“Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived,” as
the old rhyme goes.
King Henry VIII is known for having a huge number of wives and getting rid of nearly
all of them in some way or another, and at one point even starting an entirely new branch
of Christianity virtually identical to the old, except with him at the head, just so
he could get rid of one of them.
Here now is the story of the bizarre love life of King Henry VIII.
Wife #1: Catherine of Aragon Henry’s first and longest marriage was to
Catherine of Aragon.
Catherine was the youngest surviving child of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain,
who you probably know as the monarchs who gave the green light to Columbus to “sail
the ocean blue.”
(By the way, just to debunk the common myth about the whole flat-earth thing, Columbus
and pretty much everyone else in his era knew good and well the earth was round.
For more on this, see our video- Who Started the Flat Earth Conspiracy Theory) In any event,
the future queen of England was born in 1485, and was engaged at the tender age of 3—not
to King Henry VIII, but to his older brother, Arthur.
You might not have heard of Arthur, because despite being his father’s heir, he never
became king.
Catherine arrived on English shores at the age of 16 after a turbulent journey from Spain,
and was wed to Arthur just one month later.
Unfortunately, Arthur died just six months after that, likely from the so-called "sweating
sickness," leaving behind a young widow with a huge… dowry.
King Henry VII was keen on keeping that dowry, so he arranged for Catherine to marry his
younger son and new heir, Henry.
The pair couldn’t be married right away—being just 11 years old Henry was not yet old enough;
there was also a quarrel between the British and Spanish monarchs over the dowry; and eventually
Henry VII lost interest in an alliance with Spain and forced his son to denounce the engagement.
However, shortly after his father’s death in 1509, Henry VIII declared that he would
marry Catherine anyway.
The marriage took place on June 11, 1509.
On June 23, the pair were crowned.
The couple was reportedly happy for their first decade of marriage.
During jousting tournaments, Henry would lay trophies at Catherine’s feet.
He also wrote to her father, saying: “The bond between us is now so strict that
all our interests are common, and the love I bear to Katherine is such that if I were
still free, I would choose her in preference to all others.”
However, the two had a duty that they had trouble fulfilling: creating the “heir and
the spare.”
Catherine had little trouble getting knocked up, but keeping the pregnancy was another
matter.
Her first child, a girl, was born prematurely and did not survive.
Her second pregnancy produced a healthy son, called Henry, but as so often happened with
babies of the age, he died when he was just 52 days old.
Another miscarriage followed, then the birth of another son who died after just a few days.
Finally, Catherine gave birth to a girl named Mary, who would survive into adulthood.
There are two more recorded miscarriages after Mary’s birth.
The lack of a living son frustrated Henry, and his happy marriage began to disintegrate.
He took several mistresses and, by 1526, became very interested in one of Queen Catherine’s
lady’s maids.
Catherine was now over 40 years old and the likelihood of her being able to produce healthy
heirs at this point seemed slim to none.
So, Henry plotted to annul the marriage.
Catherine’s first marriage to Henry’s brother Arthur ended up being the marriage’s
undoing.
Henry claimed that the marriage had been cursed because they had gone against the biblical
teaching, that a man should never marry his brother’s wife.
Specifically in Leviticus 20:21 where it states: “And if a man shall take his brother's wife,
it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.”
Of course that’s referring to a scenario where the brother is still alive- essentially
just staying don’t sleep with your brother’s wife- major party foul.
But if the brother dies, totally different as noted in Deuteronomy 25:5-6 states, “If
brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall
not be married outside the family to a stranger.
Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty
of a husband's brother to her.
The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name
will not be blotted out from Israel.”
It further goes on that if the brother refuses to take his dead brother’s wife, the woman
gets to publicly spit in his face in front of the elders of the town…
In any event, naturally, the Pope refused to annul the marriage.
And so it was that Henry declared himself the head of the English church, and the Archbishop
of Canterbury legitimized the divorce in 1533.
Catherine was forced to move away from court and her daughter.
She spent her last few years in a series of dark, dank castles where she spent most of
her time praying.
She died in1536, denying until her dying day that she was no longer queen; in her last
letter to Henry, written on her deathbed, she signed it “Catherine the Queen.”
Wife #2: Anne Boleyn Arguably the most well-known of King Henry’s
wives, Anne Boleyn was born sometime in the early 1500s—between 1501 and 1509.
She spent a large portion of her adolescence in France, caring first for Queen Mary (Henry
VIII’s younger sister), and then Queen Claude.
Anne returned to England in 1522 to attend to Queen Catherine of Aragon as one of her
lady’s maids.
At this point, Anne’s older sister, Mary, was one of King Henry VIII’s mistresses.
And her family was given gifts and titles for their daughter’s “service” to the
king.
From this, it was widely speculated that Mary’s two children were the product of the affair,
though Henry never recognized them as his own.
In 1526, it became less about Mary as Henry took notice of the younger sister.
Anne was not portrayed as a great beauty—there are accounts of her having six fingers on
one hand and a large amount of moles and warts, though these claims are unfounded.
She was, however, extremely intelligent and witty, and had a “unique” sort of look
that Henry apparently liked.
However, being the intelligent girl that she was, Anne knew that mistresses could easily
fall out of favour.
While Henry pursued her, she largely threw off his advances and claimed she would never
be his mistress—she wanted to be Queen.
Henry, of course, was still married to Catherine at the time and it was impossible for him
to marry again.
That was when his lack of son, combined with Anne’s allure, caused him to pursue the
divorce from his first wife.
It took six years, during which Henry showed Anne more and more favour.
He showered her with gifts and let her take positions of honour at ceremonies.
However, Anne remained unpopular with the people of England themselves.
By December 1532, she was pregnant by Henry despite previously denying his advances, and
the matter of annulment became the king’s top priority.
To ensure that the child Anne carried was legitimate, Henry and Anne married in a secret
ceremony in January 1533, while Henry was still legally married to Catherine.
Henry argued that his first marriage had “never existed in his mind” so he was free to marry
whomever he wanted.
The marriage to Catherine dissolved on May 23.
On June 1, Anne was crowned Queen of England in an elaborate ceremony.
By the end of August, Anne retired to her rooms to prepare to give birth to her baby.
Everyone was so certain that it was going to be a boy, names had already been decided
on and a proclamation of the child’s birth had already been written up using the word
“prince.”
As you probably know, it was not a prince at all but a girl named Elizabeth who was
born on September 7.
While the princess was still celebrated, Anne knew that her position as queen was not secure
until she had given birth to a healthy son.
If she could overthrow Catherine on those grounds, then King Henry could just as easily
get rid of her in favor of another.
Anne became pregnant again shortly after Elizabeth’s birth, but miscarried.
She miscarried again the next year—this time, the child was a boy, and Anne was distraught.
Anne had made a lot of enemies at court, and they started to plot and conspire against
her.
She was arrested in 1536 and brought in front of court on charges of adultery, incest, and
plotting to murder the King.
She was, as you probably already know, found guilty and sentenced to beheading.
Interestingly, shortly before the sentence was carried out on May 19, 1536, her marriage
to King Henry was annulled, and he claimed that he had never been legally married to
her.
Because of this, it would have been impossible to commit the crimes she was about to be executed
for, but this little discrepancy was overlooked.
Anne’s head was removed during a private execution with one quick and clean stroke
of
a sword.
Wife #3: Jane Seymour Jane Seymour, born in 1508 or 1509, knew exactly
what she was getting herself into when she allowed herself to be wooed by King Henry.
She had arrived at court to act as a lady’s maid for Queen Catherine and later waited
on Anne Boleyn.
A descendant of King Edward III, Jane was a member of a wealthy family but didn’t
have much in the way of an education—likely an appealing contrast to Anne.
Henry’s affection for Jane developed shortly after the birth of Elizabeth, and it was this
attraction—combined with Anne’s inability to produce a male heir—that sparked Anne’s
conviction and execution.
Henry and Jane were married just 11 days after Anne’s death.
Jane was never officially crowned queen, and it’s speculated that Henry was waiting for
her to produce a son before taking that step.
Indeed, when Jane finally became pregnant in 1537, Henry doted on her and provided every
comfort she could wish for—he even claimed that Jane was his first “true wife,” despite,
if you’ll remember, the decade of happy marriage he experienced with Catherine, who
he stated he "would choose... in preference to all others."
The death of Henry Fitzroy just two months after Henry VIII married Jane probably had
something to do with his affection.
Henry Fitzroy was Henry VIII’s bastard son from an earlier mistress.
If Henry never had a legitimate son, it was always a possibility to get his bastard legitimized
and secure his lineage.
With Fitzroy’s death, Jane became Henry’s only hope.
On October 12, 1537, Jane was likely extremely relieved to learn that she had given birth
to a son, having seen what happened to women who produced only daughters.
Jane was able to attend little Edward’s christening, but she died on October 24 from
complications with the birth.
Henry, ecstatic about the birth of a legitimate son, was supposedly deeply saddened to lose
his “one true wife” who might have given him many more sons had she survived.
He had Jane buried in a tomb that was being prepared for himself, and she became the only
one of his six wives to be buried with him.
Son in hand, now Henry needed to find another wife in order to make the “spare.”
Not to mention, Henry’s split from the Catholic church following his divorce from Catherine
of Aragon and subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn meant that England was largely isolated
and vulnerable to the rest of the world.
More than just a marriage for another son, he needed an alliance to boost England’s
power once more.
The search for Henry’s new wife started shortly after Jane’s death, but Henry didn’t
marry for another two years.
It’s possible that he actually mourned Jane’s passing, or he was simply waiting on finding
the perfect bride to check all the boxes.
Wife #4: Anne of Cleves Anne was born in Germany in 1515, making her
24 years Henry’s junior.
Not a lot is known about her childhood except that she once had an engagement to the heir
to a dukedom, which fell through.
Anne was considered a desirable match largely because Germany would be a formidable ally
if Rome and France teamed up against England, as Henry feared they would.
Her family was not tied to any specific religion, though her brother was a Lutheran, and so
they were also at some risk if Rome and France went to war against countries that had defied
the papacy.
Lacking Tinder, Henry sent an artist to paint portraits of Anne and her sister, Amalia,
since he wanted to pick the prettiest one.
Anne had been described as a “middling beauty” and her portrait must have been better than
her sister’s.
However, upon meeting his intended bride in England in 1539, Henry was less than impressed.
Anne spoke no English and so could not communicate effectively with her husband.
She did not curtsy to him when she met him, as he had approached her party unannounced
and she did not know who he was.
She had had little education in anything other than domestic tasks, and so did not share
Henry’s interest in music and literature.
And on top of that, he did not think she was nearly as beautiful as reports claimed.
Disgusted, Henry called her “the Mare of Flanders.”
Nevertheless, the treaty had already been drawn up, and the pair wed on January 6, 1540.
It is unclear whether or not their marriage was ever consummated; after their wedding
night, Henry denied that they had, saying, “I liked her before not well, and I like
her now much worse.”
Due to Henry’s displeasure, it was a short marriage.
He sent Anne away from court on June 24, 1540, and the marriage was annulled with Anne’s
consent on July 9.
There were no children from this marriage, but Anne was treated remarkably well after
the annulment.
Henry gave her several properties—including Hever Castle, which belonged to the Boleyns—and
she was often invited back to court.
After a while, she became known as “the King’s beloved sister” as she and Henry
had become good friends.
It’s likely all of this was done because she had not contested the annulment, and even
gave evidence that their marriage had not been consummated.
That said, when it came to Henry choosing his sixth wife, remarrying Anne was put forward
as an option—one he denied.
Anne was said to be extremely jealous of Wife #6, Katherine Parr.
Still, she ended up remaining close to the royal family, and even took part in Queen
Mary I’s coronation.
However, her close association with Princess Elizabeth caused her to fall out of favour
in court, as officials believed she could have been plotting to see Elizabeth on the
throne.
Anne died in July 1557 of cancer—one of two of King Henry’s wives to outlive him,
and the last of his wives to die.
Wife #5: Catherine Howard Before his marriage to Anne of Cleves had
been annulled, Henry had already become enamoured with young Catherine Howard.
Catherine was born sometime between 1518 and 1527 and spent most of her childhood in the
Dowager Duchess of Norfolk’s household.
Interestingly, she was the first cousin of Anne Boleyn, the king’s second ill-fated
wife.
During her time with the Dowager Duchess, Catherine is known to have had an “intimate”
relationship with her music teacher from the time she was 13.
Later, she fell in love with Francis Dereham, a secretary, and it’s very likely that the
two intended to wed.
They reportedly called each other “husband” and “wife”, and Francis put Catherine
in charge of his finances when he was away on other business—a wifely duty.
The Dowager Duchess, however, put a stop to the relationship when she learned about it
a year after it started.
Catherine arrived at court when she was about 19 years old to serve as a lady’s maid to
Anne of Cleves (are you seeing a pattern yet?).
Henry took notice of her almost immediately—she was young, pretty, giggly, and vivacious.
Henry called her a “rose without thorns” and the “jewel of womanhood.”
The Howard family encouraged the burgeoning relationship, despite Henry pushing 50 at
the time.
They wanted more influence so that they could try to convert England back to Catholicism.
Catherine—though likely not wholly attracted to the old, overweight king with an ulcerous
leg—had little choice in the matter.
The two were married just 16 days after the marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled.
Catherine is said to have lifted the king’s spirits for a time, but she herself was not
entirely happy with the arrangement.
She started a series of affairs which would eventually catch up with her.
First, she is thought to have had a relationship with Thomas Culpeper, Henry’s favourite
courtier.
Their secret meetings were arranged by Anne Boleyn’s brother’s widow, who had her
own reasons to defy the king.
Then, she appointed Frances Dereham as her personal secretary—likely more went on behind
closed doors than simple secretarial duties.
However, her previous relationship with Dereham was known by most of the staff at her childhood
home, and Anne began receiving requests for favours in exchange for their silence.
Ultimately, she was caught and thrown in prison.
She could have been saved if she’d simply admitted to a “precontract” with Dereham—basically,
a pre-marital contract that would have seen them married in the eyes of the church.
If she had agreed that there was one, her marriage with Henry would have been annulled
and she could not have been convicted of adultery.
As it was, she claimed that Dereham raped her.
With evidence from servants in the Dowager Duchess’ household, and testimony from her
old “intimate” music teacher, no one believed her.
Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham were executed in December 1541.
Catherine was beheaded on February 13, 1542.
Wife #6: Katherine Parr An interesting thing to note about the final
wife of King Henry VIII is that she was named after the first.
Katherine Parr’s mother was Maud Green, who served as a lady’s maid to Catherine
of Aragon.
Katherine Parr was born in 1512, and was raised to be a rather independent woman for her time.
Her mother was left widowed when Katherine was just five years old, and ended up managing
her late husband’s estates herself.
As for Katherine, she and Henry were well-matched; she’d had a string of marriages before she
married the king as well.
Her first husband was Edward Borough, who died after just a few years of marriage.
Her second was John Neville, who had two children from a previous marriage.
She and the rest of his family were held hostage during the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion,
but John managed to secure their release.
He died in 1543.
Afterwards, Katherine was employed in Princess Mary’s household, where she came to the
attention of both King Henry and Thomas Seymour, the late Jane Seymour’s brother.
She expressed an interest in Thomas and likely wished to marry him, but the king would not
give his consent and asked for her hand instead.
It was not a lady’s place to say no to the king, especially not a man who had beheaded
two of his wives and countless others.
So, Katherine married Henry on July 12, 1543.
She is known for helping Henry reconcile with his two daughters, who he had previously disowned.
In addition, she developed a good relationship with Henry’s son and had a hand in Elizabeth’s
education.
She was also, despite being raised Catholic, a supporter of the Protestant reformation.
She had a surprising amount of control over the king, something that worried the conservatives
in Henry’s court and was almost her undoing.
They caught wind of the fact that she possessed banned books in her rooms, a treasonous offense,
but they were unable to produce evidence.
Katherine played up to Henry’s ego and was forgiven.
Henry died in 1547, leaving his throne to nine-year-old Edward.
Katherine probably thought she would have some part in the regency, but she made the
mistake of marrying Thomas Seymour shortly after Henry’s death in a secret ceremony,
and people were scandalized thinking that the relationship had gone on while Henry was
still alive.
Instead of taking control of Edward’s reign, she was given guardianship of Princess Elizabeth
and Lady Jane Grey, the king’s cousin.
It wasn’t until 1548, aged 36, that Katherine became pregnant for the first time.
She gave birth to a daughter, Mary, in August.
She died a week later from complications with the birth.