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Henry VIII

June 28, 1491 marked the beginning of King Henry VIII’s accomplishments. January 28, 1547 marked the end of the miraculous accomplishments by King Henry VIII. He was the third child of Henry VII, and the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.

Seeing that the first son was supposed to become king, we do not know much about his childhood, because Henry was the second son. His brother Arthur died at the age of fifteen either because of diabetes or the sweating sickness. Arthur was married just a few weeks before he died, and his wife also got sick, but survived her sickness. Because of Arthur’s death, Henry became Prince of Wales, and Dukedom of Cornwall. Henry VIII was not given much to do by his father when he took over these positions from his brother, because he was so young. He was also strictly supervised, and did not appear in public often.

At two years old, in 1493, Henry VIII was appointed Constable of Dover Castle.

Henry’s education came from some of the best tutors, and he was fluent in French, Latin and some of Spanish and Ancient Greek. Henry’s mother, Elizabeth of York, died when Henry was only eleven. Not much of Henry’s life before the age of ten was closely recorded, because he was not suspected to become king until his brother died.

Henry’s father tried to make a marital alliance between England and Spain by offering his son, Henry IX, to marry King Ferdinand II of Aragon’s daughter, Queen Isabella I of Castile.

Henry VIII officially became Henry VIII on April 22, 1509, the day his father died. He was eighteen years old at this time, and not the person we think about when we hear Henry VIII, King of England. The image that comes to mind is usually an old and fat man that is lazy. No, Henry VIII was a very in shape, and athletic kid when he became King. He was tall and thin with red hair, and a thick, red beard.

After Henry VIII became king, he inherited 1.5 million pounds from his father. He also married Catherine of Aragon on June 11, 1509, who was his brothers wife before his brother died. She gave birth to their first child in January of 1511. They named him after King Henry’s father, Henry VII. Two months later the child died. Little do they know that this is the first of many failing births they would have.

After his child died, Henry VIII took England to war against France from 1512 to 1514. Henry’s main reason for war against France, was the two deaths of his first two sons. He was so devastated from his first two sons death’s that he tried to distract himself by taking England to war with France. When Henry went to fight France, France had a treaty with Scotland that was a pledge of mutual assistance. Therefore, when England attacked France, Scotland attacked England. Since, Henry was out of the country fighting France, his wife Catherine had to lead forces against Scotland. She led England to victory over Scotland. King Henry VIII also won the battle in France.

King Henry VIII had six wives in the years 1509 to 1547. The first wife was Catherine of Aragon. Their marriage was annulled. Henry’s second wife was Anne Boleyn. Prior to him marrying her, she was a lady-in-waiting. This means that before Henry annulled his marriage with Catherine, Anne worked for Catherine. In 1533, Henry and Anne got married secretly. Later they had a real wedding that was public.

The Pope did not want Henry to get a divorce and marry Anne. So, when Henry married Anne, the Pope declared excommunication against Henry. The Church of England had to leave the Roman culture. Because Henry was the reason The Church of England left The Roman Catholic Church, he got the say so in what happened, and he made himself have all authority of The Church of England.

In September of 1533, Anne had Henry’s second child, a daughter. Henry was getting frustrated that she couldn’t have a son to be heir. So, Thomas Cromwell had a plan to execute her. On May 19, 1536 Anne was beheaded. The charges to get her beheaded were high treason, adultery, and incest. Henry also annulled this marriage. Jane Seymour was Henry’s third wife. While she was a lady-in-waiting, she served Catherine and Anne Boleyn. Finally, Henry gets what he wants. Jane has birth to a baby boy, but unfortunately Jane died twelve days after the birth. Henry was sad about his wife’s death, and we know this because she is the only one of his wife’s that got a proper queen’s burial.

Anne of Cleves was Henry’s fourth wife, but for only six months. There marriage was not happy, so they both agreed to annulment and she was given Hever Castle, a place for her to live. She was a friend to Henry and his children for the rest of his life. She was the last of his six wives to die, outliving him also.

Catherine Howard was Henry’s fifth wife. She had an affair with Thomas Culpepper during her marriage with king Henry. He was informed, and she was beheaded.

His sixth and final wife was Catherine Parr. Through many marriages and lines, Catherine was Henry’s third cousin once removed, and fourth cousins once removed from all of the marriages. Catherine’s “said to be” best achievement was Henry making her Regent while he was attending the war in France.

Henry VIII was a guy who liked to fight for land, because he liked to own a large amount of land. Also, he was a guy that liked peace at the same time. Many times he would take land from someone, and then get in a bad situation and give the land back hoping for peace. Henry was also someone who did not play around. IF you did something he didn’t like, he wasn’t going to tolerate you. A prime example is the beheading of his wives! King Henry VIII is a pretty interesting man, and will continue to be studied by many people.

Citation Page

"Henry VIII of England." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 June 2013. Web. 06 Apr. 2013.

"Wives of Henry VIII." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Web. 06 Apr. 2013.

"Henry VIII." Henry VIII. Web. 06 Apr. 2013.

"Why Did Henry VIII Go to War Against France, in Years 1512 to 1514?" - Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers. Web. 06 Apr. 2013