One of the most damaging repercussions of this was the often-brutal suppression of the monasteries. With 1-in-50 of England’s adult male population belonging to a religious order and monasteries owning around a quarter of all cultivated land in the country, the Dissolution of the Monasteries uprooted thousands of lives and changed the political and religious landscape of England forever.

So why did it happen?

Criticism of monastic houses had been growing

Long before Henry VIII‘s break with Rome the monastic houses of England had been under scrutiny, with stories of their lax religious conduct circulating the country’s elite spheres. Although there were vast monastic complexes in almost every town, most of them were only half-full, with those living there barely abiding by strict monastic rules.

The immense wealth of the monasteries also raised eyebrows in the secular world, who believed that their money may be better spent on England’s universities and parish churches, particularly as many spent exorbitantly inside the monasteries’ walls.

High up figures such as Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, and Henry VIII himself sought to limit the powers of the monastic church, and as early as 1519 Wolsey had been investigating corruption in a number of religious houses. In Peterborough Abbey for example, Wolsey found that its abbot had been keeping a mistress and selling goods for a profit and duly had it shut down, instead using the money to found a new college at Oxford.

This idea of corruption would become key in the dissolution when in 1535 Cromwell set about collecting ‘evidence’ of untoward activity within the monasteries. Though some believe these tales to be exaggerated, they included cases of prostitution, drunken monks, and runaway nuns – hardly the behaviour expected from those dedicated to celibacy and virtue.

Henry VIII broke with Rome and declared himself Supreme Head of the Church

The push towards more drastic reform was deeply personal however. In the Spring of 1526, having grown restless with waiting for a son and heir from Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII set his sights on marrying the enamouring Anne Boleyn.

Boleyn had recently returned from the French royal court and was now a sparkling courtier, well-versed in the courtly game of love. As such, she refused to become the king’s mistress and would settle only for marriage, lest she be cast aside as her elder sister had been.

Driven by love and an intense anxiety to provide an heir, Henry set about petitioning the Pope to grant him an annulment from his marriage to Catherine in what became known as the ‘King’s Great Matter’.

A portrait of Henry VIII by Holbein thought to be from around 1536.

Image Credit: Public domain

Setting Cardinal Wolsey on the task, a number of challenging factors delayed the proceedings. In 1527, Pope Clement VII was virtually imprisoned by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V during the Sack of Rome, and following this was heavily under his influence. As Charles happened to be Catherine of Aragon’s nephew, he was unwilling to budge on the topic of divorce as not to bring shame and embarrassment to his family.

Eventually Henry realised he was fighting a losing battle and in February 1531, he declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England, meaning he now had jurisdiction on what exactly happened to its religious houses. In 1553, he passed a law forbidding clerics to appeal to ‘foreign tribunals’ in Rome, severing their ties with the Catholic Church on the continent. The first step to the demise of the monasteries was set in motion.

He sought to destroy Papal influence in England

Now in charge of England’s religious landscape, Henry VIII set about ridding it of the Pope’s influence. In 1535, Thomas Cromwell was made Vicar General (Henry’s second in command) and sent letters to all the vicars in England, calling for their support of Henry as the Head of the Church.

Thomas Cromwell by Hans Holbein.

Image Credit: The Frick Collection / CC

Under intense threat, almost all of England’s religious houses agreed to this, with those who initially refused suffering heavy consequences. The friars from the Greenwich house were imprisoned where many died of maltreatment for example, while a number of the Carthusian monks were executed for high treason. Simple obedience was not enough for Henry VIII however, as the monasteries also had something he was desperately in need of – vast wealth.

He needed the immense wealth of the monasteries

After years of lavish spending and costly wars, Henry VIII had frittered away much of his inheritance – an inheritance painstakingly amassed by his frugal father Henry VII.

In 1534, a valuation of the Church was commissioned by Thomas Cromwell known as the Valor Ecclesiasticus, which demanded all religious establishments give authorities an accurate inventory of their lands and revenues. When this was completed, the Crown had for the first time a real image of the Church’s wealth, allowing Henry to set in motion a plan to repurpose their funds for his own use.

In 1536, all small religious houses with an annual income of less than £200 were ordered to be closed under the Act for the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries. Their gold, silver, and valuable materials were confiscated by the Crown and their lands sold off. This initial round of dissolutions made up around 30% of England’s monasteries, yet more were soon to follow.

Catholic revolt pushed further dissolutions

Opposition to Henry’s reforms were widespread in England, particularly in the north where many staunchly Catholic communities persevered. In October 1536, a large uprising known as the Pilgrimage of Grace took place in Yorkshire, in which thousands marched into the city of York to demand a return to the ‘true religion’.

This was soon crushed, and though the king promised clemency for those involved, over 200 were executed for their roles in the unrest. Afterwards, Henry came to view monasticism as synonymous with treachery, as many of the religious houses he had spared in the north had participated in the uprising.

The Pilgrimage of Grace, York.

Image Credit: Public domain

The following year, inducements to the larger abbeys began, with hundreds forfeiting their deeds to the king and signing a document of surrender. In 1539, the Act for the Dissolution of the Greater Monasteries was passed, forcing the remaining bodies to close – this was not without bloodshed however.

When the last abbot of Glastonbury, Richard Whiting, refused to relinquish his abbey, he was hung drawn and quartered and his head displayed over the gate of his now-deserted religious house.

In total around 800 religious institutions were closed in England, Wales, and Ireland, with many of their precious monastic libraries destroyed in the process. The final abbey, Waltham, closed its doors on 23 March 1540.

His allies were rewarded

With the monasteries suppressed, Henry now had vast amounts of wealth and masses of land. This he sold off to nobles and merchants loyal to his cause as a reward for their service, who in turn sold it off to others and became increasingly wealthy.

Not only did this strengthen their loyalties, but also built a wealthy circle of Protestant-leaning nobles around the Crown – something that would become vital in instilling England as a Protestant country. During the reigns of Henry VIII’s children and beyond however, these factions would grow into conflict as the successive monarch’s adapted their own faiths to that of their regime.

With the ruins of hundreds of abbeys still littering England’s landscape – Whitby, Rievaulx and Fountains to name a few – it is hard to escape the memory of the thriving communities that once occupied them. Now mostly atmospheric shells, they sit as a reminder of monastic Britain and the most blatant consequences of the Protestant Reformation.

1. Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury

Margaret Pole was the niece of Richard III – who Henry VII had slain at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Until her dying day, Margaret asserted her Yorkist allegiance and become a focus for rebellion. She was considered such as threat that Henry VIII ordered her execution in 1541.

Margaret Pole; Elizabeth of York; Margaret Tudor

2. Elizabeth of York

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, who were leaders of the Yorkist cause. Her brothers were the ‘Princes in the Tower’.

The marriage between Elizabeth of York and Henry Tudor marked a union between the Houses of York and Lancaster, and the red and white Tudor rose was born. Elizabeth and Henry had eight children, who, through marriage, became monarchs of England, Scotland and France.

3. Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots

The eldest daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, Margaret was the sister of Henry VIII. She was married to James IV of Scotland from 1503-1513, which united the royal houses of England and Scotland. After her husband’s death, Margaret acted as regent for her son James V, from 1513-1515.

4. Catherine of Aragon

Catherine ruled as Queen of England from June 1509 until May 1533. She was the daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon.

At three years old she was betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, who was heir apparent to the English throne. After Arthur’s death, Catherine was married to his younger brother Henry, who grew increasingly frustrated after she failed to deliver a male heir.

Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn

Image Credit: History Hit

For six months in 1513, she served as regent of England as Henry was abroad in France. Her rousing speech about emotional courage seemed to be an important factor in the English victory at the Battle of Flodden. She was also a prominent humanist, and counted scholars such as Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More as her friends.

5. Elizabeth Blount

‘Bessie’ Blount was a mistress of Henry VIII. On 15 June 1519, Blount bore the king what he had always craved – a son. Henry Fitzroy, the only illegitimate son of Henry VIII, was later Duke of Richmond and Somerset and Earl of Nottingham.

6. Anne Boleyn

The second and perhaps most infamous wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, when she was executed.

Henry first caught eyes on her when she served Catherine of Aragon as a maid of honour. To accommodate a marriage to Anne and divorce Catherine, Henry had no choice but to leave the Catholic Church and establish the Church of England. Anne was the mother of Elizabeth I.

7. Catherine Parr

Catherine had four husbands, the third of which was Henry VIII who she outlived by a year. She enjoyed a close relationship with Henry’s three children, taking personal interest in their education and playing an important role in the Third Succession Act, which restored Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession.

Catherine Parr; Lady Jane Grey; Mary I

Image Credit: History Hit

After Henry’s death, Catherine acted as queen dowager and was allowed to keep royal jewels and dresses.

8. Lady Jane Grey

Jane was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, through their daughter Mary, who became Queen of France.

She was exceptionally well educated in humanist studies, and as a committed Protestant, Edward VI saw her as an ally. In 1553, Edward’s will placed Jane in line to inherit the throne, effectively removing his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth from the line of succession and ignoring the Third Succession Act.

Jane was proclaimed queen on 10 July 1553 but support quickly waned and the Privy Council abandoned her. Lasting just over a week, she became known as the ‘Nine Days Queen’. Although Mary initially spared her life, she became viewed as a threat to the Crown, and was executed the following year.

9. Mary I

Mary was the eldest child of Henry VIII to survive to adulthood. As the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, she was a staunch Catholic. After expelling Lady Jane Grey to regain her place on the throne, Mary attempted to reverse the English Reformation begun by her father and restore Roman Catholicism.

The executions of Protestants earned her the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’. She was married to Phillip of Spain.

10. Elizabeth I

Elizabeth was the final monarch of the Tudor dynasty, ruling from 1558-1603. She depended heavily on a group of advisers led by William Cecil. Together they established a middle way in the religious debates, as Elizabeth became the Supreme Governor of the English Protestant church, but insisted on greater tolerance of English Catholics.

Elizabeth I; Bess of Hardwick; Mary, Queen of Scots

Image Credit: History Hit

Elizabeth never married and she became referred to as the ‘Virgin Queen’. Her 44 year reign was marked by England’s defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and a flowering of English drama, led by playwrights Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare.

11. Bess of Hardwick

Born into a modest background, Bess married four times and acquired an enormous fortune to become the second most important woman in England, after the queen. She is famed for building Hardwick Hall, which gave rise to the rhyme ‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall’.

12. Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary reigned over Scotland from 1542 to 1567. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King James V of Scotland, who died when Mary was six days old. She married Francis, the Dauphin of France, and later her half-cousin, Lord Darnley.

Their son, James, would become James I of England, uniting the two kingdoms. She was executed by her cousin, Elizabeth I, in 1587 at Fotheringhay Castle.

Whilst nearly 500 years later, we will never know the exact course of their relationship, we can certainly examine the consequences: the English Reformation and the establishment of Protestantism in England. Anne and Henry’s courtship may not have been the sole cause, but it was certainly a major factor in shaping England for the centuries to come.

Romance

Henry VIII infamously had 6 wives: but he was married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, for nearly 24 years. Henry met Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting, around 1522: Anne was not the most beautiful woman at court, but she was well-educated, witty, attractive and exotic, having spent many of her teenage years at the French court.

By 1526, Henry was infatuated with Anne. Unlike her sister Mary, Anne refused to become Henry’s mistress, saying she would only sleep with him when they were married. The pair played at courtly love, exchanging ardent love letters and courting until Henry proposed marriage to Anne.

A 1528 love letter from Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn, in which he promises marriage.

Image Credit: Public Domain

Trying for annulment

Henry tried to get his marriage to Catherine annulled by the Pope. She had not borne him a son and heir, and years of pregnancies and miscarriages had not been kind to her. Coupled with his infatuation with Anne, Henry began to quote Biblical verses, claiming his marriage was cursed in the eyes of God, due to Catherine being his brother’s widow.

The Pope, Clement VII, was reluctant to grant Henry’s wish. Catherine was a Spanish princess and aunt of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V: annulling her marriage would have serious political consequences. An ecclesiastical court was summoned to judge the matter in England, but after months of debate, the request for an annulment was denied.

Cardinal Wolsey, Henry’s chief minister, had spearheaded his attempts for the annulment and failed. He quickly, and dramatically fell from favour, leaving room for the quick-thinking, legally-minded Thomas Cromwell to take his place.

Cromwell and Anne pushed Henry to ignore the Pope, but a meeting of lawyers and clergy advised against it. Thus began a process which culminated in Henry becoming the Supreme Head of the Church in England, and splitting from Rome entirely.

Thomas Cromwell by Hans Holbein the Younger

Image Credit: Public Domain

Long awaited marriage

Henry still wanted support for his marriage. So he went to France and sought the approval of Francis I, the French king. Gaining an implicit approval, he then held a private ceremony in London on 25 January 1533. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, then declared Henry’s marriage to Catherine null and void, and 5 days later the marriage to Anne was declared valid. Henry couldn’t be labelled a bigamist because his marriage to Catherine was, he claimed, invalid.

This may not have been their first wedding however. Some sources point to them having married in another secret ceremony in November 1532, shortly after they returned from their meeting with Francis I in Calais.

It is possible that Anne had misgivings about this first wedding, she didn’t want to give anyone cause to doubt her legitimacy as queen. The marriage in January was done exactly by the book so there could be no doubting Anne’s position. Nor could Henry be labelled a bigamist because his marriage to Catherine was, he claimed, invalid.

The need to legitimise their union at this time was particularly important because Anne was already pregnant. Supporters of Elizabeth I, Anne and Henry’s only surviving child, later highlighted the earlier ceremony of 14 November 1532 to prove that Elizabeth was not conceived in wedlock.

The not so happily ever after

After all this Henry and Anne were finally married. Yet it would not last: the forthrightness, fiery temper and intelligence which had so enamoured Henry as a mistress were not the qualities he wanted in a wife. Anne’s inability to provide him with a son and heir was the final nail in the coffin.

Just 3 years later, in 1536, Anne was beheaded after being found guilty of adultery, incest, and treason. She maintained to her death that she had not been unfaithful, and on her execution, she declared

God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord.

Regardless of Anne’s guilt, or not, Henry had decided that she had to be gone. Whether or not she was actually unfaithful to him was virtually immaterial. However the machinations of her enemies (including her former ally Thomas Cromwell) and Henry’s relentless search for a son made this irrelevant. Henry quickly married Jane Seymour, who would finally fulfil his desire for an heir.

Henry’s final mercy was to have Anne beheaded by an expert swordsman, and not with an axe, bringing to a tragic enemy that love affair  that would go on to shape the nature of Christianity in England right up until the present day.

Henry enacted radical changes to the English constitution, expanded royal power and broke with the Catholic Church in the English Reformation.

But he is perhaps most famous for having six wives. Though married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, for nearly 25 years, Henry’s next five marriages lasted less than that combined.

Best remembered in rhyme form; ‘divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived’; two of Henry VIII’s marriages were declared annulled, two of his wives were beheaded and another of them died after giving birth to his only son. But his final wife, Catherine Parr, outlived him and their marriage.

Here are Henry VIII’s six wives in order.

1. Catherine of Aragon

Catherine is best known today for her role in sparking the King’s excommunication from the Catholic Church and the Reformation. Married to Henry for a quarter of a century, however, there is much more to her.

The daughter of Spanish monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, Catherine was a political catch.

Betrothed at the age of three to Arthur, Henry’s older brother and the heir apparent to the English throne, her position became uncertain when, in 1502, her husband died just five months into their marriage.

Half of Catherine’s dowry had already been paid to Arthur’s father, Henry VII, so the English king faced the dilemma of how to pay it back.

Catherine was effectively held a prisoner with little money to her name while the issue was debated. But in 1507, six years after Arthur’s death, she became the ambassador of the Aragonese Crown to England.

In doing so, she also became the first female European ambassador in history.

Catherine of Aragon

Image Credit: Attributed to Joannes Corvus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Two years later, Catherine married Henry VIII – who was five years her junior – shortly after he had ascended the throne. This marriage between a man and his brother’s widow required, and was granted, dispensation by the Catholic Church.

The couple’s marriage was eventful for Catherine. In 1513, she served as regent for six months while Henry was away in France. During this time she oversaw an English victory against Scotland at the Battle of Flodden, but she also gave birth to a stillborn child.

Catherine suffered multiple miscarriages and stillbirths. She bore the king’s first child, a boy, only to see him die 52 days later. Her only child to survive to adulthood was a daughter born in 1516, Mary; who went on to become queen.

Catherine suffered another miscarriage in 1518, but one year later Henry had a son by a mistress named Elizabeth Blount. The boy was named Henry Fitzroy, and is Henry’s only confirmed illegitimate child. Blount was not, however, Henry’s only mistress during his marriage to Catherine.

It was his infatuation with Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting, from 1526, which set into motion a chain of events that would not only see the end of Catherine and Henry’s marriage, but also lead to England’s Protestantisation.

Henry tried to have his marriage to Catherine annulled to marry Anne. He argued that their marriage had been invalid because of Catherine’s marriage to his brother. Devout Catherine rejected this, saying that she and Arthur’s relationship had never been consummated.

Possibly pressured somewhat by Catherine’s nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, the Pope refused. In response the king assumed supremacy over religious matters and turned his back on the Catholic Church.

Henry’s marriage to Catherine was eventually annulled on 1533 and Catherine was banished from court as Dowager Princess of Wales. She lived out the rest of her days at Kimbolton Castle in Cambridgeshire where she died in 1536. Her daughter Mary was forbidden for visiting her or to attending her funeral at Peterborough Cathedral.

Catherine never accepted the end of her marriage to Henry as legitimate, always seeing herself as England’s rightful Queen and Henry’s wife.

2. Anne Boleyn

With the extraordinary events of her life unparalleled in British history, Anne Boleyn is undoubtedly the most famous of Henry’s wives.

Henry may have endured a seven-year courtship and far-reaching political and religious upheavals in order to marry his second wife, but that didn’t stop him having her executed less than three years later.

Anne was born c.1501 to Sir Thomas Boleyn and Lady Elizabeth Howard, and spent much of her youth in France, returning in 1522. She was reported to be fluent in french, a talented musician and to dress in line with French fashions.

Anne was previously betrothed to Henry Percy, but this engagement had been broken off when it did not gain the support of his father, the fifth Earl of Northumberland. Henry VIII, himself, had formerly taken Anne’s sister, Mary, as a mistress.

Anne refused to become the King’s mistress, forcing him to wait through the seven years of courtship until they could marry. In 1532, Henry made Anne the Marquessate of Pembroke, and the pair married formally in January 1533, after a secret ceremony two months earlier.

After going through so much to secure the marriage, the King’s change of heart was likely due to the fact that, like Catherine, Anne seemed unable to bear him a son. After giving birth to Elizabeth I in September 1533, she suffered several miscarriages.

Henry began to look elsewhere for a woman to bear him a son – and he found this woman in Jane Seymour. Anne was less able to accept Henry’s infidelities than her predecessor, and reportedly became enraged and jealous when confronted with evidence of her husband’s affairs.

A month after Henry began courting Jane, he ordered Anne to be investigated for high treason and she was sent to the Tower of London.

After being tried on charges of adultery, incest and treason, Anne was found guilty (most likely wrongly) by a jury which included her once fiancee, Henry Percy. The treason charge alludes to alleged plots to kill the King, but also likely the risk to succession that would be created by a Queen having an affair.

Five men were found guilty of adultery. Among them was Anne’s brother, George, hence the charge of incest. All were executed on Tower Hill.

She was beheaded four days later, on 19 May, on Tower Green. In her final speech she did not admit guilt but instead alluded to her innocence and, perhaps to keep her daughter in Henry’s favour, prayed ‘God save the King, and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never.’

3. Jane Seymour

Henry’s love for – or at least infatuation with – Anne may have sparked the Reformation, but Jane is commonly thought to have been his favourite wife. This is most likely because Jane gave him what none of of his other wives could: a son who lived.

Like Anne, Jane had served as a lady-in-waiting to the queen she would replace. They also shared a great-grandmother. As did Henry’s future wife Catherine Howard.

Portrait by Hans Holbein, Kunsthistorisches Museum

Image Credit: Hans Holbein the Younger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Jane was not as highly educated as either of her predecessors. Her peaceful and gentle personality, starkly contrasting with that of her predecessors, reportedly lent itself to peacemaking efforts at court – ironic given the circumstances that surrounded her marriage to Henry.

She married the Tudor King in May 1533, just days after Anne had been beheaded.

Her marriage to Henry was overshadowed by the need to give birth to an heir, with some suggesting that this was a factor in the delay of her coronation.

Jane gave birth to a son in October 1534. He would grow up to be King Edward VI, but she would not live to see this. After developing post-natal complications, she died less than two weeks after his birth, aged 29.

Jane is attributed with reconciling her husband to his first daughter, Mary, during their short marriage. Her connection to her step daughter was such that Mary acted as chief mourner at her funeral.

Jane was the only one of Henry’s wives to be given a queen’s funeral, despite never having had a coronation, and was the wife who Henry chose to be buried with upon his own death in January 1547.

4. Anne of Cleves

Henry’s last three wives are less famous than his first three, a matter not helped by the fact that each shares their name with a predecessor.

Not only this but Henry’s last three marriages were far less dramatic than his first three (though this is certainly relative given that his fifth wife was beheaded). None of these final three marriages resulted in any children.

In the case of Anne of Cleves this last point is hardly surprising given that her marriage with Henry went unconsummated. The King proved far less enamoured with his fourth wife than he had with her predecessors.

Henry married Anne in January 1540, though negotiations for the marriage are believed to have begun shortly after Jane’s death in 1534.

The daughter of the Duke of Cleves and Count of Mark, Anne was considered a politically expedient match by Henry’s advisers. She was only just older than Henry’s oldest child, Mary, and had no formal education.

After marrying Anne in January 1540, Henry had their marriage annulled just six months later, citing its lack of consummation as well as his wife’s previous engagement to another man, Francis, Duke of Barr and later Lorraine. Henry blamed the marriage going unconsummated on Anne’s appearance but this slight didn’t stop the pair later becoming close friends.

Anne’s acceptance of the annulment seemed to win her favour with Henry and she subsequently became an honorary member of his family, known as “the King’s Beloved Sister”. Her generous settlement included Richmond Palace and also the home of Henry’s former in-laws, the Boleyns, Hever Castle.

Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539. Oil and tempera on parchment mounted on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Like Jane, Anne had a good relationship with Henry’s eldest daughter. In 1553 she accompanied her former step daughter to Whitehall, Mary’s new residence as Queen. Anne also reverted back to her former religion, Roman Catholicism, in line with the new Queen.

Anne died in 1557, outliving all of the other five wives and Henry himself. She is the only one of Henry’s queens to be buried in Westminster Abbey.

The political adviser who arranged the marriage did not fare so well, however; Thomas Cromwell was executed on 28 July 1540, the same day that Henry married his next wife.

5. Catherine Howard

Henry’s marriage to Catherine Howard came close to matching the drama of his earlier partnerships – perhaps unsurprising given that his teenage bride was a first cousin of Anne Boleyn.

Catherine’s life had been turbulent even before Henry came on the scene. As one of the many wards of her father’s stepmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, she began at the age of 13 to be involved in repeated sexual contact with her music teacher, Henry Mannox.

Later, Catherine had become embroiled in an extramarital affair with the Dowager’s secretary Francis Dereham.

After the Dowager Duchess found out, Catherine was sent to court to serve as a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves. This position had been secured for her by her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, who saw an opportunity in Henry’s lack of interest in Anne. The King was certainly attracted to Catherine’s youth, looks and vivacity.

The pair were married in 1540. In the spring of the following year, however, Catherine is alleged to have begun an affair with a favoured courtier of Henry’s named Thomas Culpeper. Their meetings were reportedly organised by Jane Boleyn, the widow of Anne Boleyn’s executed brother George.

By autumn, rumours about Catherine’s conduct were abundant and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, learned of her alleged affair with Culpeper, as well as her previous relationship with the Dowager Duchess’s secretary, Dereham.

Cranmer saw this as his chance to reduce the influence of his political rival, the Roman Catholic house of Norfolk. He launched an investigation into Catherine’s alleged affairs and she was detained and questioned in November 1541.

Rather than admitting to the earlier affair and possible precontract with Dereham, which would have allowed for her annulment and banishment, Catherine maintained that the relationship was not consensual.

Charged with high treason, both Culpeper and Dereham were executed in December 1541.

In order to find Catherine guilty of a crime, the Royal Assent by Commission Act 1541 was passed. It became treasonous to fail to disclose premarital sexual relations to the monarch within twenty days of marriage, or to incite a person to engage in adultery as the Queen consort.

Within months, Catherine had gone the same way as her cousin Anne, executed for high treason. On her route by barge to the Tower of London she likely have passed under the impaled heads of her reported lovers, Culpeper and Dereham, on London Bridge.

Catherine was probably about nineteen years old.

Jane Boleyn was also executed and both were buried in unmarked graves at the Tower’s parish chapel alongside Catherine’s cousins, and Jane’s sister-in-law and husband: Anne and George Boleyn.

6. Catherine Parr

Henry’s sixth and final wife – and his third named Catherine – was perhaps his luckiest. She married Henry in July 1543, just four months after Catherine Howard was beheaded, and went on to outlive him – though only by a year.

Catherine Parr had been married twice before, being titled Lady Burgh and then Lady Latimer, and married again around six months after Henry died, making her the most married English queen.

This is not Catherine’s only claim to fame: she was also the first queen of both England and Ireland.

A portrait of Catherine Parr (1512–1548)

Image Credit: National Portrait Gallery, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The third Catherine had begun a romantic relationship with Jane Seymour’s brother, Thomas, when she caught the eye of Henry. But she considered it her duty to marry the King instead.

In 1546, Catherine, who held strong Protestant sympathies, faced a plot to get rid of her by anti-Protestant officials.

These officials tried to turn Henry against Catherine and even drew up a warrant for her arrest. But Catherine outwitted them and successfully reconciled with her husband, avoiding the same fate as her unlucky predecessors.

She also differed from her predecessors being 30 years old, and a scholar. She became the first English queen to write and publish a book under her own name in 1545, with Prayers and Meditations.

When Henry died in 1547, he left provisions of £7,000 a year for Catherine to support herself, and for Catherine to be treated as Queen Dowager, still in possession of her courtly clothes, jewels and such.

Catherine’s final husband was her previous interest and the uncle of the new king, Thomas Seymour. Seymour is reported to have also had interests in the future queen, Lady Elizabeth, who lived with the married couple.

This rumour was included in evidence which resulted in Seymour’s execution in 1549 for treason This came after his wife’s death, for in August 1548, Catherine had given birth to her only child and died several days later from suspected childbed fever.

Arranging her own match in Henry Percy

Long before she became Queen of England, Anne was involved in a scandal regarding another Tudor noble, Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland. While in their early twenties the pair fell in love, and in 1523 were secretly betrothed. Without the consent of Percy’s father or the king, when the news broke their respective families, along with Cardinal Wolsey, were horrified at the lovers’ plan to arrange their own affairs.

Medallion of Henry Percy (Image Credit: CC)

As was often the case for noble marriages, Anne and Henry Percy were already intended to marry other people, whose wealth and status would further their family’s ambitions and settle necessary political disputes. Percy’s father in particular refused to permit the match, believing Anne unworthy of her son’s high status. Ironically, Henry VIII’s own interest in Anne may also have been a reason they did not wed.

Nevertheless, Percy conceded to his father’s commands and left Anne to marry his intended wife Mary Talbot, with whom he would unfortunately share an unhappy marriage. His continued affections may be seen however, in an anecdote from Anne’s trial in which he stood jury. Upon hearing that she was condemned to die, he collapsed and had to be carried from the room.

French influence

Due to her father’s diplomatic career on the continent, Anne spent much of her childhood in the foreign courts of Europe. Chief of these was at the French court of Queen Claude, in which she cultivated an interest in literature, art, and fashion, and became well-versed in the courtly game of love.

Queen Claude of France with various female relatives. Anne spent 7 years at her court. (Image Credit: Public Domain).

Thus upon her return to England in 1522, she presented herself as the perfect female courtier, and quickly drew attention as a stylish and intriguing young woman. Contemporaries revelled in her fashion-forward appearance, while her iconic “B” necklace still intrigues viewers of her portraiture today. 

Anne was an excellent dancer and singer, could play a number of instruments, and engaged people in witty conversation. In her first court pageant, she dazzled in the role of “Perseverance”, a fitting choice in light of her long courtship with the king. Her bright presence at court is summarised by French diplomat Lancelot de Carle, in which he states that in her ‘behaviour, manners, attire and tongue she excelled them all’.

It is not therefore difficult to imagine how such a woman could attract the attention of Henry VIII.

Marriage to the king

Anne sent shockwaves through the court when it was revealed she was to marry Henry VIII. For a king to keep mistresses was a commonality, for him to raise a woman to queenship was unheard of, particularly when a much-loved queen already sat on the throne.

By refusing to become Henry’s mistress as her discarded sister had been, Anne defied convention, cutting out her own path in history. As England was still under the thumb of the papacy, the process of divorce would not be easy, and took 6 years (and some world-altering events) to undertake.

‘Henry’s Reconciliation with Anne Boleyn’ by George Cruikshank, c.1842 (Image Credit: Public Domain).

In the meantime, Anne gained power and prestige. She was granted the Marquessate of Pembroke, elevating her to a status befitting royalty, and in 1532 accompanied the king on a successful trip to Calais to garner the French king’s support of their marriage.

Not all welcomed this marriage however, and Anne soon amassed enemies, particularly those from Catherine of Aragon’s faction. Catherine herself was furious, refusing to accept the divorce, and in a letter to Henry she damningly referred to Anne as ‘the scandal of Christendom and a disgrace to you’. 

The Reformation

Although little can be known about Anne’s true role in furthering the English Reformation, many have insinuated her as a quiet champion of reform. Likely having been influenced by reformers on the continent, she expressed Lutheran sensibilities and influenced Henry to appoint reforming bishops.

She kept versions of the Bible that were prohibited due to their Lutheran content, and gave aid to others who had fallen out of society because of their religious beliefs. Anne is also said to have alerted Henry’s attention to a heretical pamphlet encouraging monarchs to limit the corrupting power of the papacy, perhaps bolstering his belief in his own power.

Evidence of her forward-thinking may also be found in her personal Book of Hours, in which she had written ‘le temps viendra’ meaning ‘the time will come’ alongside an astrolabe, a key symbol of the Renaissance. It would appear that she was waiting for change.

Personality

As aforementioned, there are many reports of the graceful, enamouring version of Anne Boleyn. However, Anne also had a nasty temper and would not relent to speak her mind. Spanish ambassador Eustace Chapuys once reported that, ‘when the Lady wants something, there is no one who dares contradict her, not even the King himself, because when he does not want to do what she wishes, she behaves like someone in a frenzy.’ 

Similarly, upon seeing Henry gift Jane Seymour a locket holding their portraits, she duly ripped it from her neck so hard that she drew blood. With such a fierce temperament, what once attracted the king to her spirit now became intolerable. Her unwillingness to be humiliated or ignored however sees her break the mould of the meek and submissive wife and mother. This attitude would arguably be instilled in her daughter Elizabeth I, who to this day is a symbol of female autonomy and strength.

Trial and execution

Following the miscarriage of a son in 1536, the king’s patience was wearing thin. Whether constructed by his councillors to destroy Anne’s influence, ruminated by a mind obsessed with a male heir and legacy, or whether the allegations were in fact true, Anne went from queen to executed in the space of 3 weeks.

The charges, now widely understood to be false, included adultery with five different men, incest with her brother, and high treason. Upon her arrest and imprisonment in the Tower, she collapsed, demanding to know the whereabouts of her father and brother. Her father would in fact sit on the jury of the other accused men’s trial, and would by default condemn both her and her brother to die.

‘Anne Boleyn’s Execution’ by Jan Luyken, c.1664-1712 (Image Credit: Public Domain).

She was however, reportedly lighthearted the morning of 19 May, when discussing with constable William Kingston the skill of her specially hired swordsman. Declaring, ‘I heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck’, she wrapped her hands around it with laughter.

Eyewitness accounts from the unprecedented execution state that she held herself with courage, delivering a speech that grew in strength as she went on, bringing the audience to tears. She implored that ‘if any person will meddle of my cause, I desire them to judge the best’, effectively declaring her innocence and moving most historians who do ‘meddle’, to believe her.

1. She learned about sex in a promiscuous French court

Anne went to the French court in 1514 as maid of honour to Henry VIII’s sister, Mary, who married Louis XII of France. When Louis died, Anne moved to the court of Queen Claude, wife of the newly-crowned King Francis I. The idea that the French court was sexually charged most likely stems from Francis, who kept an official mistress. Stories of Francis’ amorous exploits have proved tantalising with novels and films sensationalising stories of the French court.

But Anne was in service to Queen Claude, a pious woman who spent much of her time in the Loire Valley away from Francis’ court. Pregnant seven times in eight years, Claude preferred to be in the beautiful Chateau of Blois and Amboise whilst with child.

At court, women were supposed to be modest and chaste to conform to feminine ideals so Anne’s days would have been spent doing well-regarded activities like sewing, embroidery, worship, reading devotional texts, singing, walking, and playing music and games.

The few instances we do know of Anne attending Francis’ court, she attended pageants and banquets which would have been no more immodest than those in the English court.

Mary Tudor and Louis XII of France, from a contemporary manuscript

Image Credit: Pierre Gringoire, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

2. She pursued Henry VIII to steal him from Catherine of Aragon

Evidence from Anne’s own letters when she was 12 tells us she dreamed of being a lady in waiting for Catherine of Aragon. From 1522 Anne realised her childhood dream as records show she sometimes served Catherine. Rather than a young woman bent on pursuing a king, it is more likely that Anne and Catherine were friends.

Stories of Anne acting in a flirtatious manner to catch Henry’s eye at a masque in 1522 (her first appearance at the English court after her return from France) are also exaggerated. It is true that Anne played the character of Perseverance, but ideas of Anne bewitching Henry are unlikely as Anne was set to marry James Butler, 9^th Earl of Ormond – a marriage suggested by Henry.

The first time we have evidence of Anne’s involvement with Henry is in a letter from Henry to Anne in 1526. This letter (one of 17 that survive from Henry to Anne) talks of being struck by the dart of love ‘above a whole year’ but Henry is worried as he is ‘not yet sure whether I shall fail of finding a place in your heart’. Throughout the letter, Henry is ‘beseeching’ Anne ‘to let me know expressly your whole mind as to the love between us two.’ The letter makes it quite clear that it is Henry who is pursuing Anne.

40 years old Catherine of Aragon

Image Credit: Attributed to Joannes Corvus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

3. She had an incestuous relationship with her brother

The one and only source of evidence about Anne having an inappropriate sexual relationship with her brother, George, comes from Eustace Chapuys, Imperial Ambassador to Charles V. Charles was Catharine of Aragon’s nephew so Chapuys was not an impartial observer, and he remarked on how much time George spent with Anne, but that was it. It is this observation that is the only one we have about the siblings’ alleged incest.

We also know that when Anne’s brother returned from diplomatic missions, he visited her first before seeing the king and maybe this raised a few eyebrows. But it is far more reasonable to suggest that Anne and George were simply close.

4. She was a witch

Anne’s association with witchcraft comes from a report by Eustace Chapuys. In January 1536, Chapuys reported to Charles V that Henry was stressed, and had been heard saying he had been seduced into marriage with Anne by “sortilege”. The word sortilege meant divine power, but it could also be used to imply witchcraft and sorcery.

Chapuys interpreted what he heard as Anne bewitching Henry, but Chapuys did not speak English and only heard that Henry was stressed. Reporting a third- or fourth-hand account, plus issues of translation, undoubtedly muddied the story – it was a serious case of Chinese Whispers.

Historians tend to believe that Henry meant sortilege in terms of divination – the idea that Anne had promised him they would have sons because god wanted the marriage so it was divinely blessed. The day Henry had been stressed and allegedly uttered these words Anne had miscarried a baby.

Anne’s association with witchcraft also comes from a contemporary historian Nicholas Sanders born in 1530. Sanders, a devoted Catholic, published a book in 1585 about Tudor England’s split from the Roman Catholic Church, which painted a very hostile portrait of Anne. Sanders said of Anne: “She had a projecting tooth under her upper lip, and on her right hand, six fingers. There was a large wen (wart) under her chin…”. Sanders also picked up on Chapuys’ account of sortilege, painting a picture of witchcraft.

‘The Witches’ by Hans Baldung (cropped)

Image Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

However, given that Henry had chosen Anne to give him a son and heir and was deeply religious, would he really have chosen someone who looked like a witch or who had six fingers when such things were associated with the devil?

There is also the matter of Sanders’ motive. Anne had been a powerful advocate for reform whilst Sanders was a devoted Catholic writing a book about the ‘schism’ of the church – a word implying he saw the Reformation as a negative split.

Finally, if Anne had been accused of witchcraft, we would expect to see it being used by her enemies during her trial as a piece of powerful propaganda – yet it appears nowhere.

5. She gave birth to a deformed fetus

There is no evidence to support this myth. The allegation came from Nicholas Sanders who wrote that Anne gave birth to a ‘shapeless mass of flesh’. Given that Sanders chose to describe what was a tragic miscarriage in 1536 gives us a sense of his brutality towards Anne for writing such a thing. The biological fact is that as the fetus was only 15 weeks old it would not look like a fully-formed baby. No witness or account from the time made a single observation about the child.

1. She was born into a very well connected family

Catherine’s parents – Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper – were part of the extended family of the Duke of Norfolk. Catherine was cousin to Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife, and second cousin to his third wife, Jane Seymour.

Her father, however, was the third son of 21 children in total, and primogeniture meant he was not destined for greatness in his family’s eyes. Catherine’s childhood is relatively obscure: even the spelling of her name is under question.

2. She was brought up in the household of her aunt

Catherine’s aunt, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, had large households at Chesworth House (Sussex) and Norfolk House (Lambeth): she ended up becoming responsible for many wards, often children or dependents of poorer relations, exactly like Catherine.

Whilst this should have been a respectable place for a young woman to grow up, the Dowager Duchess’ household was relatively lax in terms of discipline. Men used to sneak into the girls’ bedrooms at night, and education was far less rigorous than was expected.

3. She had questionable relationships as a teenager

Much has been written about Catherine’s early relationships: most notably with Henry Mannox, her music teacher, and Francis Dereham, her aunt’s secretary.

Catherine’s relationship with Mannox appears to have been relatively short-lived: he pestered her sexually and exploited his position as her music teacher. She had broken off relations by mid 1538. The Duchess knew of at least one of these relationships, and had forbade Catherine and Mannox being left alone together after hearing of gossip.

Francis Dereham, a secretary in the Duchess’ household, was Catherine’s next love interest, and the two were extremely close: the story goes they called each other ‘husband’ and ‘wife’, and many believe they had made promises to marry when Dereham returned from a trip to Ireland.

In both cases, Catherine was a teenager, perhaps as young as 13 when she was involved with Mannox, leading modern historians to reassess her later life in light of what would was potentially an exploitative sexual relationship.

4. She first met Henry through his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves

Catherine went to court as a lady-in-waiting to Henry VIII’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. Anne Boleyn had been Catherine of Aragon’s lady-in-waiting, and Jane Seymour had been Anne Boleyn’s, so the path of pretty young women catching the King’s eye while serving his wife was well-established.

Henry had little interest in his new wife Anne, and his head was quickly turned by the vivacious young Catherine.

5. She was nicknamed ‘The Rose Without a Thorn’

Henry began to court Catherine in earnest in early 1540, showering her with gifts of land, jewels and clothes. The Norfolk family also began to regain stature at court, having fallen from grace along with Anne Boleyn.

Legend has it that Henry called her his ‘rose without a thorn’: we know for certain he described her as the ‘very jewel of womanhood’ and that he claimed to have never known a woman ‘like her’.

By this time, Henry was 49: bloated and in pain from an ulcer on his leg that would not heal, he was far from a man in his prime. Catherine, on the other hand, was around 17.

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, by Hans Holbein the Younger. Norfolk was Catherine’s uncle. Image credit: Royal Collection / CC.

6. She was queen for less than two years

Catherine was little more than a child when she became queen in 1540, and she acted like one: her primary interests appear to have been fashion and music, and she did not seem to understand the high stakes politics of Henry’s court.

Henry married Catherine in July 1540, just 3 weeks after the annulment of his marriage from Anne of Cleves.

She quarrelled with her new step-daughter Mary (who was in fact 7 years older than her), brought her friends from the Dowager Duchess’ household to court to wait on her, and even went as far as to employ her former lover, Francis Dereham as a Gentleman Usher in her court.

7. Life as queen lost its shine

Being Queen of England was less fun than it sounded for the teenage Catherine. Henry was bad tempered and in pain, and the allure of his favourite, Thomas Culpeper, was too much for Catherine to resist. The two became close in 1541: they began meeting in private and exchanging notes.

The true nature of their relationship is unclear: some claim it was merely a close friendship, and that Catherine knew all too well the danger of adultery following the execution of her cousin Anne Boleyn. Others have argued Culpeper wanted political leverage, and a place as one of Catherine’s favourites would serve him well should anything befall the king.

Either way: the two were close, and they had a romantic history – Catherine had considered marrying Culpeper when she first came to court as a lady-in-waiting.

8. Her old friends were the ones to betray her

Mary Lascelles, one of Catherine’s friends from her time at the Dowager Duchess’ household, told her brother of Catherine’s ‘light’ (promiscuous) behaviour as a girl: he in turn passed the information on to Archbishop Cranmer, who, after further investigation, reported it to the King.

Henry received Cranmer’s letter on 1 November 1541, and he promptly ordered Catherine to be locked in her rooms. He never saw her again. Her ghost is still said to haunt the corridor at Hampton Court she ran down screaming for the King, in a desperate attempt to persuade him of her innocence.

A drawing of the so called Haunted Gallery at Hampton Court Palace. Image credit: Public Domain.

9. Henry showed no mercy

Catherine denied that there had ever been a pre-contract (a kind of formal, binding engagement) between her and Francis Dereham, and she claimed he raped her rather than it being a consensual relationship. She also steadfastly denied accusations of adultery with Thomas Culpeper.

Despite this, Culpeper and Dereham were executed at Tyburn on 10 December 1541, with their heads later displayed on spikes at Tower Bridge.

10. She died with dignity

The Royal Assent by Commission Act 1541 forbade a queen to not disclose her sexual history prior to marriage with the king within 20 days of their marriage, as well as prohibited the ‘incitement of adultery’ and Catherine was found guilty of treason on these charges. The punishment was execution.

At this point, Catherine was 18 or 19, and it is said she met the news of her impending death with hysteria. However, she had composed herself by the time of execution, giving a speech in which she asked for prayers for her soul and for her family, and described her punishment as ‘worthy and just’ given her betrayal of the king.

Her words cannot be taken as an admission of guilt: many used their last words to help their friends and family avoid the worst of the king’s wrath. She was executed with a single stroke of the sword on 13 February 1542.

She and her own political convictions played a powerful role in England’s separation from Rome, and her delicate playing of Henry during his courtship was masterly. These characteristics made her irresistible to Henry as a mistress, but once they were married and she failed to bear him a son, her days were numbered.

A 16th century portrait of Anne Boleyn, based on a more contemporary portrait which no longer exists. Image credit: National Portrait Gallery / CC.

Anne’s Early Life

Anne’s date of birth is a matter of much conjecture amongst scholars, but took place in either 1501 or 1507. Her family were of good aristocratic pedigree, and this – combined with a precocious charm – helped her win places at some of Europe’s most extravagant courts.

Her father Thomas Boleyn was a diplomat in King Henry’s service, and was admired by Margaret of Austria, ruler of the Netherlands and daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Margaret offered his daughter a place in her household, and though she was not yet twelve Anne came to know the structures of dynastic power early on, as well as the rules of courtly love.

Though her formal education was fairly limited, the court was an easy place to pick up interests in literature, poetry, art and heavy religious philosophy, especially after she entered the service of Margaret’s step-daughter Queen Claude of France, whom she would stay with for seven years.

It was there in the French court that she really blossomed, attracting the eye of many suitors and vastly improving her ability to understand and navigate the male-dominated world that she lived in.

In Paris its also likely that she fell under the influence of the King of France’s sister, Marguerite of Navarre, who was a famous patron of humanists and church reformers.

Protected by her status as the King’s sister, Marguerite herself also wrote anti-papal tracts that would have landed anyone else in an Inquisitorial jail. It is likely that these remarkable influences played a major role in shaping Anne’s personal convictions, and then those of her future husband in splitting with Rome.

A 19th century illustration of Marguerite of Navarre. Image credit: Public Domain.

Romance with Henry VIII

In January 1522 Anne was recalled to England to marry her land-owning Irish cousin, the Earl of Ormonde, James Butler. By now she was considered an attractive and desirable match, and contemporary descriptions of her focus on her olive skin, long dark hair and slim elegant figure which made her a fine dancer.

Luckily for her (or perhaps unluckily in retrospect) the marriage to the unimpressive Butler fell through, just as the Boleyn family came to King Henry’s attention.

Anne’s older sister Mary – already famous for her affairs with the King of France and his courtiers – had become the King’s mistress, and as a result the younger Boleyn made her first appearance at the English Court in March.

With her French clothes, education and sophistication, she stood out from the crowd and was quickly one of the most coveted women in England. One of her many suitors was Henry Percy, the powerful future Earl of Northumberland, who she secretly agreed to marry until his father banned the union.

All accounts of the time suggest that Anne reveled in all the attention that she was receiving, and was extremely good at attracting and sustaining it with wit and vivacity.

By 1526 the King himself – bored with his first wife Catherine of Aragon, was growing besotted with Anne, having long since dispensed with her sister.

Anne was both ambitious and canny, and knew that if she succumbed quickly to the King’s advances then she would get the same treatment as Mary, and therefore refused to sleep with him and even left the court whenever he started being a bit too forward.

These tactics seemed to work, for Henry proposed to her within a year, despite still being married to Catherine. Enamoured though he definitely was, there was also a more political aspect to this pursuit.

A portrait of Henry VIII by Holbein thought to be from around 1536 (the year in which Anne was executed). Image credit: Public Domain.

With half a mind cast back to the problems of succession that had plagued the previous century, Henry was also desperate for a son, something that the now ageing Catherine seemed unlikely to give him.

For this reason, he was even more desperate to marry Anne and consummate their union – assuring her that he would be able to secure a divorce from the Pope with ease. Unfortunately for Henry, however, the Pope was now a prisoner and virtual hostage of the Holy Roman Emperor, a man who happened to be Catherine’s nephew.

Unsurprisingly, the request for annulment was refused, and the King began to consider taking more drastic action. In this he was encouraged by Anne, who – remembering her time with Marguerite, showed him anti-Papal books and added her own support behind a split with Rome.

The process took a long time – and was not completed until 1532, but by this time Katherine had been banished and her younger rival was in the ascendancy.

Even before they were formally married in November of that year, Anne was a huge influence on Henry and his policy-making. Numerous foreign ambassadors commented on the importance of winning her approval, and her links with Ireland and France helped the King smooth over his sensational break with Rome.

Queen of England

Anne was crowned Queen in June 1533, and her visible pregnancy delighted the King, who convinced himself that the child would be a boy.

The new Queen had an important political role to play too, as the Pope’s policy and statements towards Henry grew nastier and the religious outlook of the nation began to change rapidly in response. The child, meanwhile, was born premature in September, and disappointed everyone by being a girl – Elizabeth.

The Princess Elizabeth as a young teenager. Image credit: RCT / CC.

The jousting tournament organised to celebrate the birth was then quickly cancelled. This dampened Henry’s enthusiasm for his new wife, and by the end of 1534 he was already talking about replacing her.

Her desire to get involved politically was beginning to irritate him, and a final miscarriage in January 1536 – which she claimed was due to worry after the King was unhorsed and injured in a joust – sealed her fate.

By this time the King’s perpetually wandering eye had turned to the plainer but more submissive Jane Seymour, and he enraged Anne by frequently opening a locket containing her picture, even when they were together.

To make matters worse for herself, the Queen was also quarrelling with Henry’s favourite Thomas Cromwell over church land distribution, and together the King and Cromwell began to plot her downfall over that Spring.

In April a musician in Anne’s service was arrested and tortured until he confessed to adultery with her, and a series of other arrests of supposed lovers continued into May, including her brother George – who was charged with incest.

As sex with the Queen could damage the line of succession, it was considered high treason and punishable by death, both for Anne and her supposed lovers.

Beheading

On the 2nd May the Queen herself was arrested, and being understandable bemused, wrote a long, loving letter to Henry pleading for her release. She received no response.

She was predictably found guilty at her trail, and her old flame Henry Percy – who was on the jury – collapsed when the verdict was passed.

Henry’s last act of dubious kindness towards his now ex-wife was securing a professional swordsman from France to perform the execution, which she is said to have met with great courage, in an extraordinary end for an extraordinary woman.

But by the time he died in 1547, the athletic boy whose cloth and hair was spun with gold had become an obese, temperamental monster. His reputation was that of a brute whose hands were soaked with the blood of the executions he ordered.

Below are some key moments in Henry’s reign that mark the king’s descent into a paranoid, megalomaniac.

The road to Rome

Henry will be forever remembered for his marriages. Six, by far the most of any English king. He sought glory and immortality. His awareness of his dynasty and legacy grew more and more pronounced as he grew older.

In 1509, Henry married his first wife Catherine of Aragon, who was the widow of his older brother Arthur. While they had a lengthy marriage by Henry’s later standards, Catherine had tremendous difficulty bearing children. She went through the trauma of having six pregnancies, but only one child – Mary – survived into adulthood.

Catherine had not borne the male heir that Henry believed would secure his dynasty. The Tudors had only won the crown in 1485 after 30 years of political instability during the Wars of the Roses. Henry became plagued with doubts that marrying his elder brother’s wife had damned him before God.

Convinced that his marriage was unlawful and driven by lust towards one of Catherine’s ladies in waiting, the stylish courtier Anne Boleyn – Henry sought an annulment. He asked Pope Clement VII for this in 1527, and he fully expected the Pope to agree. Henry’s sister, Margaret, had just had her marriage annulled by the Pope in March of that same year.

But, in May, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V had captured Rome and held the Pope as a prisoner. Charles was Catherine’s nephew. At exactly the moment Henry asked for an annulment, Catherine’s relative held the Pope as a prisoner.

Henry came to realise that if the papacy wouldn’t bend to his wishes, he would have to break with Rome itself and establish his own church. What happened next would alter the course of British history forever.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, possibly by Titian. Image credit: Royal Collection / CC.

The English Reformation

Beginning in 1529, Henry upended England’s religion through the English Reformation. No longer would he bow his head to the Pope in Rome. He embraced a faith in which there was no international church and the divinely appointed sovereign was a kingdom’s link between man and God.

Henry ordered the dissolution of the monasteries: religious establishments that were powerhouses of prayer for the dead, and controlled huge wealth and tracts of land. Between 1536 and 1540 over 800 abbeys, nunneries and monasteries were ruthlessly dissolved. Cromwell’s inspectors produced evidence of ‘manifest sin, vicious carnal and abominable sin’. Their riches and lands were seized, roofs stripped of lead, monks and nuns turned out and pensioned off.

It was around this time, in the late 1530s, that the handsome, musical, intelligent, man who succeeded the throne grew vicious, capricious, and unpredictable.

Some have blamed this on a serious jousting accident in January 1536. He was thrown from his horse and was crushed by it. Studies have also concluded that it caused a brain injury that may have led to his erratic behaviour. 

Henry’s blood-soaked hands

Henry wrought a revolution, but was vision for the future faced resistance. Rebellions, plots, foreign invasions came to dominate the king’s thinking. Ever more convinced that he was the sole true interpreter of divine will, Henry’s megalomania – and paranoia – grew. He became a tyrant.

While he had got his way and married Anne Boleyn in 1533, her failure to give birth to a male heir and increasing strife with the King led to her downfall. In 1536, with Henry seeking a way out of the unhappy marriage, she was tried for treason and adultery and beheaded.

By August 1540, Henry had married for the fifth time to Catherine Howard. His third wife, Jane Seymour, had died from complications in childbirth, while his marriage to Anne of Cleves was unconsummated and annulled after just six months. But Henry’s fifth marriage lasted just two years before Catherine Howard met the same fate as Anne Boleyn and was executed for treason.

Henry was just as unsparing with his enemies. Chancellors and Chief Minsters found themselves at the executioners’ block when they fell out of favour.

Thomas More, who had served as Lord High Chancellor, opposed the Reformation, and refused to acknowledge the annulment of Catherine’s of Aragon’s marriage. In July 1535 he was beheaded.

In 1537, Henry had mercilessly executed the leaders of the ‘Pilgrimage of Grace’, an uprising about the King’s religious reformation. The removal of the monasteries had suddenly altered the religious life of many communities and stripped them of a source of employment and welfare.

In 1539, the Act of Proclamations attempted to bolster his royal power. From now on he could rule by decree, his personal edicts having equal force to acts of Parliament.

Thomas Cromwell, one of More’s opponents and an architect of the Reformation also fell out of favour and was decapitated five years later. While Henry later regretted Cromwell’s execution, he still sanctioned it, without trial, on 28 July 1540 – the same day he married Catherine Howard.

Thomas Cromwell by Hans Holbein. Image credit: The Frick Collection / CC.

Terror and poverty

Treason had already been extended to punish those uttering disloyal words. Many would die horribly as a result. Laws were also passed against witchcraft and sodomy, which led to hundreds of innocent people being persecuted over the next two hundred years.

Late in his reign, his lavish lifestyle, the epic corruption of the selling off of church lands, and his aggressive foreign policy had brought his kingdom to the point of bankruptcy. He fraudulently replaced gold coins with copper ones in The Great Debasement in his final years.

By the day of Henry’s death in January 1547, some of those watching his mute, terrified grab at Archbishop Thomas Cranmer’s hand must have been relieved their corpulent king was breathing his last.

1. We don’t know exactly when she was born  

Anne was born at the Boleyn family home of Blicking, Norfolk, but the precise year of her birth remains unknown thanks to gaps in parish records. Historians estimate it was somewhere between 1501 and 1507, making her somewhere between the ages of 29 and 35 when she died.  

Anne and her two siblings, George and Mary, grew up at Hever Castle in Kent. The Boleyn family was a well-established favourite at Henry VIII’s court, and Anne had the most noble ancestry of all of Henry’s English-born wives.  

Hever Castle. (Image credit: Public Domain).

2. She spent most of her childhood abroad 

As befitting a woman of her status, Anne received a comprehensive education in everything she was perceived to need to know: arithmetic, writing, reading, history, dancing, music, embroidery, hunting and riding amongst other skills.

By 1513, she had joined the court of Margaret of Austria, and in 1514, her father arranged for her to be a maid-of-honour to the new French queen, Mary – the youngest sister of Henry VIII, and later the court of Queen Claude. 

By the time she was summoned back to England in 1522, Anne had learnt the ways of the elegant, cultured French court, and her glamorous, exotic style and mannerisms set her apart from many of her contemporaries.  

3. Her family were embroiled in the politics of the Tudor court 

Anne’s uncle was the Duke of Norfolk, one of the great nobles of the land. Her uncle and father were both Knights of the Garter and able soldiers. In 1522, Norfolk was made Lord Treasurer, and the family had ambitions.

Mary Boleyn, Anne’s sister, was Henry VIII’s mistress from around 1520, and there were even rumours that her mother, Elizabeth Howard, had shared Henry’s bed too. Having the ear of the king was important for family advancement, and the Boleyns had no qualms about using their daughters to advance their prospects.  

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk by Hans Holbein the Younger, c.1539. (Image credit: Royal Collection / Public Domain).

4. Anne had no shortage of suitors

Anne was summoned back to England in 1522 primarily because her family had arranged for her to marry James Butler, Earl of Ormond. This marriage was political: it was organised by Henry VIII himself in an attempt to solve disputes between the Boleyns and the Butlers about the earldom. The marriage fell through, and Anne became a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine instead.

Anne was also secretly betrothed to Henry Percy, the son of the Earl of Northumberland – one of the most powerful nobles in England. The marriage would have been hugely advantageous for Anne, but Henry was already betrothed to Mary Talbot, an heiress of much more suitable status.

The young couple were found out by Thomas Wolsey, and with no support from their families, the match was forbidden. Anne was banished back to her family’s estates in Kent.

5. She had a powerful charm  

Contemporaries were divided on whether Anne could be considered beautiful, but she was certainly striking and elegant: tall, dark and sophisticated, with all the charm of a young woman raised in the French court. She was accomplished, witty and strong-willed, and the court was taken with her. 

Legends arose that Anne had six fingers and/or a large welt on her throat, both signs of her consorting with the devil according to popular superstitions. There remains no evidence that either of these things were the case: most likely they were invented by Catholic polemicists long after Anne’s death.  

Anne Boleyn, probably based on a contemporary portrait. (Image credit: CC / Public Domain).

6. She really did play a major role in Henry’s break with Rome  

Henry could not get the Pope to agree to an annulment from his wife, Catherine of Aragon – mainly due to political pressures. Catherine was the aunt of the Holy Roman Emperor, one of the most powerful men in Europe: he would not take the insult of an annulment lightly. Catherine, as a devout Catholic, also was sure that their marriage was valid and legitimate: suggestions otherwise were simply wrong in her eyes.  

As it became increasingly clear the Catholic Church would not grant Henry an annulment, Anne is believed to have encouraged Henry towards supposedly heretical literature. Certainly, it seems Anne was exposed to ideas around religious reform during her time in France, and had an interest in Martin Luther’s condemnation of the excesses of the Catholic Church.  

Anne also told Henry she would not sleep with him until they were married: a powerful combination of lust, desire for living male heirs and Henry’s supposed ‘scruple of conscience’ lead to Henry demanding the clergy and Parliament agree to the 1534 Act of Supremacy and the Treasons Act. Both of these acts helped cement the authority of the Church of England, and allowed Anne to finally step into the role of Queen of England.  

7. Anne promised Henry an heir  

Henry was desperate for a son and heir. His first wife Catherine had only had one child who survived past infancy, the Princess Mary – although she had given birth to several other children who died within a year of their birth. By the late 1520s it had become apparent Catherine would not have any more children.  

Part of Anne’s allure was that she was considerably younger than the then Queen Catherine, and both the Howard and Boleyn families were known to be fertile. Anne told Henry she could give him a son (something she probably fully believed), and her role would only be cemented once she had done.  

Princess Elizabeth attributed to Williams Scrots. (Image credit: CC / RCT).

Anne became pregnant very quickly, and was pregnant when they married and when she was crowned: she then gave birth to a girl, the Princess Elizabeth. Whilst Anne did become pregnant at least twice more, she either had stillbirths or miscarriages: the historian J.E. Neale argues that in January 1536, Anne ‘miscarried of her saviour’ as her marriage became increasingly tense.   

8. She was never popular in her lifetime  

Whilst Anne may have had a good deal of personal charm, she was not much liked by the wider population. Her predecessor, Queen Catherine, had won the hearts of the people, and Anne was very much seen as a usurper: she had several run-ins with mobs of angry women, and her coronation was not met with the jubilation and celebration normally expected.  

Anne’s inability to produce the longed for son and heir further hurt her reputation, as did Henry’s increasingly tyrannical behaviour following the break with Rome. These may have not been Anne’s fault, but for an already unpopular queen, they eventually proved fatal.  

9. Anne’s allure eventually became her downfall  

Everything that attracted Henry to Anne – her strong will, sex appeal, and potential fertility – eventually became her downfall.

She failed to give him an all important son, and her fiery temper and strong will were much more desirable qualities in a mistress than in a recipe for domestic bliss. Anne was jealous (she reportedly ripped a locket Henry had given Jane Seymour from her neck hard enough to draw blood) and her lack of popularity at court meant she had few allies to turn to.  

Jane Seymour by the Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger. (Image credit: CC / Public Domain).

Anne’s relationship with Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s Chief Minister, had considerably soured by 1536. Many historians view him to be instrumental in engineering trumped-up charges against Anne in order to rid Henry of Anne and allow him to marry again.  

Between late April and early May 1536, seven men were arrested and questioned about their relationship with the Queen: Mark Smeaton, Sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, Sir William Brereton, Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sir Richard Page and George Boleyn, Anne’s brother. Wyatt and Page were later released and acquitted.  

Anne was arrested on 2 May 1536 and taken to the Tower. On 15 May 1536, Anne and her brother George were tried on charges of high treason, adultery and incest in front of a jury of 27 of their peers. They were found unanimously guilty and sentenced to death.  

10. A noble death? 

Historians are divided on how Henry truly felt about Anne’s execution: he arranged at great expense for a French swordsman to come from Calais to behead Anne – traditionally death by sword was more honourable and less likely to be botched.

However, he also was betrothed to Jane Seymour the day after her execution, marrying her a mere 2 weeks later. Quite what this says about Henry’s feelings towards the woman he had just had tried on five counts of treason, including incest with her own brother, and who he had pursued for nearly ten years, is hard to tell.  

Anne maintained her innocence throughout proceedings, and reiterated it on the scaffold, whilst also commending Henry as ‘a good, a gentle and sovereign lord’. She was buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St Peter Ad Vincula within the grounds of the Tower.  

The execution of Anne Boleyn by Bilder Saals, 1695. (Image credit: CC / Public Domain).