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Early Modern England Encyclopedia
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Henry Tudor was the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, born on June 28, 1491. He was one of six siblings. As early as age two, Henry began to acquire a series of titles that indicated his high status, including Constable of Dover Castle, Earl Marshal of England, Lord Warden, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Duke of York, Duke of Cromwell, and eventually Prince of Wales. When his brother, Arthur, died in 1502 at the age of fifteen, Henry became heir to the throne; he was just eleven years old. Upon his father’s death in 1509, Henry became king at age 17.
Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, had briefly been the wife of his older brother, Arthur. His father, King Henry VII, had wanted to keep alliances with Spain after his eldest son’s death in 1502. Arrangements were made, special permission received from the Pope, and Henry VIII and Catherine were married several years later in the summer of 1509. Catherine soon gave birth to their first child, a boy, in 1510, but he was stillborn. Of the three girls and four boys she delivered, only Mary (born in 1516) survived infancy.
In 1525, Henry VIII became frustrated that Catherine had not produced a suitable heir to the throne. He was unable to obtain an annulment or divorce due to the disapproval from the church. After a lengthy, unsuccessful legal debate with the Catholic Church that became called the
While still married to Catherine, Henry had for several years been infatuated with Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting. He pursued her for several years, but she refused his physical advances. Eventually, as the King and his ministers initiated the separation from the Catholic Church, Anne and Henry likely become lovers. They were married in January 1533. Anne was apparently pregnant when they married, with the child being born only 8 months later. To their disappointment, the child was female, a girl who would eventually become Elizabeth I.
However, Anne’s headstrong demeanor, which had originally attracted Henry to her, did not win her friends once she became Queen. Anne made many enemies, who soon sought her downfall. After subsequent miscarriages over the next two years, Henry determined that Anne was not able to produce a suitable heir. During this time, Henry also began to experience episodes of impotence, which of course interfered in his quest for heirs. Henry rejected her, and Anne was found guilty of adultery and incest. She was executed at the Tower of London on May 18, 1536.
Within a day of Anne Boleyn’s execution, Henry VIII became engaged to Jane Seymour, the obedient daughter of Sir John Seymour. They were married shortly thereafter. In 1537, Jane gave birth to a son, Edward, who became heir to the throne and Henry’s successor. The King and the nation rejoiced, with Henry’s quest for a suitable heir complete. Sadly, Jane died on October 24, 1537, due to complications of childbirth; Edward was two weeks old. She received a Queen’s funeral, unlike Henry’s first two wives.
In an effort to ensure England’s political and religious stability, the king’s ministers arranged the marriage between Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves, a German Protestant. They were married January 6, 1540, over Henry’s objections and as a result of diplomatic pressures. Due to the short duration of their marriage, Anne of Cleves was never crowned Queen. On July 9, 1540, Henry VIII intended to annul their marriage by using her previous engagement to a French nobleman, the son of the Duke of Lorraine. The King offered her an honorary title: she was declared King’s sister
. However, this badly managed alliance led to Henry ordering the execution of his chief minister, Thomas Cromwell. Later, Anne became friends with Henry’s first daughter, Mary Tudor, and converted to Catholicism. She died during Mary Tudor’s reign.
Within one month of the annulment, Henry wed the 19-year-old Katherine Howard on July 28, 1540. Katherine was a cousin of Anne Boleyn and had served as a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves. Unfortunately, Henry soon learned that Katherine had not been a virgin as she claimed when they married and that she was involved in an affair with the courtier Thomas Culpepper. Henry VIII convicted her of treason and expunged her titles in December 1541. She was imprisoned until her execution on February 13, 1542.
Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife was Catherine Parr. During her two previous marriages, she gained experience with nursing and caring for stepchildren. Catherine Parr was what the aging and ill Henry desired: a wife, a nurse, and a stepmother to his three children. They were married on July 12, 1542. An educated and apparently caring woman as well as a devout Protestant, she established trust with Lady Mary, Henry’s daughter with his first wife. Parr also brought Lady Elizabeth, Henry and Anne Boleyn’s daughter, back to the court and even convinced Henry to restore her title as Princess Elizabeth. Parr outlived Henry VIII and retired from court after his death. She did remarry, but died from complications following childbirth in 1548. Catherine’s husband Thomas Seymour outlived her, only to be convicted of treason later that year due to both improper behavior with Princess Elizabeth, including seeking her hand in marriage, and after a series of failed power grabs.
The once-athletic Henry VIII, praised for his skills as a dancer and warrior, became obese in his later years and needed assistance to move. He had many physical ailments such as pus-filled boils, possible gout, and a lingering, ulcerated wound on his leg from a jousting accident in 1536. In his final years, he also suffered from mood swings and contracted scurvy. Although some rumours of his suffering from syphilis have circulated, no proof exists of him having a sexually transmitted infection. After suffering several strokes and several days of unconsciousness, he died on January 28, 1547, at the age of 56. He was laid to rest next to his third wife, Jane Seymour, at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. He was succeeded by his son Edward VI.