Occasions in Governmental and Diplomatic History of the United States, Great Britain, Italy, and the Papacy

The second day of June has many connections to governmental and diplomatic history, but unlike many historical dates, which are marked by connection to tragic events, the second day of the sixth month has for many centuries has more often been the date of celebratory occasions.

Not only was it the birth date of many world leaders and governmental figures, including two popes, Leo XI (1535-1605) and Pius X (1835-1914), Emperor Murakami of Japan (926-967), the first American first lady, Martha Washington (1731-1802), and the final king of the Hellenes, Constantine II.

It has also been the date of four particularly noteworthy jubilant world events.

In 1886, the then, 22nd President of the United States, Grover Cleveland (1837–1908) became the only American president, to date, to wed in the White House.

Other weddings had already taken place at the official presidential residence. The first wedding in the White House had been the 1820 marriage ceremony of President James Monroe’s younger daughter, Maria. There would also be more White House weddings, including the 1971 wedding of President Richard Nixon’s older daughter, Tricia. There had even been a president, prior to Cleveland, who had married while in presidential office, but Grover Cleveland remains the only United States president to have married in the presidential residence itself.

Cleveland’s bride was the young Frances Folsom (1864-1947), the daughter of his friend, Oscar Folsom. The Clevelands remained married for twenty-two years, and had five children. After her husband’s death in 1908, France married again in 1913, making her the first presidential widow to remarry.

In 1946, the second day of the sixth month served as the date upon which the Italian Republic was officially born. In a referendum, Italians voted that Italy should be ruled as a republic rather than as a monarchy.

The desire for this change in governance had been brewing since World War I (1914-1918). While the country remained ravaged by the war, Dictator Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) took power in 1922, but the monarchy also remained in existence.

Following World War II (1939-1945) and the fall of Mussolini, Umberto II (1904-1983) served as the final King of Italy for only a month. Once Italy was to become a republic, Umberto abdicated and lived the remainder of his life exiled in Portugal.

As opposed to the second day of June marking the birth of a republic and signaling the end of the Italian monarchy, seven years later, the date served as the coronation day of one of the monarch of one of Europe’s few surviving monarchies.

On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain was crown in Westminster Abbey, and it was the first coronation of a British monarch to be televised.

To date, Elizabeth II has ruled for 58 years, and the only British monarch to ruler for a longer length of time was George III (1738-1820), who reigned for 59 years.

Finally, in 1979, June 2 was marked by respected Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) visiting his homeland of Poland, becoming the first pope to enter a communist country.

Thus, in a little less then one hundred years, the second day of June has served as the date of four notable, and mainly celebratory, events.

Tudor History: May 19 in the lives of Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, and Mary, Queen of Scots

On the nineteenth day of May, in three separate years, the fates of three sixteenth century queens were sealed. The eventful days were each separated by a span of about thirty years, but each occurrence forever impacted the pages of history written about the British Royal House of Tudor.

In 1499, May 19 first became significant as the proxy marriage date of Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Katherine of Aragon.

The marriage had been arranged as a political alliance between England and Spain because Katherine was the youngest daughter of the powerful Spanish rulers, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon.

Arthur and Katherine did not actually meet until she was brought to England in 1501, and following a marriage ceremony at which they were both present, the couple was sent to Ludlow Castle, where within a few months, both became dangerously infected with what was most likely the sweating sickness sweeping the area.

Although Katherine recovered, she was left widowed, but despite the briefness of her marriage, it would continue to impact both her life to its end and the events of British history to date.

Following years of deliberation, Katherine was eventually wed to Arthur’s younger brother, Henry, who had by the point of the marriage just ascended to the throne as Henry VIII.

Unfortunately, Katherine experienced a string of unsuccessful pregnancies, and only one female child survived to adulthood.

Influenced by lust and a desire for a male heir, Henry turned his attentions to Anne Boleyn. Eventually seeking to be free to marry Anne, Henry asserted that Katherine’s marriage to his brother was counter to religious law and caused them to be “childless.”

Despite Katherine’s insistence that her first marriage had never been consummated and the pope upholding the papal dispensation allowing Henry to marry his brother’s widow, Henry would not relent. Since he could not marry Anne within the blessing of the Catholic Church, Henry declared himself head of a new Church of England.

This began the Reformation, which allowed Henry to obtain his divorce and marry the already pregnant Anne.

In 1533, Katherine was sent away from court and deprived of seeing her surviving daughter, who was sent elsewhere. When Anne gave birth to another daughter, Henry was extremely displeased, but he would not undo his past deeds. Instead, Katherine of Aragon was kept in relative exile until she died in 1536.

Within months of Katherine’s death, the date of May 19 would gain greater significance in Tudor history.

Anne, like her predecessor, had failed to produce a male heir, and Henry decided to rid himself of his second wife, so that he could marry a third mate. Anne was arrested on charges of adultery, incest, and treason. The accusations are now considered by historians to be unfounded in truth, but Anne Boleyn was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death by beheading.

On May 19, 1536, more than thirty years since the proxy marriage date of Katherine and Arthur had initially established the grounds for which Katherine’s marriage was “annulled,” the woman who had replaced her as queen was executed.

Thirty years later, May 19 would again become significant in 1568. By 1568, Henry VIII and his direct descendents, excepting his daughter Elizabeth, had died, and Elizabeth was reigning as Queen of England.

Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and as such, she was considered “The Child of the Reformation.” Unfortunately, the Reformation had established a political and ideological struggle between English Catholics and Protestants, and many Catholics regarded Elizabeth as an illegitimate monarch due to the circumstances of her birth.

Some English Catholics, among others, instead supported the monarchical claim of Elizabeth’s cousin, Mary, Queen of Scotland.

Unlike Elizabeth, who had waited twenty-five years to inherit the throne of England, Mary had inherited the throne of Scotland within days of her birth due to her father’s death in battle.

In 1567, however, Mary was forced to abdicate her throne, and she was kept imprisoned in Scotland, until she managed to escape in 1568. Seeking the protection of her neighboring royal cousin, Mary arrived in England on May 19, 1568.

However, far from offering protection, Elizabeth regarded herself as in need of protection from the threat posed by her cousin’s presence, and she immediately imprisoned Mary.

Mary lived in captivity in England until she was executed in 1587, but the House of Tudor ended with Elizabeth I, so it would be Mary’s son, James Stuart, who would inherit the throne of England.