HENRY VIII and his 6 wives

HENRY VIII and his 6 wives

(28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547)

He was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII. He was born at Greenwich Palace, and he was the third child of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.

In 1502, Arthur (elder brother of Henry VIII) died at the age of 15, after only 20 weeks of marriage to Catherine of Aragon. So at the age of 17 - Henry married Catherine on 11 June 1509 and, on 24 June 1509, the two were crowned at Westminster Abbey.

Two days after his coronation, he arrested his father's two most unpopular ministers, Sir Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley. They were charged with high treason and were executed in 1510. This was to become Henry's primary tactic for dealing with those who stood in his way. Henry cultivated the image of a Renaissance Man and his court was a centre of scholarly and artistic innovation.

The term : Renaissance Man is used to describe a person who is well educated or who excels in a wide variety of subjects or fields. The concept emerged from the numerous great thinkers of that era who excelled in multiple fields of the arts and science, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, etc.

He was an accomplished musician, author, and poet. His best known musical composition is "Pastime with Good Company" also known as "The King's Ballad" -is an English folk song.

Henry VIII was very cruel and wasteful with money. He disliked a power of the Church in England because he could not control it.

By 1526 he still not had a son so he tried to persuade the pope to allow him to divorce, but the pope was under control of Charles V. – who was a nephew of Catherine of Aragorn who wanted stay in marriage.

In 1531 Henry persuaded the bishops to make him head of the Church in England, so now he was free to divorce. His new love was Anne Boleyn - instead of the sought after male heir, Anne was pregnant with another princess, Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I).

Anne was supported by religious reformers but was also hated by many at court. After a miscarriage, her fate was sealed and she was arrested (and later executed at the Tower of London) for adultery and incest.

His next wife : Jane Seymour (c1509-1537) was the third of Henry VIII's six wives and the only wife to provide the King with the much longed for son and male heir. Having married Henry in May 1536, she gave birth to Prince Edward (later Edward VI) at Hampton Court Palace in 1537 but died soon afterwards.

Henry had his son but grieved: 'Providence has mingled my joy with the bitterness of the death of her who brought me this happiness.'

Anne of Cleves (1515-1557) was the fourth of Henry VIII's six wives and at 24 was half Henry's age when they married in January 1540. Henry first saw Anne of Cleves in a painting by Hans Holbein but in the flesh, Henry found Anne unattractive and began pursuing one of her maids of honour, Catherine Howard.

After six months the marriage was annulled yet Anne remained in England and on good terms with Henry VIII. He commanded that she be treated as 'the king's sister'

Henry VIII's fifth wife was an alluring teenager named Catherine Howard(1522-1542). Married three weeks after his second divorce, rumours of Catherine's past and present love affairs reached a furious Henry. She was arrested at Hampton Court Palace and later taken to the Tower of London where she was beheaded in February 1542, aged about 21.

Kateryn Parr (1512-1548) was the last of Henry VIII's six wives. Intelligent and devout, Kateryn loved Thomas Seymour but Henry's proposal could not be refused. She and Henry VIII married at Hampton Court Palace in July 1543. He was 52, she was 31.

After the King's death, Kateryn was free to marry Seymour but she died 15 months later, aged 36, having given birth to their daughter.

Henry died in 1547 leaving behind his sixth wife, Catherine Parr and his three children – Mary – the eldest was daughter of Catherine of Aragon, Elizabeth – daughter of Anne Boleyn and Edward – son of Jane Seymour.

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