Who was Henry VIII?

And why did he have 6 wives?

The Tudors

• The Tudors were a royal family who ruled England from 1485 until 1603.

• The first Tudor king was called Henry VII.

• He fought another king, Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Richard was killed, Henry became king, and a new period of history began. Henry VII

The TudorsThis is the Tudor family tree. It shows when people were born,

when they died, who they married and how many children they had.

Henry VIII

• Henry VIII was king of England from 1509 until 1547.

• He was born in 1491, and was only 17 years and 10 months old when he became king.

• Henry composed music, which we can listen to at

http://www.brims.co.uk/tudors/henry.html

Henry VIII

A description of Henry, by an Italian called Giustinian

His majesty is twenty-nine years old, and extremely handsome. Nature could not have done more for him. He is much handsomer than any other sovereign in Christendom; a great deal handsomer then the King of France; very fair, and his whole frame admirably proportioned. On hearing that Francis I (the King of France) wore a beard, he allowed his own to grow; and as it is reddish, he has now got a beard that looks like gold. He is very accomplished; a good musician; composes well; is a most capital horseman; a fine jouster; speaks good French, Latin and Spanish; is very religious; hears three masses daily when he hunts, and sometimes five on other days. He is very fond of hunting, and never takes his diversion without tiring 8 or 10 horses. He is extremely fond of tennis, at which game it is the prettiest thing in the world to see him play, his fair skin glowing through a shirt of the finest texture.

Look again at this picture of Henry. How would you describe him now? Is he still

young and handsome?

How old do you think he

is?

Describe the expression on

his face.

How can you tell he is an important

person?

What sort of clothes is he

wearing?

What is Henry trying to tell us

about himself in this portrait?

Do you think that Henry

really looked like this?

Henry and his wives

• In England, the crown is passed from the parent to the child when the parent dies. Henry was desperate to have a son to pass the crown on to.

• In order to have children, Henry had to find himself a wife. But he married not once, not twice, but SIX times!!

• Some of these wives died, some he divorced, some he had killed and one survived him. Let’s have a look at these wives in more detail.

Wife Number 1Catherine of Aragon

• Henry married Catherine of Aragon in 1509.

• Catherine was a Spanish princess.

• They had one daughter, Mary, who later became Queen of England.

• Henry divorced Catherine.

Mary

Catherine of Aragon

What happened?

Wife Number 2Anne Boleyn

• Next, Henry fell for Anne Boleyn.

• Henry and Anne were married in 1533 in secret – because Henry hadn’t got rid of his first wife yet!

• They had a daughter, Elizabeth, who also later became a Queen of England.

• Henry had Anne beheaded. Anne Boleyn

Elizabeth

What happened?

Wife Number 3Jane Seymour

• After getting rid of Anne, Henry married Jane Seymour in 1536.

• Jane finally gave Henry the son he so wanted – Edward.

• Unfortunately, Edward died when he was just 16.

• Jane died after giving birth to Edward. Jane Seymour

Edward

What happened?

Wife Number 4Anne of Cleves

• After Jane died, Henry sent a painter, Holbein, to Germany in 1540 to paint a picture of Anne of Cleves.

• He thought she looked very pretty, but when he saw her he hated her!

• He thought she was very ugly, and called her the “Flanders Mare”.

• They had no children.• Henry divorced Anne.

Anne of Cleves

What happened?

Wife Number 5Catherine Howard

• Next came Catherine Howard.

• She married Henry in 1540.

• They had no children, mainly because she didn’t like Henry and had lots of other boyfriends!

• Henry wasn’t very happy about this, and she was beheaded in 1542.

Catherine Howard

What happened?

Wife Number 6Catherine Parr

• Henry married his final wife in 1543.

• She is supposed to have been very nice and kind, and Henry seems to have been quite happy with her.

• They had no children, but stayed married.

• Catherine Parr outlived Henry – he died in 1547, while she lived until 1548.

What happened?

Catherine Parr

One king.Six wives.

Three children.

WHY?