HENRY VIII

1. HENRY VIII (1491–1547)

2. Henry VIII is probably the most well known of the Tudor kings. He was a very selfish person and by the end of his life everyone was afraid of him, mainly because of his ruthless behaviour toward anyone who didn't agree with him.

3. The young Prince Henry, the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York was born on 28 June 1491 at Greenwich. Henry had a very spoilt childhood as you might expect of a Royal Prince. So spoiled was he that he even had his own ‘whipping boy’ who was punished every time Henry did something wrong.

4. After his elder brother died, Henry became next in line to be King. His father died in 1509 and the young Prince became King just before his 18th birthday. Henry was vigorous and handsome. He was an incredible athlete and loved jousting and hunting. He was also very clever, he was good at Latin, maths, astronomy, cosmology and music. He was a very well educated man, he spoke 4 languages, wrote poetry, and knew a lot about religion. He was excellent at many sports. It is said that he could use a bow and arrow better than any man in England. (Perhaps no other man dared to beat him). He was famous for wrestling and loved hunting stags in the forests. He played a game very like tennis.

5. But he was also a terrible and cruel King. He executed (killed) anyone who disagreed with him (including two of his wives!) When he became King the country was Catholic and was controlled by the Pope in Rome. When the Pope didn’t let Henry get divorced from his first wife, Henry made himself head of the church in England and gave himself the divorce he wanted. Later Henry closed all the Monasteries and Nunneries in England and took all the money from the Monks and Nuns. He literally threw all of them out onto the streets to beg and gave their Monasteries to his friends for fine houses

6. In Tudor times all ships in the Navy belonged to the King – the Royal Navy. When Henry became King, he started to build up the Navy into a strong fighting force. Henry loved his ships – he would often go and watch them being built and have parties on board. His most famous ship was Mary Rose, it was built in Portsmouth around 1510 and was named after his sister

7. By the end of his life, Henry was a sad and lonely person. He was terrified of getting ill, and anyone who had had contact with small pox or the plague was not allowed in court. He had a serious weight problem, he ate vast amounts of food, meat, fish, dairy products and lots of wine and beer. He didn't stop eating, even when a doctor told him to cut down. He became so fat that he had to be carried everywhere by servants. He also had a bad leg, with ulcers possibly from an old jousting wound. Both legs became infected in 1538. On 28th January 1547, he died at Greenwich.

8. Why did Henry have so many wives? The usual answer was that he wanted a son to be his heir. But actually he had plenty of sons, sadly most of them died but one survived, born to his third wife. So why did he have another three wives after that? Children died very easily in Tudor times, so he really needed a second son to make sure. Plus maybe he just fell in love easily and he was extremely spoilt and used to having what ever he wanted. He didn't let anything stand in his way.

9. Catherine of Aragon First she married Arthur, Henry's older brother. But after six months, he died, and Catherine was engaged to Henry instead. She was 17 and Henry was only 12! They were married when he became King in 1509. She was older and wiser than him and often gave him advice on how to rule. She was a good and faithful wife for over twenty years. She had many children, but only one survived, Mary, who would later become Queen.

10. Anne Boleyn Henry fell in love with Anne when she was a servant in the Queens Household in 1522. By 1526 he was trying to get divorced from Catherine so that he could marry her. The head of the Catholic church, the Pope, wouldn't allow it, so eventually Henry broke away from the church in Rome, and declared himself the head of a new Church of England. He granted himself a divorce. He married Anne in 1533, and later that year she gave birth to a girl, Elizabeth who would grow up to be a strong Queen for England. Henry soon got fed up with Anne, (apparently she was really grumpy!) so he accused her of meeting other men. There is a letter from Anne begging Henry to believe in her innocence but he didn't and in 1536 she was beheaded. Henry played tennis whilst she had her head chopped off! 11 days later Henry married this third wife.

11. Jane Seymour Jane was from an old and noble family. She was gentle and modest and not grumpy like Anne. She gave birth to a son in 1537, Edward, who would become King after his father. Sadly 12 days later she died. It is said that Henry loved Jane the best of all his wives and he waited two years before marrying again.

12. Anne of Cleves Henry wanted to make a 'good' marriage this time and decided to look all over Europe for a bride. He sent painters to paint any eligible brides so he could see what they looked like. A picture was shown to him of Anne of Cleves and he agreed to marry her without ever having met her! When she arrived in England, Henry was very keen to meet her but she didn't speak any English and didn't know who he was. She was rather rude to the fat man that came to see her and ignored him. Henry stormed out shouting 'I like her not!' He is said to have found her very ugly, and called her a horse! He couldn't break his promise to marry her but it only lasted six months. 20 days after his second divorce, Henry married his fifth wife.

13. Katherine Howard Katherine was a cousin of Anne Boleyn and was only about 16 when she came to court. She was still a teenager when they married. (Henry was 49!) She was lively, pretty, kind and a bit of a 'bird brain' but Henry thought she was perfect. However, she was secretly engaged to one man and possibly a second one too. When the King found out he chopped both the men's heads off, followed by Katherine's in 1542. The following year he married for the last time

14. Kathryn Parr Kathryn had already been married twice before, but both her husbands had died. She was really in love with Thomas Seymour (Jane Seymour's brother) but she was too scared to refuse the King (which was probably wise!). Henry was very fat and ill by now and Kathryn was as much a nurse as a wife. She was a kind woman and was the first wife to bring all three of his children to live together under one roof. When Henry died in 1547, Kathryn quickly married Thomas Seymour (her fourth husband). Sadly he didn't love her as much as she did and she was very unhappy. She died in childbirth a year later in 1548.

15. Henry VIII was a very important monarch. He successfully united England and Wales under one system of government. The two countries were joined in 1536. In order to gain his divorce, Henry had to establish the Church of England and England became independent of the Roman Catholic Church.

16. Quiz

17. 1. Henry VIII was a kind and gentle man and everybody loved him. True False 2. How many wives did Henry have? 6 5 10 3. Why did Henry want a son so much? To have someone to play football with To have an heir to the throne (to be King when he died) Because he didn’t like girls 4.TheTudors were very smelly – they didn’t believe in bathing. True False

18. 5. Anne Boleyn was beheaded when Henry got fed up with her False True 6. Why is Kathryn Parr smiling? Because she’s just got married Because someone just told her a good joke Because she’s still got her head

19. 7. Which of the following is true (there is more than one)? Henry’s5th wife was the cousin of his 2nd wife Henry’s 6th wife married four times Three of his wives were called Catherine and two of them Anne Henry loved Jane Seymour the best Henry called Anne of Cleves ‘a horse’ Henry played tennis whilst Anne Boleyn had her head chopped off Henry was an expert archer, horseman, wrestler and musician 8. The Tudor Royalty ate a great deal. In one month (November 1531) Henry and his friends ate: 24 cows, 100 sheep, 51 deer, 91 pigs, 700 cocks and hens, 444 pigeons, 168 swans and over 400 larks. True False

20. Well done!

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22. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England http://www.projectbritain.com http://enghelp.ru/texts/fun_pages/407-henry-viii.html http://www.royalty.nu/Europe/England/Tudor/HenryVIII.html