HENRY VIII

ABOUT THE KING Henry VIII (28 June 1491 - 28 January 1547) was ‘King of England and Lord of Ireland’, then also ‘King of Ireland’, from 22nd April 1509 until his death. He was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII. Henry VIII is famous for having been married six times and breaking with the Roman Catholic Church. Henry VIII was the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. His elder brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales, died in 1501, leaving Henry as heir to the throne.

EARLY LIFE Born at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Henry VIII was the third child of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. In 1494, he was made Duke of York. In 1502, however, his elder brother Arthur suddenly died, and Henry was thrust into all the duties of his late brother, becoming Prince of Wales and, of course, heir to the throne. Eighteen year-old Henry VIII after his crowning in 1509.

FIRST MARRIAGE His first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was the youngest surviving child of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile (the rulers of Spain). She had 5 children, but only one daughter didn’t die at birth – Mary Tudor – also known as Bloody Mary. Henry wanted to have a son, so they had a divorce. She died in 1536.

CONFLICT WITH A POPE Catherine of Aragon didn’t give Henry a successor to the throne, so the king decided to ask the pope Clement VII to give them a divorce. But the pope refused. So Henry VIII established his own Church. He published The Act of Supremacy (1534) which declared the King ‘the only Supreme Head of Church of England’. England became no longer dependant on church and pope rules from the Vatican, and this is how English Protestant Church was born.

ANNE BOLEYN The second wife of King Henry VIII and the mother of the future great ruler – Queen Elizabeth I. She was pretty, witty and charismatic. But those advantages didn’t save her. King ordered to behead her. The reason was simple – she didn’t give him a son.

JANE SEYMOUR Jane Seymour was the daughter of Sir John Seymour of Wiltshire and Margaret Wentworth. Her exact birth date is debated; it is usually given as 1509. She died of postnatal complications following the birth of her only son, Edward VI. She was Henry’s beloved wife and his wish was to be buried by her side after death.

ANNE OF CLEVES Anne of Cleves was the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. She became Henry’s wife on 6 January 1540 at the royal Palace of Placentia in Greenwich. The marriage was annulled on July 9, 1540, on the grounds that it had never been consummated.

CATHERINE HOWARD The fifth wife of Henry VIII and sometimes known by his reference to her as "the rose without a thorn". She was flirtatious. Envious of his young wife (she was only fifteen when Henry married her) king ordered to arrest Catherine. She was beheaded in 1542.

CATHERINE PARR The last and the wisest of the six wives of Henry VIII. She was the most married queen of England, with four husbands. She argued with Henry over religion, she was a radical, but Henry remained a conservative.

INTERESTING FACTS A mnemonic for the fates of Henry's wives is "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived". An alternative version is "King Henry the Eighth, to six wives he was wedded: One died, one survived, two divorced, two beheaded". (Or: "Two beheaded, one died, two divorced, one survived.") Henry had his own armour which weighed about 35 kg (to compare: our clothes weigh about 2 kg). He was a great tennis player. When Henry was old, he was also very fat. There was no horse which could carry him. Henry encouraged learning and allowed the Bible to be printed in English. Under Henry England became richer and more powerful.

THE END  Authors: Joanna Marczuk & Justyna Pietraszek :*