KING HENRY VIII’S WIVE S

VII and Elizabeth of York Relation to Elizabeth II: 12th great-granduncle House of: Tudor Ascended

to the throne: April 21, 1509 aged 17 years Crowned: June 24, 1509 at Westminster Abbey
Married: (1) Catherine of Aragon 1509-1533 Divorced (2) Anne Boleyn 1533-1536 Beheaded (3) Jane Seymour 1536-1537 Died (4) Anne of Cleves 1540 Divorced (5) Catherine Howard 1540-1542 Beheaded (6) Catherine Parr 1543-1547 Survived
Children: Three legitimate who survived infancy; Mary, Elizabeth and Edward, and at least one illegitimate child Henry Fitzroy. Died: January 28, 1547 at Whitehall Palace, London, aged 55 years, 7 months,  Buried at: Windsor

have a son and heir to the throne, to stay

on good terms with other countries, to become richer and more powerful and to find someone to look after his children (as well as failing in love!). MEET HIS SIX WIVES!

When Henry became king at 18, he married Catherine of

Aragon. She was the daughter of the King of Spain and the widow of Henry’s elder brother Arthur. She was older and wiser than him and often gave him advice on how to rule. They were married for 18 years and had one daughter, Mary. But Henry wanted a son, an heir to his throne. He also fancied Anne Boleyn, so he decided to divorce Catherine. When the Pope refused to give him a divorce, he broke off his relations with Rome and made himself the head of a new Church of England.

married Anne Boleyn in 1533. She had a girl, Elizabeth,

but no sons. Henry soon got fed up with Anne (it is said that she was really grumpy!), so he arrested her on charges of being a witch — she had six fingers on her left hand. To be on the safe side he also accused her of meeting other men. In 1536 she was beheaded. Eleven days later Henry married his third wife.

Seymour was one of Anne Boleyn’s ladies-in-waiting. She was from

an old and noble family. She was gentle and modest and not grumpy like Anne. She gave birth to a sickly son in 1537, Edward, but died soon after. It is said that Jane was Henry’s favourite wife and he waited two years before marrying again.

Cleves
Henry wanted another queen. He saw a picture of

a German princess, Anne of Cleves, and decided to marry her without seeing her! But when he met her, Henry didn’t fancy Anne at all. He is said to have called her a horse! He couldn’t break his promise to marry her but their marriage only lasted six months. Henry actually became very fond of Anne after the divorce and they became good friends.

Howard was a cousin of Anne Boleyn and was only

about 16 when she married Henry. (He was 49!) Very soon Henry found out that Catherine had been seeing other men, so he charged her with adultery and she was beheaded. The following year he married for the last time.

Catherine Parr was Henry’s sixth and last wife. She had

already been married twice before, but both her husbands had died. She was really in love with Thomas Seymour (Jane Seymour’s brother) but she was too scared to refuse the King (which was probably wise!). Henry was very very fat and ill by now and Catherine was as much a nurse as a wife. When Henry died in 1547, she quickly married Thomas Seymour (her fourth husband).

what happened to each of Henry’s wives: Divorced, beheaded, died Divorced, beheaded,

survived