Henry VIII
What you need to know about King Henry
VIII
• (1491-1547)
• He was very Athletic and handsome.
• He ruled England for 36 years.
• He was the father of Queen Elizabeth I (the one that appears on Shakespeare In love)
• He was the reason why Protestantism emerged in England when he broke all ties with the Catholic
Church.
• He married 6 different wives because he was trying to find a male heir. Allow me to give you a tour
around his “romantic” life…
Catherine of Aragon (Daughter of the King
and Queen of Spain)
Henry VIII wanted to divorced her
because she didn’t give him a male
heir, divorce was not accepted at that
time by the Catholic church. As a
One daughter: Mary (the
result, so that he could cancel his
one that then would be
marriage, he decided to separate
known as Bloody Mary)
England from Catholicism, and he
pronounced himself Head of the
Church. The Pope was very mad at
this, so Henry was excommunicated
by him. This opened the door for The
Protestant Reformation to enter into
England.
Anne Boleyn
She was one of the ladies that As she didn’t give Henry a
attended Catherine of male heir, he believed that
Aragon. their marriage was cursed
and that Anne was to blame.
They had a daughter:
Elizabeth. Very important
name, she would become one She was beheaded, after
of the greatest Queens being accused of witchcraft
England has ever had. and treason.
Jane Seymour
She was never crowned
Queen. Henry wanted to be Jane would later become the
sure that he would give him a only wife that would be buried
male heir before giving her next to Henry.
any titles.
They had one son: Prince
Edward. Jane died two
weeks after his birth. Edward
also had a very fragile health
and died very young.
Anne of Cleves
Two years after the death of Jane,
Henry needed a foreign ally. So he
asked a talented painter, to paint the
portraits of the daughters of the
duke of Cleves who lived in
Germany. Anne’s image pleased
him, so the arrangements for their
wedding were made. When he saw
her personally, he didn’t like her, but
it was too late to cancel the
wedding, they had to get married,
anyway the marriage was cancelled a
few weeks later.
Katherine Howard
She was only a teenager next
to a 49 year old King, who
was already overweight and
unable to walk.
She was accused, two years
after their wedding, of being
unfaithful. She was beheaded.
Catherine Parr
She was a very Good wife to
Henry, especially because Henry died before her, so
she had to take care of him when she widowed, she
while he was ill. She was married the love of her life:
also a Good step-mother. Thomas Seymour (Jane
Seymour’s brother!)
She was a protestant, so she
had several enemies in court.
Henry VIII Excommunication from the Catholic
Church
Definition: In spanish we would say: “excomulgación” or “excomunión”. In Google, it says that
excomulgation means “the action of officially excluding someone from participation in the sacraments
and services of the Christian Church”, in other words, after doing something really wrong, the authorities
of the church announce that you are not allowed to participate of their gatherings, and in the world of
kings, “you are dead to us”. At that time, church and state were exactly the same thing, so politically, this
was an earthquake for Great Britain.
Reasons: Why was King Henry VIII excommunicated from the Catholic church? Well, he asked for
permisson to divorce from Katherine of Aragon, but the church didn’t allow him to do it. His only reason
was that he wanted a male heir. As the church didn’t give him permission, he decided to annoit himself
“Head of the church in England” so England stopped depending on the church of Rome. So, King Henry
was now King and Head of the church, as a result, he had all the power he could have in England.
Henry VIII Excommunication from the Catholic
Church
Consequences:
1) England stopped depending on the Catholic Roman church.
2) Henry had even more power. He did whatever he wanted (that’s why he had 6 wives!)
3) The reformation proposed by Martin Luther finds a way to get in. And with the
Reformation, also Protestantism.
4) Henry marries Anne Boleyn, whose daughter would be one of the most important and
wise queens England had ever had.
More divorces, Zero heirs
As you know, he was not able to find with Anne a male heir, so he needed to divorce
her. And the story repeats itself, if he got some luck, his wives would die before he
could start divorcing them.
Later on, when Elizabeth would become queen, there were people who wouldn’t
recognize her authority for being the daughter of “The Divorce”. This stants as a
consequence of the decision that Henry took.
