Henry VIII

(1491–1547)

   Monarch.

   Henry was the surviving son of King Henry VII of England. In 1509 he married his elder brother’s widow, Catherine of Aragon, daughter of ferdinand and isabella of Spain, which required a papal dispensation. In the same year he inherited the throne. His chief minister in the early days was Thomas Wolsey.

   Always interested in theological questions, he was awarded the title Defender of the Faith by the Pope after writing a pamphlet against the sacramental teaching of Martin luther. His marriage produced only one daughter, mary, and, in order to secure the succession, Henry was determined to divorce Catherine. In 1529 a legatine court refused the divorce and Wolsey fell from office. Thomas cranmer became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533 and pronounced the marriage invalid. Under the guidance of Thomas cromwell, various bills were passed through Parliament which placed the English Church outside the control of Rome. Henry then married Anne Boleyn and dealt ruthlessly with any protesters against these arrangements. Thomas more, once Chancellor of England, for example, was beheaded. In 1536 the monasteries of England and Wales were dissolved and their wealth was transferred to the crown. Some of it was used to set up new sees. Queen Anne Boleyn produced another daughter, Elizabeth, and was executed for adultery. Henry subsequently married Jane Seymour (who produced Edward vi) and three other wives. The Ten Articles of 1536 and his marriage to Anne of Cleves in 1540 show a measure of tolerance for Protestantism, but in the Six Articles of 1539 the King reaffirmed Catholic doctrine. Nevertheless, during the final years of the reign the seeds of English Protestantism were sown. Henry’s successor, the young King Edward, was educated by Protestant tutors. Henry’s reign is remembered for the establishment of a national English Church, independent of Rome.

   G.R. Elton, The Tudor Revolution in Government (1953);

   R. Richard, Henry VIII and the English Reformation (1993);

   J.J. Scarisbrick, Henry VIII (1968);

   G.W.O. Woodward, The Dissolution of the Monasteries (1966).