The Six Wives of Henry the VIII

Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived

Henry the VIII was a British monarch, most noted for having six wives in his lifetime. Because he pursued so many women, he famously caused the Protestant Reformation, creating an entirely new religion for his citizens. Despite being crucial roles in history, Henry’s wives are easily forgotten due to their quantity and status as women. I hope to provide more information on the remarkable women in this article.

Catherine of Aragon (Divorced)

Catherine of Aragon was the first of Henry’s numerous wives. She refused to annul from the king, leading him to create the new Church of England. Being the daughter of a Spanish King and Queen, Catherine was bound to marry well. In 1501, at the age of 16, Catherine married her first husband, Prince Arthur. Unfortunately, the young man died in 1502, less than a year into their marriage. She was then betrothed to King Henry, but due to her being both his brothers widow and 5 years older than him, the marriage was delayed until 1509. In 1533, Henry officially divorced her for his next wife Anne Boleyn. Stubborn Catherine refused to acknowledge the loss of her throne and spent the last 3 years of her life isolated. She died comfortably in 1536 at the age of 50.

Anne Boleyn (Beheaded)

Anne Boleyn was perhaps the most famous and iconic of Henry’s wives, as she caused the formation of the new Church of England. After occasionally meeting King Henry on his diplomatic journeys, a Boleyn girl caught his eye, and he began his pursuits… on her sister. After some time though, he discovered that he wished to marry Anne and so he asked his first wife to grant him annulment, she did not. And a new church was established to allow for their courtship. However, in 1536, just 3 years after being an official Queen, Henry VIII decided to have her beheaded on charges of adultery, incest and high treason, which she is largely believed to have been innocent of. She died at the age of either 28 or 35, as historians dispute on her year of birth.

Jane Seymour (Died)

Jane Seymour is rumoured to have been the only wife he genuinely loved, and this is credited to the fact that she gave the king all that he wanted… a male heir. Proof of this claim is that she was the only Queen who received a proper funeral and was the only wife whose body lies next to his.. Jane had the same great-grandmother as Anne Boleyn and his fifth wife, Katherine Howard. The day after Henry’s previous wife was executed, he and Jane were betrothed. She was very politically uninvolved, but when she did take small stances, they were always conservative. Sadly, when her son was newly born, she died. However, her death did not bode well with the King and he grew morbidly obese afterwards, going so far as developing diabetes and gout.

Anna of Cleves (Divorced)

Anna of Cleves was Henry’s most short-lived queen, she was not married for a full year before getting divorced by the ruthless king. After their divorce, Henry provided her money and they stayed on good terms with each other, Anna surprisingly (or not) outlived all of Henry’s other wives and remained unproblematic, dying in 1557 at the age of around 41.

Katherine Howard (Beheaded)

Katherine was a cousin to Anne Boleyn, making the fact they both shared the same fate to be rather satirical. 19 days after Henry and Anna’s divorce, he proposed an engagement to Katherine and their marriage began. The age gap between the two was quite astounding, as he was nearly fifty and she was barely 17. The marriage lasted two years and resulted in her beheading on account of committing adultery with a distant cousin, Thomas Culpepper. Katherine Howard is thought to have been suicidal upon hearing her fate and all weapons had to be removed to prevent any suicide attempt. Her story, in my opinion is one of the saddest.

Catherine Parr (Survived)

Catherine Parr was the third Catherine Henry married in his lifetime. She was the final queen of the House of Tudor and of Henry’s. She had four husbands during her life and is the official Queen of England to have had the most husbands. Catherine was the most proactive and progressive of Henry’s six wives, being involved in both of his daughters educations and restoring them to his line of succession. She also wrote a couple books and published them under her own name, which was a major milestone for women in that time period. She died in in 1548 due to childbirth at the age of 36 and had the first English-spoken funeral in the United Kingdom.