henry’s 6 wives

8/3/2019 Henrys 6 wives

1/8

Henrys 6 wivesBy Dan Stokes


2/8

C atherine of A ragon Catherine of Aragon was a Spanish princess (her badge shows

a pomegranate - a symbol from Spain). She was the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella ofSpain, and was originally married to Henry's brother Arthur. Henry married Catherine to maintain the alliance with Spainafter Arthur died, leaving Catherine a widow. This marriage wasorganized by Henry VII a short time before he died, but tookplace after his death in 1509, when Henry was almost 18 and

Catherine was 23. After twenty years of marriage, she had only given birth to onegirl, Mary, (although she had many miscarriages and still-births inthat time). As Henry VIII needed a son to provide a male heir to the throne,and as his advisors deemed Catherine to be past the age of child-birth, After two years of arguments with the Pope, Henrycreated a new Archbishop (Thomas Cranmer) who was preparedto declare the marriage annulled in 1532. Catherine wasthen banished from the Court and separatedfrom her daughter.


3/8

A nne Boleyn Anne Boleyn was English, and of noble birth. Her badge shows a falcon. She spent some time in France and returnedto England in the 1520s. She was Maid-in-Waiting to Catherine of Aragon and refused to beanother of Henry's mistresses (of which he had many). She was a veryconfident character and finally persuaded Henry to marry her in 1533(immediately after the marriage to Catherine was annulled). Shortly after they were married, Anne gave birth to Elizabeth. Theirrelationship after the birth of Henry's second daughter started todeteriorate, but when she gave birth to a still-born son, Henry wasconvinced that God thought that his marriage was wrong, because theannulment with Catherine had been wrong, and that he was cursing himby not giving him a son. He charged Anne with treason, after making up false evidence againsther. She was finally executed at the Tower of London, where she wasbeheaded with a sword, in 1536.


4/8

Jane Seymour Many historians have said that Jane was

Henry's favorite wife. This is because heburied himself next to her, and she produced hismuch-desired male heir. She also was born of noble birth and wasanother Maid-in-Waiting to Anne Boleyn. Eleven days after he had executed Anne, he

married Jane Seymour. She is depicted as being gentle, calm and quiet- quite the opposite to Anne. In 1537 at Hampton Court Jane gave birth totheir son. Unfortunately, twelve days later,Jane died from the surgery at the child-birth

and Jane was buried at Windsor Castle, laterto be joined by Henry. The portrait on theright was painted by Hans Holbein.


5/8

A nne of C leves Henry was still in mourning for Jane when ThomasCromwell, his Chief Minister, persuaded Henry tomarry Anne of Cleves to make an alliance withGermany, as Anne's father was the Duke of Cleves. As Henry did not want to marry an ugly lady he sentthe painter, Holbein the Younger, to paint a portraitof her so that he could see what she looked like. It wasthis portrait that persuaded him to marry her. However,

when she arrived in England, Henry saw her as verydifferent from her portrait - he found her ugly. He insulted her by saying that she looked like a horse!As Henry was very dissatisfied with her, he quicklyarranged a divorce which they both agreed to amicably. Their marriage had lasted for only six months, but

Anne of Cleves stayed at the Court and died in herbed in 1557, outliving Henry by ten years. The portrait on the left below is the one by HansHolbein the Younger which was the basis on whichHenry chose Anne to be his fourth Queen. Theportrait on the right is one where recent X-rays haveshown a longer nose under the top layer of paint.


6/8

C atherine H oward Catherine Howardwas English and born of a

noble family. Her badge shows the Tudor Rose. She was a cousin of Anne Boleyn. When she married Henry in 1540 she was 19 and hewas almost 50. She was also a Lady-in-Waiting athis Court. It is said that the time Henry spent with Catherinerejuvenated him. She was, however, accused (rightly)by his courtiers of having many lovers, and so wasbeheaded (along with the lovers) at the Tower ofLondon in 1542 with an axe.


7/8

Katherine Parr

Henry married Katherine in 1543 becauseHenry needed somebody to look after him inhis old age. She became a companion and nurse forHenry. She also re-united Henry with his

three children who all came back to theCourt. After Henry's death (in 1547) she marriedJane Seymour's brother, and died in 1548. Katherine and Anne of Cleves were the only

wives of Henry to outlive him.


8/8

Married MarriedarriedMarried

MarriedMarried

AnnulledDivorced Beheaded

Beheaded

DiedDied

Catherine ofAragon

Died1509 1532

JaneSeymourAnneBoleyn

15331536

1536 1537

Anne ofCleves CatherineHoward

15381538

1540 15431542

1548

1547

KatherineParr

Henry VIIITimeline

henry’s 6 wives

Documents