Henry VIII (1509-1547)

When in 1509 Henry VII died, his second son, Henry VIII became the next Tudor monarch. Henry VIII was a very intelligent and powerful king, but also ruthless and cruel. He is famous for having six wives. Two of them, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, were beheaded by him on the grounds of “high treason”. Henry VIII had a very broad definition of “high treason”; Anne had not given him a son, and Catherine was cheating on him.

During the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, Henry VIII was honoured by the Pope in Rome as “Defender of the Faith” (the Catholic faith) because he had written an attack against Luther’s Protestant ideas. However, some time later, Henry got into an argument with the Pope (Clement VII). Henry and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon (daughter of the king and queen of Spain) only had one daughter together, Mary. But Henry wanted a male heir, he wanted a son that could take his place.

So, Henry repeatedly asked the Pope for permission to annul his marriage to Catherine. The Pope however, denied all his requests. In turn, Henry decided to divorce Catherine anyhow and to marry Anne Boleyn. The result of this was that England was no longer part of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1534 Henry declared himself, the king, Supreme Head of the English Church by the Act of Supremacy. This declaration was the start of the English Reformation that gave rise to the Church of England.