Who were the six wives of Henry VIII?

King Henry VIII of England was born on 09 Jan9. He became King of England when his father died on 21st April 1509, and he reigned until his own death on 09 Jan7 One of the reasons he is famous is that he married six times King Henry VII had become King of England after defeating King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in the year 1485 This marked the end of a long and bloody Civil War in England over who should succeed to the throne, known as The Wars of the Roses The last time a female had inherited the English throne was in the year 1141 when the daughter of King Henry I, Matilda became Queen and was deposed by her cousin, Stephen of Blois. This led to a long Civil War known as "The Anarchy Henry VIII was keen to avoid another, similar Civil War and wanted to have a son who would be an undisputed, male heir to the throne This was the main reason why he married so many times s wives were: Catherine of Aragon born 09 Jan9 Catherine was an Infanta, or princess, of Castile in Spain.

Her parents were Ferdinand II of Aragon and his wife, Isabella I of Castile She had previously been married to Henry VIII's older brother, Arthur in an arranged marriage aimed at strengthening the alliance between Spain and England. Arthur had died, aged 16, on 09 Jan7 Still wishing to maintain the alliance, Henry and Catherine were married on 09 Jan8 They had required permission from The Pope, known as a Dispensation, allowing Henry to marry his brother's widow, which was given on the grounds that Catherine and Arthur's marriage had not been consummated, meaning that they had never had sex Henry and Catherine had a stillborn daughter in 09 Jan and in 09 Jan7 a son who only survived for fifty-two days. Another stillborn daughter was born in 09 Jan and on 09 Jan9 she gave birth to a daughter, Mary, their only child to survive beyond infancy.

Mary later became Queen Mary I of England. Catherine finally gave birth to another stillborn daughter in 09 Jan. After her marriage was annulled (see under Anne Boleyn below) the King would only refer to her as "The Dowager Princess of Wales" in honour of his brother, Catherine's first husband. Catherine died on 7th January 1536, probably from cancer Anne Boleyn born around 1501 Anne was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and his wife, Lady Elizabeth.

She appeared at King Henry's Court at a Ball in 1522, performing a dance with other ladies of the court and her sister, Mary who was King Henry's mistress. With no sign of Catherine producing a male heir to the throne, King Henry began to pursue Anne, although at first she famously refused to sleep with him before marriage In order to marry Anne, the King's marriage to Catherine would have to be annulled. This annulment lead to the King's break with Rome, and the establishment Henry as the Head of the Church in England.. The details of this are the answer to a wholly different question!

Henry secretly married Anne Boleyn in 09 Jan7 and had Archbishop Cranmer declare his marriage to Catherine unlawful and his new marriage legitimate Anne was already pregnant when they married and on 09 Jan7 she gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth, who would later become Queen Elizabeth I of England. Anne had one miscarriage of a baby in the summer 1534 and another in 09 Jan9, on the day of Catherine of Aragon's funeral King Henry declared the opinion that his marriage was cursed by God and he had already met Jane Seymour, who would become his third wife In 09 Jan9 Anne was arrested and charged with Treason, Witchcraft and Incest (the allegation was that she had sex with her own brother.) She was found guilty and was executed by beheading at the Tower of London on 09 Jan8 Most historians believe she was entirely innocent and that the charges were brought against her by enemies at court and those who wished to gain the favour of King Henry by enabling him to be free to marry again Jane Seymour born about 1509 Jane Seymour was the daughter of Sir John Seymour, a knight and servant of King Henry and his wife, Margaret Wentworth She came to the Royal Court in the year 1530, as a Lady In Waiting to Queen Catherine (of Aragon) and continued to serve Queen Anne (Boleyn) after the King's marriage to Catherine was annulled It is thought that she first came to King Henry's attention when he stayed at her father's house in 09 Jan98. It may be that his attraction for Jane made it easier for him to believe the false accusations made against Anne Boleyn Henry and Jane were betrothed on 09 Jan9, the day after Anne's execution, and were married on 30th May 15309 Jan8e gave birth to baby boy, Edward on 12th October 1537.

He would later become King Edward VI of England. Jane became seriously ill after the birth, from a form of septicaemia and she died on 24th October 1537 Anne of Cleves born on 09 Jan7 in Dusseldorf, Germany. Her parents were John, Duke of Cleves and Maria of Julich-Berg Henry was still eager to ensure the succession to the throne and wanted to marry again in case his son was not able to succeed him.

Thomas Cromwell had suggested Anne of Cleves as his next wife and the court painter Hans Holbein was sent to Cleves to make a portrait of her. After seeing the portrait, and hearing favourable descriptions of her, Henry agreed to the marriage When she arrived in England, Henry found her deeply unattractive, describing her as "The Flanders Mare. " They were, however married on 09 Jan8 When Henry wanted to end the marriage, Anne testified that it had never been consummated and the marriage was annulled on 09 Jan9 on the grounds that Anne had been contracted to marry another European Nobleman.

She was accorded the title "The King's Sister" and was given Hever Castle, the former home of Anne Boleyn's family. She stayed in England until her death on 16th July 1557 - she outlived Henry and all his other wives Catherine Howard born between 1520 and 1525 Catherine was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and his second wife, Joyce Culpeper. She came to the Royal Court as a Lady In Waiting to Anne of Cleves King Henry was still eager to have more sons in order to secure the line of succession and he married Catherine Howard on 09 Jan7, a few weeks after the annulment of his marriage to Anne of Cleves.

He was deeply smitten with his new, young bride and gave her many expensive gifts of jewellery and clothes Catherine had several love affairs both before and after her marriage to King Henry - with a man who had been her music teacher when she was a young girl and with Francis Dereham, an official at Hampton Court When this became known, King Henry at first refused to believe it until evidence was produced Catherine was arrested and tried for Treason in 1541.It was determined that adultery by the Queen was treason. She was found guilty and executed by beheading on 09 Jan8 Catherine Parr born around 1512 Catherine was the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, an English nobleman from Kendall in the North West of England, and his wife, Maud Green In 1529, aged about 15, Catherine had married Edward Borough, Baron of Gainsborough, who died in 1533. They had no children In 1534 she married John Nevill, Baron Latymer from Yorkshire in England.

Baron Latymer was a frequent visitor to Henry's Court and it was probably on one of these visits that she first met the King. Baron Latymer died in 09 Jan99 and again there were no children After the death of her second husband she began a relationship with Thomas Seymour, the brother of Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour but she felt she could not decline the attentions of the King She married King Henry on 09 Jan9 at Hampton Court Palace in London She was a good stepmother to Henry's three children and helped Henry to become reconciled to his oldest daughter, Mary whose mother was Catherine of Aragon. She is thought to have had a strong influence on the future Queen Elizabeth I, Henry's second daughter Henry died on 09 Jan7, leaving Catherine free to marry her first love, Thomas Seymour who had by now become Baron Seymour of Sudely.

They were married later that same year. Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Mary Seymour, on 09 Jan but died a few days later, on 5th September from complications of the birth Thomas Seymour was executed for treason less than a year later and their daughter Mary went to live with relatives. There seems to be no record of her past her second birthday and many historians believe she died as a child It is speculated that Henry VIII's numerous marriages were an attempt to ensure the succession of the monarchy.It is also speculated that he loved Jane Seymour more deeply than his other wives, because he is buried alongside her in St. Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle.

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