London Daily News

Back to Character Menu                                                                                                                                                                       January 28, 1547

Number Six Outlives Henry

By: T. L. Havill

Henry (VIII) Tudor, 57, passed away on January 27, 1547 at Westminster.  He was born June 28, 1491 to Henry (VII) Tudor and Elizabeth.  Upon his brother, Arthur’s, death, Henry was thrown into the role of heir to the throne.  It was arranged for him to marry Catherine of Aragon, her brother’s widow, but because doing so is forbidden in the biblical book of Leviticus, permission had to be received from the Pope.  On June 11, 1509, the couple wed, but the relationship was not without hardship and sorrow. Catherine was not able to provide a male heir for the throne and Henry took matters into his own hands. His attempts to get an annulment of his marriage to Catherine from the Pope were unsuccessful.  Henry was so confident that he would get his way that in June of 1527 Catherine was informed that he no longer considered her his wife.  Henry had his father’s determination and he successfully overrode the Pope and had the marriage annulled in 1533.  During the process of his annulment Henry was developing a relationship with Anne Boleyn, who became his second wife. 

“Sometime near the end of 1532, Anne finally gave way and by December

she was pregnant. To avoid any questions of the legitimacy of the child,

Henry was forced into action. Sometime near St. Paul's Day (January 25) 1533,

Anne and Henry were secretly married. Although the King's marriage to

Catherine was not dissolved, in the King's mind it had never existed in the

first place, so he was free to marry whomever he wanted.”[1]

This marriage did not last long; Anne was also unsuccessful in producing a male heir for Henry. After a number of failed attempts to produce a surviving male heir Anne was charged and found guilty of adultery and incest along with many of her relatives and family, On May 19, 1536 she was beheaded.

            Henry soon began courting his third wife, Jane Seymour, and they were married on May 30, 1536.  Jane was referred to as Henry’s first true wife and in October of 1537 she gave birth to a son, Edward. Only two weeks later she passed away. Henry remained single for two years after Jane’s death, but was encouraged to marry again in order to make a political alliance.  On January 6, 1540, he married Anne of Cleves in order to smooth out political tensions but the marriage was ill suited and within seven months Henry had the marriage annulled with no resistance from Anne.  Within a couple of weeks Henry took another bride, Kathryn Howard, Anne Boleyn’s cousin. She was thirty years younger than Henry but he loved her spirit and zest for life.  Unfortunately for Kathryn her friendly spirit caused her demise.  In 1542 the king was made aware of her flirtation and promiscuity and she was executed.  On July 12, 1543, he married his present wife Katherine Parr.

            Henry was instrumental in changing the power dynamics between the church and the crown. “To some, Henry VIII was a strong and ruthless ruler, forcing through changes to the Church-State relationship which excluded the papacy and brought the clergy under control, thus strengthening the Crown's position and acquiring the monasteries' wealth.” [2] Henry shared many characteristics with his late father; he was a strong ruler with the ability to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks.  Henry, like his father, focused on gaining power for the monarch and securing a strong heir for the future.  His conviction and passion have changed the way England will view the church for generations to come.