King Henry VIII was a great king. Henry was born June
28th 1491 of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. He had two brothers and sisters;
he was the first English monarch to be educated under influence of the
Renaissance. The death of his father and brother in the same year 1509 King
Henry VIII took the throne. Henry married his brothers widow Catherine of Argon,
which was doubtful by the Pope. Catherine never gave birth to a boy, and became
too old to bare children. Henry decided to get a new wife, he choose Anne
Boleyn. The only problem was before King Henry could marry another he had to
gain permission from the Pope. Catherine found out about the news and told the
King of Spain, and also the Emperor of Holy Roman Empire. Anne Boleyn became pregnant;
the King of Spain threatened
to invade England
if the marriage took place. Henry ignored the threats and married Anne
anyway. The Pope announced Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn was invalid.
IN return King Henry declared that the Pope had no more authority in England.
Parliament was passed saying King Henry VIII was the head of the Church of England;
the people had to swear oath to Henry or face death. Thomas More who
later became a saint was King Henry's Lord Chancellor and apposed the divorce
and new marriage. Thomas More refused to be apart of Henry's church and was
beheaded in the Tower
of London. Anne became
pregnant and it was a boy, but unfortunately he was born dead. Later King Henry
accused Anne of adultery with five different men. King Henry executed Anne and
all of the men. Ten days later Henry married again, to Jane Seymour. One year
later Jane died giving birth to Edward; Henry finally had a son and heir.
Henry was worried that he didn't have the full support form the monks and nuns.
He began to arrest monks for high treason; King Henry VIII tortured and
beheaded the monks and some nuns. The Bible was translated into the
English version, and Henry ordered that all Monasteries are to have a
Bible in them. This started to move the church into Protestantism. Henry
sent officials into the monasteries to find out what was going on, after 376
monasteries closed. The land was sold to merchants and farmers which in
return produced more food. This decision to close down monasteries was
eventually supported. The People in north England formed an army to win back
some of the land. This battle was called The Pilgrimage of Grace. Henry struck
a deal with the rebels, but didn't follow his side of the bargain. He took some
people from every village and hung them. King Henry VIII decided to take all
jewels and give them to the crown. The Pope found out about this and
excommunicated Henry. King Henry closed all monasteries and nunnery sin England, Wales,
and Ireland.
The monks and nuns that didn't oppose Henry were granted pensions. There was a
raise in prices so in a couple years all monks and nuns were in poverty. Jane
Seymour died, and Henry began to look for a new wife. He sent a painter to Europe so he could paint some potential brides.
Henry chooses Christina Duchess of Milan,
but she denied the marriage because of the fear of death. King Henry's
Lord Chancellor wanted to form an alliance between the Protestants in Saxony, to do this King Henry would have to marry
Protestant leaders’ daughter Anne of Cleves. Henry didn't like Anne of Cleves'
Personality and divorced her, and then married and other women named Catherine
Howard. Only one year into there marriage Catherine was accused of having sex
with three other men. Henry was furious and executed her and the three men. One
year later Henry married again this time to Catherine Parr. She helped to
moderate Henry's religious persecutions. Henry died in 1547. He had three
children who all ruled as a king or queen- King Edward VI, Bloody Mary, Queen Elizabeth
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