Why Is King Henry Viii Important

Henry Tudor, otherwise known as Henry VIII, was born in Greenwich, London, on June 28, 1491; at a place called the Palace of Placentia. Only three of Henry’s six siblings survived infancy. Arthur, Prince of Wales, Margaret and Mary were his three siblings that survived. Henry Tudor was the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of England from 1485 until 1603. There were five monarchs in that time period. Henry VII, Henry VIII’s father, was the first of the monarchs. During the time Henry VIII was king, he did not accomplish much that benefited England. Instead, he was a very bitter man and executed more men and women than any other monarch in history. Though he is remembered for the awful way he treated his wives, Henry VIII was cruel in many other ways as well, and is the known as the most brutal monarch in the history of English royalty. Henry had one brother, Arthur. Arthur was expected to take the throne because he was the oldest of the sons. Prince Arthur married Catherine of Aragon in 1502, but after a few months of being married, he died at the young age of 15. Which meant 10 year old Henry was the new Prince and next in line to become King.
Henry’s father, Henry VII, wanted to keep his alliance with Spain, so he offered Henry to marry Arthur’s widow, Catherine of Aragon. The marriage held off until the death of Henry’s father in 1509.
When Henry was 17, he was crowned king and Catherine was crowned queen. Because Henry’s father gave him few tasks as a young child, he would later be thought of as an “untrained boy in the exacting art of kingship”. A few days after his coronation, Henry arrested two of his father’s ministries and executed both of them. Henry had more men and women sentenced to death than any other monarch. King Henry would often use treason and those accused were commonly executed without trial.
Henry had many wives, six to be exact. It is said that he had so many wives because he was “in search of political alliance, martial bliss and a healthy male heir.” King Henry had a reputation of a ladies man. As well as his six wives, he had servile mistresses and fathered at least one child by them. His strong desire to have his first wife without the Pope’s approval led to the separation of the Church of England. His first wife was Catherine of Aragon which was the widow of his brother, Arthur. They had one daughter, Mary, on February 18, 1516. They were married from 1509 to 1533, when they were divorced.
Thomas Wolsey, Henry’s friend, had guided him with his decisions on foreign politics for 16 years, but one day, when Wolsey failed to deliver Henry’s annulment from Catherine, they were no longer under good terms.
Wolsey was falsely charged with treason and died after many years in jail. After the fact, the Pope realized that Henry was capable acting in this manner no matter who it was concerning. The Christian church soon separated forming the Church of England. He was then excommunicated by the Pope, and the English reformation begun. In 1534, Henry declared himself supreme head of the Church of England. King Henry ordered that they should preach against superstitious images, relics, miracles and to remove all candles from religious
settings.
His second wife was Anne Boleyn, when King Henry married her she was already pregnant. Anne gave him another daughter, Elizabeth. They were married from 1533 to 1536. Anne failed to produce King Henry a male heir; after miscarrying twice, Henry became interested in Jane Seymour. Because Henry didn’t want to continue his marriage with his wife that couldn’t have a baby boy, he came up with an elaborate story of how Anne had committed adultery and was plotting to murder him. King Henry claimed and charged three mean for supposedly committing adultery with his wife. And he finally put Anne, his wife, on trial and she denied everything said against her. Afterwards they divorced and King Henry sent Anne to the Tower Green where she was privately executed for treason in 1536.
From 1536 to 1537, the Church of England was under England’s rule instead of Rome’s. This brought a great uprising of 30,000 people rebelling against the King’s changes known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. The leader of the rebel, Robert Aske, and 200 other people were executed because of the uprising. Also when the Bishop of Rochester, John Fisher, and Henry’s former Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More, refused to take the oath to the king, they were executed immediately.
Jane Seymour was his next wife, less than 24 hours after Anne’s execution. They were married for only one year, from 1536 to 1537. They were only married for one year because she died that year while giving birth to Henry’s male heir, Edward in October of 1536. Thomas Cromwell arranged a marriage shortly after between King Henry and German princess Anne of Cleves. He did this in attempt to make ties with German Protestant allies. So Anne of Cleves was his next wife, they were married from January of 1540 to July of 1540, when they were divorced. Because the marriage was a disaster, Henry blamed Cromwell for his suffering and had him executed.
Cathryn Howard was his fifth wife he had. They were married from 1540 until King Henry had her executed for adultery and incest plotting to murder the King in 1542. And his sixth and final wife was Katherine Parr. They were married for four years, from 1543 to 1547, when henry died. Katherine was a widow at that time. His children Edward VI, Mary O and Elizabeth I would each take their turn as England’s monarch.
In the beginning of the time Henry VIII was king, he would seek advice from others on most of the important matters at hand. By the end of his royalty, he had absolute control. Henry was famous for being the main instigator of the English reformation and turning this country into a Protestant nation. Henry the VIII ruled as king of England for 36 years, from 1491 to 1547. Edward was his only son and succeeded him soon after his death in 1547. Henry VIII was the King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death, 28 January 1547. He died in Palace of Whitehall, London at the age of 55. He was buried at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, Windsor, United Kingdom. When he died he was married to Catherine Parr, and his children were Elizabeth I of England, Mary I of England. And his siblings that were alive at that time were Margaret Tudor, and Mary Tudor, Queen of France.