King Henry VIII of England

• What happened during his reign?

1. King Henry Vlll, Henry's son, successfully united England and Wales under one system of government. The two countries were joined in 1536.
2. Henry Vlll wanted a male heir, but his wife had not given birth to a son. Henry wanted to divorce her and take a new wife. The Roman Catholic Church refused to grant the divorce. In order to gain his divorce, Henry had to establish the Church of England and end Catholicism.
   Henry passed a law in 1534 making himself head of the Church of England. This act allowed him to divorce his wife and led to the formation of the Protestant Church of England. The Protestant movement was known as the Reformation.

• How many wives did he have?

He first married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon but divorced her when she did not produce a male heir to the throne. He married three times more before a son was born. In total he married six times!

• Who were they and what happened to them?

1. Catherine of Aragon was a Spanish princess who had previously been married to Henry's brother Prince Arthur. Henry was betrothed to Katherine by his father in 1509 and they had a daughter Mary who later become Queen Mary 1. Catherine had six children but only Mary survived. In 1527 Henry announced his desire to divorce Catherine because she had failed to produce a male heir.
2. Anne grew up in the family home of Hever Castle in Kent and was a young and beautiful lady-in-waiting to the former queen, Catherine of Aragon. She gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth. When Anne miscarried a second child Henry accused her of witchcraft and had her beheaded on May 19th 1536 at the Tower of London for adultery and incest.
3. Jane was born between 1507 and 1509. Henry married his third wife on May 30th, 1536, just eleven days after the execution of Anne. Jane gave birth to a baby boy on 12th October 1537. Henry was said to be devastated when she died 12 days later of blood poisoning. Jane was buried at Windsor Castle, later to be joined by Henry. Her son succeed Henry to become Edward VI.
4. Anne was born in 1515 in the small north German state of Cleves (close to the border of Holland). Her parents were John III of Cleves and Marie of Julich. Anne married Henry in 1540 to form a tie between England and the Protestant princes of Germany. After only six months Henry found the political alliance no longer to be to his advantage and so divorced her the same year. She died in 1557.
5. Catherine was born between 1520 and 1525. Henry married Catherine Howard, Anne Boleyn's cousin and maid of honour to Anne of Cleaves. In 1542 Henry once again accused his wife of adultery and had Catherine beheaded at the Tower of London on 13 February 1542.
6. Katherine Parr, also known as Catherin Parr, was born around 1512. She was Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543 at Hampton Court Palace. Katherine outlived Henry - so she is said to have survived.

• What happened to his relations with the Pope?

Henry Vlll brought religious upheaval to England. When he became king, most people belonged to the Catholic Church, which was headed by the Pope, in Rome. In 1534, Henry broke away from the Catholic Church and proclaimed himself head of the Church of England. The land and riches of the church became Henry's property and he sold off most of this land to dukes, barons and other noble

• What was the name of the church he established in England?

Protestant Church of England