Henry VIII – Marriage #1 & #2 & the Reformation

Marriage #1 – Catherine of Aragon (1509 – 1532)

Henry took the throne in 1509, at age 17. Six weeks later, in the month of June 11th, King

Henry VIII marries his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand and

Queen Isabella of Spain and the widow of his elder brother, Arthur. From the moment young

Henry took his nuptials, he obsessed over continuing the Tudor line. Of multiple pregnancies

and several births, the only child to survive was Henry and Catherine’s daughter, Mary, born

in February 1516. Catherine remained at Henry’s side for 23 years and is even thought to be

the only woman the king ever truly loved. “Henry viewed her as a model wife in every

respect bar one… her failure to give him a son,” says Tudor historian Tracy Borman.

However, when Catherine failed to produce a male heir, Henry sought to divorce her against

the will of the Roman Catholic Church, thus precipitating the Protestant Reformation in

England. This is how Henry VIII’s marriages and divorces effected the Reformation.

Marriage #2 – Anne Boleyn (1533 – 1536)

So, Henry asked Pope Clement VII to grant him a divorce from Catherine. He argued

that the marriage was against God’s will with reference to Leviticus 20:16, due to the fact

that she had briefly been married to Henry’s late brother, Arthur. This led to the title of

Supreme Head of the Church of England in which was created in 1531 for King Henry VIII

when he first began to separate the Church of England from the authority of the Holy See and

allegiance to the papacy, which was then represented by Pope Clement VII. In simpler terms,

Henry VIII, in efforts of trying to get a divorce with his first wife Catherine due to his

obsession with a male heir for an offspring, was denied the divine rights by the Pope of the

Roman Catholic Church to divorce. This encouraged King Henry VIII to break with the

Roman Catholic Church and the Pope and seize assets of the Catholic Church of England in
1536 with declaration of he himself Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church of

England. There is no official evidence as of when Henry VIII and his first wife divorced,

however there are records that Henry VIII and his second wife got married in January of

1533. The king now embarked on the series of matrimonial adventures that made him appear

both a monster and a laughingstock. He soon tired of Anne, who failed to produce a male

heir; in 1536 she was executed, with other members of the court, for alleged treasonable

adultery. Catherine of Aragon, rejected but unbowed, had died a little earlier. Henry

immediately married Jane Seymour, who bore him his son Edward but died in childbirth

(1537). The next three years were filled with attempts to replace her, and the bride chosen

was Anne, sister of the duke of Cleves, a pawn in Cromwell’s policy for a northern European

alliance against dangers from France and the Emperor. But Henry hated the first sight of her

and at once demanded his freedom, an end achieved by a quick divorce.

King Henry VIII and his Legacy in the Reformation (1509 – 1547)

As king of England from 1509 to 1547, Henry VIII presided over the beginnings of the

English Reformation, which was unleashed by his own matrimonial involvements, even

though he never abandoned the fundamentals of the Roman Catholic faith. Though

exceptionally well served by a succession of brilliant ministers, Henry turned upon them all;

those he elevated, he invariably cast down again. He was attracted to humanist learning and

was something of an intellectual himself, but he was responsible for the deaths of the

outstanding English humanists of the day. Though six times married, he left a minor heir and

a dangerously complicated succession problem. Of his six wives, two joined a large tally of

eminent persons executed for alleged treason; yet otherwise his regime observed the law of

the land with painful particularity. Formidable in appearance, in memory, and in mind, and

fearsome of temper, he yet attracted genuine devotion and knew how to charm people.

Monstrously egotistical and surrounded by adulation, he nevertheless kept a reasonable grasp

on the possible; forever taking false steps in politics, he emerged essentially unbeaten and

superficially successful in nearly everything he attempted to do. To reform means to change.

This is why this event is called the English Reformation as it did change the way the church

was run throughout England. However, the death of Henry in 1547 did not see an end of the

religious problems of England.

Bibliography

“Henry VIII.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 23 Apr. 2021,

www.biography.com/royalty/henry-viii.

Pruitt, Sarah. “Henry VIII Wanted a Divorce So He Sparked a Reformation.” History.com.

www.history.com/reformation/herny-viii/marriage-and-divorce.