Henry VIII was the second monarch of the Tudor dynasty, reigning for 38 years. When he was young, he was handsome, strong, and full of vitality. He was particularly fond of hunting, horse riding and sports. He was once considered a particularly masculine man by the British people.
Originally he was only the second son of Henry VII, and the throne seemed to be out of his turn. But his elder brother Arthur was frail and sick, and died shortly after marrying Catherine of Aragon, and Henry VIII became the heir to the throne.
In 1509, Henry VII died and Henry VIII successfully succeeded to the throne. In his nearly 40 years of monarchy, he can be remembered by the world, except for the creation of the Royal Navy and the reform of religion. He got married like a farce.
Henry VIII married 6 queens in his lifetime, and eventually only got one son and two daughters. And among these 6 queens, 5 of them all ended very miserably. Two of them were executed, one was imprisoned to death, and two died of puerperal fever. Only one died in the end.
Therefore, Henry VIII was called the “wife-killing madman”.
So, what are the six queens of Henry VIII? Which queen ended up best?
- Catherine of Aragon.
Catherine was originally married to Henry VIII’s brother Arthur, but when Arthur and Catherine were going to the cold Welsh border castle Ludlow on their honeymoon, both became seriously ill. Arthur passed away unfortunately, but Catherine miraculously survived.
In order to maintain the alliance with Spain, Henry VII asked Henry VIII to be Arthur’s successor and married his sister-in-law, Catherine. Of course, Henry VIII successfully inherited the throne.
The marriage of Catherine and Henry VIII was initially happily and happily. But strangely, Catherine miscarried several times. Even though Henry barely gave birth to 5 children, 4 of them died early. Only one daughter survived. This was Mary I of the famous “Bloody Mary”.
As a result, Henry VIII had an extramarital affair with the waitress Anne Boleyn, and declared that his marriage to Catherine was invalid, and ruthlessly kicked Catherine out of the palace. In 1536, Catherine finally died in loneliness and depression.
- Anne Boleyn, Catherine’s maid.
Anne and Henry VIII have a great relationship. Her sister is Henry VIII’s mistress, and she herself is Catherine’s maid. After entering the palace, Anne’s vitality and intelligence touched Henry VIII. Henry VIII, who was eager to get a son, hungry and didn’t choose food, and quickly married Anne. However, Annie also failed to bring a son to Henry, and gave birth to a daughter Elizabeth, who was later the “Virgin Queen” Elizabeth I.
Henry VIII did the same thing and caught sight of Anne’s maid, Jane Seymour, but Anne was accused of having an improper relationship with her younger brother and more than 100 friends, and was executed in May 1536. Henry VIII immediately declared his marriage to Annie invalid.
- Anne’s maid, Jane Seymour.
On the tenth day of Anne’s execution, Henry VIII married Jane Seymour in a flash. A few days later, Henry VIII verbally announced Jane Seymour as the queen, but due to the epidemic, Henry VIII did not hold a coronation for Jane Seymour.
Although Jane Seymour was born in a declining nobleman, he brought to Henry VIII his long-cherished son Edward, but Jane Seymour died of puerperal fever shortly after giving birth. Although her son Edward succeeded to the throne successfully, he only reigned for 6 years and died at the age of 15. The Tudor dynasty eventually returned to Henry VIII’s two daughters.
- Annie recommended by the painter.
After the death of Jane Seymour, the painter Hans Hol came to Henry VIII’s palace and recommended Princess Anne of Cleves to him. Although Henry VIII did not see Anne herself, from the portrait paintings made by Hans, we can still see the grace and beauty of this Princess Anne.
But when Henry VIII saw Anne himself, he almost dropped his chin, because Anne was really not beautiful, it was even very ugly. Therefore, Henry VIII only held a wedding with her, but never touched her. Six months later, Henry VIII gave her a large sum of money and a title of “Sister of the King” and announced his divorce.
Anne was also considered smart, worried about repeating the mistakes of the previous queens and leaving with money, and stayed in London until her death in 1557. Annie also became the only one who died well among Henry’s six queens. However, the reason for her death was so strange that it was actually due to her ugliness.
- Anne’s maid, Catherine Howard.
During the short couple of months of marriage with Anne, Henry VIII did the same thing again and hooked up with Anne’s maid, Catherine Howard. Catherine Howard was young and beautiful, full of vitality, so Henry VIII could not stop. But at this time Henry VIII was old and weak, with a big belly, and extremely inconvenient to move.
Catherine Howard seemed unable to get the love and tenderness she deserved from Henry VIII, and instead had frequent private meetings with her lover Thomas Carlpeper. She didn’t want the Dong Chuang incident to be discovered, so she became the second queen to be executed. In order to vent his anger, Henry VIII hanged Catherine Howard.
- Widow Catherine Pal.
Henry VIII married his last queen, Catherine Parr, when he was 52 years old. Catherine Parr had two marriages, and she seemed more stable and mature. She knew how to be Henry’s queen.
Under the mediation of Catherine Parr, Henry VIII eased the relationship with his two daughters. But because of her very radical religious views, she often had fierce quarrels with Henry VIII. However, the clever Catherine Parr chose to make concessions every time, so that she would not provoke Henry VIII and be expelled.
On January 28, 1547, Henry VIII finally ran out of oil and died before Catherine Parr. Six months later, Catherine Parr and her former lover Thomas Seymour held a wedding. One year later, Catherine Parr died of puerperal fever.
