Henry VIII

Key facts

• King 1509–1547; married six times.
• Broke from the Church of Rome, creating the Church of England.
• Catherine of Aragon (Spanish; mother of Mary I) — divorced.
• Anne Boleyn (English; mother of Elizabeth I) — executed at the Tower of London.
• Jane Seymour — gave Henry his son Edward, died shortly after the birth.
• Anne of Cleves (German) — married for political reasons, divorced soon after.
• Catherine Howard — executed.
• Catherine Parr — a widow who married Henry late in life and survived him.