Wives of Henry VIII

This article is about the wives of Henry VIII. For a more complete list of consorts, see List of English consorts.

Henry VIII, in a portrait made c. 1520, during his nearly 24 year marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

The wives of Henry VIII were the six queens consort married to Henry VIII of England between 1509 and 1547.

The six wives (queens consort) of King Henry VIII were, in order: Catherine of Aragon (annulled), Anne Boleyn (annulled then beheaded), Jane Seymour (died, childbed fever), Anne of Cleves (annulled), Catherine Howard (annulled then beheaded), and Catherine Parr (survived). Because annulment legally voids a marriage, technically speaking Henry would have said he had only 2 "wives", but his marriage to Queen Catherine of Aragon was declared legal and valid during the reign of his daughter Queen Mary I. It is often noted that Catherine Parr "survived him"; in fact Anne of Cleves also survived the king and was the last of his queens to die. Of the six queens, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour each gave Henry one child who survived infancy—two daughters and one son, all three of whom would eventually accede to the throne. They were Queen Mary I, Queen Elizabeth I, and King Edward VI.

Catherine Howard and Anne Boleyn, Henry's two queens that were beheaded, were first cousins. Several of his wives worked in at least one of his other wives' service. Anne Boleyn worked in Catherine of Aragon's service; Jane Seymour worked in Catherine of Aragon's and Anne Boleyn's service; and Catherine Howard worked in Anne of Cleves's.

Henry was distantly related to all six of his wives through their mutual ancestor, King Edward I of England.

Henry and at least four of his wives (Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour and Catherine Parr) have been characters in opera (for details, see List of historical opera characters).

List of wives

Catherine of Aragon

Main article: Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon (16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536; Spanish: Catalina de Aragón) was Henry's first wife. After the death of Arthur, her first husband and Henry's brother, a papal dispensation was obtained to enable her to marry Henry, though the marriage did not take place until after he came to the throne in 1509. Catherine bore him a daughter in 1516, Mary I, but no sons survived past infancy, due to miscarriages and stillbirths. It is said that Henry truly loved Catherine of Aragon, he himself professed it many a time in song, letters, inscriptions, public declarations etc. Henry, at the time a Roman Catholic, sought the Pope's approval for an annulment on the grounds that his marriage was invalid because Catherine had first been his brother's wife. Henry had begun an affair with Anne Boleyn, who is said to have refused to become his mistress (Henry had already consummated an affair with and then dismissed Anne's sister, Mary Boleyn, and Anne wanted to avoid the same treatment). Despite the pope's refusal, Henry separated from Catherine in 1531. In the face of the Pope's continuing refusal to annul his marriage to Catherine, Henry ordered the highest church official in England, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, to convene a court to rule on the status of his marriage to Catherine. On 23 May 1533 Cranmer ruled the marriage to Catherine null and void. On 28 May 1533 he pronounced the King legally married to Anne Boleyn (with whom Henry had already secretly exchanged wedding vows, probably in late January 1533). This led to the break from the Roman Catholic Church and the later establishment of the Church of England. Shakespeare called her "The Queen of Earthly Queens".

Anne Boleyn

Main article: Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn (1501/1507–19 May 1536) was the second wife of Henry VIII of England and the mother of Elizabeth I of England. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the start of the English Reformation. The daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Boleyn (born Lady Elizabeth Howard), Anne was of nobler birth than Jane Seymour; Henry's later wife. She was educated in Europe, largely as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Claude of France. She returned to France in 1532

Anne resisted the King's attempts to seduce her and she refused to become his mistress, as her sister, Mary Boleyn, had done. It soon became the one absorbing object of the King's desires to secure a divorce from his wife, Catherine of Aragon, so he could marry Anne. When it became clear that Pope Clement VII was unlikely to give the king an annulment, the breaking of the power of the Roman Catholic Church in England began.

Henry had Thomas Wolsey dismissed from public office and later had the Boleyn family's chaplain, Thomas Cranmer, appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1533, Henry and Anne went through a secret wedding service . She soon became pregnant and there was a second wedding service, which took place in London on 25 January 1533. On 23 May 1533, Cranmer declared the marriage of Henry and Catherine null and void. Five days later, Cranmer declared the marriage of Henry and Anne to be good and valid. Soon after, the Pope launched sentences of excommunication against the King and the Archbishop. As a result of Anne's marriage to the King, the Church of England was forced to break with Rome and was brought under the king's control . Anne was crowned Queen Consort of England on 1 June 1533. Later that year, on 7 September, Anne bore Henry another daughter, Elizabeth. When Anne failed to quickly produce a male heir, her only son being stillborn, the King grew tired of her and a plot was hatched by Thomas Cromwell to execute her.

Although the evidence against her was unconvincing, Anne was beheaded on charges of adultery, incest, and high treason on 19 May 1536. Following her daughter Elizabeth's coronation as queen, Anne was venerated as a martyr and heroine of the English Reformation, particularly through the works of John Foxe. Over the centuries, Anne has inspired or been mentioned in numerous artistic and cultural works. Due to this fact, she has remained in the popular memory and Anne has been called "the most influential and important queen consort England has ever had."

Jane Seymour

Main article: Jane Seymour

Jane Seymour

Jane Seymour (c. mid-1508– 24 October 1537) was Henry's third wife. He first became attracted to her when he stayed with the Seymour family in September of 1535. She was one of Anne Boleyn's ladies-in-waiting and it is popularly believed she is the reason he disposed of Anne. After their marriage in 1536, she gave him his only male heir, later Edward VI. She died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after Edward's birth. Most historians believe she was Henry's favourite wife.

Anne of Cleves

Main article: Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves (Anne of Cleves was Henry's fourth wife, for only six months in 1540, from 6 January to 9 July. Anne of Cleves was a German princess. It has been incorrectly stated that Henry referred to her as "A Flanders Mare". This famous phrase was not in fact uttered by Henry VIII at all; it was actually written by the historian Bishop Gilbert Burnet writing in the 17th Century, unfortunately the label has stuck with Anne. Her pre-contract of marriage with Francis I, Duke of Lorraine, was cited as grounds for an annulment. Anne agreed to this, claiming that the marriage had not been consummated, and she was given a generous settlement, including Hever Castle, former home of Henry's former in-laws, the Boleyns. She was given the name "The King's Sister", and became a friend to him and his children. She outlived both the King and his last two wives.

Catherine Howard

Main article: Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard (1520/1525? – 13 February 1542) was Henry's fifth wife 1540–1542, sometimes known as "the rose without a thorn". Henry was informed of her alleged adultery on 1 November 1541. After being deprived of the title of Queen, she was beheaded at the Tower of London. The night before, Catherine spent hours practicing how to lay her head upon the block, and her last words were for mercy for her family and prayers for her soul. Catherine was a first cousin of Anne Boleyn.

Catherine Parr

Main article: Catherine Parr

Catherine Parr

Catherine Parr (about 1512 – 7 September 1548), also spelled Kateryn, was the sixth and last wife of Henry VIII 1543–1547. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal and his wife Lady Maud Greene. Through her father, Catherine Parr was a direct descendant of King Edward III of England (House of Plantagenet) and Philippa of Hainault, Queen Consort of England through their son Prince John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster Plantagenet and his mistress, later wife, Katherine Swynford née Roët; thus making her ancestors part of the House of Lancaster. Through John of Gaunt's daughter Lady Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmoreland (the maternal great-great grandmother of Henry) Catherine was a 3rd cousin, once removed of her husband, Henry VIII. This same Lady Joan Beaufort came from the illegitimate Beaufort line of John of Gaunt Plantagenet and his mistress at the time, Lady Katherine de Swynford. Following Gaunt's marriage to Katherine in 1396, their children (the Beauforts) were legitimized. Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, was the grandniece of Lady Joan Beaufort. Through this relation, Catherine was also a 4th cousin, once removed of Henry VIII on his paternal side. It was through Margaret's line that her descendants had a strong claim to the throne and after the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485, her only son Henry, became King Henry VII of England. His claim to the throne was that he was the last reasonably legitimate male descendant of Edward III. Thus through him the Tudor dynasty rose to power.

Catherine Parr showed herself to be the re-newer of Henry's court as a family home for his children. Catherine was determined to present the royal household as a close-knit one in order to demonstrate strength through unity to Henry's opposers. Perhaps Catherine's most significant achievement was Henry's passing of an act that confirmed both Princess Mary's and Elizabeth's line in succession for the throne, despite the fact that they had both been made illegitimate by divorce or remarriage. Such was Henry's trust in Catherine that he chose her to rule as Regent while he was attending to the War in France and in the unlikely event of the loss of his life, she was to rule as Regent until six year old Edward came of age. This was a very singular indication of Henry's trust and love for Catherine.

Catherine also has a special place in history as she was the most married queen of England, having had four husbands in all; Henry was her third spouse. She had been widowed three times in rapid succession. After Henry's death, she married Thomas Seymour, uncle of Edward VI, to whom she had formed an attachment prior to her marriage with Henry. She had one child by Seymour, Mary, and died in childbirth. Mary's history is unknown, but she is believed to have died as a toddler.

Mistresses

Henry VIII also had several mistresses during his marriages. While married to Catherine of Aragon, he had a relationship with Bessie Blount, which lasted around eight years; his friend's wife, Elizabeth Carew; Etiennette de la Baume; Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon; Elizabeth Amadas; and most notably with Mary Boleyn, the sister of his second wife Anne. During his marriage to Anne, he had a relationship with an unnamed lady, followed by a six-month affair with the Queen's cousin, Mary Shelton , and most likely more unnamed women, before starting a relationship with Jane Seymour. There were also rumours about his relationships with several other women during various marriages, including the notorious Elizabeth Wyatt; Anne Bassett; Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk; and his own son's widow, Mary Howard, Duchess of Richmond and Somerset.

Marriage lengths

Diagram of Henry's VIII reign relative to his marriages.