Henry VIII, King of England from 1509 to 1547. On June 28, 1491, a ruler was born in the Palace of Greenwich who would profoundly shape history and, despite his cruelties, become a rock star of history.
Henry VIII is likely best known for his turbulent marital life, and it’s often said that Henry VIII was “the one with all the wives he had beheaded.” While even Henry didn’t go quite that far, he could hardly be described as a good person. And yet, not only was he extremely popular with his people during his lifetime, but he remains one of the most well-known and widely admired kings England has ever had. But who was Henry VIII, and what makes him so fascinating even more than half a millennium later?
Henry VIII and his Life
Henry Tudor was born as the second son of Henry VII, the first king of the Tudor dynasty. Initially intended for a clerical career, Henry became heir to the throne after the early death of his older brother Arthur and finally ascended to the throne in 1509. At that time, Henry was 18 years old, tall, athletic, and considered the most handsome prince in Europe.
Henry VIII and the Church
As the years passed, Henry’s originally very happy marriage to the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon, who was also the widow of his brother, increasingly suffered due to the absence of a male heir. Only one daughter, the future Mary I (“Bloody Mary”), was born healthy. Catherine, six years older than her husband, lost her appeal to Henry through countless pregnancies, miscarriages, and stillbirths. He soon turned to other women, particularly Anne Boleyn, a lady-in-waiting. However, Anne refused to settle for the role of mistress and insisted that she would only give herself to Henry if he married her. The previously devoutly religious Henry demanded that the Pope annul his marriage. When the Pope refused, Henry broke away from the Catholic Church and declared himself the head of the Anglican Church—a church that still exists today. He divorced Catherine and married Anne in 1533.
Henry VIII and Women
After his marriage of more than 20 years with Catherine of Aragon came a colorful carousel of weddings.
Anne Boleyn, aware of her meteoric rise, made enemies at court. Furthermore, contrary to all assurances beforehand, she bore Henry no son but only a daughter (who would later become Elizabeth I, one of England’s greatest queens). Henry grew tired of her and was receptive to accusations—likely false—that Anne had committed adultery. Just three years after their wedding, Anne was executed in the Tower of London.
Shortly after, Henry married Jane Seymour, another lady-in-waiting whom he had already taken an interest in during Anne’s lifetime. Jane did her best to learn from Anne’s fate and played the role of the humble and modest wife. She succeeded where her predecessors had failed by giving birth to a son in 1537. However, she died shortly after from childbed fever.
Henry’s grief and increasingly poor health contributed to his weight gain—the feature for which he is so famously remembered. It wasn’t until 1540 that he could be persuaded to marry again—this time to Anne of Cleves, sister of a German duke. This arranged marriage with an entirely unknown bride failed because Anne allegedly did not appeal to Henry, who supposedly referred to her as a “Flanders mare” (though this was likely attributed to him later). However, Anne had done her homework regarding Henry’s previous marriages and cooperated when he sought a divorce. After just six months, the marriage was annulled, but Anne was allowed to remain in England in high esteem as “the King’s beloved sister.”
In the same year, at 49 years old, Henry married once again—this time to Katherine Howard, a lady-in-waiting not even 20 years old. But the young queen soon sought refuge in an affair with one of Henry’s chamberlains. Thus, her short life ended in 1542 on the chopping block at the Tower of London. To this day, she rests in its chapel alongside her cousin Anne Boleyn.
Henry’s health deteriorated further—likely due to diabetes—and his final wife, Catherine Parr, served more as a nurse and surrogate mother than as a spouse. Henry VIII died in 1547, leaving behind a kingdom in religious and economic chaos.
Henry VIII today
In 2009, the 500th anniversary of Henry’s accession to the throne was celebrated with numerous events in England’s former royal palaces—such as reenactments featuring an actor playing Henry VIII along with his court strolling through Hampton Court Palace near London (Henry’s favorite palace). The much-acclaimed TV series The Tudors, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the title role, had premiered two years earlier.
During his lifetime, Henry VIII transformed from a fairytale prince into a monster. Egotistical, vain, paranoid, and cruel—he stopped at nothing to achieve his goals. He divorced wives and advisors alike and often condemned them to death. He dissolved and plundered England’s monasteries and drove his own people into rebellion—only to promise them pardon but then have them brutally executed instead. His church alternated between Protestant and Catholic ideals as it searched for its identity—and opponents on either side feared for their lives. His daughter Mary grew up in loneliness, bitterness, and danger after being separated from her beloved mother at a young age and declared illegitimate. A devout Catholic, she burned hundreds of Protestants at the stake after ascending to the throne. His daughter Elizabeth—who lost her mother to Henry’s executioner before she was even three years old and witnessed at eight years old how his fifth wife also went to the scaffold—never married throughout her life.
What is it that makes this man so fascinating? He lived during a time of change and played his part in it. He went his own way and mercilessly removed any obstacle in his path. His life, deeds, and marriages continue to inspire thousands of books and films—whether historically accurate or freely interpreted. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, values and themes of their respective time were projected onto him. And last but not least, he possessed a certain larger-than-life personality for which—even today—we often forgive some public figures’ far-from-exemplary lifestyles.