The six wives of Henry VIII
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Who was Henry VIII?
Henry VIII was the King of England from 1509 to 1547 and is known for his role in the English Renaissance and the English Reformation. He is also known for his six marriages, which were driven by his pursuit of political alliances and a male heir.
His wives were Catherine of Aragon (mother of Mary I), Anne Boleyn (mother of Elizabeth I), Jane Seymour (mother of Edward VI), Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. Henry's desire for a male heir and his determination to remarry led to a break with the Roman Catholic Church.
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How many wives did Henry VIII have?
King Henry VIII of England married six times between 1509 and 1543 to produce heirs and secure political alliances. His wives were Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. Two of them, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, were beheaded. Henry accused Anne of adultery, but his primary motive for the execution was that she did not give birth to a male heir. Catherine Howard was also accused of adultery, which led to charges of treason.
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What were the names of Henry VIII's six wives?
Henry VIII, King of England from 1509 to 1547, is remembered for having six wives. They were Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr.
Many British schoolchildren remember the fates of Henry VIII's wives with the rhyme, "Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived".
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Why did Henry VIII marry so many times?
Henry VIII married six times between 1509 and 1543, driven by the need for a legitimate male heir to secure the Tudor dynasty and to forge political alliances.
His marriages included:
* Catherine of Aragon, who bore Mary I
* Anne Boleyn, who bore Elizabeth I; her failure to produce more children led to her execution on charges of adultery
* Jane Seymour, who finally gave him Edward VI but died shortly after childbirth
* Anne of Cleves, a political match with a Protestant German leader, but the marriage was quickly annulled due to Henry's personal dislike and shifting political landscape
* Catherine Howard, who was executed for premarital and extramarital affairs
* Catherine Parr, who acted more as a nursemaid in his later, sickly yearsHis pursuit of these unions dramatically reshaped the English monarchy and triggered religious upheaval.
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What happened to each of Henry VIII's wives?
Henry VIII married six times between 1509 and 1543.
- Catherine of Aragon: Henry's first wife, their marriage was annulled, and she was exiled from court. She died in 1536.
- Anne Boleyn: Henry's second wife, she was later charged with adultery and incest and was beheaded in 1536.
- Jane Seymour: Henry's third wife, she died shortly after giving birth to Henry's son, Edward VI.
- Anne of Cleves: Henry's fourth wife, the marriage was annulled, and she was given a large income and remained in England. She lived until 1557.
- Catherine Howard: Henry's fifth wife, she was beheaded in 1542 after accusations of premarital affairs.
- Catherine Parr: Henry's sixth wife, she survived him and later married Thomas Seymour. She died shortly after childbirth.
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How did Henry VIII’s marriages affect English history and religion?
Henry VIII's pursuit of a male heir and his multiple marriages triggered significant changes in English history and religion. His desire to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon led to a break with the Roman Catholic Church after the Pope refused his request.
Seeking to remarry, Henry initiated the English Reformation and declared himself the supreme head of the Church of England. This break from Rome allowed him to marry Anne Boleyn and subsequent wives, reshaping the religious landscape of England.
His actions led to the dissolution of monasteries, the redistribution of church wealth, and the establishment of the Church of England. While he never established a consistent religious policy, his reign marked a turning point in England's religious identity and the power of the monarchy.
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As king of England from 1509 to 1547, Henry VIII may have presided over the beginnings of the English Renaissance and the English Reformation and incorporated Wales within the realm of England, but he is largely remembered for having six wives. The six queens can be hard to keep straight, and many schoolchildren in Britain learn a couplet that simplifies the fates of each woman to help them remember what happened:
Divorced, beheaded, died,
Divorced, beheaded, survived.
Read on to learn about each wife and whether she died or survived.
Catherine of Aragon
- First wife (married 1509–33)
Catherine of AragonPortrait of Catherine of Aragon, oil on panel by an unknown artist, early 18th century; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
How it started: Before she became the first wife of Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon was a Spanish princess married to Arthur, the eldest son of Henry VII and heir apparent. He was also Henry’s elder brother. After five months of marriage, Arthur died in 1502, and Catherine became engaged to Henry. Political reasons, however, prevented the marriage from taking place until Henry VIII assumed the throne in 1509.
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What went wrong: Henry’s desire for a legitimate male heir (and probably his desire for Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting), prompted him to seek an annulment from the Roman Catholic Church in 1527. Although Catherine had given birth to six children between 1510 and 1518, including two sons, all except Mary (later Mary I, queen of England, 1553–58) were either stillborn or died in early infancy.
How it ended: Henry may have appealed to Rome for an annulment, but, according to many historians, Catherine exerted her own influence to try to preserve the marriage. The pope ultimately refused to grant the annulment, and Henry subsequently broke with the Catholic Church and became the head of the English church (1534). Meanwhile, he exiled Catherine from court in 1531, without her daughter.
Anne Boleyn
- Second wife (married 1533–36)
Anne BoleynPortrait of Anne Boleyn, oil on panel by an unknown artist, late 16th century, based on a work from c. 1533–36; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
How it started: Anne Boleyn secretly married the king of England in January1533, after a seven-year courtship. The marriage, however, was bigamous since Henry was still married to Catherine of Aragon. In May he had that marriage annulled by the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer.
What went wrong: Once again, Henry’s eagerness for an heir (and his interest in one of Anne’s ladies-in-waiting, Jane Seymour), caused him to lose interest in his bride. Although Anne had promptly given birth the same year they had been married, it was to a daughter, Elizabeth (who later became Elizabeth I, the celebrated queen of England from 1558 to 1603). Anne subsequently had a miscarriage in 1534, and in January 1536 she gave birth to a stillborn male child.
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How it ended: On May 2, 1536, Henry had Anne committed to the Tower of London on a charge of adultery with various men and even incest with her own brother. She was tried by a court of peers, unanimously convicted, and beheaded on May 19.
Jane Seymour
- Third wife (married 1536–37)
Hans Holbein the Younger: portrait of Jane SeymourJane Seymour, oil on oak panel, by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1536–37; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
How it started: Jane Seymour privately married Henry VIII on May 30, 1536, 11 days after Anne Boleyn’s execution.
What went wrong: Nothing. Jane succeeded where Henry’s previous wives had failed in providing a legitimate male heir to the throne, when the future Edward VI (reigned 1547–53) was born in 1537.
How it ended: To Henry’s genuine sorrow, Jane died just 12 days after giving birth.
Anne of Cleves
- Fourth wife (married 1540)
Hans Holbein the Younger: Anne of ClevesAnne of Cleves, oil painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539; in the Louvre, Paris.
How it started: Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne of Cleves was political. In 1539 it appeared that the two major Roman Catholic powers, France and the Holy Roman Empire, were about to join together to attack Protestant England. Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s chief minister, advised him to form a political alliance with Anne’s brother, William, duke of Cleves, who was a leader of the Protestants of western Germany, by marrying Anne. Their wedding took place in January 1540.
What went wrong: Henry was disappointed when he met Anne a few days before their wedding, finding her to be less attractive than he had been led to expect. He soon came to resent her lack of sophistication and her limited command of the English language. Moreover, the alliance between the Catholic powers failed to materialize, and the marriage became a political embarrassment. The king may also have become attracted to Catherine Howard, a member of Anne’s household.
How it ended: The marriage was annulled by an Anglican convocation in July. Anne acquiesced and was rewarded with a large income, on the condition that she remain in England.
Catherine Howard
- Fifth wife (married 1540–42)
Portrait of a Young WomanPortrait of a Young Woman (possibly Catherine Howard), oil and gold on oak by the workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger, 1540–45; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
How it started: Catherine Howard and Henry VIII were privately married on July 28, 1540, less than three weeks after his marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled.
What went wrong: In November 1541 Henry VIII learned that, before their marriage, Catherine had had affairs with Francis Dereham, who had called her his wife; and her cousin, Thomas Culpepper, to whom she had been engaged. She may also have been coerced by her music instructor, Henry Mannock, into sexual relations when she was age 12. After her marriage to Henry, Catherine made Dereham her secretary, and it is probable—though still unproved—that she had committed adultery with Culpepper. The king, initially incredulous, became incensed with these revelations.
How it ended: On February 11, 1542, Parliament passed a bill of attainder, declaring it treason for an unchaste woman to marry the king. Two days later Catherine was beheaded in the Tower of London.
Catherine Parr
- Sixth wife (married 1543–47)
Catherine ParrPortrait of Catherine Parr, oil on panel by an unknown artist, late 16th century; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
How it started: It is unclear how widower Catherine Parr caught the eye of Henry VIII, but historians have described her as charming and intelligent, qualities that Henry may have observed when he met her. They were married in 1543, and Catherine went on to develop close friendships with the three children Henry had by previous marriages and devoted herself to the children’s education.
What went wrong: By 1546 Henry VIII was ornery and ill, and he began to find Catherine, who was a Protestant, and her advocacy for church reforms irritating. Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, a member of the court’s conservative and Catholic faction, was against religious reform and may have seen in the king’s annoyance an opportunity to turn husband against wife. Gardiner managed to convince Henry to sign a warrant for Catherine’s arrest on charges of heresy.
How it ended: Catherine was informed about the warrant, and, before she could be taken to the Tower of London, she sought out the king to persuade him that she spoke of reform only to learn from him. Henry forgave her, and the pair remained together until his death the following year. Catherine survived and went on to publish A Lamentacion or Complaynt of a Sinner, marry former suitor Thomas Seymour, and have his child, Mary Seymour.