Reign of Henry 8th Tudor. King Henry VIII: reformer, bon vivant and polygamist

The throne was inherited by Henry and Jane's son Edward IV (1537-1553). A responsible and well-read young man would have made a good monarch, but Edward was in poor health and died at the age of 15. At the instigation of the nobleman John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, Edward bequeathed the crown to his cousin Lady Jane Gray (Dudley promptly married his son to her). Contrary to her wishes, Lady Jane was proclaimed queen, but nine days later she was overthrown by her rightful heir, Mary Tudor (1516-1558). Under Mary, the Reformation in England turned 180 degrees: a devout Catholic made every effort to restore Catholicism in her power. Since Protestantism had not yet taken root, the British calmly accepted the return of the Latin Mass. But Mary’s intention to marry the Spanish Prince Philip alerted them. The Queen was fascinated by Philip, but the twenty-seven-year-old Spaniard was not attracted to the withered virgin (38 years old by those standards was already a respectable age).

Quite soon, he began to flirt with her ladies-in-waiting, and then left his wife altogether, returning to his native Spain. Suffering from loneliness and the inability to get pregnant, Maria took it out on the heretics. Over 4 years, about 300 Protestants were burned. The Anglican Bishop Latimer was right when he proclaimed from the scaffold; “Today we will light a candle that will never go out.” With her atrocities, Mary earned the nickname “Bloody,” and her subjects finally hated Catholicism—you can’t force yourself to be nice. The end of Mary's reign was marred both by the loss of Calais, England's last possession on French soil, and by a personal drama: an illness she mistook for long-awaited pregnancy, turned out to be uterine cancer. “Bloody Mary” was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth, whose reign the British call the “golden age.” It was the era of poets and playwrights (Shakespeare's star rose), shrewd politicians and brave pirates. In her childhood and youth, Elizabeth suffered many hardships - the death of her mother on the chopping block, her father’s decision to recognize her as illegitimate, the execution of her stepfather Thomas Seymour, fourth husband Catherine Parr.

In 1554, suspicious Maria was kept for a couple of months younger sister in, and then exiled her to Oxfordshire. Mary's death was a gift of fate for Elizabeth. The new queen was not at all like her withdrawn sister, who exhausted herself with fasts and vigils. Elizabeth turned out to be an active, wise and insightful woman, an inflexible politician and a witty interlocutor. She knew French, Italian, ancient Greek and Latin, was excellent in the saddle, adored grandiose balls, but at the same time she was distinguished by her economy. Only one feature of the queen caused concern - she was in no hurry to get married. Perhaps the injury received at court had an effect Henry VIII. Death from childbirth or on the scaffold, the situation of a thing that is brought to a show and sent away as unnecessary - this is the fate married woman. Elizabeth wanted to control her own destiny. In the end, the British accepted her choice and even admired the Virgin Queen, who was married to her state. Poets compared her to the chaste Diana, the goddess of the hunt, and sailors named the American colony of Virginia in her honor. The queen basked in the rays of popular love. Although Scotland also converted to Protestantism and became much closer to England than to its longtime ally France, Elizabeth did not trust the Scottish queen Mary Stuart (1542-1587). She remained faithful to Catholicism and considered herself the legitimate heir to the English throne. In 1567, Mary was deposed and fled to England for protection, but the presence of a high-born Catholic woman was too much of a temptation for the English “papists.” Elizabeth considered it reasonable to place Mary under arrest, and in 1587 she signed her death warrant. The main enemy of England remained Spain, the stronghold of Catholicism and the mistress of the seas. The Spaniards reacted nervously to the development of the English fleet, especially since England supported Francis Drake and other pirates who robbed Spanish ships. In 1588, a serious threat loomed over England: “ Invincible armada", 130 heavy ships, sailed to its shores. But the English ships, although not numerous, were distinguished by their maneuverability and gave a good beating to the clumsy Spanish ships. It seemed as if nature itself was protecting Britain: powerful wind carried the Spanish ships north, away from the English shores.

The remnants of the Armada had to go around Scotland and Ireland, losing ships in storms and wrecks. The English were confident in God's protection and the power of their state. As soon as Elizabeth breathed her last, the messengers galloped at full speed to Scotland, where King James VI (1566-1625) was waiting for news. Ironically, Elizabeth’s successor was the son of Mary Stuart, who was executed by her: the Scottish king ascended to the English throne under the name James I. Opinions about the new monarch were divided. On the one hand, the British had difficulty understanding his accent and mocked his unkempt manners and unsightly appearance. In addition, Yakov showed homosexual tendencies. His favorite was George Villiers (1592-1628), the first Duke of Buckingham, and the whole country rejoiced when in 1628 the royal favorite fell victim to an assassination attempt (Alexandre Dumas very freely described this episode in The Three Musketeers). On the other hand, James maintained stability at home and abroad. One of the greatest achievements of his reign was the translation of the Bible into English, which was used by all English-speaking countries for several centuries in a row. The pious king dealt with both witches (under him, witch trials flourished) and Catholics. In 1605, the Gunpowder Plot was uncovered to blow up Parliament and kill the king. In memory of the miraculous salvation of the monarch, every November 5 the British burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes, one of the participants in the conspiracy.

Defending the “divine right” of kings, James I quarreled with parliament, and his son Charles I (1600–1649) brought the conflict to a qualitative level new level. Timid and withdrawn, Charles did not get along well with those around him, with the exception of Buckingham, who managed to lose several important battles to the French. The British were even more upset by Charles's marriage to the French Catholic Henrietta Maria. Several times parliamentarians expressed their indignation to the monarch, until in 1629, tired of complaints, he dissolved parliament. For the next 11 years the king ruled alone, but in 1639 and 1640. was forced to convene advisers again. The crown needed funds for the war with Scotland, where a serious conflict broke out over the introduction of Anglican worship there (the Scots belonged to an even more strict branch of Protestantism - Presbyterianism). Taught by bitter experience, the parliamentarians were in no hurry to disperse. Has begun " Long Parliament", the majority of which belonged to the Puritans, ardent opponents of any Catholic remnants (including such cute customs as Christmas pudding and May Day festivities). In 1642, the confrontation between the king and parliament resulted in a civil war (in Soviet historiography it was called the “English War”) bourgeois revolution»).

The war split the country: the west took the side of the king, while the east, including London, supported the “roundheads” (the soldiers of parliament received this nickname for their short haircuts). The leader of the rebels was the landowner from Cambridge Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), a brilliant military leader and unyielding politician. When the Scots defected to the camp of parliamentarians in 1644, Charles had to fight on two fronts, and the outcome civil war was a foregone conclusion. After the defeat at Marstonmoor, the king lost the north, and in 1646 surrendered to the Scots, who handed it over to the Parliamentarians a year later. In January 1649, Charles appeared in court on charges of crimes against the fatherland. Although the king denied to the last that he, God's anointed, could be judged by mere mortals, this did not stop Parliament from signing his death warrant. On a frosty January day, the king last time went to Whitehall Palace. In order not to shiver from the cold, he put on two undershirts in case onlookers would think that the monarch was shaking with fear. After his execution, England was proclaimed a republic, and in 1653 Cromwell was granted the title of Lord Protector.

One of the most prominent political figures of the 16th century is undoubtedly the King of England Henry VIII (1491-1547). He ruled the country for almost 38 years. Over this long period of time, he proved himself to be a despotic and cruel ruler. It was under him that the “vagrancy law” was adopted. Ruined peasants who lost their property were simply hanged. It was much easier than helping people get back on their feet and regain material wealth.

To serve his personal interests, this king broke all relations with the Roman Catholic Church. He declared himself head of the English Church. Monasteries were closed and their lands were confiscated. Part went to the state, and the other was sold to the nobles. The Bible in the country was recognized only English language. But from the point of view of Catholics, the ruler of Foggy Albion became famous not only for these terrible sacrileges.

He was extremely loving. Only His Majesty had 6 official wives. At the same time, two of them had their heads cut off. That is, the person did not know how to restrain himself in anything. He indulged his passions and desires, which he put above the interests of the state. His actions were often inconsistent and his actions contradictory. The king did not bet on a penny human life. Under him, people were executed for the slightest offense.

In 1577, the work of the English chronicler Raphael Holinshed was published entitled “Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland.” It said that during the reign of the extravagant king, 72 thousand people were executed in England. The torture of the Holy Inquisition and oprichnina pale in comparison to this figure. However, we will not take on faith everything that was written in the works of people who lived in the 16th century. Many of them were biased towards the cruel ruler and could biasedly reflect the true state of affairs.

Brief biography of Henry VIII

Was born future king England June 28, 1491. Place of birth - Greenwich. At that time it was a suburb of the British capital. It was not yet the prime meridian. This became the case in the 17th century, when the Greenwich Observatory was established in 1675.

The father of the newborn child was the English king Henry VII (1457-1509) - the founder of the Tudor dynasty. Mother was Elizabeth of York (1466-1503). In total, this woman gave birth to 7 children, but only 4 of them survived. Two daughters became queens, and a son became king. There was also the eldest son Arthur (1486-1502), who was supposed to ascend to the English throne. But he died at the age of 15 while his father was still alive.

As a result of all this, Henry VIII became king of England in 1509. At that time the young man was 17 years old. Therefore, at first, more mature courtiers helped him in conducting state affairs. In fact, from 1515 to 1529 the country was ruled by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (1473-1530). The king listened to his advice, although in some matters he showed independence. In 1529, he ordered the arrest of a powerful courtier. The time has come for independent rule, and the “gray cardinal” began to interfere.

Since 1512, the young king waged war with France. The hostilities continued for many years. Only in 1525 was a peace treaty signed. But he did not bring victory to England, and the state treasury was practically empty. During these same years, the country was filled with impoverished peasants as a result of the policy fencing.

In the country, arable land belonged to the nobles, the church and the king. Peasants were not owners. They paid rent and managed land plots. The rent was purely symbolic, and people quietly worked on the land, sowing and harvesting crops. But, starting from the 15th century, there was an increase in wool prices on the world market. It became profitable to keep sheep, but they needed pastures.

As a result, landowners began to increase rents. The peasants could no longer pay for land, since the amounts of money were very high and exceeded the profit for the harvest. As a result of this, thousands of peasant families were ruined and turned into beggars. And the feudal lords fenced off the vacated lands and turned them into pastures for sheep. This is where the term "enclosure" came from, and was immortalized in 1516 by Thomas More in his "Utopia" famous phrase: "Sheep eat people."

Vagrants were caught and hanged, as if they themselves were to blame for their poverty. This showed the cruel character of the King of England. And his extravagance resulted in a conflict with the Catholic Church. The reason was trivial. The king needed a divorce from his wife because she could not give birth to a male heir.

This unfortunate woman was Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536). In 1510 she gave birth healthy boy, but he died before he was 2 months old. In 1516 the woman gave birth to a daughter, future queen Bloody Mary. But England needed a boy-heir. In 1518, Catherine gave birth again. But a girl was born who lived only a few hours. After this, the woman no longer tried to give birth.

In 1527, the king wished to divorce his wife. But I resisted Catholic Church who did not want to give a divorce. Then the crown bearer declared himself head of the English church and divorced his wife. This happened in 1533 on May 23, and on May 28 she came out to the people new wife king. She became Anne Boleyn (1507-1536). She also gave birth to a daughter, and then she was accused of betraying her husband and was beheaded in May 1536.

After this sad event, the crowned lady married 4 more times. The third wife, Jane Seymour (1508-1537), gave birth to an heir. They named him Edward. But the woman herself died of childbed fever, and the boy left this world at the age of 15.

The last 10 years of Henry VIII's reign were characterized by tyrannical forms of government. In 1542, the king's 5th wife, Catherine Howard (1521-1542), was executed. Many noble nobles who were part of the political opposition also went to the chopping block. The situation was aggravated by illness.

The crown bearer has become very fat. There is speculation that he suffered from gout. Old wounds received in previous years while hunting began to make themselves felt. All this caused irritation and depression. Every day the king felt worse and worse. At the age of 55 he died. It happened on January 28, 1547 in London at the famous Whitehall Palace. This majestic structure was considered the largest in Europe. Burnt down in 1698. After the death of the ruler, troubled times followed in the country, until the Virgin Queen Elizabeth I came to power in 1558.

C The reign of Henry the Eighth, the second Tudor king, was one of the longest and best documented in English history. Everyone knows the events of his personal life, which would have been more than enough for three men, not one: six wives, two of whom he executed, divorced one, and abandoned the other, declaring the marriage invalid. short biography some of his wives could be summed up in one line:

Divorced, Beheaded, Died; Divorced, executed, died

Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. Divorced, executed, survived..

Next, there is confusion with children, who is illegitimate and who is not. In order to gain freedom in his personal life, he broke with the pope, who did not approve of divorce, and became the evil Pinocchio’s own head of the church, simultaneously executing everyone who did not have time to adapt.
Despite the fact that the TV series “The Tudors” and also the film “The Other Boleyn Girl” portray King Henry as a muscular, handsome brunette, in reality he, of course, was not one. Or was it?
At the age of sixteen they wrote about him: “A talented rider and knight, he is popular among his associates for his ease of handling.” When Henry the Eighth turned fifty, it was said of him: “He was old before his age...he was often quick-tempered, easily angered, and increasingly succumbing to black depression as the years passed.”
It is interesting to trace the changes in the king’s appearance, which reflected not only the natural passage of time, but also the events that happened to him.

So, on June 28, 1491, King Henry the Seventh and his wife Elizabeth of York had a second son, who was named after his father.
I think it was an angel with golden curls and bright eyes. True, the child was extremely spoiled, he even had his own whipping boy, who was punished for the little prince’s hooliganism.

Prince Henry grew up to be a well-educated and well-read man, fluent in French and Latin and Spanish, well versed in mathematics, heraldry, astronomy and music, and interested in science and medicine. He was a true man of the Renaissance - he loved art, poetry, painting, and at the same time, he was sincerely pious.
Importantly, academic knowledge did not prevent him from becoming a tall, handsome, well-built athlete and a passionate hunter; By the way, I loved...tennis. However, the lack of discipline in education, unbridled character, reluctance to study what is not interesting, traits that are forgivable for the second son of the king, later brought him and England many problems during his reign.
The Venetian envoy wrote about the young prince that he was the most handsome of the monarchs he had taken away, above average height, with slender and beautifully shaped legs, with very fair skin, with bright, reddish-brown hair, cut short in French fashion; the round face was so beautiful that it would have suited a woman; his neck was long and strong.
The fact that the prince was well built is confirmed by the size of his youthful armor: 32 inches at the waist and 39 inches at the chest (81 cm and 99 cm). His height was and remained 6 feet 1 inch, which is equal to about 183 cm, if I’m not mistaken, with a weight of 95 kg. He also had good health: in his youth he only had a mild case of smallpox, and periodically suffered, also in a mild form, from malaria, which was common in Europe at that time (there were many swamps that have now been drained).

Portrait of 18-year-old Henry (where, in my opinion, he somehow looks an awful lot like his great-uncle, Richard III).
And this is young Prince Hal through the eyes of a modern artist.

Armor of young Henry (left) and armor of Henry in his 40s (right)

Henry in 1521 (age 30)

Portrait of Henry aged 34-36 Age 36-38

In the eyes of his subjects, the young king, who ascended the throne after his miserly father, who sent his last surviving relatives after the Battle of Bosworth to the scaffold or into exile, who had not convened parliament for ten years, was the personification of a new wonderful hero. “If a lion knew his strength, it is unlikely that anyone would be able to cope with him,” Thomas More wrote about him.
His reign proceeded more or less smoothly until the king reached the age of 44.

Henry at the age of 40: the prime of his life

By this time, the king had already divorced Catherine of Aragon and married the clever Anne Boleyn, but the turbulent events did not particularly affect his health: until 1536 he had no problems with it, except for a gradual gain in weight. Judging by the very detailed ordinance he personally drew up regarding the royal table, the king had what is called a brutal appetite for meat, pastries and wine. Hence the fullness that is already present in the portrait at the age of 40, which is not present in the portrait of 30-year-old Henry (see above). Yes, the king was a womanizer and a glutton, but he had not yet become Bluebeard and a tyrant.
What happened in January 1536 at the tournament in Greenwich? Already quite obese, Henry could not stay in the saddle and fell in his armor from his horse, which also wore armor. The horse then fell on top of him. The king was unconscious for two hours, his legs were crushed and most likely suffered from several fractures. There was justifiable fear for his health, so much so that Queen Anne suffered a miscarriage: unfortunately, it was a boy. As if this were not enough, the king's illegitimate son, the young Duke of Richmond, soon died, and Anne was soon accused of adultery.
The fractures and other wounds healed at first, but soon the king began to suffer not only from headaches, but also from chronic, extensive, wet, purulent ulcers on his legs. Because of the pain, he could not speak and was silent for ten days in a row, suppressing a torn cry. Doctors tried unsuccessfully to heal these ulcers by piercing them with a hot iron, or excising them without allowing them to heal in order to “help the infection come out along with the pus.” Also, most likely, the king had been suffering from diabetes for a long time by this time (hence the incurability of ulcers). Is it any wonder that physical suffering, coupled with the consequences of a head injury, completely changed the character of the monarch?
Now researchers claim that as a result of an injury at a tournament in 1536, Henry the Eighth had damage to the frontal lobes of the brain, which are responsible for self-control and perception of signals from external environment, social and sexual behavior. In 1524, when he was 33 years old, he also suffered a minor injury when he forgot to lower his visor and the tip of an enemy's spear struck him hard above his right eye. This gave him recurring severe migraines. But in those days they did not know how to treat brain injuries, as well as diabetes.

Those around him knew about the king's health, but everyone who dared to open their mouth was accused of treason and sent to the scaffold. Henry could give an order in the morning, cancel it by lunchtime, and then be furious when he learns that it has already been carried out.
From that moment on, a new, dark stage of the reign began.
The king's most passionate desire at this point was to obtain an heir to continue the Tudor dynasty. Multiplied by the serious psychological changes that occurred to him after 1536, this desire resulted in a series of impulsive and cruel actions for which Henry is famous to this day. It is more than likely that the king suffered by that time from a lack of potency. Even the actual fulfillment of his dream with the birth of his son from Jane Seymour, Edward, could not change anything.

Heinrich is about 49 years old

Henry VIII and the guilds of barbers and surgeons (the king was very interested in medicine, and these guilds were created under his patronage). The king is 49 years old on the canvas.

Detail of a 1545 portrait showing Henry, Edward and - posthumously - Jane Seymour.

And this is the entire portrait, on the left and on the right - the king’s two daughters.

Despite his painful condition, his spirit was stronger than body, and Henry lived another eleven years. Ignoring doctors' prohibitions, he traveled a lot, continuing his active foreign policy, hunted and... ate significantly more. The makers of a History Channel documentary recreated his diet based on surviving sources: the king consumed up to 13 meals daily, consisting mainly of lamb, chicken, beef, venison, rabbit and a variety of feathered birds like pheasant and swan, he could drink 10 pints (1 pint = 0.57 l) of ale a day, as well as wine. Although, on the other hand, it is also possible that this was only the king’s menu, offered to him by the cooks, and by no means what he actually ate. But...
With the impossibility of his previous mobility, he quickly gained weight and by the age of fifty he weighed...177 kilograms! Judging again by his armor, his waist from 81 cm in girth at the age of 20 grew to 132 cm at the age of about 50. By the end of his life, he could barely walk on his own. The condition of the ulcers on his legs only worsened, they emitted such a strong smell that he announced the approach of the king long before he appeared in the room. Katherine Parr, whom he married in 1543, was more of a nurse than a wife for him, only she could calm the monarch's fits of rage. He died in 1547, exhausted by attacks of fever and regular cauterization of ulcers.

In fact, judging by the armor of the end of his reign, the width of the king's torso was almost equal to his height!

The entire variety of existing portraits of Henry the Eighth is posted on this wonderful resource:

And here you can watch it in English documentary"Inside the Body of Henry the Eighth"

Name: Henry VIII Tudor

State: England

Field of activity: King of England

Greatest Achievement: Reformed the church. During the reign of Henry VIII, the English Church separated from the Roman Church.

Henry VIII, the English king, became famous for marrying six times, beheading two of his wives, and also brought about the Reformation in the country, separating the English church from the Roman one.

Childhood of Henry VIII

Henry VIII Tudor (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was born at Greenwich Palace in London. His parents, King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, had six children, but four survived: Henry himself, Arthur, Margaret and Mary. Athletically developed, the boy was keenly interested in art, music and culture in general, and even wrote. He was witty and received a good education with the help of private teachers and tutors.

A lover of gambling and knightly tournaments, he held countless feasts and balls. His father saw Arthur as King, and prepared Henry for a church career. Henry's fate could have been different, but in fact he inherited a kingdom that had just ended the War of the Roses.

Coronation

In 1502, Prince Arthur married the Spanish Infanta Catherine of Aragon. Having not been married for even four months, Arthur died at the age of 16, leaving the throne to ten-year-old Henry.

In 1509, 17-year-old Henry VIII ascended the throne. He was good-natured, but soon got a taste of power, indulging his every desire. Two days after his coronation, he arrested two of his father's courtiers and quickly executed them.

The English Reformation and the role of Henry VIII in its formation

When Henry realized that Queen Catherine was unable to bear him an heir, he attempted to divorce her. He asked permission from Pope Julius II, but according to church canons, if the pope did not find reasons not to enter into this marriage, then now he could not give permission for a divorce.

Henry convened parliament and put up for discussion the issue of annulment of the marriage. The officials who met at the meeting were ready to reform the church, but could not agree on what exactly this would look like. Time passed, but things did not move. Then the king decided to accuse the entire English clergy of encroaching on royal power.

In 1534, the English Church separated from the Roman Catholic Church. The King was declared "the only Supreme Head in the Land of the Church of England".

These macro-reforms have changed everything beyond recognition. Henry ordered the clergy to preach superstitions, miracles and pilgrimages, and to remove almost all candles from religious rites. His catechism of 1545 abolished the saints.

Completely separated from the pope, the Church of England was located instead of Rome. From 1536 to 1537, the great northern revolt known as the Pilgrimage of Grace began, in which 30,000 people rebelled against the reforms.

This was the only serious threat to Henry's authority as monarch. The leader of the rebellion, Robert Aske, and 200 others were executed. When John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester and Henry's former Lord Chancellor, refused to swear an oath to the king, they were sentenced to death.

The result of these reforms was the loss of power by the pope in England, and the population gained the opportunity to read the Bible in their native language.

But Henry achieved his main goal - he divorced Catherine of Aragon and could now make decisions independently of Rome.

Catherine of Aragon

They were married in Westminster Abbey. Henry VIII's father wanted to establish his family's alliance with Spain, so Henry had to agree to the marriage. The families asked Pope Julius II to grant permission for their marriage, which took place 8 years later when Henry VII died in 1509.

After two stillborn children - a girl and a boy - Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Maria. Her fourth pregnancy ended in the death of another girl. Henry demanded an heir from her. Realizing that there was no longer any hope of having a son, he decided to divorce. The discussion, during which Catherine fought to maintain her position and that of her daughter, lasted six years.

Ann Bolein

Mary Boleyn introduced the king to her 25-year-old sister Anne. Henry and Anna began to meet secretly. Catherine was 42 years old, and the hope that she would conceive a child had evaporated, so Henry began to look for a woman who would bear him a son, and for this he needed to officially become single.

Henry decided to ignore the pope's permission, and in January 1533 he secretly remarried. Soon Anna became pregnant and gave birth to a girl, whom she named Elizaveta. Meanwhile, the new Archbishop of Canterbury announced that the king's first marriage had been annulled by a court decision. However, the new queen was also unable to give birth to a living heir. She miscarried twice, and the king switched to Jane Seymour. Now all that remained was to get rid of the second wife. Fabricated complicated story, charging her with adultery, incest and attempted murder of her husband.

She soon appeared in court. Anna, regal and calm, denied all the charges against her. Four days later the marriage was declared invalid and annulled. Anne Boleyn was then taken to Tower Green where her head was cut off on 19 May 1536.

Jane Seymour

11 days after the execution of Anne, Henry VIII officially married for the third time. However, Jane never went through the coronation ceremony. In October 1537 she gave birth to the king long-awaited son, Edward. Nine days later Jane died from the infection. Since she was Henry's only wife to bear a son, he considered her his only "true" wife. The people and the king mourned her for a long time.

Anna Klevskaya

Three years after Jane Seymour's death, Henry was ready to marry again, as having only one son was risky. He began to look for a suitable bride. Anna, the sister of the German Duke of Cleves, was proposed to him. The German artist Hans Holbein the Younger, who served as the king's official painter, was sent to paint her portrait. The king liked the portrait, but when Anna arrived at court, Henry was furious - she turned out to be not as pretty as he was described, and did not look at all like the portrait. However, they married in January 1540, but Henry divorced her six months later. She received the title “sister of the king” and lived all her life in the castle given to her.

Catherine Howard

Within weeks of his divorce from Anne of Cleves, Henry married Catherine Howard on 28 July 1540. She was the cousin of his second wife Anna. The king was 49 years old, Catherine was 19, they were happy. By this time, Henry had become very fat, his leg wound was festering and would not heal, and his new wife gave him life. He gave her generous gifts.

But even here the happiness did not last long. It turned out that Catherine was more interesting in the company of her peers, and this extended to her bedroom. After an investigation, she was found guilty of adultery. On February 13, 1542, she repeated the fate of Anne Boleyn on Tower Green.

Catherine Parr

Independent and educated, twice widowed, Catherine Parr was Henry's sixth wife. Their marriage took place in 1543. Her mother, Lady Maud Greene, named her daughter after Queen Catherine of Aragon. The king, already seriously ill, still hoped for the birth of an heir, but their marriage remained childless. Catherine outlived the king by only a year.

Children of King Henry VIII

The fate of the three surviving children turned out to be very different.

Mary Tudor

Henry's first child to survive infancy. Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon, was born on February 18, 1516. Following her half-brother Edward in 1553, Mary ascended to the throne and reigned until 1558, until her death.

Elizabeth

On September 7, 1533, the second daughter, Elizabeth, was born. Although she was born a princess, Henry declared her illegitimate because she was the daughter of Anne Boleyn. After the death of Mary Tudor, she ascended the throne as Elizabeth I and remained there until 1603.

Edward

The only son of Henry VIII, born to his third wife Jane. In 1547, 10-year-old Edward (born October 12, 1537) took the throne as Edward VI after his father's death and died in 1553.

Death of Henry VIII

Towards the end of his life, Henry suffered from gout. His skin became covered with festering boils, and a non-healing wound opened on his leg, which he received as a result of an accident. In addition, he was obese and could not move without assistance, not to mention exercise and training, which he loved very much in his youth. He continued to overeat, having become accustomed to eating a lot of fatty meat, perhaps due to stress. There is an assumption that, among other things, he had type II diabetes. At the age of 55, Henry VIII died on January 28, 1547.

He is buried in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle next to Jane.