Henry the Eighth, one of Britain’s most popular kings from the 17th century for having his six wives. Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. However, most people don’t know the history behind these iconic queens and how they ended up with such a man. Well, I’m here to provide that information to you. Where they came from, how they got there, and how it ended. 

Catherine Of Aragon

Catherine Of Aragon, the first wife of Henry and who has survived with Henry the longest for 23 years. After the death of her first husband Arthur Prince Of Wales, through a papal dispensation from the catholic church, she married Henry right after he took place on the throne in 1509. Catherine suffered through many miscarriages over the years and later she birthed a boy named Henry Duke of Cornwall, who later died two months later. 

After the death of her son, she had a daughter named Mary who would later in life take place as queen of England in 1513. Later Henry had an infatuation with Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting. He desired to marry Anne because she refused to be his mistress. He confronted the Pope of the Catholic Church with the problem and the pope denied it so Henry took it in his own hands to make a new church, The Church Of England. He later separated from Catherine in court where she has been banished and married Anne. Catherine was later sent to The Kimbolton Castle in Cambridgeshire and later died in 1536.

Anne Boleyn

The second wife, Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn married Henry after he broke the Catholic Church and later made The Church Of England which was later forced to split from Rome. After Anne got married to Henry, Anne tried bearing Henry a son and suffered through many miscarriages, and later she gave birth to Elizabeth I. Henry became bored with Anne after not providing him a son, and he began showing interest in another woman he met, Jane Seymour. Afterward, Henry sent for Anne to be investigated for adultery, incest, and planning to murder the king. They suspected she was guilty and was later beheaded on May 19th, 1536.

Jane Seymour

 The third wife who died, Jane Seymour. She served Catherine of Aragon and was one of Anne Boleyn’s ladies-in-waiting for a while which was how she met Henry. Days after Anne was beheaded, she married the king in the same month. A year passed and she gave birth to a baby boy on October 12th of 1537, who was to become King Edward VI later in his life. Jane started showing complications after birth and later died twelve days later. She was probably the only queen to not piss off Henry.

Anne Of Cleves

The fourth wife and the second to be annulled, Anne Of Cleves. Anne of Cleves was a german princess, she was the daughter of Duke of Cleves and Count of Mark. Her marriage to Henry was planned and negotiated a little while after his previous wife Jane Seymour, died. After marriage, Henry didn’t show much interest in her as he did his previous wives and later annulled their marriage six months later. He blamed the annulment on her appearance, however, she and the king later became friends and earned the title “The Kings Sister” for being so close to him and his family. She was the last wife to die out of all six in 1557.

Catherine Howard

  Another tragic ending and the second to be beheaded, the fifth wife, Catherine Howard. Catherine Howard had a devastating and short-lived childhood, from being molested by her music teacher by the age of thirteen and being involved in an affair with her father’s stepmother’s secretary around the age of fifteen. There’s no clear evidence that the affair was consensual or not. She met Henry when she got the position as a lady-in-waiting for Anne of Cleves by her uncle The Duke of Norfolk. The king was infatuated with her youth and appearance and later got married in 1540. 

 

The following year supposedly Catherine had started an affair with one of Henry’s courtiers, Thomas Culpeper. Thomas Cranmer learned about the alleged affair and her affair with Dowager Duchess’s secretary and started spreading rumors for his political gain against the Roman Catholic house of Norfolk and later began investigating Catherine’s affairs. She later faced the same fate as her beloved cousin Anne Boleyn, meeting her death at the age of seventeen in 1542.

Catherine Parr

  Survived, the sixth and final wife of Henry, Catherine Parr. She married Henry four months after the execution of Catherine Howard in 1543. Catherine married two men before Henry and even after Henry’s death, she married again. She was fond of Thomas Seymour romantically, the brother of the third wife of Henry, Jane Seymour. However, she saw it was fit for her duties to marry Henry instead. She almost faced the same fate as Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard from anti-protest officials but avoided it by reconnecting with her husband. 

Later Henry died and she remarried again to Thomas Seymour six months later. She had a daughter named Mary with Thomas, but later met the same fate as his sister after birth in September of 1548. She was one of the most recognized queens of England for having been married the most.

 

From divorce to execution, this is the story of these iconic queens, how they are so much more than a wife and one word in rhyme, and how they made their mark in history.