children; she is showing herself to be a mother before all else, before being the Queen.
Spanish-born Catherine of Aragon, the first of Henry VIII’s six wives, fell out of favour after she was blamed for failing to produce a son and heir. Pope Clement VII had sent Cardinal Wolsey to persuade her to accept the annulment but she refused as it would make her daughter, Mary, illegitimate.
The subsequent royal divorce, not recognised by the Roman Catholic church, would lead to England setting up its own church, with the monarch as its head.The subsequent royal divorce, not recognised by the Roman Catholic church, would lead to England setting up its own church, with the monarch as its head.
In her letter, worth an estimated €35,000 - €40,000 (£27,000 - £31,000) and addressed to Francisco de Quiñones, the cardinal of Santa Cruz, Catherine refers to an impending ecclesiastical court she has been summoned to attend and warns of Henry VIII’s possible split with Rome. In her letter, worth an estimated €35,000-€40,000 (£27,000-£31,000) and addressed to Francisco de Quiñones, the cardinal of Santa Cruz, Catherine refers to an impending ecclesiastical court she has been summoned to attend and warns of Henry VIII’s possible split with Rome.
She insists she has been cast aside “without cause, except, as I sincerely believe, at the instigation of an enemy completely without scruples (Cromwell) who has abused the king, my lord; the case, if examined without passion, will clearly show, I hope, that truth and justice are on my side...” She insists she has been cast aside “without cause, except, as I sincerely believe, at the instigation of an enemy completely without scruples [Thomas Cromwell] who has abused the king, my lord; the case, if examined without passion, will clearly show, I hope, that truth and justice are on my side …”
She appeals for Pope Clement to investigate and judge her case because: “I am completely innocent”, and warns: “I can assure you with certainty that here [in England] there is no decision that can be made that will not bring a great evil in the future.”She appeals for Pope Clement to investigate and judge her case because: “I am completely innocent”, and warns: “I can assure you with certainty that here [in England] there is no decision that can be made that will not bring a great evil in the future.”
Lot 723 is a letter from Bardot, estimated at €2,500-€3,000, to the record company Philips written on 21 December 1967, the day after the first and only time Je t’aime … moi non plus was broadcast on French radio. Lot 723 is a letter from Bardot, estimated at €2,500-€3,000, to the record company Philips written on 21 December 1967, the day after the first and only time Je T’Aime … Moi Non Plus was broadcast on French radio.
Bardot’s then husband, director Gunter Sachs, had made such a scandal over the breathy song that she urged the company “for serious and grave personal reasons to not release under any circumstances” the record.Bardot’s then husband, director Gunter Sachs, had made such a scandal over the breathy song that she urged the company “for serious and grave personal reasons to not release under any circumstances” the record.
There is also a letter written by Katharine Hepburn to Coco Chanel, in French, after she played the designer in a Broadway show, and a kitsch postcard from Italy sent by Chanel to a friend.There is also a letter written by Katharine Hepburn to Coco Chanel, in French, after she played the designer in a Broadway show, and a kitsch postcard from Italy sent by Chanel to a friend.
Also being sold in the collection, called Femmes, lettres et manuscrits autographes, are letters from the 14th century onwards written by various European queens and noblewomen, including Lucrezia Borgia, Henry VIII’s sister Mary Tudor, Marie Stuart, Mary Queen of Scots, a treasury note from Queen Elizabeth I, and letters signed by Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife, Josephine and Marie-Antoinette. The collection also includes a letter from Queen Elizabeth II thanking her hatmaker and missives from the French 19th century novelist George Sand, from Edith Piaf to her first husband, and “secret” messages from Russian Tsarina Catherine II to her lover. Also being sold in the collection, are letters from the 14th century onwards written by various European queens and noblewomen, including Lucrezia Borgia, Henry VIII’s sister Mary Tudor, Marie Stuart, Mary Queen of Scots, a treasury note from Queen Elizabeth I, and letters signed by Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife, Josephine, and Marie-Antoinette. The collection also includes a letter from Queen Elizabeth II thanking her hatmaker, and missives from the French 19th-century novelist George Sand, from Edith Piaf to her first husband, and “secret” messages from Russian Tsarina Catherine II to her lover.
In one of several passionate missives to Victor Hugo, actor Juliette Drouet writes: “When I left you my angel, you seemed sad and unhappy – My Victor, will I be attached to your life like a venomous scorpion that withers and exhausts it? … The air that you have not breathed kills me, My Victor, your look is more necessary to me than the sun, I need your kisses to refresh my soul and give it strength, the thread that exists between us is that which holds me to life.” In one of several passionate letters to Victor Hugo, actor Juliette Drouet writes: “When I left you my angel, you seemed sad and unhappy – My Victor, will I be attached to your life like a venomous scorpion that withers and exhausts it? … The air that you have not breathed kills me, My Victor, your look is more necessary to me than the sun, I need your kisses to refresh my soul and give it strength, the thread that exists between us is that which holds me to life.”
One touchingly banal note, estimated at €500-€600, has Princess Grace of Monaco apologising to a teacher for her daughter Stephanie not doing her homework. One touchingly banal note, estimated at €500-€600, has Princess Grace of Monaco apologising to a teacher for her daughter Stephanie not doing her homework. “Please excuse Stephanie for not having done her French lesson. She left her book at school, Wednesday. Grace de Monaco,” it reads.
“Please excuse Stephanie for not having done her French lesson. She left her book at school, Wednesday. Grace de Monaco,” it reads. Robaglia said the collection was “absolutely extraordinary”. She added: “It was started by the de Flers family, which was a family of academicians (members of L’Académie Française), in 1820 and grew from there over five generations.
Sylvie Robaglia, spokeswoman for the auctioneers, said the collection of letters being sold was absolutely extraordinary.
“It was started by the de Flers family, which was a family of academicians [members of the Académie Française], in 1820 and grew from there over five generations
“Claude de Flers, who is selling this collection, inherited it 30 or 40 years ago. Some members of the family took the royal letters, others those written by women, and it was divided this way among various heirs.“Claude de Flers, who is selling this collection, inherited it 30 or 40 years ago. Some members of the family took the royal letters, others those written by women, and it was divided this way among various heirs.
“Since then Monsieur de Flers has added to the collection by buying more contemporary letters like those from Bardot and Isabelle Adjani.”“Since then Monsieur de Flers has added to the collection by buying more contemporary letters like those from Bardot and Isabelle Adjani.”
De Flers, said his one regret is not having any letters by Marilyn Monroe to John F Kennedy or by Mother Teresa. De Flers, said his one regret was not having any letters by Marilyn Monroe to John F Kennedy or by Mother Teresa. “In these writings we discover the essential roles played by women, especially in the transmission of values, the development of civilisation and of ideas, a power that could not always be revealed but is brought to light by this collection,” he said.
“In these writings we discover the essential roles played by women, especially in the transmission of values, the development of civilisation and of ideas, a power that could not always be revealed but is brought to light by this collection,” he said. Bodin said it was unlikely the collection would be sold in one piece. “No museum or organisation has come forward with any interest in doing so, therefore they will almost certainly be sold individually. For the seller, who has doubled the collection since inheriting it and is passionate about the letters, it is a new history beginning for the documents. He hopes that whoever buys them will start their own collections and the letters will live on.”
The auction takes place at the Salle Favart, 3 rue Favart, 75002, Paris on 18 and 19 November. The auction takes place at the Salle Favart, 3 rue Favart, 75002, Paris, on 18 and 19 November.
Extracts from letters
Catherine II, Tsarina of Russia to her former lover Stanislas Auguste Poniatowski, warning him not to return to Russia in 1762:
“You read my letters with very little attention. I’ve told you and repeated that I risk being assaulted from all sides if you put one foot back in Russia.
Edith Piaf to her husband Jacques Pills while she was in rehab for alcohol and morphine addictions, dated 5 January 1956
“Lovely man, have confidence in me as you have always had and you will see it’s the good side in me that will win, by the end of the detoxification! It’s not even two months … you will see that things can start again! I am always your good little wife.”
Virginia Woolf to André Maurois in 1929:
“I have been unwell otherwise I would have already thanked you for the very kind preface you wrote for the French translation of Mrs Dalloway. It’s a great privilege for me to come across so much intelligence and sympathy.
Queen Elizabeth II to her hatmaker “Hannah” written 27 March 1950 from Buckingham Palace:
“I am really delighted with your present. And I can truthfully say that it is just what I need, for my one white bag is grey now, and my maid was in despair!
Joséphine Bonaparte to a friend dated only “this Tuesday morning”:
My Sultan [Napoleon] came to see me yesterday after you left … he has asked me to dine with him tête-a-tête, and as there should be no interruptions I would ask you to postpone coming to dinner with me until tomorrow.