Henry VIII was one of the most known kings in English history. He was born in 1491 and was crowned king in 1509 when he was only 18 years old. Henry made a lot of radical changes to the English Constitution and greatly expanded royal power when he was on the throne. But these actions were actually not what he was most known for. Another fact about Henry, is that he had 6 wives in the time that he reigned over England. This was from 1509 until 1547, when Henry died from bad health. So there were 6 wives in the time span of 38 years. But who were these wives and what happened to them that Henry had so many? In this article I will give you a rundown on what happened to the 6 most famous wives in English history.
The first wive of Henry VIII, and the one he was married to the longest, was Katherine of Aragon. She was the daughter of king Ferdinand and queen Isabella of Spain. Katherine and Henry were married from 1509 until 1533, and their marriage was annulled. When you annul a marriage, you declare that the marriage never took place, instead of divorcing, where you end the partnership.
Katherine and Henry had a daughter together, but Henry wanted a son and heir. He thought that the best way to achieve this was to find another wife. Since Katherine was actually married to Henry’s brother before him, Henry claimed that their marriage was invalid. The pope however, declined this request for annulment, to which Henry’s response was to start his own Church of England. Now the established Christian church of England and the one who is still used by the royal family.
The second wife was Anne Boleyn. Henry VIII actually got interested in her after he had an affair with her sister. Anne however, refused his advances until she got a marriage proposal, which she got in secret in 1533. By the time they were married, Anne was already pregnant with their daughter. Henry still wanted a son, but Anne miscarried 2 times trying to perceive one after they had their daughter. When they were married for 3 years, Henry was persuaded by an advisor saying that Anne was being unfaithful to him. Despite there being no evidence to this accusation, she still got arrested for this, because they were considered crimes at that time. She got beheaded shortly after. This was in 1536.
The third wife was Jane Seymour. They were married from 1536 until 1537 Other than the other wives, she never got a coronation, so she wasn’t officially crowned Queen of England. Jane was the wife who gave birth to Henry’s first son and heir of the crown, Edward VI. Unfortunately, she died 2 weeks after giving birth. Most people think that she died because of pregnancy complications. It is also widely thought that Jane is the only one of the wives Henry really loved.
After Jane, Anne of Cleves was Henry’s fourth wife. He was still mourning the death of Jane, but Henry and his advisors thought it would be smart to have a foreign ally against the catholic church of the pope. This is where Anne was brought in. his advisors really liked her as his wife, but Henry had his concerns. He thought her body was to voluptuous for her not to be married. Eventually he got convinced and they got married in January of 1540. Nonetheless, they were unable to consummate the marriage, and they got divorced shortly after, in July of the same year.
Katherine Howard was the fifth wife of Henry VIII. Katherine was actually the maid of honor of Anne of Cleves and this is how Henry and her got to know each other. They were married from 1540 until her death in 1542. At this point in his life, Henry was beginning to feel the consequences of bad health and sources say he started acting very paranoid. Because of this, Katherine got accused of treason for not telling Henry her sexual history prior to their marriage. She was also accused of illicitly meeting another man during their marriage. Something which was widely known that Henry did himself too. Despite this, it was enough reason for Henry to also behead his fifth wife.
The sixth wife, and the one who survived Henry, was Katherine Parr. They got married in 1543 until Henry died in 1547. This Katherine turned out to be a good stepmother to his kids and looked after Henry in his sickness. Katherine was actually friends with Henry’s first daughter, Mary, and this is how she and Henry met. Even though she wasn’t catholic, she convinced Henry she was loyal to him. So much so that he made her Queen Regent, which means that she was able to posses and exercise sovereign powers when Henry would eventually die. This is something the other wives didn’t have. But this isn’t the only thing that made her stand out. Katherine Parr was also the first woman to have been published under her own name, quite an achievement in that time. She was also the most married queen with having four husbands during her reign.
sources:
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/who-were-henry-viiis-wives