Henry VIII's love token secured by British Museum after centuries lost

[highplainsdem]

Source: Reuters

Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon's marriage didn't last - he divorced her in 1533 - but a golden heart pendant linked to their union did survive, and has now been secured for permanent display at the British Museum.

The 24-carat-gold heart, complete with the couple's initials in red, and a picture of the Tudor rose and a pomegranate tree, was acquired by the British Museum after it raised 3.5 million pounds ($4.8 million) to save it from being sold to a private collector.

The pendant -- a symbol of the couple's initially devoted but ultimately doomed marriage -- was lost for hundreds of years.

But in 2019 it was discovered by a metal detectorist in a field in Warwickshire, and under British treasure laws, museums across the country have the chance to acquire significant historical finds before they go for general sale.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/henry-viiis-love-token-secured-by-british-museum-after-centuries-lost-2026-02-10/

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More from the BBC:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yk3vrgv51o

Research led by the British Museum has revealed that the Tudor Heart pendant may have been made to celebrate the betrothal of their two-year-old daughter Princess Mary to the eight-month-old French heir-apparent in 1518.

The pendant unites the Tudor rose with Katherine's pomegranate symbol and features a banner that reads "tousiors", the old French for "always".

After it was found, the pendant was reported under the Treasure Act 1996, which gives museums and galleries in England a chance to acquire historical objects and put them on display.

In order to put the pendant on permanent display, the museum had to pay a reward to the metal detectorist who made the discovery and the owner of the land it was found on.

[tanyev]

1. Wow, it would be fascinating to know how it ended up where it was found.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Unknown, but they don't think it was owned by either Henry or Katherine

As we discussed in CA 397, the pendant is not thought to have belonged directly to either Henry or Katherine – there is no mention of anything similar in the extensive inventories that document the pair’s possessions, and, although the object is ornate and skilfully made, it also appears to have been produced quite hastily. It was probably made using Henry’s money, however. The king is known to have commissioned London goldsmiths on numerous occasions to create costume jewellery for courtiers to wear at state occasions and major celebrations; might this pendant represent a rare surviving example of this kind of bauble? Its chain measures 17 inches around, a fairly standard collar size in modern men’s shirts, but, although the pendant is slightly damaged, there is little evidence of ordinary use-wear indicating that it had been worn frequently or for any great length of time. The fact that the enamelling on its surface, while vibrant, is quite sparingly used might also suggest that the object had been destined for recycling in the goldsmith’s melting pot once it had served its intended purpose (something that might explain, too, why no similar artefacts are known).

Even if the pendant was only meant to be short-lived, however, its recipient would have been a high-ranking courtier. The whole piece weighs around 340g, and the strict sumptuary laws of the time (which dictated what people could wear depending on their station in life) banned anyone below the status of a baron, knight, or their sons from wearing gold ornaments of this size. It is thought that the object might have been intended as a prize for a noble participant in a tournament overseen by Katherine and Henry – and, given the make-up of its black enamel, which includes cobalt as a colourant, this event must have taken place before the 1530s. A key clue emerged early in the British Museum team’s historical research: while analysing the object’s imagery, they identified written sources from 1521 that document payments for the unpicking of embroideries on horse bards (decorative cloths) held in storage at Greenwich Palace, then an important royal residence, Descriptions of the textiles include all of the motifs that appear on the pendant – hands emerging from clouds, pomegranates, Tudor roses, and the letters H and K – and it is tempting to think that it could have been awarded at the same joust where these bards were worn. What could this occasion have been?
...
We still do not know how, or when, it came to be buried in a Warwickshire field, far from the Tudor court. Its weight, roughly the same as a tin of soup, means that it is unlikely to have been a casual loss – unlike a coin or a ring, you would notice the difference if you dropped it. Perhaps it was hidden by one of the inhabitants of the county’s many castles, who thought it no longer prudent to own an object linking Henry and Katherine after their marriage was annulled (an event that saw the queen’s emblems stripped from architecture and objects alike). Perhaps it represents stolen goods buried for a retrieval that never came. Or perhaps it was a family heirloom secreted for safekeeping during a later crisis – possibly the English Civil War, in which Warwickshire played an active role. For now, this mystery endures, but the pendant represents a thought-provoking object full of stories that – like the ornate horse-cloths that hinted at its possible origins – are now being carefully unpicked.

https://the-past.com/news/devotion-and-diplomacy-examining-a-treasure-from-the-heart-of-the-tudor-court/

[tanyev]

3. Great info, thank you.

[WestMichRad]

4. Do take a look at this link!

(The link provided by Muriel.). It has great photos and a detailed explanation of historical knowledge associated with the pendant.

[niyad]

9. This is annoying. I got a message saying "rate-limited" for too many

visits to a site I had never been on before.

[Emrys]

14. It just worked for me, so it might be worth trying again

Meanwhile, here's a sample from the text preceding Muriel's quote above (the blog post dates from last November):

Devotion and diplomacy: Examining a treasure from the heart of the Tudor court
The British Museum has launched a £3.5 million fundraising campaign to acquire a unique pendant associated with Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, and with the wider political ambitions of 16th-century Europe. Carly Hilts reports.

Friday 13th is not usually seen as an auspicious day, but that date in December 2019 certainly proved fortunate for amateur metal-detectorist Charlie Clarke. He had only been practising his hobby for six months when he set out to explore farmland (with the owner’s permission) near Birmingham – but when his machine emitted a promising beep, what emerged from the soil can only be described as the find of a lifetime. The golden object was still so bright that it looked like a piece of modern costume jewellery but, following expert analysis (made possible by the fact that Charlie immediately reported his discovery to the local Finds Liaison Officer), it has since been recognised as one of the most complex and complete ornaments associated with the court of Henry VIII ever found.

The artefact in question is a pendant: 75 gold links form a chunky chain, and from the centre of this hangs a small, gold-and-enamel link shaped like a hand emerging from a cloud. This would have originally secured the object’s most visually striking component: a golden heart as big as an egg, hinged like a locket and adorned with colourful enamel. On one side, these decorations depict the Tudor rose and a pomegranate tree – emblems associated with Henry VIII and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon – while the couple’s initials appear as large, red letters on the other side.


Above & below: Discovered near Birmingham in 2019, this is one of the most complete pieces of jewellery associated with the Tudor court ever found. Its imagery includes the initials of Henry VIII and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, as well as emblems associated with the royal couple: the Tudor rose and pomegranates.


We first reported on this discovery in CA 397, when the pendant was presented to the press at the launch of the British Museum’s Treasure and Portable Antiquities Scheme reports for 2020 and 2021 respectively. At that time, the artefact had undergone initial investigations in Birmingham and conservation by Drakon Heritage, as well as analysis at the British Museum, but it had not at that time received its coroner’s inquest in accordance with the 1996 Treasure Act. Since then, the pendant has been formally declared to be Treasure, and last month the British Museum launched a public fundraising appeal to acquire the object. The initiative (which has already received a donation of £500,000 from the Julia Rausing Trust) needs to raise £3.5 million by April 2026 to secure the object for public display and to prevent it from going to auction and potentially disappearing into a private collection. At the launch event, Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the British Museum; Dr Rachel King, Curator of Renaissance Europe and the Waddesdon Bequest; and British Museum Trustee Dame Mary Beard emphasised the artefact’s importance – and explained what historical and scientific research has revealed since it was last in the news.


The pendant’s finely wrought chain, formed from 75 gold links.

https://the-past.com/news/devotion-and-diplomacy-examining-a-treasure-from-the-heart-of-the-tudor-court/

Here's another pic from the post showing both sides of the pendant together:

[LisaM]

5. I would guess it was hidden during the Civil Wars.

I remember seeing this on some show, most likely on PBS, a few years ago. I am glad it's found a home.

[highplainsdem]

6. Thanks!

[PatSeg]

15. Thanks, this is all so fascinating

[SunSeeker]

7. Serms to me Henry VIII showed no actual love to his many wives. nt

[BaronChocula]

10. Perhaps Catherine Parr

His last wife. She had sway over him. Maybe Jane Seymour, but she died so soon. But yeah, he was pretty gross.

[DavidDvorkin]

12. He didn't start out a monster

He was widely admired at first, but something happened to him. One speculation is that it was an accumulation of brain injuries from jousting.

He and Catherine of Aragon were a loving couple for years, and they were married for a fairly long time.

[PatSeg]

16. Yes, that was my understanding

that Henry and Catherine were very much in love for a long time, but the fact that she did not produce a male heir for him seriously affected his feelings for her.

[mwmisses4289]

8. How beautiful!

I wonder if the field it was found in may have once been the site of the manor of the noble family whose male courtier was awarded that prize.
I know from watching different u.k. archeology shows that many homes of the wealthy and noble families from various eras of u.k. history disappeared for a lot of different reasons.

[OldBaldy1701E]

11. Ahh! Another 'Time Team' viewer!

I LOVE that show.

(I ordered myself a hoodie a few years back. Aways glad to wear it.)

[electric_blue68]

13. Pretty nice - the back is lovely. TY