King Henry VIII of England

By Dana Massey

Thesis: King Henry VIII was one of the most important Kings in English History; however, motivated by personal reasons as much as the interests of his country, Henry successfully orchestrated a split from the Papacy and was the inciting force behind the creation of the Anglican Church. This, coupled with several other acts, laid the groundwork that allowed England to become a dominant power in the years that followed.

Early Life & Reign

King Henry VIII was born on the 28th of June 1491. His father was Henry VII and his mother was Elizabeth of York. Henry VIII was the second monarch in the Tudor dynasty.

Married Catherine of Aragon on April 22. 1509.

Ascended to the throne on the 24th of June 1509. He was 18 years of age.

Henry joined the "Holy League" with Pope Julius II, the Venetians, and Spain's Ferdinand in 1512. This was a military alliance against France.

In 1513, James IV of Scotland was slain during the Battle of Foldden field by Henry's forces. The Scotch were allied with the French at this point.

William Wolsey became the Lord Chancellor of England in 1515. Wolsey, the head of the royal council, was responsible for much of the countries advancement under Henry's reign.

Henry wrote "Assertio Septem Sacramentorum" in 1521. His book spoke out against Luther and was in favor of Catholicism. Pope Leo X awarded Henry VIII the title "Defender of the Faith" for his work.

The Separation from Catholicism & The Creation of the Church of England

In 1527, Henry first began to explore the possibility of divorcing his wife Catherine of Aragon. This was motivated by a dual desire for a male heir, something he did not believe Catherine could provide, and his infatuation with Anne Boelyn.

Wolsey had assured Henry that he would be able to secure an annulment from the Pope, but that failed in 1529 due to the fact that Pope Clement VII was under pressure from his captor, Emperor Charles V, the nephew of Catherine of Aragon, to deny the request. Wolsey was stripped of his office, possessions and dignity for this failure.

Henry then adopted a more radical approach. He began to put into action a course of events that led to his country separating from the Catholic Church. This was motivated by his desire to divorce Catherine and his lust for increased power, as the head of a new Church of England. Henry succeeded in separating from the Catholic Church over the course of several years. With the help of his new advisors Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer, Henry gained support from the parliament. This allowed him to pass several acts that severed all ties with Rome and reclaim all Catholic holdings within his country.

The transfer of moral authority from the Catholic Church and the Pope to the Church of England and Henry himself was completed by 1533. This was despite the fact that Henry harbored no apparent love for Protestantism, nor any other theological reasoning for the sundering other than his own personal desire to divorce his wife.

With the transfer of power complete, Henry was then able to divorce Catherine of Aragon, which he did in 1533.

Henry's Six Wives

King Henry VIII had six wives over the course of his life. They were:

Catherine of Aragon: Marriage annulled in 1533 after 22 years. They had six children, three male and three female. However, only the fifth child, Mary, survived infancy.

Anne Boelyn: Married Henry immediately after his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was annulled. They had three children, but once again only one child, Elizabeth, survived infancy. Anne was beheaded in 1536 on charges of infidelity, after failing to provide Henry with a male heir.

Jane Seymour: Married Henry eleven days after Ann Boelyn was executed. Died in childbirth after only a year of marriage. The child was Henry's soul surviving male heir, Edward.

Anne of Cleaves: Married Henry in 1540, three years after the death of Seymour. Marriage was annulled shortly after, without children. Henry felt misled by portrait he was shown, as compared to her actual appearance.

Catherine Howard: Married in 1542. Beheaded two years later on charges infidelity. It is believed that these charges were indeed true. The couple had no children.

Catherine Parr: Married in 1543. Henry was her third of four husbands. She died in 1548, one year after Henry and only shortly after her fourth marriage. They had no children.

Other Important Accomplishments

Henry was also responsible for several other changes in the English system, which allowed England to prosper in the years that followed.

Henry greatly increased the power of the English parliament during his attempts to reorganize the religious landscape of his nation. This was the main way in which he convinced them to pass bills that allowed for the switch to the Church of England.

Henry was instrumental in absorbing Wales into the England with the statutes of Wales (1534-36).

He also strengthened England's hold over Ireland by, among other things, granting the Irish chieftains noble titles. Henry was eventually appointed King and Head of the Irish church.

The English Navy was greatly advanced under his tenure. This development was perhaps one of the most instrumental to the long-term well being of his country.

There were periodic, and uneventful, wars with France throughout Henry's reign.

Epilogue

Henry VIII died on the 28th of January 1547.

All three of Henry's surviving children eventually ascended to the English throne.

Edward VI: The son of Henry and Jane Seymore. He took the throne at the age of nine in 1547, after the death of his father. He died in 1553 of consumption. He was 16 years of age.

Mary I: She was the daughter of Henry and Catherine of Aragon, the eldest of Henry's children. She took the throne after a brief nine-day reign by Lady Jane Grey, who succeeded Edward. She held the throne until her death in 1558.

Elizabeth I: The daughter of Henry and Anne Boelyn. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest Queens and held the throne until 1608. She never married and as a result was the last monarch in the Tudor dynasty, which had begun in 1458 with Henry VII.

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Tompsett, Brian. The Directory of Royal Genealogical Data: Henry VII. 14 February 2002. <http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/cgi-bin/gedlkup/n=royal?royal00828