2 HENRY'S WIVES
 

Henry's first wife was Catherine of Aragon. She was the daughter of
the king and queen of Spain, so it was really a political marriage.
They got married in 1509 when she was 24 and he was only 18. Catherine
was a very kind and religious woman, and she must have had a very sad
and difficult life. King Henry desperately needed a son, a son who
would keep his family in power for another generation. But although
Catherine got pregnant many times, the babies never survived. Years
passed and finally Catherine had a baby daughter called Mary. But
Henry wanted a son, and by this time, Catherine was too old to have
more children. Henry now fell madly in love with Anne Boleyn, one of
Catherine's ladies-in-waiting, and he wanted a divorce from Catherine,
but the Pope wouldn't give him one. This situation continued for
years. Finally, Anne Boleyn became pregnant and Henry had to act. He
broke off relations with the Catholic Church and declared his marriage
to Catherine illegal, even though they had been married for 22 years.
Now that they were divorced, Henry was free to marry again.

Henry's second wife was Anne Boleyn. She was a woman who men found
very attractive, and Henry was no exception. He was soon passionately
in love with her, as we know from the love letters he wrote her. Anne
was a very clever woman, and an ambitious woman too. She made it clear
to Henry that she wanted to be his queen, not just his lover. Anne had
to wait for six years, but in the end she got what she wanted, and she
and Henry married secretly in 1533. But their marriage only lasted
three years. A few months after the wedding Anne gave birth to a
daughter, Elizabeth, who would later become queen of England. But
though Anne got pregnant again twice, both babies died, and relations
between her and Henry began to deteriorate. Henry soon had a new
lover, and Anne's days were numbered. She was arrested, accused of
adultery, and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Anne was almost
certainly innocent, but on May 19th, 1536, she was beheaded outside
the Tower of London. Henry was free to marry again.

Jane Seymour was Henry's third wife. They were married just two weeks
after Anne's execution, when Jane was 27 years old. She wasn't a
beautiful woman, but she was the woman that Henry loved most, and
during their short marriage he was a devoted husband. Jane soon became
pregnant, and to Henry's great joy, on October 15th, 1537, she gave
birth to a son, Prince Edward. After waiting for 27 years, Henry
finally had the son he wanted. But Jane got ill after the birth, and
just two weeks later she died. Although they had only been married for
two years, Henry left instructions that when he died he was to be
buried next to her.

Henry's fourth wife was Anne of Cleves. After Jane died, Henry stayed
single for a year, but he needed to remarry, both for political
reasons, and if possible to have another son. Anne of Cleves, who was
a German princess, was considered suitable. Henry wanted to know what
she looked like, but of course there were no photographs in those
days. So he sent a very famous Dutch painter, Hans Holbein, to paint
her portrait. When Henry saw Anne's painting he immediately fell in
love with her. But unfortunately Holbein had exaggerated Anne's
beauty, and when Henry met her in person for the first time, just
before their wedding, he didn't find her at all attractive, in fact he
thought she looked like a horse. The King was furious, but it was too
late to cancel the wedding, and it went ahead on January 6th 1540. But
Henry and Anne never slept together, and Henry used this as a reason
for their divorce after less than six months of marriage. Anne was an
intelligent woman and she didn't complain — she knew what had happened
to Henry's previous wives. And, as usual, King Henry already had
another lover, Katherine Howard, who was only 15 years old. Henry's
sixth and last wife was Katherine Parr. Henry was now 52, a lonely old
man, but still with a terrifying personality. When Henry met Katherine
Parr she was in love with another man. But of course she could not say
no to the king. Katherine was a mature intelligent woman of 31 who had
already been married twice, and was probably an ideal person to deal
with the old king. Katherine must have been more of a nurse than a
wife as Henry was now in very bad health. The marriage lasted four
years, and ended when Henry died on January 28th 1547, aged 55.
Katherine was now free to marry the man she really loved.