Renaissance Man: Henry VIII and His Six Wives Divorced

1
Renaissance Man Henry VIII and His Six Wives

• Divorced, Beheaded, or Survived?

2
HenryVIII

• A brief discussion of his personality and
  historical importance
•     How can one adequately describe Henry's
  personality?  Imagine yourself as Henry VIII, the
  second son suddenly yanked into the spotlight by
  your older brother's death. Sheltered and
  smothered by a father suddenly aware that he has
  just one heir left handsome and intelligent and,
  by turns, both recklessly indulged and then
  denied.  Any of us would have emerged as a mass
  of contradictions and frustrations.  So Henry
  VIII, crowned king at the prime of his life, just
  eighteen years old and physically magnificent
  with more enthusiasm and energy than most of his
  contemporaries, became a conflicted and confused
  man.  But it is a shame to let the last twenty
  years of his life color the interpretation of his
  entire life.  One should not see him as simply an
  ogre king who beheaded two wives, divorced two
  others, and rejected another in one of the most
  humiliating ways possible.    

For more information, click on image of Henry.
3
Wife 1 Katharine of Aragon

• 'In this world I will confess myself to be the
  king's true wife, and in the next they will know
  how unreasonably I am afflicted.' Katharine of
  Aragon, 1532

The youngest surviving child of the 'Catholic
Kings' of Spain, Katharine was born on 16
December 1485, the same year that Henry VII
established the Tudor dynasty.  At the age of
three, she was betrothed to his infant son,
Prince Arthur.  In 1501, shortly before her
sixteenth birthday, Katharine sailed to England. 
But her marriage to Arthur lasted less than six
months and was supposedly never consummated. 
Katharine was then betrothed to Arthur's younger
brother, Prince Henry.  When he became king in
1509, at the age of eighteen, he promptly married
Katharine and they lived together happily for
many years.  But their marriage produced just one
living child, a daughter called Mary, and Henry
was desperate for a male heir.  (Click photo for
more information.)
His divorce from Katherine caused the
establishment of the Church of England.
4
Wife 2 Anne Boleyn

• 'A woman who is the scandal of
  Christendom.'Katharine of Aragon describes her
  rival, 1531

Anne Boleyn is one of the most famous queens in
English history, though she ruled for just three
years.
It finally took an irrevocable breach with the
Holy See before they wed in 1533.  But she was
unable to give Henry the son he desperately
needed and their marriage ended tragically for
Anne.  She was executed on patently false charges
of witchcraft, incest and adultery on 19 May
1536.  Her daughter, Elizabeth, would become
greatest queen.
Anne was beheaded after she was accused of incest
with her brother.
5
Wife 3 Jane Seymour

• Here lies Jane, a phoenix Who died in giving
  another phoenix birth. Let her be mourned, for
  birds like these Are rare indeed. Jane
  Seymour's epitaph

Henry VIII had six wives but only one gave him a
son.  Jane Seymour fulfilled her most important
duty as queen, but she was never crowned and died
just twelve days after the long and arduous
birth.  She was Henry's third wife and seems
never to have made much of an impression upon
anyone except the king.  Her meek and circumspect
manner was in distinct contrast to Henry's second
wife, the sharp-tongued Anne Boleyn.  Jane had
served as lady-in-waiting to Anne and she
supplanted her in much the same way Anne had
replaced Katharine of Aragon in Henry's
affections.  We will never know if Jane sought
the king's favor or was a frightened pawn of her
family and the king's desire
Jane died 11 days after giving birth the Henrys
only son, Edward.
6
Wife 4 Anne of Cleves

• Anne of Cleves was the fourth wife of King Henry
  VIII it was a very brief marriage, to the
  astonishment of all observers but the relief of
  both spouses.  Henry infamously referred to his
  bride as a 'Flanders mare' and told courtiers and
  ambassadors that he could not perform his
  husbandly duties because of Anne's appearance. 
  Anne's reaction to Henry's physical charms was
  not recorded, but she agreed to an annulment very
  quickly and remained in England for the rest of
  her life

After a brief six month marriage, Anne and Henry
agreed to divorce.
7

Wife 5 Catherine Howard

• 'The King's affection was so marvelously set upon
  that gentlewoman Catherine, as it was never
  known that he had the like to any woman.'Thomas
  Cranmer's secretary, Ralph Morice, in a letter to
  his master, 1540

Catherine Howard was a cousin of Henry VIII's
ill-fated second queen, Anne Boleyn and like
Anne, Catherine would die on the scaffold at
Tower Green.  Her birthdate is unknown, but her
father was the younger brother of the duke of
Norfolk.  Though personally impoverished,
Catherine had a powerful family name and thus
secured an appointment as lady-in-waiting to
Henry's fourth queen, Anne of Cleves. 
Catherine Howard was beheaded after she was
caught in an adulterous relationship.
8
Wife 6 Katherine Parr

• 'They curse and ban my words everyday, and all
  their thoughts be set to do me harm....  I am so
  vexed that I am utterly weary.'  Katharine Parr
  in 1544, regarding Catholic attempts to discredit
  her 

Katharine Parr was the sixth and last wife of
King Henry VIII, destined to outlive the
mercurial ruler.  She was already twice-widowed
and childless when they wed in 1543 she was also
in love with Thomas Seymour, the brother of
Henry's third queen Jane.  But the king's will
was law and Katharine bowed to his demands with
grace.  She was an admirable wife to Henry and a
loving stepmother to his two youngest children,
Elizabeth and Edward. 
Katherine Parr outlived her husband Henry.