Henry VIII

Henry VIII

Henry VIII was king of England (1509-1547), and the founder of the

church of England. He was the son of

King Henry VII he influenced the character of the English monarchy.

Henry was born in London on June 28, 1491 and his dad died in

1509 henry married his brothers widow Catherine of Aragon. This was

the first of his six marriages. Henry was a good looking man and was an

athlete.

In 1511 henry Joined in the holy league against France, and in

1513 he led the English forces through a victorious campaign in

northern France. In 1514 he arranged a marriage between his sister

Mary and Louis XII of France, they formed an alliance. In 1525 riots

broke out in England in protest against an attempt by henry to levy

taxes for military purposes.

In 1527 henry announced his desire to divorce his wife. The

reason they divorced was that he thought she could not have a boy.

Her only surviving child was Mary. henry was in love with Anne Boleyn a

young beautiful lady waiting to be queen. Holy roman emperor Charles

V, Catherine’s nephew, strongly opposed the divorce, and pope Clement

VII, who Charles had made a prisoner, could not disprove the marriage

without displeasing his captor. In 1529, the pope released the case to

Rome. When the prospect of securing a papal annulment seemed

hopeless, Henry dismissed Wolsey and appointed Sir Thomas More.

In 1532 Henry married secretly married Anne Boylen, who was

crowned queen after Thomas Cranmer, declared the marriage with

Catherine void and that with Anne valid.

Although Henry was immediately excommunicated, he repudiated

papel jurisdiction in 1534 and made himself the supreme ecclesiastical

authority in England. The English people were required to affirm under

oath Henry’s supremacy and the act of succession. Sir Thomas More

and John Fisher were executed for refusing to accept the religious

supremacy of the English monarchy.

In 1536, after charging Anne Bolyen with incest and adultery,

Henry had her executed. A few days after Anne’s death Henry

remarried. he married Jane Seymour, she died in 1537after having

Henry’s only son named Edward later Edward VI.