King Henry Viii Research Paper

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23 October 2015

Wives of Henry VIII

Henry VIII was a King of England in the sixteenth century, and, aside from his contribution to the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church, was known for having six wives. Aside from making divorce popular by his own example, he also introduced the concept of “marriage annulment”, which implied that the marriage never actually took place. Henry denied three out of his six marriages as mistakes that did not occur. His wives were Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Kathryn Howard and Katherine Parr. It is important to focus on personas of his wives as they reflected the personality of Henry

He did not get the consent of either the Pope or Catherine. It was decided that from that moment, that the Pope's authority did not extend to England. Henry declared himself as head of the Church (from 1534), and annulment of his marriage with Catherine. Catherine did not recognize his new marriage. She continued to call herself the Queen, and to all the threats she replied that she was a legal wife of the King of England. She died in 1536. Anne Boleyn was the daughter of one of the dignitaries of the King, Earl Thomas Boleyn. In 1533, Henry VIII got married to Anne Boleyn and in the same year, they had a daughter, Elizabeth. His marriage with Anne cost the King his relations with Rome, the elimination of Catholic Church in England and its institutions in the country, as well as the cooling of relations with Spain. Marriage with Anne Boleyn lasted only for for three years. Henry met and fell in love with Jayne Seymour. Anne refused to give permission for divorce and Henry VIII started plotting against her. He set her up, and, through torture and bribe introduced evidence, accusing her in adultery, incest and plotting the murder of the King. Henry understood that even his own church would not allow him another marriage, so set up was necessary to become free. Anne was executed on May 17, 1536

The marriage contract was signed in 1539 and Anne arrived in England in the beginning of 1540. The first meeting of the bride and groom took place in Rochester, where Henry came as a private citizen. One look at Anna was enough to make the King disappointed. She was a large, massive woman with rather coarse facial features, unlike her portrait. Henry did not like her features, her manners and her clothes. She did not like Henry either, since she had already heard of Anne Boleyn’s destiny. He could not send her back, since it would mean war against England, so he left her in England, paying little to no attention to her. Anne of Cleves was a good stepmother to Prince Edward and princess Betsey and Mary (Eakins). Henry dissolved their marriage in 1540, however Anne of Cleves stayed in England since most of people liked her and Henry did not want to ruin his relations with the brother of Anne, the Duke of Julich-Cleves-Berg, who was one of the most powerful rulers of Germany. Anne sincerely loved his new home, as she also received multiple gifts from the King. Henry declared her as “sister” and treated her