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Henry Tudor was born on June 28, 1491 to Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. The couple also had an older son, Arthur and a daughter, Mary. Arthur was destined to be king and Henry was supposed to grow with to be a high church official. His younger education was all about theology, but he also learned Latin and French . Henry was a tall, healthy, strong boy who had red gold hair. He was considered handsome and talented. Henry could play many different instruments and composed many of his own songs.
When Arthur was 15 he married Catherine of Aragon from Spain. However a few months later, Arthur was dead and Henry was next in line to become king. Catherine was now a widow and the current king, Henry VII, wanted to keep her dowry and schemed to keep her in England. He decided to betroth his son Henry VIII to Catherine in 1503 but the king made the young prince protest the marriage and it was cancelled. When Henry VII finally died in 1509, Henry VIII was king and free to do what he pleased. One of his first decisions was to go forward with the marriage to Catherine. They married on June 11, 1509 and shared to same coronation of June 23. The marriage was happy and they seemed to genuinely love and respect each other for many years.
Henry brightened the dull court of his father and the court attracted acrobats, poets, musicians, He loved dancing, holding banquets, tournaments, masques, and participating in many sports. He was good at all sports—hunting, archery, tennis, jousting. Ambassadors from all countries flocked to the English court. Catherine was older and more mature but she good naturedly dealt with his energy.
Although Henry has a “licentious reputation, Henry VIII was really a 16th century sexual prude”—he rarely had mistresses and the ones he wanted he ended up marrying. Henry had two known mistresses while he was married to Catherine and they were married over twenty years. The ladies were Bessie Blount, who had Henry’s bastard son, Henry Fiztroy, and Mary Boleyn—the sister of his next wife. Henry was obessed with producing male heirs. Catherine and Henry had four miscarriages then finally Catherine bore a daughter, Mary. She had a few more miscarriages until finally she was too old to conceive again. Henry desperately needed a male heir and one of Catherine’s ladies in waiting caught his attention, Anne Boleyn. Anne refused to become Henry’s mistress and it turned into "Queen or nothing!".
It's possible Henry wa thinking about getting a divorce with CAtherine as early as 1518. Henry looked to God as to why Catherine and him had not had any sons. He found the answer in the Bible, Leviticus XX:'If a man shall take his brother's wife: it is an unlcean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.'In Henry's mind a girl was as good as childless.
Henry asked the Pope for an annulment but the Pope forbade it because "he was beholden to Catherine's nephew, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. Henry was convinced his marriage with Catherine had never been a real marriage at all. Catherine matained that the marriage to Arthur had never been consummated. That is probably the truth. Arthur was weak and sickly even at his wedding. Anne Boleyn finally gave into Henry's affections in 1553 and became pregnant. Henry was now determined to get a divorce from Catherine and quickly marry Anne before the baby was born. "The break from Rome was accomplished through law, not social outcry; Henry, as Supreme Head of the Chruch of England, acknowledged this by slight alterations in worship ritual instead of a wholesale reworking." Henry then granted himself a divorce from catherine.
Henry married Anne Boleyn and she gave birth to a girl, Elizabeth. He was disappointed and still didn't have a son. Anne was given a grand coronation but the people of England didn't like her and booed as she rode by to the coronation.Anne had a miscarriage and Henry had grown tired of her temper and famous bad temper. A young lady named Jane Seymour had caught Henry's eye. She was sweet and a great deal different than Anne.
After the miscarriage, Anne was arrested and accused of sleeping with many different men. Anne was beheaded. Later that month Henry and Jane were married. Henry adored Jane and when she became pregnant lavished her with everything she could wish. Jane gave birth to a son, Edward. She went to his coronation and died two weeks later from an infection.
Henry genuinly mourned Jane's death and in the end she is the only wife Henry had to be buried with him. He did finally have the son he had waiting so long for. Henry did not marry until a couple years later.
This time Henry married for foreign advantages. He sent a painter, Hans Holbein, around to different courts to paint portraits ofladies. Henry decided on Anne of Cleves by the beautiful portrait Holbien had sent of her. However, when she finally came Henry was appaled by her.