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You are here: UK History > Royal History > House of Tudor > Henry VIII | The king with 6 wives
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived – the rhyme is well known and Henry VIII is probably the best known monarch because of his penchant for beheading wives and advisors and for producing England’s first sitting queens. His reign was incredibly long and saw a lot of changes, so here is a brief look at the life and times of Henry Tudor jnr.
Born: 28th June 1491, Palace of Placentia, Greenwich, Kent, England
Died: 28th January 1547 (aged 55), Palace of Whitehall, London
Reign: 22nd April 1509 – 28th January 1547
Parents: Henry VII and Elizabeth of York
Predecessor: Henry VII
Successor: Edward VI
Spouse: Catherine of...Read More
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived – the rhyme is well known and Henry VIII is probably the best known monarch because of his penchant for beheading wives and advisors and for producing England’s first sitting queens. His reign was incredibly long and saw a lot of changes, so here is a brief look at the life and times of Henry Tudor jnr.
Born: 28th June 1491, Palace of Placentia, Greenwich, Kent, England
Died: 28th January 1547 (aged 55), Palace of Whitehall, London
Reign: 22nd April 1509 – 28th January 1547
Parents: Henry VII and Elizabeth of York
Predecessor: Henry VII
Successor: Edward VI
Spouse: Catherine of Aragon (1509 – 1533), Anne Boleyn (1533 – 1536), Jane Seymour (1536 – 1537), Anne of Cleves (1540 –1540), Catherine Howard (1540 – 1542), Catherine Parr (1543)
Children: Henry Duke of Cornwall, Mary I Queen of England, Henry Fitzroy Duke of Richmond and Somerset (ilegitimate), Elizabeth I Queen of England, Edward VI King of England
Royal House: Tudor
Henry was born on 28th June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Kent, the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. He was one of seven children, however only four of them survived infancy and his older brother, Arthur the Prince of Wales, died at 17, putting Henry in line for the throne. Because Henry was the younger son and wasn’t expected to ascend, not much was recorded about his childhood. His father also kept him largely out of the public eye and didn’t give him many responsibilities. Prince Henry’s first foray into public life was at his brother’s wedding to Catherine of Aragon. The 10 year old prince performed ceremonial duties as part of his role as the Duke of York.
Image: Henry VIII
Unlike most royal children, Henry and his siblings spent a considerable amount of time with their parents and it is believed that his father was doting and affectionate, which might have contributed to his lack of training in administration. One thing we do know about Henry’s childhood is that he had an extensive education and was fluent in several languages, including Latin, French and Italian. His intellectual nature shaped much of his court when he became king. His court was considered to be glamourous and full of art and books. He regularly scouted the country on the hunt for the top musicians to provide entertainment and was known to be proficient in several instruments himself. Art, sports and scholarly reading are all things associated with Henry and his court. After all, it is said after all that he wrote Greensleeves, something that is widely debated. There is evidence, however to suggest that he wrote his own books and pamphlets throughout his reign.
He was an avid gambler and excelled at sports, being very active as a younger man, exercising his athletic skills to impress visiting royals and nobles, hosting jousts and tournaments for them. It would appear that had Arthur not died, Henry would have lived a life of debauchery and pleasure, playing games and enjoying the finer things in life.
Sadly, for Henry and the people who’s lives he ended, Arthur died shortly after his wedding to Catherine of Aragon, likely of the sweating sickness, which made the then 10 year old Henry the Prince of Wales and Heir to the Throne. Even after Arthur died, Henry wasn’t given any training in diplomacy and kingship, in fact, he was strictly supervised and did not often appear in public. Historians say that one defining feature of Henry’s reign was that he ascended being totally untrained in kingship, which given his hot temper, proved to be a difficult combination.
After Arthur’s death, Henry VII wanted to maintain his alliance with Spain and so sought special dispensation so that Catherine could instead marry Prince Henry. As Catherine stated that her marriage with Arthur had not been consummated, it was allowed, much to Henry’s displeasure. He was deemed too young for the pair to cohabit and rejected the idea of marrying her once he was in his teens, however, after becoming king, he agreed to the wedding claiming that it was his father’s dying wish.
Henry succeeded his father and became king at 17 and immediately set about making changes. His father had left him with a full treasury, which didn’t last long and Henry had two of his father’s most trusted advisors charged with treason. They wouldn’t be the first to fall foul of the king, other trusted advisors that ended up being executed including Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Sir Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell and others, including two of his wives.
Once Henry and Catherine's coronation was official, they set about trying for an heir and they soon announced that the queen was pregnant. Sadly, she gave birth to a stillborn girl, but fell pregnant again just months later. The second child was a boy named Henry for his father, but he too died just weeks later. In the following years, Catherine would suffer from several miscarriages and still births, before eventually giving birth to a daughter, named Mary in February 1516. She and Henry didn’t have any other living children. Though their marriage was thought to be relatively good, Henry was known to have numerous mistresses. One of the best known was Bessie Blount, who was kept as royal mistress for three years and gave birth to a son, Henry Fitzroy. Henry Fitzroy would be made the Duke of Richmond, taking a step towards legalising him, but he died young, also of suspected Sweating Sickness. Another of Henry’s mistresses was Mary Carey, the sister of his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Both Mary and Anne were ladies in waiting for the queen at the time and the nieces of the Duke of Norfolk. It is speculated that Mary’s two children were fathered by Henry but he never claimed them. After taking a liking to Anne, Henry reportedly tried to make her his mistress, but she refused, stating the only way they would be together would be as man and wife. This sparked a series of religious and political changes throughout England as Henry sought to separate from Catherine.
It was not so easy as to just divorce, at the time, divorces and annulments had to be approved by the Pope and as the pair had already received papal dispensation to marry in the first place and Catherine’s nephew was now the Holy Roman Emperor, it was not something that the pope would agree to, especially as Catherine refused to being divorced. Henry charged his most trusted advisor, Cardinal Woolsey to find a way to release him from the marriage which contributed to Woolsey’s fall from grace. He was unable to do so easily and a trial was arranged in which king and queen had to give evidence. Henry claimed that the reason he sought to divorce Catherine was because God was offended by her previously being married to his brother and that was the reason why he couldn’t have a male heir.
Likely his desperation to woo Anne and her interest in Protestantism led to a shift away from Catholicism, ultimately, Henry decided that he didn’t need the pope’s permission if he was Supreme Leader of the Church, creating the Church of England.
Catherine found herself being banished from court and Mary named illegitimate. The marriage was dissolved after 24 years and Anne was moved into the queen’s rooms and began accompanying the king on royal visits, particularly to France where she had been a member of the French court. The pair were unofficially married and then had a lavish ceremony in London shortly before Anne announced her pregnancy. She gave birth to a daughter, named Elizabeth not long after.
The marriage was not a happy one, Anne was considered to be educated and intelligent and refused to be submissive. During their marriage, she influenced politics heavily and used her interest in Protestantism to begin a reformation of the church. However, she too failed to produce a male heir and Henry soon began to look elsewhere, namely at Jane Seymour, one of the Queen’s ladies. When Catherine died, Anne was once again pregnant and aware that her marriage was falling apart. Later the same month, Henry was gravely injured in a jousting tournament and Anne went into early labour, one of many miscarriages that ultimately resulted in a number of trumped up charges of treason, giving Henry a reason to remove her from court. In total five men, including he own brother, were accused of having affairs with the queen. This combined with charges of witchcraft and incest, plus the marriage being declared invalid because of Henry’s prior relationship with Anne’s sister put an end to the marriage. She was executed on 19th May 1536 on Tower Green and Elizabeth joined her sister in being illegitimate and falling out of the king’s favour.
The day after Anne’s execution, Henry and Jane Seymour became engaged, marrying ten days later. Jane would finally give Henry the heir he desperately wanted, but would die less than a week after his birth due to complications in childbirth. She is considered to be Henry’s favourite wife and he was buried beside her. Their son Edward was made Prince of Wales and was heavily guarded.
After the death of Jane Seymour, Henry turned to Thomas Cromwell, his new favourite advisor to find him a new wife. Cromwell suggested Anne of Cleves as a way to create an alliance. Henry agreed after only seeing a portrait of her and on meeting her, changed his mind. The marriage was not consummated and was dissolved. Anne was given the title of King’s Sister, a generous pension and two properties. Even before the marriage was over, Henry had already found his fourth bride, one of Anne’s ladies in waiting, Catherine Howard, who was Anne Boleyn’s cousin. Cromwell was beheaded for his failure, and to celebrate, Henry and Catherine Howard married. Being in her teens and Henry in his forties, the pair had very little in common and after finding out that she had previously been involved with one of her employees and had a relationship with a courtier, Henry had the three of them executed.
A year later, he married his final wife, Catherine Parr, a wealthy widow who is credited in reconciling Henry with his daughters and for inspiring him to implement the Third Succession Act which would bring them back into the line of succession, as well as recognising his sister Mary’s children. The act excluded the offspring of his sister Margaret, who had married the King of Scotland and was the mother of James V of Scotland. Catherine Parr would outlive Henry and would become a guardian for the young Elizabeth, even housing her for a time.
It isn’t just his many wives that Henry should be remembered for. England went under some of the biggest political, societal, and religious changes in its history under his reign. As part of distancing England from the Catholic church, he brought about the Dissolution of the Monasteries, using funds from closing and ransacking religious buildings to supplement his various wars. Although being a Catholic by birth and practicing the religion even after initiating the move towards Protestantism, the choice appeared to be a political one rather than being faith driven.
He had a long standing feud with France and went to war several times, establishing what would become Britain’s Navy and investing in ships and weapons. Henry is considered the father of the Royal Navy and the Tudor Navy was one of the largest in Europe. He would go to war with France three times over the course of fifteen years. His other legacy was creating the legal union between England and Wales and was the first English monarch to rule as King of Ireland after bringing in the Crown of Ireland Act 1542.
Something that Henry’s reign is known for is his tyrannical way of running the country. Henry made radical changes to the English Constitution, bringing in the theory of the Divine Right of Kings and expanded his own power, frequently using charges of treason and heresy to quell dissent. Many of his enemies were members of his inner circle that fell out of favour and were executed without as much as a formal trial. Despite not having any experience when coming to the crown, historians consider Henry’s reign to be one of the most important in English history.
Although he was athletic and active in his youth, Henry never fully recovered from the accident that caused Anne Boleyn’s miscarriage. As time went on, he became severely overweight and unwell, often having to be moved about with the help of mechanical devices. The wound sustained in the accident never fully healed and he was described as being covered in pus filled boils, open rotting wounds and gout. He also became prone to mood swings which had a dramatic impact on his personality in later years, perhaps indicating that he may have sustained a head injury in the same accident. His mood swings were so violent and his health so poor that historians continue to debate whether or not Henry was actually suffering from advanced syphilis. One explanation for his behaviour and the difficulties his wives had with conceiving could be that he was Kell Positive. Whatever the reason, Henry’s ill health and obesity contributed to his death at the age of 55 on 28th January 1527. His tomb had only been partially constructed and was never finished, but as he wished, he was buried with Jane Seymour.
Henry was succeeded by his nine year old son, Edward VI. One of the stipulations of Henry’s will was that a council of 16 named executors would act as regent until Edward came of age. The council collectively voted that Edward Seymour, the new king’s maternal uncle, be Lord Protector. The Third Succession Act signed before Henry’s death indicated that Edward was to be his heir, with the line of succession to then pass to Mary in the event that he didn’t have issue and then to Elizabeth if Mary didn’t produce children. Should all three of Henry’s children die, provision was made to include the Greys, the descendants of his sister Mary.
Overall, Henry is remembered for being a terrible husband and an extravagant king.
49 Bankside, London
Catherine of Aragon, Henry's first wife stayed here before her marriage to Arthur.
Abbingdon Abbey, Oxfordshire
Henry stayed here for an extended period of time before the dissolution of the monasteries.
Ampthill, Bedfordshire
The town once had a castle where Catherine of Aragon was banished and held under house arrest.
Anne of Cleves House, Sussex
The house given to Anne of Cleves as part of her divorce settlement from Henry.
Dunstable Priory
It was here that the annulment of the marraige of Henry and Catherine of Aragon was announced.
Elton Hall, Cambridgeshire
The collection there includes Henry's personal prayer book.
Hampton Court
Henry’s favourite royal residence
Hever Castle, Kent
Home to Anne Boleyn, Henry's second wife.
Historic Dockyard Chatham, Kent
Henry's warships were built here.
Hurst Castle, Hampshire
One of the few coastal forts completed under Henry.
Kendal Castle, Cumbria
Birthplace of Catherine Parr, wife number 6
King's School, Kent
Henry established the school here after dissolving the monastery.
Leeds Castle, Kent
Henry stayed here on his way to his meeting with Francis I of France at the Field of Cloth of Gold.
The Mary Rose, Portsmouth
A warship commissioned by Henry that sank on its maiden voyage.
National Archives, Kew
The charges against Anne Boleyn can be found here, the collection also includes one of Henry's bibles.
National Portrait Gallery, London
A portrait of Henry with Jane Seymour, painted by Hans Holbein can be found here. The portrait also features Henry's parents.
Parsons Green, London
There is a building here called Aragon House, which was owned by Henry's first wife.
Richmond Park, London
Henry's favourite hunting spot.
Royal Naval College, London
The college sits on what was Greenwich Palace, which is where Henry and his two daughters were born.
St James Palace, London
Henry presided over much of the building of this palace.
Tower of London
Henry had several of his wives and opposers executed here.
Tudor World, Warwickshire
The oldest lived in house in Stratford, it now doubles as a museum dedicated to the Tudor era.
Yarmouth Castle, Isle of Wight
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