"Jane Seymour was a Catholic, yet she married Henry in the new Church of England. According to Catholic doctrine, marriages performed in another church are sacramentally invalid. This would render their son a "bastard" in that sense. Has this subject been discussed in any writings to the knowledge of our members, or was it a point of interest at all to Henry at this time?

Part II: Unless they WERE married in the church, and I am not sure about this. I know she was considered his "first real wife" by many. Can somebody PLEASE clear this up for me? I'm in muddle. Thanks

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"ok I am a little slow today. You don't mean the physical church right? "

"Jane Seymour was a Catholic, yet she married Henry in the new Church of England. According to Catholic doctrine, marriages performed in another church are sacramentally invalid. This would render their son a "bastard" in that sense. Has this subject been discussed in any writings to the knowledge of our members, or was it a point of interest at all to Henry at this time? "

"No, Henry considered his marriages sacramentally valid; he was the head of the Church of England, and for him it was not 'another church' , just the English Catholic Church. His ecclesiastical authority when he had to consult one, was his Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer who had, after all, been validly appointed to his office by the Pope. It would have been interesting if Cranmer had died while Henry was still alive. I suppose he would have used his authority as head of the English Church to appoint someone else to fill the vacancy., because in his eyes, as head of the English Catholic Church, he now had the authority. I wonder, though, through whom he considered he was granted this authority. Thomas More had gone to the scaffold because he felt that the Pope was granted his office by God and that Parliament had not the jurisdiction to grant that office to anyone else. I suppose that Henry disagreeed and maintained that Parliament did have the jurisdiction, at least in England.
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"Of course, to the Pope, none of Henry's marriages were considered valid, because to the Pope, Henry was no longer a Roman Catholic, but in Henry's eyes he was stil a good Catholic. His English Church, except for being headed by him had all the same rites, sacaraments, and beliefs as the RC. It was not until after Henry that much of the rites, sacraments, and beliefs would change.
I think Henry, if he thought of it at all, would have considered himself in a state of schism with Rome. I don't know if Rome looked at it that way, but it is possible, because Henry did not change any of the basics, i.e. rites, tenets, and sacraments.
I know that the Roman Catholic Church has considered itself in a state of schism with the Greek Orthodox Church since 1054, AD, but considers its sacraments valid. If a Greek Orthodox person converts to Roman Catholicism, he or she does not have to be baptized again, and in my town, a Greek Orthodox lawyer who was shot in court was administered Last Rites by a Roman Catholic priest. Now I have another tangent to research, LOL. "

"As usual you are so on top of things, AD! So do you think like her husband Jane would not have identified as a Roman Catholic, but rather say an English Catholic? It's worth noting too that Jane clearly was against many of the reforms perpetrated by Cromwell in the name of the King (i.e. the dissolution of the monasteries) but she could have been a Catholic or Catholic leaning within the widening spectrum of Catholicism at that time. It's possible she could have considered herself a good Catholic while still viewing her marriage as valid and lawful."

"All of Henry's marriages were sacramental conducted by a cleric, in the case of Jane, by Cranmer, but not always in Church. Henry and Jane were married by Cranmer in the Queen's Closet at Whitehall Palace; it was a private ceremony, although public celebrations were held. The reason Jane was considered the true Queen and wife was that in comparison to when Henry married Anne, his lawful (no one had yet declared the marriage invalid and most of the people of England never would consider it so) wife, Katharine of Aragaon was still alive. When Henry married Jane, he was truly a free man (Katharine had died, and he had executed Anne), so he had no inconvenient ex-wives in the background. 1536 was the 'Year of the Three Queens'.
At the beginning of the year, for at least a few days, Katharine of Aragon was still alive, Anne Boleyn was still alive, and in May after Anne's execution, Henry married Jane, creating yet a third Queen.
I hope this helps."

"As usual you are so on top of things, AD! So do you think like her husband Jane would not have identified as a Roman Catholic, but rather say an English Catholic? It's worth noting too that Jane clearly was against many of the reforms perpetrated by Cromwell in the name of the King (i.e. the dissolution of the monasteries) but she could have been a Catholic or Catholic leaning within the widening spectrum of Catholicism at that time. It's possible she could have considered herself a good Catholic while still viewing her marriage as valid and lawful."