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Henry VIII (1509 – 1547)

Henry Tudor, named after his father, Henry VII, was born to Elizabeth of York in 1491. In 1501 his older brother Arthur, heir to the throne, died and Henry found himself thrust into the spotlight as the next King Of England.

Shortly after becoming king, Henry VIII took Catherine of Aragon (Arthurs wife) as his bride.

Henry needed a male heir to the throne to ensure that the Tudor family continued to reign England and to prevent any feuding over his succession. Catherine’s failure to produce a male heir displeased Henry who turned his attentions to a maid at the court called Anne Boleyn. Cardinal Wolsey apppealed to Pope Clement VII to annul the king's marriage. When he was unsuccessful Henry dismissed Wolsey from his services.

Henry denied that the Pope had any authority over England and secretly married Anne Boleyn 1533. In March of that year, Parliament passed the Act in Restraint of Appeals, which

declared that England was independent of any foreign authorities including the Pope,

the monarch was England's highest judicial authority.

Under that act Thomas Cranmer, declared the marriage of Henry and Catherine to be without legal force. And in 1533 Anne was crowned Queen.

Additional Acts of Parliament completed England’s break with the Catholic church also known as the Reformation. In 1534 the Act of Supremecy recognized the Church of England as a separate institution and the King as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. In years to follow, Henry dissolved the monasteries in England and passed their wealth over to himself.

Henry’s second marriage did not provide a stable family life or a male heir for Henry.Anne had a daughter, Elizabeth, who later became Queen of England. In 1536 Anne was beheaded on the grounds of adultery.

Henry took a third wife Jane Seymour who died after the birth of Henry’s son, who later ruled as Edward VI.

At Cromwell’s advice, Henry married a German princess, Anne of Cleves. Henry did not like the look of Anne and annulled the marriage quickly. The disgraced Cromwell was executed. The king then married Catherine Howard, who was later accused of adultery and executed. Henry's sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, outlived him after he died in 1547.