Reign of Henry VIII
Since the accession of Henry VIII (1509–1547) to the throne, support for Spain and participation in military operations against France have become traditional. The expression of this alliance with Spain was the marriage of Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon, the widow of Henry VIII's deceased brother Arthur. Catherine of Aragon, daughter of the Spanish king Ferdinand, was the aunt of the German emperor and the Spanish king Charles V of Habsburg. The conductor of Spanish policy in England at that time was Cardinal Wolsey.
The situation changed dramatically when, after the Battle of Pavia (1525), the position of Spain strengthened and the Spanish king took virtually a dominant position on the continent. From this moment on, England's relations with Spain deteriorated, and Henry VIII began to gravitate towards an alliance with France.
The internal policy of the English government up to 1530 was also led by Cardinal Wolsey (1515–1530). The most significant feature of this period was the policy of further strengthening the position of the absolute sovereign, which was reflected in some reorganization of internal administration. The royal council, whose members were appointed at the choice of the king, mainly from officials rather than from representatives of the feudal nobility, acquired an increasingly important role. The composition of this council was permanent. The council had a number of committees that actually administered the state. Parliament continued to convene and provided all possible support to Henry VIII, as if entrusting him with full power.
Cardinal Wolsey's attempts to increase taxes caused strong discontent in the House of Commons, and the collection of forced loans further aggravated the situation. There was growing irritation among the people against the increasing financial extortions. All this in 1523–1524. significantly damaged Cardinal Wolsey. The luxurious lifestyle he led was provocative and turned public opinion against him. The nobility were dissatisfied with Wolsey because he pursued a policy of strengthening absolutism, while the people hated him for excessively increasing the tax burden. However, it was not the people or representatives of the feudal nobility that determined the policies of Henry VIII. The decisive word actually belonged to the new nobility and the bourgeoisie, and Cardinal Wolsey incurred the hatred of these circles as well. In an effort to strengthen the foundations of Tudor rule and soften the severity of the social contradictions caused by enclosures, he carried out a number of measures against enclosures, limiting the new nobles and capitalist farmers who drove out the peasants. It was this circumstance that made him a completely odious figure in the eyes of the rural gentry and bourgeoisie and ultimately played a decisive role in his downfall.
Wolsey's position was further complicated by the fact that in the second half of the 1920s there was a sharp turn in England's foreign policy towards rapprochement with France, which was only possible if there was a break with Spain and the Habsburgs in general. All this inevitably had to entail a refusal to submit to the Pope in ecclesiastical terms. The reason for the break with the Habsburgs and the Pope was the divorce case of Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon.
At the court at this time, the maid of honor, Anne Boleyn, who enjoyed the favor of the king, was at court. A large party of courtiers formed around her, mainly from representatives of the new nobility, among whom the main role was played by the Duke of Suffolk, who hoped, with the help of Anne Boleyn, to achieve the fall of Cardinal Wolsey. In 1529, the king demanded that his marriage to Catherine of Aragon be declared illegal (since she was the widow of his brother). The commission of legates, headed by Wolsey, postponed the hearing of the divorce case, and from that moment the story of Wolsey's fall begins: at first he was only removed from the court, but after some time he was arrested and sent to the Tower of London. On the way there, Wolsey died.
After Wolsey's death, the government of Henry VIII decisively began to formalize the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. It soon became clear that this policy was dictated not so much by the desire to break off relations with Spain, but by the desire of the English king to get out from under the power of the pope, who stubbornly refused to approve the divorce.
The king needed a break with Rome primarily for purely financial reasons. Papal extortion placed a heavy burden on the masses, and this made the break with Rome quite popular. At the same time, the reformation that began in this way did not at all represent a popular movement. The closure of monasteries and the seizure of monastic lands, which were an inevitable consequence of the break with Rome, were necessary and beneficial primarily for the king, the new nobility and the new nobles. This was the basis of the anti-Catholic policy of the government of Henry VIII, who found in the divorce proceedings a convenient pretext to carry out a reformation in England and seize huge church properties into their own hands.
After the fall of Wolsey, the famous humanist, author of Utopia, Thomas More, was the chancellor of the kingdom for a short time. The impending reformation forced him to resign from this post. Soon Thomas More, accused of treason because he did not want to recognize the king's supremacy in church affairs, was executed.
Since 1532, the main role in government was played by Thomas Cromwell, a man who made a quick career using the most shameless methods. His policy was aimed at maximizing the strengthening of central power. T. Cromwell became the all-powerful ruler of the state. He was in charge of all financial affairs, managed the three seals of the kingdom, was the chief royal secretary, had a large staff of officials and actually led the Privy Council, which at this time became the highest government body. Of particular importance was the reform of financial departments and administration initiated by Cromwell.
In every sphere of central government, medieval methods and forms were replaced by more modern methods and forms in the course of this reform. Medieval palace management turned into a bureaucratic apparatus of a centralized state.
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From the book World History in Persons author Fortunatov Vladimir Valentinovich6.1.1. The habit of marrying King Henry VIII The thirty-eighth king of England and the second English monarch from the Tudor dynasty - Henry VIII - was born in 1491. He was the son of Henry VII and in the Russian manner could be called Heinrich Genrikhovich. Henry VIII became king at eighteen
C The reign of Henry the Eighth, the second Tudor king, was one of the longest and best documented in English history. Everyone knows the events of his personal life, which would have been more than enough for three men, not one: six wives, two of whom he executed, divorced one, and abandoned the other, declaring the marriage invalid. A brief biography of some of his wives could be summarized in one line:
Divorced, Beheaded, Died; Divorced, executed, died
Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. Divorced, executed, survived..
Next, there is confusion with children, who is illegitimate and who is not. In order to gain freedom in his personal life, he broke with the pope, who did not approve of divorce, and became the evil Pinocchio’s own head of the church, simultaneously executing everyone who did not have time to adapt.
Despite the fact that the TV series “The Tudors” and also the film “The Other Boleyn Girl” portray King Henry as a muscular, handsome brunette, in reality he, of course, was not one. Or was it?
At the age of sixteen they wrote about him: “A talented rider and knight, he is popular among his associates for his ease of handling.” When Henry the Eighth turned fifty, it was said of him: “He was old before his age...he was often quick-tempered, easily angered, and increasingly succumbing to black depression as the years passed.”
It is interesting to trace the changes in the king’s appearance, which reflected not only the natural passage of time, but also the events that happened to him.
So, on June 28, 1491, King Henry the Seventh and his wife Elizabeth of York had a second son, who was named after his father.
I think it was an angel with golden curls and light eyes. True, the child was extremely spoiled, he even had his own whipping boy, who was punished for the little prince’s hooliganism.
Prince Henry grew up to be a well-educated and well-read man, fluent in French and Latin and Spanish, well versed in mathematics, heraldry, astronomy and music, and interested in science and medicine. He was a true man of the Renaissance - he loved art, poetry, painting, and at the same time, he was sincerely pious.
Importantly, academic knowledge did not prevent him from becoming a tall, handsome, well-built athlete and a passionate hunter; By the way, I loved...tennis. However, the lack of discipline in education, unbridled character, reluctance to study what is not interesting, traits that are forgivable for the second son of the king, later brought him and England many problems during his reign.
The Venetian envoy wrote about the young prince that he was the most handsome of the monarchs he had taken away, above average height, with slender and beautifully shaped legs, with very fair skin, with bright, reddish-brown hair, cut short in the French fashion; the round face was so beautiful that it would have suited a woman; his neck was long and strong.
The fact that the prince was well built is confirmed by the size of his youthful armor: 32 inches at the waist and 39 inches at the chest (81 cm and 99 cm). His height was and remained 6 feet 1 inch, which is equal to about 183 cm, if I’m not mistaken, with a weight of 95 kg. He also had good health: in his youth he only had a mild case of smallpox, and periodically suffered, also in a mild form, from malaria, which was common in Europe at that time (there were many swamps that have now been drained).
Portrait of 18-year-old Henry (where, in my opinion, he somehow looks an awful lot like his great-uncle, Richard III).
And this is young Prince Hal through the eyes of a modern artist.
Armor of young Henry (left) and armor of Henry in his 40s (right)
Henry in 1521 (age 30)
Portrait of Henry aged 34-36 Age 36-38
In the eyes of his subjects, the young king, who ascended the throne after his miserly father, who sent his last surviving relatives after the Battle of Bosworth to the scaffold or into exile, who had not convened parliament for ten years, was the personification of a new wonderful hero. “If a lion knew his strength, it is unlikely that anyone would be able to cope with him,” Thomas More wrote about him.
His reign proceeded more or less smoothly until the king reached the age of 44.
Henry at the age of 40: the prime of his life
By this time, the king had already divorced Catherine of Aragon and married the clever Anne Boleyn, but the turbulent events did not particularly affect his health: until 1536 he had no problems with it, except for a gradual gain in weight. Judging by the very detailed ordinance he personally drew up regarding the royal table, the king had what is called a brutal appetite for meat, pastries and wine. Hence the fullness that is already present in the portrait at the age of 40, which is not present in the portrait of 30-year-old Henry (see above). Yes, the king was a womanizer and a glutton, but he had not yet become Bluebeard and a tyrant.
What happened in January 1536 at the tournament in Greenwich? Already quite obese, Henry could not stay in the saddle and fell in his armor from his horse, which also wore armor. The horse then fell on top of him. The king was unconscious for two hours, his legs were crushed and most likely suffered from several fractures. There was justifiable fear for his health, so much so that Queen Anne suffered a miscarriage: unfortunately, it was a boy. As if this were not enough, the king's illegitimate son, the young Duke of Richmond, soon died, and Anne was soon accused of adultery.
The fractures and other wounds healed at first, but soon the king began to suffer not only from headaches, but also from chronic, extensive, wet, purulent ulcers on his legs. Because of the pain, he could not speak and was silent for ten days in a row, suppressing a torn cry. Doctors tried unsuccessfully to heal these ulcers by piercing them with a hot iron, or excising them without allowing them to heal in order to “help the infection come out along with the pus.” Also, most likely, the king had been suffering from diabetes for a long time by this time (hence the incurability of ulcers). Is it any wonder that physical suffering, coupled with the consequences of a head injury, completely changed the character of the monarch?
Now researchers claim that as a result of an injury at a tournament in 1536, Henry the Eighth suffered damage to the frontal lobes of the brain, which are responsible for self-control, perception of signals from the external environment, social and sexual behavior. In 1524, when he was 33 years old, he also suffered a minor injury when he forgot to lower his visor and the tip of an enemy's spear hit him hard above his right eye. This gave him recurring severe migraines. But in those days they did not know how to treat brain injuries, as well as diabetes.
Those around him knew about the king's health, but everyone who dared to open their mouth was accused of treason and sent to the scaffold. Henry could give an order in the morning, cancel it by lunchtime, and then be furious when he learns that it has already been carried out.
From that moment on, a new, dark stage of the reign began.
The king's most passionate desire at this point was to obtain an heir to continue the Tudor dynasty. Multiplied by the serious psychological changes that occurred to him after 1536, this desire resulted in a series of impulsive and cruel actions for which Henry is famous to this day. It is more than likely that the king suffered by that time from a lack of potency. Even the actual fulfillment of his dream with the birth of his son from Jane Seymour, Edward, could not change anything.
Heinrich is about 49 years old
Henry VIII and the guilds of barbers and surgeons (the king was very interested in medicine, and these guilds were created under his patronage). The king is 49 years old on the canvas.
Detail of a 1545 portrait showing Henry, Edward and - posthumously - Jane Seymour.
And this is the entire portrait, on the left and on the right - the king’s two daughters.
Despite his painful condition, his spirit was stronger than his body, and Henry lived for another eleven years. Ignoring doctors' prohibitions, he traveled a lot, continuing his active foreign policy, hunted and... ate much more. The makers of a History Channel documentary recreated his diet based on surviving sources: the king consumed up to 13 meals daily, consisting mainly of lamb, chicken, beef, venison, rabbit and a variety of feathered birds like pheasant and swan, he could drink 10 pints (1 pint = 0.57 l) of ale a day, as well as wine. Although, on the other hand, it is also possible that this was only the king’s menu, offered to him by the cooks, and by no means what he actually ate. But...
With the impossibility of his previous mobility, he quickly gained weight and by the age of fifty he weighed...177 kilograms! Judging again by his armor, his waist from 81 cm in girth at the age of 20 grew to 132 cm at the age of about 50. By the end of his life, he could barely walk on his own. The condition of the ulcers on his legs only worsened, they emitted such a strong smell that he announced the approach of the king long before he appeared in the room. Katherine Parr, whom he married in 1543, was more of a nurse than a wife for him, only she could calm the monarch's fits of rage. He died in 1547, exhausted by attacks of fever and regular cauterization of ulcers.
In fact, judging by the armor of the end of his reign, the width of the king's torso was almost equal to his height!
The entire variety of existing portraits of Henry the Eighth is posted on this wonderful resource:
And here in English you can watch the documentary film "Inside the Body of Henry the Eighth"
Wives of Henry VIII December 21st, 2016
Hello dears.
In the history of any country there is a ruler that literally everyone has heard of. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of people, accustomed to thinking in blocks, know literally a little about such a historical figure, and God grant that it is true information, and not an element like “Marie Antoinette’s brioche.”
Now, if you ask people what they have heard about the English king Henry 8, many will remember that he is a polygamist, and someone will add that it was because of his wives that he took Foggy Albion from the hands of the Roman Curia to Protestantism. This is partly true (although not because of numerous marriages, of course. It’s getting deeper and more serious). It’s true that it’s hard to deny the female influence here :-)
But Henry VIII is a much more interesting figure (as are all the Tudors in general). And we can say that he was a bright and strong sovereign, until towards the end of his life “the cuckoo completely went away.” If you have time and desire, read about his life. Well, today we will focus on more prosaic things - let’s remember these same wives and what they were like :-)
One of the many films about him...
Henry went down in history as the husband of 6 different wives. And they were really very, very different. They say that English schoolchildren are still taught not to confuse these queens using the mnemonic phrase “divorced - executed - died, divorced - executed - survived.” Comfortable:-)))
So, he married for the first time having just taken the throne in 1509. Henry at that time was a noble and kind young man, and therefore committed an act that he might well not have done - he married the widow of his older brother, Catherine of Aragon.
"Catholic Kings"
It was like this... In general, Henry should not have taken the throne, because he had an older brother whose name was Arthur. Their father, the reigning King Henry VII, chose for Arthur what seemed to him a brilliant match - the youngest daughter of the unifiers of Spain, often also called the “Catholic kings” Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, Catherine. The marriage was overall strategic and beneficial for England. The girl was 16, the groom 15. They had time to have a wedding, but not their wedding night. Arthur suddenly died from some infectious disease. Catherine remained an innocent widow at the British court.
Despite the fact that she was 5 years older than him, Henry decided to get married. Either out of a sense of duty, or out of pity, or maybe love was involved there too.
Arthur Tudor
However, it should be noted that the life of the spouses did not work out right away. They were too different. Cheerful and not shying away from wine and female society, Henry and devout Catholic Catherine. It seemed that she took the worst traits from her parents - her mother's religious fanaticism and her father's stinginess. There were especially problems with the earnestness of faith. In fasting and prayer, the young woman brought herself to the point of fainting from hunger, which had a very bad effect on her health. She gave birth to 8 children, only 1 boy, but of all of them only one child survived - Mary (the future Queen Mary the Bloody). Having suffered without an heir and having completely cooled off towards his wife, Henry tried to get rid of her - but that was not the case. Neither persuasion, nor attempts at bribery, nor threats worked. Then the king approached the matter legally. His jurists explained that marrying the widow of the marriage is incest, which means the marriage is void. This happened in 1529, after 20 years of marriage.
Catherine of Aragon
This interpretation did not please Pope Clement VII, who did not give permission for the divorce, and in the end this became the starting point for the final ousting of Catholicism from England.
Clement VII in the world of Giulio Medici
Henry VIII by that time enjoyed the company of 3 mistresses at once - the Boleyn sisters (Anna and Mary), as well as Elizabeth Blount. The latter even bore him a son in 1525, whom the king subsequently granted the title of Duke of Richmond and Somerset. But he was a bastard, and the king needed a legitimate heir.
Late coat of arms of the Boleyn family
The youngest of the Boleyn sisters, Anna, took advantage of the king's divorce and the whole situation best of all. At the time of her infatuation with the king, she was 32 years old. This lady did not have a very beautiful appearance, but she was quite popular. Everyone noted the sophistication of her attire, pleasant voice, ease of dance, fluent knowledge of French, good performance on the lute and other musical instruments, energy and cheerfulness. And most importantly, she was quite smart and cunning. Having played hard to get in front of the king and initially rejected all his advances, she completely turned his head. She became Henry's wife in January 1533, was crowned on June 1, 1533, and in September of the same year gave birth to his daughter Elizabeth (the future famous "Virgin Queen"), instead of the son expected by the king. Subsequent pregnancies ended unsuccessfully. And the marriage quickly fell apart. The king simply...executed his wife in May 1536, accusing her of 2 treasons, high treason and marital treason. This is absolutely groundless. But the king was carried away by the new woman, and did not want a new divorce process.
Ann Bolein
Just a week after the execution of his wife, Henry VIII. whose mental health has already begun to shake, marries the object of his passion - Anne Boleyn's former maid of honor named Jane Seymour. It was Jane, even though she had been queen for a little over a year, who was able to give birth to the king’s legal heir - the son of Edward, who, albeit for a short time, ruled under the name of Edward VI. Jane herself died 2 weeks after the birth of her son - from puerperal fever.
Jane Seymour
The king should have stopped - but no, despite his advanced age for those years, he set out on a new search for his wife. And I found it. He decided to become related to the Duke of Cleves (northwestern Germany) Johann III the Peace-loving and betrothed his eldest daughter Anna. But everything turned out a little crooked. He had not seen Anna, so he ordered her portrait - they brought it to him and he fell in love with the portrait. When the girl was brought to London, the king was very disappointed. She didn't match the portrait. And it was very inconsistent. Therefore, after six months of marriage, the king offered her a divorce, paid her a generous allowance and the unofficial title of “the king’s favorite sister.” She remained to live in England.
Anna Klevskaya
I don’t know why Henry wanted to marry again, but he made an extremely strange choice. A certain 20-year-old former maid of honor and cousin of Anne Boleyn named Catherine Howard was a cheerful and peculiar lady. Cuckolding her husband right and left, and having at least 2 official lovers, including the king’s personal page who cheated on Henry, she ended her life on the chopping block. The king tolerated her for 2 years, but on February 13, 1542, she ascended the scaffold. Because they don't joke with fire.
Catherine Howard
We can say that the king was lucky only in his last marriage. Despite the 20-year age difference, his last wife, Catherine Parr, tried to create for him conditions for a normal family life. She loved his children and himself, tried to extinguish his attacks of rage and manifested mental illness. This was her 3rd marriage and she was a widow twice. Despite the fact that during the 4 years of marriage she was, as they say, on the verge of death several times, but she honestly pulled the marital burden. It was under her, an ardent Protestant, that England lost its chances of returning to the Catholic bed. And it was Catherine Parr who buried the king. Henry VIII. On January 28, 1547, at two o'clock in the morning, Henry VIII died at the age of 55 from gluttony.
Catherine Parr
Interestingly, Parr married for the fourth time - to Thomas Seymour, Jane Seymour's brother. Thus, for those times, this woman was unique - after all, she had 4 marriages.
This is the story with the spouses of the loving King Henry VIII. I hope you found it interesting.
Have a nice time of day.
King Henry VIII Tudor ruled England in the 16th century. He became the second monarch of the Tudor dynasty. Known for his numerous marriages, because of one of them he rebelled against the Catholic Church, broke ties with the papacy and became the head of the Anglican Church.
The monarch suffered from mental disorders and by the end of his reign he could not distinguish between his real political opponents and his imaginary ones. After the English Reformation, he made England a Protestant country. His influence on the country is still felt today. The ruler’s life was described in a dozen novels, films and TV series.
Childhood and youth
Henry VIII was born on June 28, 1491 in Greenwich, England. He became the third child in the family of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York. The boy was raised by his grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort. She instilled spiritual values in the young monarch, attending mass with him and studying the Bible.
At the age of fifteen, his older brother, Arthur, died. It was he who was supposed to ascend the throne, but after his death, Henry VIII became the first contender. He received the title Prince of Wales and began preparations for his coronation.
His father, King Henry VII, tried to expand the influence of England and strengthen alliances with neighboring countries, so he insisted that his son marry Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of the founders of the Spanish state and the widow of his brother. There is no documentary evidence, but there are rumors that the young man was categorically against this marriage.
Governing body
In 1509, after the death of his father, seventeen-year-old Henry VIII ascended the throne. For the first two years of his reign, all government affairs were handled by Richard Fox and William Wareham. After them, power passed to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who later became Lord Chancellor of England. Traditionally, a young king could not rule himself, so while he gained experience and matured, real power was in the hands of experienced assistants who dealt with important issues during the reign of the previous king.
In 1512, Henry VIII won the first victory in his biography. He led his fleet on the way to the shores of France. There the English army defeated the French and returned home victorious.
In general, the war with France continued until 1525 with varying success. The monarch managed to reach the capital of the enemy country, but soon the military treasury of England was empty, and he had no choice but to conclude a truce. It is worth noting that the king himself often appeared on the battlefield. He was an archer and obliged all his subjects to practice archery for an hour a week.
The country's domestic policy was far from ideal. Henry VIII, with his decrees, ruined small peasants, as a result of which tens of thousands of vagabonds appeared in England. To cope with this problem, the king issued a decree “On Vagrancy”. Because of him, thousands of former peasants were hanged.
Of course, the most significant contribution to the development of England is church reform. Due to the disagreement of the Catholic Church with the divorce of the monarch, he completely broke ties with the papacy. After this, he brought charges of treason against Pope Clement VII.
He also appointed Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury, who easily declared the marriage of Henry and Catherine invalid. Soon the king married. He went on to uproot the Roman Church in England. All temples, cathedrals and churches were closed. All property was confiscated in favor of the state, all priests and preachers were executed, and Bibles not in English were burned. By order of the king, the graves of saints were opened and plundered.
In 1540, Henry VIII executed Thomas Cromwell, who was the king's chief assistant in reform. After this, he returned to the Catholic faith and issued the “Six Articles Act,” which was supported by the English Parliament. According to the act, all residents of the kingdom were required to bring gifts during the mass, receive communion, and confess. He obliged the clergy to observe the vow of celibacy and other monastic vows. Anyone who disagreed with the act was executed for treason.
After the monarch executed his fifth Catholic wife, he again decided to change the church faith in England. He banned Catholic rituals and returned Protestant ones. Henry VIII's reforms were inconsistent and illogical, but they managed to create their own English Church, independent of Rome.
At the end of his reign, Henry VIII became even more ruthless. Historians say that he had a genetic disease that affected his psyche - made him suspicious, hot-tempered and cruel. He executed everyone who was displeasing to him.
Personal life
The English king was married six times. His father chose his first wife. He divorced Catherine of Aragon, leaving her the title of his brother's widow. The reason for the divorce was that all of Catherine’s children died during her pregnancy or immediately after. Only her daughter, Mary, managed to survive, but Henry VIII dreamed of an heir. In 1553, his daughter became the first Queen of England, known as Bloody Mary.
Anne Boleyn became the king's second wife. She refused to be his mistress, so the monarch decided to divorce Catherine. It was Anna who inspired Henry VIII that the king was responsible only to himself and the crown, and the opinion of the clergy in Rome should not worry him. After this, the king decided to reform.
In 1533, Anna became the legal wife of the head of state. That same year the girl was crowned. Exactly nine months after the wedding, Anna gave birth to the king's daughter. All subsequent pregnancies ended unsuccessfully, and the king was disappointed in his wife. He accused her of treason and executed her in the spring of 1536.
The next wife of Henry VIII was Anne's maid of honor -. The wedding took place a week after the execution of the king's second wife. It was Jane who managed to give birth to the monarch's long-awaited heir in 1537. The Queen died shortly after the birth of her son due to birth complications.
The next marriage became a political move. The English king married Anna of Cleves, daughter of Johann III of Cleves, who was a German duke. Heinrich decided that he wanted to see the girl first and only then make a decision, so he ordered her portrait.
The king liked Anna's appearance, and he decided to marry. When they met, the monarch did not like the bride at all, and he tried to get rid of his wife as soon as possible. In 1540, the marriage was annulled due to the girl's previous engagement. Because the marriage was unsuccessful, the one who organized it, Thomas Cromwell, was executed.
In the summer of 1540, Henry VIII married the sister of his second wife, Catherine Howard. The king fell in love with the girl, but did not know that she had a lover before the wedding. She cheated on the monarch with him even after the wedding. The girl was also noticed in connection with the page of the head of state. In 1542, Catherine and all those responsible were executed.
The sixth and last wife of the English king was Catherine Parr. The Englishwoman became a widow twice before her marriage to the monarch. She was a Protestant and her wife was persuaded to her faith. After the death of Henry VIII, she married twice more.
Death
The King of England suffered from a dozen diseases. Obesity became his main problem. He began to move less, his waist exceeded 1.5 meters. He moved only with the help of special devices.
During the hunt, Heinrich was injured, which later became fatal. The doctors treated her, but after a leg injury, the wound became infected and the wound began to grow.
The doctors shrugged their shoulders and said that the disease was fatal. The wound festered, the king’s mood deteriorated, and his despotic tendencies became more and more apparent.
He changed his diet - he almost completely removed vegetables and fruits, leaving only red meat. Doctors are confident that this was the cause of the king’s death on January 28, 1547.
Memory
- 1702 - statue in St. Bartholomew's Hospital;
- 1911 - film “Henry VIII”;
- 1993 - film “The Private Life of Henry VIII”;
- 2003 - TV series “Henry VIII”;
- 2006 - novel “The Boleyn Inheritance”;
- 2008 - film “The Other Boleyn Girl”;
- 2012 - book “Henry VIII and His Six Wives: The Autobiography of Henry VIII with Commentary by His Jester Will Somers.”
Tudor and his 6 wives have been of interest not only to historians, but also to people of art for almost 550 years. And this is not surprising, since even without any adjustments it is in no way inferior to the plots of the most popular soap operas.
Many books have been written and dozens of films have been made on the topic of the monarch’s numerous marriages. However, not all of them are true, so you will probably be interested in reading documented facts that shed light on the relationship between Henry VIII Tudor, his wives and heirs, and why the king could not find a woman who could force him to become an exemplary family man.
First marriage
Henry 8 ascended the English throne after the death of his father at the age of 17. He entered into his first marriage shortly before this. Moreover, this marriage was not only not for love, but even its expediency from the point of view of strengthening England’s position in Europe was doubted by both the father of the young king and his advisers.
The wife of the future king was Catherine of Aragon, a Spanish infanta who, moreover, was the widow of Henry’s older brother, Arthur. She was older than her husband and their marriage was opposed by the Catholic Church, which considered them close relatives. In order to obtain the pope's permission, Catherine even had to swear an oath that, despite the fact that she was married to the Prince of Wales, she remained a virgin. Based on these testimony, the first marital union of the Spanish Infanta was declared invalid.
Lack of an heir
Having become king, young Henry completely obeyed his wife in matters of foreign policy. At the same time, the queen was most concerned about the interests of her native Spain. At the same time, everyone expected Catherine to give birth to an heir, but she only gave birth to dead children or they died immediately after birth.
Finally, in 1516, 7 years after the wedding, the queen became the mother of a healthy girl, who was named Mary. According to the marriage contract of Catherine and Henry, in the absence of a couple of sons, the throne was supposed to pass to the daughter. However, the king feared even the thought of a woman on the throne of England. He continued to hope that Catherine would give him a son, but the queen’s next and final pregnancy ended with the birth of another dead boy, which made the threat of a dynastic crisis real.
Extramarital affairs
While the queen unsuccessfully tried to become the mother of the heir to the throne and was constantly pregnant or recovering from difficult childbirth, Henry sought consolation on the side. His most famous mistresses at that time were Bessie Blount, who gave birth to the king's son Fitzroy, and
It is interesting that in 1925, the first boy was given the title of Duke of Richmond and His Majesty did not even hide the fact that he was the father of this child, while he did not recognize the children from his second mistress, although everyone was sure that they were not born without his participation.
Ann Bolein
According to historians, all the wives of Henry 8 Tudor, to one degree or another, loved this extraordinary man. However, he did not idolize any of them, and subsequently hated him as much as Anne Boleyn.
The girl was the younger sister of his mistress Maria, but she was exceptionally ambitious. She received an excellent education in Brussels and Paris and shone at court. Noticing signs of attention from the king, she gladly met with him for intellectual conversations, but was in no hurry to accept his advances.
Perhaps the reason for her inaccessibility was the fate of her sister, who became Henry’s concubine, and then was rejected and forgotten by him. The refusal only fueled the king's love fervor. To gain her favor, he offered Anna the role of the wife of Henry 8 Tudor, although he already had a legal wife.
Divorce
Anna Klevskaya
Although England already had an heir to the throne, after the death of Joan Seymour, ambassadors were sent to many European capitals. They were ordered to find candidates for the role of the wife of Henry 8 Tudor. Portraits of girls from royal families had to be brought to London so that the king could choose a bride for himself. As it turned out, no one was eager to give their daughter as a wife to a man who had two annulled marriages behind him and who executed the mother of his child.
With great difficulty, the ambassadors managed to persuade Duke William of Cleves to marry his sister Anna to Henry. At the end of 1539, the princess arrived in Calais, where she met her groom. The king was disappointed, since the bride did not look at all like the girl from the portrait that was sent to him. He returned to London in a rage and unleashed his wrath on the courtiers who had betrothed him to a “Flemish mare.”
However, he had to get married, but he publicly stated that he did not touch his wife. Despite this, Anna of Cleves gained universal love at court and became a good stepmother to the king's three children. Soon Henry decided to cancel the barque. The Queen did not resist, especially since her husband invited her to live in the palace as his “beloved sister.”
Catherine Howard
By 1540, King Henry VIII Tudor of England and his wives were everywhere in Europe. He could no longer hope to find a wife among the girls from august families, so he turned his attention to the ladies-in-waiting of his fourth wife. Among them, he especially liked the one he married.
At first the marriage seemed happy, and Henry seemed to look 20 years younger. But the young wife was a flighty person, and soon young people with whom she had been friends before she became queen appeared in her retinue. Having learned about his wife’s infidelity, Henry ordered her execution in front of the crowd.
Catherine Parr
This woman happened to write the last chapter of the novel “Henry VIII and His Six Wives.” At the time the king proposed to her, she had already become a widow twice, and she was 31 years old. The king was over 50, and he told Lady Catherine that he hoped that she would be his consolation in his old age. Henry's new wife became friends with her husband's daughter Elizabeth and took up the education of his son Edward. The marriage lasted 4 years and ended with the death of the monarch.
Now you know some interesting facts about the events in which the main characters were the English king Henry VIII and his six wives. Fortunately, today everyone is free to marry as many times as they wish, and this does not require cutting off heads or plunging an entire country into the abyss of religious and civil wars.