King Henry VIII and His Six Wives

Did you know that there is a common rhyme that helps remember the fate of Henry VIII's six wives? Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived. Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia. My name is Kelly and today's video is all about King Henry VIII of England and the history of his six wives. Don't forget the easiest way to support us is by giving this video a thumbs up, subscribing to our channel and hitting that bell icon for notifications so you don't miss out on any new uploads. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organisation, so if you'd like to support our work you can head to our Patreon via the link in the top corner of the screen or via the Patreon link down below. Henry VIII was born on June 28, 1491 and was the son of King Henry VII of England. Henry VIII ruled as King of England from 1509 until his death in 1547 as the second Tudor King. Henry was not meant to be king as he had an older brother, Arthur, who was the next in line to rule. But after Arthur died at the age of 15 in 1502, only a year after his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry became the new heir to the throne. His father Henry VII got special permission from the Pope for Henry VIII to marry Catherine, which was granted. The year that Henry VII died in 1509, Henry married Catherine of Aragon and became king. In his youth, Henry was tall with red hair and a beard. He was skilled at archery and tennis. He could compose music and poetry and was a fine horseman. All in all, the charm and intelligence of his youth has been overshadowed by his perpetual search for a male heir. Henry went through six wives on his search for an heir, and these women were Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. Let's start off with wife number one, Catherine of Aragon. Catherine was the daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile, the same monarchs who funded Christopher Columbus. She was beautiful and well-educated, but out of the six children she bore to Henry, only one survived past infancy, Mary. Mary would one day become Queen Mary I of England. Troubled by his lack of a male heir, Henry started his search for wife number two, and he caught his eye on Anne Boleyn, even though his father had asked for special permission to marry Catherine in the first place, and divorce was forbidden by the Catholic Church. At this time, it was the only church in England. Anne Boleyn refused to entertain thoughts of her family until they were married. So Henry's next issue was how to rid himself of Catherine. He decided a letter to the Pope would do it. Henry told Pope Clement VII that his lack of male heirs was God punishing him for marrying his brother's widow. He asked for an annulment, but the Pope wanted to stay in the good books of the most powerful ruler of Europe at that time, Charles V of Spain, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and nephew to Catherine of Aragon. Also assuming that Catherine and Arthur would have been too young to consummate their marriage anyway, which meant that the prohibition of Leviticus from the Old Testament, which is chapter 18 of the book of Leviticus and basically spells out all the sexual relationships considered incestuous, couldn't help Henry's case anyway. The Pope declined Henry's appeal. The Pope sent Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio to oversee a special court between Henry and Catherine, which did not resolve anything. And then Henry tried the tactic of sending Mary away, which also didn't help. At this point, Henry was secretly living with Anne Boleyn, although they hadn't slept together yet. And Henry decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. In 1532, Henry had the radical idea to split the church in England from Rome. He declared himself the head of it and sanctioned his own divorce, which was annulled in May of 1533. On November 28, 1534, Henry was declared the head of the church and the English Reformation began. Henry declared that Mary was illegitimate and Catherine was forbidden to use the title Queen of England. Catherine was still separated from her daughter. And in 1533, she was confined to her Buckton residences. After not eating and then contracting cancer, she died at the age of 50 in 1536. Anne Boleyn was a lady-in-waiting in Henry's court. She was well-educated and well-connected. And prior to being in Henry's court, she grew up in the royal courts of France and the Netherlands. Anne was witty and bold and refused his courting gifts and wouldn't sleep with him until they were married. They began living together while Henry was still with Catherine. And then sometime in December 1532, Anne slept with Henry. Maybe she thought a baby would help get rid of Catherine faster. Either way, Anne fell pregnant and it became even more important that Henry married Anne to make their children legitimate. They married in secret in January 1533, months before his official annulment with Catherine. Anne was crowned as Queen on the 1st of June 1533 and their daughter, Elizabeth, would become Queen Elizabeth I of England. Anne was known as Anne of a Thousand Days due to her brief time as Queen. After two miscarriages and a stillborn son, it became clear to Henry that Anne couldn't give him an heir. Their relationship deteriorated and Anne even openly insulted Henry in court. Women, look out. Henry was on the search for wife number three. Anne was accused of adultery. She was arrested and confined to the Tower of London on May 2nd, 1536. Anne was eventually found guilty. The marriage was annulled and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Anne was executed on May 19, 1536 and on the very same day, very insensitively, Henry announced his engagement to wife number three, Jane Seymour. Jane Seymour was a lady-in-waiting for both of Henry's previous wives and only a few weeks after Anne Boleyn's execution on May 30th, 1536, Jane and Henry were married. Jane could barely read or write and seemed to be the opposite in temperament of Anne Boleyn. Jane gave Henry the heir he was so impatiently waiting for, the future King Edward VI of England, but she died just 12 days later. Henry mourned Jane and she was the wife he was eventually buried with in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. Henry's fourth marriage was a diplomatic one to Anne of Cleves, who was the eldest daughter of John, Duke of the German Duchy of the same name. England needed Protestant allies against Europe's Catholic superpowers, France and Spain. Thomas Cromwell arranged the marriage but neither he nor Henry were pleased by her looks, her personal hygiene, her loud voice or her manners. They were both expecting a more beautiful woman based on the portrait of her sent prior to their meeting in person. Despite this, Henry and Anne were married on January 6th, 1540 but he quickly changed his mind, cancelled her coronation and they divorced amicably on July 9th, 1540. Henry gave Anne a castle, two manners and 4,000 pounds a year, which enabled her to live a good life until her death in 1557. She was buried in Westminster Abbey. Thomas Cromwell, who Henry blamed for the unsuitable match, was arrested, charged with heresy and treason and executed without a trial in 1540. Wife number five for Henry was the beautiful teenager, lady in waiting and cousin of Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard. They married on July 28th, 1540, the same day of Cromwell's execution. Henry was completely besotted with his new, young, beautiful wife and he showered her with precious jewels, pearls and furs. Catherine Howard was eventually beheaded on February 13th, 1542 on the charges that she participated in extramarital affairs. Several premarital affairs that Catherine was a part of were revealed and torture was used to extract confessions. This embarrassing affair for Henry saw Parliament pass a bill that any future queen must be chased before her marriage. Henry's sixth and final wife was Catherine Parr, whom he married on July 12th, 1543 at Hampton Court. Catherine was the daughter of Thomas Parr and by the time of her marriage to Henry, she was more mature than some of his other wives as a woman in her 30s and she was well-educated. She took to educating her three adopted children and ultimately had a successful marriage to Henry. She both bowed to Henry's will and ego but also took an interest in religious affairs. King Henry VIII of England died on January 28th, 1547 at the age of 55. Catherine Parr outlived him but died in childbirth in 1548 following her marriage to Thomas Seymour. After Henry's death, his son Edward VI was crowned king but at only nine years old he died in 1553 of tuberculosis. Mary I was then crowned until 1558 when she died and Henry's second daughter became Queen Elizabeth I who reigned until her death in 1603. What do you think of Henry's treatment of his wives? Let us know what you think in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss out on our new videos every Tuesday and Friday. If you want to know more about King Henry VIII and his wives you can find a bunch of resources from our website down below. This video was brought to you by World History Encyclopedia for more great articles and interactive content head to our website via the link below. 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