The day, when Henry VIII was born, was 28th June, 1491. His father was Henry VII and his mother was Elizabeth of York. They had another son- Arthur, but he died in 1502. After his brother's death, Henry became a Prince of Wales. He was the first person to become a king at the same time. It happened in 1509, after the death of Henry VII.
He was allowed and advised to marry Catharine of Aragon- his brother's former wife, a widow. Their daughter- Princess Marry- was born in 1516. But King Henry wanted to have a son very much. However, by 1520, his wife was already in her forties. She was 6 years older than Henry and it was difficult for her to get pregnant then.
Henry was considered quite a good leader. It is said that he was strongly influenced by one of the ministers. It was Thomas Wolsey, from 1515- Lord Chancellor. Thomas is seen as one of the most influential politicians in the history of Great Britain. He was the best friend of Henry VII for a long time. In 1515, Thomas Wolsey became a cardinal. He was the governor of the English Church and had papal legate power. The friendship between him and the king ended, when Henry fell in love with a woman. It was Anne Boleyn. The king demanded the divorce form his wife. He even asked Pope Clement to let him divorce, but he never got a permission.
He wanted to live with Anne. Although at the beginning she was only one of king's mistresses, soon she became the most important person in Henry's life. He wanted to make her the queen by his side. Thomas Wolsey wanted to make the king calm down and go back to normal life with his wife. As they couldn't reach an agreement, Henry finally arrested his friend. Wolsey was not even judged. He died in the prison in the Tower, before the trial started.
After the death of Thomas, king Henry VII had to look for another close adviser. He decided that it should be Thomas Cromwell. Additionally, in 1532 Cranmer was appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury. He invalidated the marriage of Henry and Catharine of Aragon. Soon after, there was a huge wedding and Anne Boleyn became the queen and Henry's wife. After this incident, the Pope excommunicated king Henry. The king announced the 'Act of Supremacy', which made him the ruler of the Church of England. Henry appeared to be tough ruler. He executed hundreds of people, who were brave enough to say that they didn't like, what the king did.
Henry VII and Anne Boleyn had only one kid- a daughter. It was Elisabeth, who later became the Queen, Elisabeth I. They wanted to have a son, but Anne had premature births several times and all other babies were dead.
Henry didn't remain faithful to his new wife. He soon had another mistress- Jane Seymour. He wanted to dismiss Anne. He accused her of adultery, imprisoned and executed in 1536. All the accusations were not true. Anne didn't stop loving Henry. Even a few seconds before the execution, she told the audience that she loved him very much and that she forgave him.
King Henry remarried soon after Anne's death. In 1537, Jane gave birth to their son. Henry waited for it for 27 years. their son was called Edward (Edward VI). Unfortunately, king's third wife died soon after the baby was born.
In the years 1536-1537 there were many rebels all over the country and Henry had to calm them down. He had also some problems with the foreign policy. Cromwell advised Henry that a good solution would be for him to marry the German Princess, Anne of Cleves. They married in 1540. However, the historians say that it was an unhappy marriage. Henry and Anne didn't even sleep in one bed. They were together only for 6 months. After this time, the king decided to divorce again.
Henry's next- fourth- wife was Catharine Howard. She was very young and people say that the king really loved her. Nevertheless, she was accused of adultery and hanged, just like Anne Boleyn some years before.
The fifth wife of king Henry VII was Catharine Parr. She was already quite experienced in marriages. Before Henry, she had had two husbands. Her marriages ended, because the husbands died. Similar situation happened again. On 28th January 1547, king Henry died and Catharine became widow. Perhaps such situation was even more comfortable for her, because by that time she already was in love with someone else…
Henry always hopes that his son would become the king after his death. Nevertheless, it didn't happen. His daughter Elisabeth became the Queen of England, but it is already another story…
