In 2019, a heart-shaped pendant and chain were discovered by British cafe owner Charlie Clarke, who had devoted his free time to metal detecting for six months before making the discovery of "not once in a lifetime, but once in 30 lifetimes," as the Guardian put it.
Almost returning empty-handed after a day of exploration in a Warwickshire field, Clarke's detector beeped distinctly. As he began digging up the earth, to his surprise he discovered a remarkable gold pendant, adorned with the symbol of Henry VIII (1509-47) and his first wife Katherine of Aragon (1485-1536). The pendant is in the shape of a heart, linked to a heavy chain made up of 75 links by a clasp representing a hand.
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Henry VIII first met Katherine of Aragon in 1501 as he walked her down the aisle to marry his brother Arthur. After the sudden death of the young prince a year later, Katherine was betrothed to Henry. The two spouses were crowned together on 24 June 1509. Of their five children, only their daughter Marie survived. Desperate for an heir, Henry VIII would go so far as to break with Rome to divorce. Katherine was banished from court and separated from her daughter. The man nicknamed 'the English Bluebeard' has gone down in history for his eight wives.
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The front of the pendant found in Warwickshire is adorned with a 'Tudor rose' intertwined with a pomegranate tree, with the legend +TOVS +IORS (a pun meaning 'forever'). From 1486, the two-headed red and white rose (i.e. the 'Tudor rose') was the symbol of the Tudor court. The pomegranate symbolised the conquest of the Spanish city of the same name in 1492 by Katherine's parents, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, and the image of the fruit was therefore associated with Katherine. The reverse of the pendant shows the letters H and K (for Henry and Katherine), in Lombard script, connected by a ribbon, supplanting the legend +TOVS +IORS. According to experts from the British Museum, the object most likely dates from 1521, though its direct link with Henry VIII or Katherine of Aragon and its presence in Warwickshire still remain unresolved.
The 24-carat, 300-gram solid gold object is on show in a display case in the British Museum. The value of the jewel is still unknown, but Clarke, the man behind the discovery, is expected to split the large sum with the owner of the field.
