Henry+VIII+and+His+Wives

= = =

=

By Taylor Baker



 * Henry VIII was born in the Greenwich Palace, in London on June 28, 1491. He was the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. He became Prince of Wales and heir to the throne after his elder brother, Prince Arthur, died in 1502. He became King after his father's death on April 21, 1509, he was 17 at the time. His father, King Henry VII of England, succeeded as King by defeating Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth Field. Aside from having six wives, King Henry VIII was known for his contribution in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. He changed religious ceremonies and rituals. He was an attractive man who, in the middle of his life, ruled with great powers. He had a strong desire to provide England with a male heir. He believed a daughter would not have the power to help England out and rule as great as a man would. King Henry had three children of his own. He was an eager gambler and dice player. He was also a musician, author, and poet. He also constructed and improved many important buildings. Many of them were confiscated from Wosley, one being Trinity College. He inherited quite a large amount of money from his father's death. It has been said that he was very careful with his money in his time. Henry VIII spent most of the money on keeping his court and household well-kept. The Tudor monarchs had to spend their own income on all of the expenses of the government. **




 * King Henry had 6 wives, Catharine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Katherine Parr. The second wife of King Henry was Anne Boleyn. She moved to England with Mary Tudor for her wedding and became a lady in waiting for Queen Claude. She was offered to be the wife of many men but she had no intention of becoming a part of their lives. One of the men was King Henry VIII and at the time she did not want him. After The divorce of the King and Queen, she joined him on a trip to visit Francis I. She returned to her home pregnant which led to her marriage to the King around January 25, 1533. They didn't make their marriage public until the annulment of Catharine and the King was finalized. Catharine's daughter, Mary, was forced to attend to Anne's child and if she refused to take care of the baby she would have her ears boxed. She had enemies stating that she was a witch. The King said she used a spell to make her fall in love with him as a ploy to convict her of being a witch. There were accusations of Anne having mutated growths on her and warts, which witches are said to have. **


 * When Anne accumulated the power given to her by marriage, her attitude changed and she became very arrogant. Anne's days of being Queen were soon to be over when the King had lost his affection for her. He resented her arrogance so he decided to make her jealous. This caused a lot of disputes among the two. There was talk about Anne being promiscuous and it wasn't long before the King heard about it. When he heard about it he called for all her lovers to be arrested. One of them was her own brother, Lord Rochford. She was sentenced to be locked up on a count of adultery with multiple persons. Her uncle, the duke of Norfolk, announced that since it would please the King, Anne was to be beheaded at the Tower of London. **

References

 Site copyright ©1996-2008 All Rights Reserved.

 Jokinen, Anniina. "The Six Wives of King Henry VIII." Luminarium. 14 Dec 2010.

 Luminarium

 © copyright 1995-2010 Lara E. Eakins

Tudor history © copyright W.F. Quarrie & Company,. (1958) Henry VIII (1958)  // The World Book Encyclopedia. // USA. Field Enterprise Educational Corporation