Who gave Henry VIII an STD?

Answer 1

There has been speculation that Catherine of Aragon had syphilis - maybe she gave it to Henry. Although some historians now doubt that he had it, it is worth remembering that both Catherine and Anne Boleyn had a lot of miscarriages - this can occur when syphilis is present. As for his other wives, Jane Seymour died virtually in childbirth, poor little Catherine Howard did not survive long enough to get anything, Anne of Cleves never lived with him, and by the time he married Catherine Parr, it seems likely that he would not have been capable of sex anyway due to his illnesses. There is no evidence that any of his children had syphilis - Edward died young, Mary had cancer (as did her mother) and Elizabeth enjoyed good health. She was virtually bald when she died, but this was likely to be the result of wearing a wig. Unusual if he did not pass it on - so did he have it? If he did, evidence points to Catherine - unless Henry had it already. He did put himself about a bit in his younger days.