1. Born: 28 th June 1491 Died: 28 th January 1547

2. Henry VIII was born in Greenwich Palace on the 28 th of June 1491. His mum was Elizabeth of York and his dad was Henry VII. He had 2 sisters and a brother called Mary, Margaret and Arthur.

3. When Henry was born nobody thought that he would become King because his brother Arthur was older than him. Sadly, in March 1502 Arthur fell ill. He may have had tuberculosis, the plague or sweating sickness, nobody knows. Unfortunately, on April the 2 nd Arthur died, leaving Henry next in line to the throne.

4. On April the 21 st 1509 Henry VII died. Henry was crowned King on the 24 th of June the same year. 13 days earlier Henry had married Arthur’s widow, Catherine of Aragon. They got married at a small church in Greenwich.

5. Henry and Catherine were married for 24 years. When they had been married for 22 years Henry wanted to get a divorce but the Pope wouldn’t let him so Henry formed the Church of England and granted himself a divorce. From that day forward the King or Queen was the head of the Church of England. Henry and Catherine had six children but only one survived. This child later became Mary I.

6. In 1533 Henry married Anne Boleyn. They had one child called Elizabeth. She later became Elizabeth I. In 1536 Henry accused her of adultery and she was beheaded. She was locked up in the Bloody Tower at the Tower of London and was beheaded there a few months later. One week later he married Jane Seymour. When they were married they had one child called Edward who later became Edward VI. Jane died an hour after she gave birth.

7. Jane was Henry’s favourite wife and when she died he mourned over her for the rest of his life but he had to marry again. He got his adviser Sir Thomas Wolsey to show him pictures of available women for him to marry. Henry chose a German princess, Anne of Cleves. When she arrived Henry said that she looked like a horse so granted himself another divorce. They were married for 6 months. Henry felt sorry for Anne so he gave her one of his places and told everybody that she was his sister.

8. In July 1540 Henry married Anne Boleyn’s cousin Kathryn Howard. Kathryn was only 19 when she married Henry. They were married for two years. She was beheaded for adultery. One year later he married Katherine Parr who he stayed married to until he died in 1547.

9. That was a brief history of Henry VIII.