The Wives of Henry VIII
Henry VIII was king of England from 1509-1547. During that time he had married six times. The main reason for this was his desire for a son to be the heir to his throne. He was nervous that a daughter might not be able to hold on to power in England (ironically enough, his daughter Elizabeth would rule for over 40 years).
Some of his wives met very tragic ends. There is a rhyme to make it easy to remember what happened to each wife: "Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived."
Henry VIII’s first wife was Catherine of Aragon. Together they had only one child, a daughter named Mary. Unfortunately, it was risky for girls to inherit the throne and Henry felt that he needed a male heir. With Catherine unable to give him a male heir, Henry sought an annulment from the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church denied the annulment because of the Church's belief that marriage was supposed to be for life. Henry broke away from the church and formed his own church, the Church of England. Now that he created his own church, he was able to get a divorce from Catherine.
After divorcing Catherine, Henry married his second wife, Anne Boleyn. They quickly had a child, but it was another daughter, Elizabeth. Desperate for a male heir, Henry had Anne charged with a variety of crimes against him and she was beheaded.
Following Anne Boleyn’s execution, Henry married Jane Seymour. With Jane, Henry finally was able to have his long-awaited son Tragically, Jane died of complications from childbirth. Henry was heartbroken, but despite his heartbreak, he would eventually marry again.
Henry VIII’s fourth wife was Anne of Cleves, a German. Henry married her to form a political alliance. The marriage was very short lived, however, because Henry did not like Anne. He referred to her as smelly and resembling a horse. Therefore, Henry divorced her quickly. However, as part of the divorce he paid for a nice house for her to live in as long as she wanted.
After Anne of Cleves, Henry fell in love with a less aristocratic wife named Catherine Howard. In the beginning, things were fine with the marriage until Henry suspected Catherine of cheating on him and he accused her of adultery. Catherine was then executed on charges of adultery, whether they were true or not.
Henry’s last wife was Catherine Parr. She was the only wife to outlive him. By this time Henry was older and in poor health, so Catherine served almost as his nurse. She also convinced Henry to make peace with his daughters from his first two marriages, so that Mary and Elizabeth would each eventually inherit the throne of England.