Why Did Henry Viii Had Six Wives English Literature Essay

King Henry VIII, belonged to the Tudor family and was the ruler of England during the sixteenth-century. He was looking for a wife that could provide him a son to succeed him and that could make him companionship. Once King Henry VIII finally found the one that provided him a son to succeed him, he was afraid that his son wouldn’t survive his adulthood, and so kept searching, marrying a total of six wives.

King Henry VIII can sometimes be compared with Shakespeare. He wrote love poems, liked arms and armor, enjoyed physical activities, loved to dance, and he was more interested in woman than in kingship(Jokinen). King Henry was not an ogre king although he beheaded two go his wives, divorced the others and rejected another in one of the most humiliating ways possible(Unknown Author). He had a really quite amazing personality; his intelligence, learning and curiosity impressed everyone. Despite how Henry was with his wives he was still a good man and he can be one the best rulers of all time.

King Henry’s first wife was Catherine of Aragon. She gave him a daughter, who later became Queen Mary I. Queen Mary I is also known as “Bloody Mary” because she executed everyone in her reign. When King Henry was still married to Catherine he fell deeply in love with Anne Boleyn which later became an obsession that caused a divorce. The Catholic Church and the Pope couldn’t allow this divorce to happen. Since he had to obey what the Catholic Church said he later separated and created the Anglican Church. King Henry was the leader of this church which permitted him to divorce. He later married Anne Boleyn and she was soon pregnant. Anne Boleyn was aware that if she couldn’t provide him a male heir that she would receive consequences. She knew that he life was in danger if she couldn’t give him a son. Anne had two children none of the were male, the king said that this was witch craft and sent her to be executed because of adultery, incest and high treason.

After the execution he married 10 days later to Queen Jane Seymour, his third wife. Queen Jane succeed of giving him a male heir but she had some problems during pregnancy that made him think that his son would not survive adulthood. Jane, after having King Edward VI, died of an infection days later. After all of this Henry wished to marry again to secure his succession, he soon married Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife. The King was not attracted to her at all; he didn’t feel a thing for her. There are some stories that one reason for his marriage with her was because of her body odor. Shortly there was another divorce. King henry’s advisor, Thomas Cromwell was later beheaded, because he had failed in all the suggested marriages that he made to the king. On the same day that Cromwell was killed, King Henry married Catherine Howard, his fifth wife. She was Anne Boleyn’s first cousin. This marriage didn’t last for long. King Henry, was not a young man anymore and he couldn’t handle a young wife. Queen Catherine was having an affair with Dereham the court found out and started. A few days later, after court and some investigations Catherine, Dereham, which revealed that Catherine had also a relationship with Culpepper were executed including Culpepper. King henry last wife and sixth was Queen Katherine Parr. She was a well educated woman, an excellent writer, had solid moral fiber. Katherine was the queen to outlast the intrigues of court, the bad temper of the king, and the general rigors of court life. She was the one of the sweets queens, sweet-tempered, kind person and of the Kings children loved her.

After marring three wives King Henry finally had a male heir. When he died of obesity his son Edward VI succeed him when he was only 9 years old. Unfortunelty, King Edward did not live very long. King Henry feared that this would have happened that’s why he continued marrying three more wives after having a son. When King Edward died he was succeeded by Queen Mary I, known as Bloody Mary. When Queen Mary died of ovarian cancer, Elizabeth succeed her.

Work cited

Smith, Harold L. “The Six Wives Of Henry VIII.” Magill’s Book Reviews (1992): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 25 Oct. 2012.

Rosenblum, Joseph. “The Wives Of Henry VIII.” Magill’s Book Reviews (1992): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 25 Oct. 2012.

Nash, Michael L. “Literary Supplement: Six Tudor Queens.” Contemporary Review 263.1530 (1993): 48. Literary Reference Center. Web. 25 Oct. 2012.

Jokinen, Anniina. “The Six Wives of King Henry VIII.” Luminarium.

        16 Oct 2006.Web. 7 Nov. 2012.

<http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/sixwives.htm>

 Unknown Author. “King Henry VIII: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources.” King Henry VIII: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2012.

<http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/henry8.html>. (unknown)