ANSWERS: 4
  • Henry VIII had 6 wives. Their names were as follows: (This is in chronological order, as well) Catherine of Aragon Anne Boleyn Jane Seymour Anne of Cleves Kathryn Howard Katherine Parr As I am not exactly sure on what you are referring to as far as backgrounds go, I think this website may prove helpful on a lot of information on the wives. http://www.tudorhistory.org/wives/
  • He had 6 wives (David Starkey's book Six Wives is a highly recommended read as is Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII) Divorced, beheaded, died Divorced, beheaded, survived --------- The first was Catherine of Aragon (spelling varied by source) who had been married to Henry's brother Arthur. Upon Arthur's death, Henry married her. Mother of "Bloody Mary". From Englishhistory.net The youngest surviving child of the 'Catholic Kings' of Spain, Katharine was born on 16 December 1485, the same year that Henry VII established the Tudor dynasty. At the age of three, she was betrothed to his infant son, Prince Arthur. Her marriage to Arthur lasted less than six months and was supposedly never consummated. Katharine was then betrothed to Arthur's younger brother, Prince Henry. When he became king in 1509, at the age of eighteen, he promptly married Katharine and they lived together happily for many years. But their marriage produced just one living child, a daughter called Mary, and Henry was desperate for a male heir. He also fell deeply in love with another woman. Cast aside, Katharine fought against great odds to deny Henry an annulment. But the king would not be denied and when the Catholic church would not grant the annulment, he declared himself head of a new English church. Katharine was banished from court and died on 7 January 1536. Wife #2 was Anne Boleyn (mother of Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen) Anne Boleyn is one of the most famous queens in English history, though she ruled for just three years. The daughter of an ambitious knight and niece of the duke of Norfolk, Anne spent her adolescence in France. When she returned to England, her wit and style were her greatest charms. She had a circle of admirers and became secretly engaged to Henry Percy. She also entered the service of Katharine of Aragon. But she soon caught the eye of Henry VIII. He ordered Percy from court and tried to make Anne his mistress. She refused. Her sister, Mary, had been the king's mistress and gained little from it but scandal. Her hopes with Percy dashed, Anne demanded that the king marry her. She waited nearly seven years for Henry to obtain an annulment. It finally took an irrevocable breach with the Holy See before they wed in 1533. But she was unable to give Henry the son he desperately needed and their marriage ended tragically for Anne. She was executed on patently false charges of witchcraft, incest and adultery on 19 May 1536. Her daughter, Elizabeth, would become England's greatest queen. Right, on to #3 Jane Seymour (Henry was desperate for "compliant" after Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, by all accounts, fit the bill (Andy's observation). Mother of Edward VI (Henry's only legitimate son was Edward, but he had another son by Elizabeth Blount named Henry Fitzroy who died in the 1530s ) Henry VIII had six wives but only one gave him a son. Jane Seymour fulfilled her most important duty as queen, but she was never crowned and died just twelve days after the long and arduous birth. She was Henry's third wife and seems never to have made much of an impression upon anyone except the king. Her meek and circumspect manner was in distinct contrast to Henry's second wife, the sharp-tongued Anne Boleyn. Jane had served as lady-in-waiting to Anne and she supplanted her in much the same way Anne had replaced Katharine of Aragon in Henry's affections. We will never know if Jane sought the king's favor or was a frightened pawn of her family and the king's desire. But we do know that she bravely sought pardons for those involved in the Pilgrimage of Grace revolt in 1536. Rebuked by the king, and mindful of the fates of his first two wives, she retired into a quiet and decorous role. The triumphant birth of her son Edward allowed her two ambitious brothers into the king's inner circle; however, both would be executed during Edward's reign Wife #4 had "evil smells about her" according to Henry VIII who at this point was hardly in a position to comment on anybody else's appearance or hygiene: Anne of Cleves was the fourth wife of King Henry VIII; it was a very brief marriage, to the astonishment of all observers but the relief of both spouses. Henry infamously referred to his bride as a 'Flanders mare' and told courtiers and ambassadors that he could not perform his husbandly duties because of Anne's appearance. Anne's reaction to Henry's physical charms was not recorded, but she agreed to an annulment very quickly and remained in England for the rest of her life. Henry was grateful for her cooperation and granted her a generous income and several homes, including Hever Castle. Anne enjoyed an independent lifestyle denied most women, often visiting Henry's court as an honored guest. Her fondness for English ale and gambling were her only vices. Along with her successor as Henry's wife, Catherine Howard, Anne remains a mysterious figure about whom too little is known. Had she and Henry remained married and had children, the course of English history might have changed dramatically. But the mysteries of physical attraction denied Anne her place on the throne, ended the brilliant career of Thomas Cromwell, and thrust the king into the arms of his ill-fated fifth queen, Catherine Howard. Wife numero cinco #5, Catherine Howard (record time to the block--should have learned from her cousin Anne): Catherine Howard was a cousin of Henry VIII's ill-fated second queen, Anne Boleyn; and like Anne, Catherine would die on the scaffold at Tower Green. Her birth date is unknown, but her father was the younger brother of the duke of Norfolk. Though personally impoverished, Catherine had a powerful family name and thus secured an appointment as lady-in-waiting to Henry's fourth queen, Anne of Cleves. While at court, she caught the eye of the middle-aged king and became a political pawn of her family and its Catholic allies. Catherine's greatest crime was her silliness. Raised in the far too permissive household of her grandmother, she was a flirtatious and emotional girl who rarely understood the consequences of her actions. She made the mistake of continuing her girlish indiscretions as queen. Henry was besotted with her, calling her his 'Rose without a Thorn' and showering her with gifts and public affection. Catherine was understandably more attracted to men her own age and, after just seventeen months of marriage to the king, she was arrested for adultery. The distraught king at first refused to believe the evidence but it was persuasive. Unlike Anne Boleyn, Catherine had betrayed the king. She was beheaded on 13 February 1542, only nineteen or twenty years old. The drama of her execution lends gravity to a brief life which would otherwise pass unnoticed. Last but not least, #6 Katharine Parr Katharine Parr was the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII, destined to outlive the mercurial ruler. She was already twice-widowed and childless when they wed in 1543; she was also in love with Thomas Seymour, the brother of Henry's third queen Jane. But the king's will was law and Katharine bowed to his demands with grace. She was an admirable wife to Henry and a loving stepmother to his two youngest children, Elizabeth and Edward. She was also the most intellectual of Henry's wives, caught up in the turbulent religious climate of the times. And it was this passionate interest in theology which nearly ended her life, for the king was old and sickly but still capable of destroying those closest to him. Katharine saved herself and earned Henry's respect enough to be appointed Regent of England during his military campaign in Boulogne. Upon his death in 1547, she married Seymour with indecent haste, the only one of four husbands she had chosen herself. Her greatest achievement was the popularity of her devotional works; they were 16th century bestsellers and capture Katharine's complex and abiding piety. All photos and text (excluding my own interjections of course) www.englishhistory.net
  • Catherine of Aragon Spanish Catholic brought to England to marry his weakly elder brother .. Mother of Mary 1 Divorced by henry though she never accepted the divorce as fact. Anne Boleyn Mother of his second Daughter Elizabeth to become Elizabeth l. English sister of one of Henrys mistresses Margaret. Anne had been at the French court as a lady in Waiting and was perceived as stylish and different to the other women at court. She also made henry chase her for a long time before staring an affair with him. She wanted marriage and was already a Protestant in the days before England had the Reformation Jane Seymour, Mousy little mother of his only son The Execution of Anne Boleyn had to be rushed so that he could marry this one to legitimize her child with marriage. She died giving birth to his son Anne of Cleves German from Flanders he was infatuated with Holbiens miniature and married her sight unseen . He hated her looks on sight they spent the wedding night playing cards. She was very happy to give Henry a divorce as long as she was not sent home. He gave her a pension and a home . Ann became very popular with the British people and spent the rest of her life in Britain. Katherine Howerd English cousin of Ann Boleyn 17 years old very pretty and very wilful, fell in love with a young musician poet called Thomas Culpepper, she admitted adultery and went defiantly to the axe Catherine Parr. Probably the cleverest of his wives , she became his nurse, although he had her death warrent drawn up he kept putting off signing the document because she was so good at looking after his awful supporating body. He was going to sign the document the day he died it is said. She survived him to marry again and to help in the upbringing of the future Elizabeth the first Some more and probably more academicalky written facts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Howard
  • We make it two. Or four if you’re a Catholic. Henry’s fourth marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled. This is very different from divorce. Legally, it means the marriage never took place. There were two grounds for the annulment. Anne and Henry never consummated the marriage; that is, they never had intercourse. Refusal or inability to consummate a marriage is still grounds for annulment today. In addition, Anne was already betrothed to Francis, Duke of Lorraine when she married Henry. At that time, the formal act of betrothal was a legal bar to marrying someone else. All parties agreed no legal marriage had taken place. So that leaves five. The Pope declared Henry’s second marriage to Anne Boleyn illegal, because the King was still married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Henry, as head of the new Church of England, declared in turn that his first marriage was invalid on the legal ground that a man could not sleep with his brother’s widow. The King cited the Old Testament, which he claimed as ‘God’s Law’,whether the Pope liked it or not. Depending on whether you believe the Pope or the King, this brings it down to either four or three marriages. Henry annulled his marriage to Anne Boleyn just before he had her executed for adultery. This was somewhat illogical: if the marriage had never existed, Anne could hardly be accused of betraying it. He did the same with his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. All the evidence suggests she was unfaithful to him before and during their marriage. This time, Henry passed a special act making it treasonable for a queen to commit adultery. Once again, he also had the marriage annulled. So that makes four annulments, and only two incontestably legal marriages. Apart from Henry’s last wife, Catherine Parr (who outlived him), the lady who got off lightest was Anne of Cleves. After their annulment, the King showered her with gifts and the official title of ‘beloved sister’. She visited court often, swapping cooks, recipes, and household gadgets with the man who had never been her husband. taken from THE BOOK OF GENERAL IGNORANCE by john lloyd and john mitchinson

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