It is not uncommon for kings to have many wives, even the Emperors of China have hundreds of beautiful concubines, but in England, the case of King Henry VIII is truly unique. This king had 6 queens, 2 were divorced, 2 were beheaded, 1 died and only one survived but later also died young.
The six queens of the King of England , Henry VIII (ruled from 1509-1547) were all very tragic. Henry VIII is the only king in English history to have 6 queens. He wanted to have a son, so he kept marrying and divorcing different women.
Painting of King Henry VIII by artist Hans Holbein. (Image source: Wikipedia).
The first queen was Catherine, of Aragon. She was engaged to King Henry’s late brother and married at the age of 15. However, later, the Prince of Wales died of illness, Catherine remarried to King Henry VIII, her husband’s younger brother, 5 years younger than her. At that time, King Henry was less than 18 years old.
A virtuous, pious, erudite, and wise woman rarely seen in an era when women were less educated, Catherine of Aragon became an exemplary queen in the eyes of both the court and the court. people.
The queen was pregnant 6 times but gave birth to only 2 sons and a princess, the rest of them died in the process of giving birth. However, two sons both died after two months. In the end, only one princess remained, later Queen Mary I.
Obsessed with having a son, Henry VIII began to lose patience with Catherine. In addition to the fact that age and childbirth made the queen gradually become too old for her husband who was still hot in his youth, Henry grew tired of his wife and began to keep an eye on other young girls. Anne Boleyn – a young noblewoman in the entourage of Queen Catherine has won the king’s heart.
The second queen is also the person with whom Henry VIII had an affair before. Her sister Mary Boleyn became Henry VIII’s mistress – even though Mary was already the wife of a nobleman named William Carey. Anne was placed in the ranks of Catherine of Aragon’s entourage, and was watched by the king.
Anne Boleyn was later found guilty of treason, incest and adultery.
But like the king’s first wife , Anne Boleyn suffered repeated miscarriages. Her only daughter who lived to adulthood was Princess Elizabeth – later to become Queen Elizabeth I of England.
The passionate and happy time in Henry and Anne’s marriage was short-lived, and Anne Boleyn was later found guilty of treason, incest and adultery – all slanderous charges. She was stripped of her title of queen, taken to the Tower of London and sentenced to be guillotined.
Worth mentioning, this third Queen, Jane Seymour , was betrothed to the king just a day after Anne Boleyn was executed. Jane was also an entourage of Queen Anne Boleyn. This shows that King Henry especially had a hobby of “watching” his wife’s entourage and descendants.
The two also had an “unclean” relationship before getting married. And many people think that this is also the reason pushing Queen Anne Boleyn closer to the death penalty.
The 3rd Queen satisfied King Henry VIII when she gave birth to a son for the king. Her son later became King Edward VI, however, weak health from a young age caused the king to die when he was only 15 years old.
Jane did not live until her baby was crowned – she died nearly two weeks after giving birth from infection and complications. She was the only wife of Henry VIII to enjoy a funeral for a queen.
About two years after Queen Jane Seymour died, Henry VIII continued to seek another marriage. Among the “candidates” for the throne, Anne of Cleves (1515-1557) – a German aristocrat – was chosen. When looking at Anne’s portrait, King Henry VIII felt loved and “dotted” always.
However, upon meeting, Henry VIII felt deceived because Anne looked completely different from the portrait or any description he had heard before. Frustration led the king to find ways to cancel the engagement, but it was impossible. Henry married Anne of Cleves, and all attempts to “legitimize” the marriage by “contributing” by both failed.
When he was fed up with his foreign wife, the king continued to search for a new marriage, and this time the young Catherine Howard caught his eye. When annulment was mentioned, Anne gently accepted. Henry VIII gave her the name “the king’s dear sister” and generous compensations
She died in 1557 at the age of 41, never married again and is said to remain a virgin for the rest of her life.
Catherine Howard was accused of having an affair with Thomas Culpeper, stripped of her throne and sentenced to death in the Tower of London.
The cousin of Queen Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard (1523-1542) was born into a declining aristocratic family. After being joined by Queen Anne of Cleves’ entourage, Catherine Howard immediately won the king’s favor.
Catherine’s youthful, energetic youth made the king – now almost 50 years old, obese, irritable and slow due to a leg injury – feel rejuvenated and love life again.
Not long after taking the throne, Catherine Howard was accused of having an affair with Thomas Culpeper – a courtier of Henry VIII, and had an affair before marrying the king.
Catherine Howard was stripped of her title of queen and sentenced to death in the Tower of London. Catherine’s body was later buried next to her cousin Anne Boleyn
As the last wife of Henry VIII before his death, Catherine Parr (1512-1548) is considered a rare exception in the queenship. Before marrying Henry VIII, she experienced two marriages, both times being widowed because of premature death of husbands.
After entering court to serve Mary – daughter of the first queen Catherine of Aragon with Henry VIII – she was noticed by the king.
Many people believe that Henry VIII married Catherine Parr just to have someone take care of his deteriorating health. Before his death, the king decreed that Catherine Parr be treated like a queen.
Catherine married one more time to Thomas Seymour, Baron of Sudeley, who had a crush on her from the start. After becoming pregnant and giving birth to a baby girl at the age of 35, Catherine Parr died of postpartum complications.