King Henry VIII: Marriage and Revolution

Katy Wilkins Student ID #

History (Course Number) Teachers Name Collin Community College, April 18, 2012

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Henry VIII was not always this wife slaying tyrant of a King, he had passion, drive, and a single man who would never fail and would never falter in the face of any obstacle. At just eighteen years of age, he was placed on the throne due to his fathers and brothers recent passing. The people loved Henry VIII, but due to misconception and controversy over his seven different wives, two of which were beheaded, two he annulled, and the last one died due to natural causes. His reputation, now soaked in blood, was totally devastated for the rest of history. Years down the road King Henry began a battle with the Roman Catholic Church over annulling his marriage, and created the Church of England, led by him. Henry VIII was not one to take orders, and refused to be bullied or belittled by any family, friends, or foe. In the pinnacle of his power Henry VIII took everything, and destroyed anyone or any group that even thought of moving against him, like Sir Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley they had simply been the most unpopular ministers during his fathers reign so he had them executed for High Treason(Williams,P.136). Henry VIII simply was brilliant, terrifying, and overall remarkable man, and he will always be remembered for shaking the world, changing social and religious norms, and showing that the right man in power can make a change. Everything begins when shortly after Henry VIII became King In 1509, when he married Catherine of Aragon, who would end up having three daughters, one of which is Mary Tudor, or Bloody Mary. That sadly did not last long. Even though, He had Mary he was frantic to have a male heir to replace him on the throne. Catherine, in Henry VIII view, had failed him by not giving him a son , he then came to the conclusion that he simply would need to divorce her, and marry Anne Boleyn, who he believed for no particular reason that she would give him his sought after son. The reasoning behind this immense pressure for a son and his frantic leaps from woman to woman is he didnt believe a female could rule. Also, at this

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time the Salic Law kept a woman from serving as a monarch. Therefore, Henry VIII believed his only way to keep the power in his family was to annul his marriage to Catherine so he could have a legitimate son (Henry VIII Renaissance 157). This course of action might have been ok in todays world but during the sixteenth century, all divorce or an annulment of marriage was simply not allowed in Roman Catholicism. Then, when Henry VIII was refused his divorce he decided to just set up his own church, The Church of England. Where do to Act of Supremacy in 1534, Henry VIII was now also The Supreme head of the Church of England. (Williams, 1971). Almost immediately after creation of the Church of England, Henry VIII put any and all opposition down Due to the Act of Supremacy, Act of Succession, and by twisting the Act of Treason. This lead to an act of Parliament in 1536 that allowed smaller monasteries to come to the crown and the larger were simply taken by force. This basically became a massacre of prominent churchmen and laymen this laying the foundation for Protestants to later come and take over since England was no longer part of the Roman Catholic Church. In one swift motion Henrys went from decent ruler to bloody tyrant. This was a very smart political move though because it changed the power among the nobles so that led to Henry acquiring a lot of loyalty from the upper class. After his establishment of the Church of England, Henry then married Anne Boleyn in hopes of her being able to give him a male heir to the throne. During this time though Henry VIII was having relations with Annes Mother, and also her sister, and the worst part was that she knew the entire time . Although, she, she very wisely, refused to acknowledge the affairs till she was sure that he would marry her. While in the midst of Henry VIII marriage to Anne, they finally had a child, and to Henry VIII dismay, it was a girl. This girl was

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Elizabeth, who would later take control of her fathers throne. This once again was not what Henry the VIII wanted, and after a few more failed attempts. Henry made it known that he now knew that God has disapproved of the marriage, and Henry VII in response to his knew found knowledge charged Anne of adultery. Anne was tried on May 15, 1536 for adultery, was almost immediately found guilty, taken to the tower of London, and was to be beheaded. Than on May 19, 1536 Anne walked out to her place in front of a silent English crowd. As she placed herself on the chopping block slowly and without resistance she calmly spoke, "To Jesus Christ, I commend my soul"(Fraser, 1992, p. 257) which was followed by the immediate silence of her decapitation. Amazingly exactly one day after the execution of Anne Boleyn's Henry VIII actually married another woman named Jane Grey. Jane was a very soft woman and finally gave Henry VIII the goal he had been trying to reach for years. Edward, Henrys only son, was born in 1537. Than the unforeseen happened and due to complications at child birth Jane never would get to raise Edward. (Fraser, 1992). Thrilled with finally receiving a proper male heir to the throne Henry would make it the next 3 years after Jane died without a single marriage. In that time his country faced rebellion and economic hard ship, also the bible begins printing in English, and the ten points are passed which have very protestant values. Soon after all of that 1540 came around. Thomas Cromwell, Henrys advisor and later the Earl of Essex, brought Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves Together. It was said that Henry did not like her appearance at all but soon married her any way because of her uncle, The Duke of Cleves. The marriage didnt last at all and in less than three years he had already divorced her, simply for looks, and also Thomas Cromwell was executed after for putting him in a bad marriage. Anne was the luckiest girl

that Henry had ever married for she was simply sent away from the castle and given enough money to live out the rest of her life (www.maryrose.org/ship/wives). After just executing his advisor and getting an annulment for his failed marriage Henry VIII tried again. The same day Cromwell was executed Henry VIII had already had everything prepped and ready so he married Catherine Howard. Catherine was a beautiful gorgeous individual, and that was definitely apparent to Henry VIII after his past relationship. Although Henry VIII later found out that Catherine was on equal footing relationship wise with him. That coupled with the fact that she had been having an affair, with her own cousin, while married to Henry VIII lead to her and her cousins executions and the end of Henry VIII fifth marriage. By the last part of Henry VIII life he had seen wars and struggle, and the decline of his empire. He married a mature woman named Catherine Parr, who was twice widowed, and she would end up actually staying with him till he died. Henry VIII final accomplishments were protecting his home from invasion and to create peace with the Scots his only son, Edward, married the Queen of the Scots, Mary. That led to almost no potential growth and in 1547 Henry VIII died and was actually succeeded by Edward. Even though, Edward would be short lived and Queen Elizabeth would be the one to actually pick up the mantle.

Henry VII was a brilliant and talented man. He pursued all of his under the cover of moral rights. He used his church as his own army and scapegoat blaming them for any problems in his own life. He single handedly might have been the most self centered ruler Europe has seen but his political insight; he gave England the leadership it needed. Even though he manipulated parliament, after his death they were very strong compared to before him and now

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England was also recognized as a strong country due to Henry VIII navy, they had the beginning of social and religious reform, and Wales was officially made part of England in 1536.

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Bibliography

Carnagie, Julie L., and Peggy Saari. Renaissance and Reformation Reference Library. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. 2002. Accessed April 17, 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/

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