HENRY VIII AND HIS SIX WIVES

Do you remember we talked about Henry VIII and his six wives in class? Well, here you have a bit of history for you! I hope you enjoy reading it. In case you want to read it at your own peace, go to READING to get a PDF document.

Here we go!


Everybody recognises his portrait: a fat man wearing clothes set with jewels and with a neat red beard. This is Henry in later life: in his youth he was handsome and athletic, the most eligible prince in Europe.

Henry was also a complex man: intelligent, boisterous, flamboyant, extravagant. Athletic, musical, a poet. Ruthless, arrogant, passionate.
Henry’s desire for a male heir led him to divorce two wives and have two wives beheaded: it led to religious revolution and the creation of the Church of England, the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the Reformation. The decisions that Henry made during his reign shaped modern Britain.

Let's go now through his six wives and how this affected the history of England, in particular his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

He first married Catherine of Aragon, his brother's widow. She was born in Aragon, Spain and her parents were King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castille. She had married Arthur, the Prince of Wales and Henry's older brother, but then Arthur died and six weeks after Henry was crowned king, at the age of 17, they married.

They had three sons and three daughters of whom only Mary (later Mary I) lived. This greatly angered Henry VIII. He thought that the marriage was cursed as he had married his brother’s widow. He had also met Anne Boleyn.

Henry wanted to end his marriage to Catherine. However, there was a problem for him. The Roman Catholic Church did not recognise or accept divorce. Henry, as with everybody else in England, was a Roman Catholic. He expected the Roman Catholic Church to make an exception for him as he was king of England. However, the Roman Catholic Church refused to do so. He did all that he could to end his marriage to Catherine. All his attempts failed.Then he decided that he was absolute ruler in all areas in his kingdom – and that included religion and answering religious questions. This was the start of the process that lead to the break from Rome and the Roman Catholic Church and ultimately led to the creation of the Church of England.

Four months before his divorce was announced he married Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine's

assistants. She gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth and also to a stillborn boy. Henry believed that she had been cursed and his ‘proof’ was the second thumb Anne had growing out of her main one. There were even rumours that she had a third breast. Anne, had a sharp tongue on her and had made enemies at court. She was finally accussed of having 5 men affairs. She was sentenced to dead.

However, Henry VIII had already one of Anne's maids in honour, Jane Seymor, who he married about ten days after Anne was executed. Jane was a submissive wife and gave birth to the son Henry desperately wanted. He was called Edward and would be the future Edward VI. However, just 12 days after the birth of Edward, Jane died. Henry was very sad.. Such was his love for Jane, that Henry ordered that he should be buried next to her when he died.



 Three years later he married Anne of Cleves, a German. They had never met before their marriage. Henry had sent men to western Europe to look for a wife for him and bring him portraits. She was chosen from a portrait. When they met he found her ugly, also she didn't have good manners and their communication was very difficult, Anne didn't speak English snd Henry's german was very poor. They married because Henry couldn't break the alliance he had made but finally they got divorced.

His next wife was Catherine Howard, Anne's Boleyn cousin's. They married 20 days after Anne's divorce. He was 49 by the time and she was 15 or 16. She had married because of an alliance with her family but she committed adultery and was discovered. Finally she was executed.

At the age of 52 he married Catherine Parr, who was 31 at the moment.  She had already been married twice and was in love with Thomas Seymor, Jane's Seymor's bother, but she was not in a position to refuse the attentions of the king.  She took care of the king and was a very good step-mother to all three of his children. She also played an important part in reconciling the relationship between Henry and Mary, his first child. When Henry VIII died she married Thomas but she died one year later from complications as a result of childbirth.



So there were three Catherines, two Annes and one Jane,  and most of school children learn the following rhyme to help them remember the fate of each wife: “Divorced, Beheaded, Died: Divorced, Beheaded, Survived”.

In case you want to know more about Henry VIII you can visit these sites:

- History Learning

- History.com

 And remember you can get the PDF document going to READING