The name of the King of England, Henry VIII Tudor, is most often associated not with state achievements, but with his six wives. Behind each of the monarch's spouses were certain political forces, which forced Henry to make sometimes fatal decisions that change the course of history. However, one of the king's main priorities in life was the birth of an heir to the English throne.
For the first time, Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon, daughter of the Spanish king Ferdinand of Aragon and his wife Isabella of Castile. For 24 years of marriage, Catherine gave birth to six children, but only her daughter Maria survived. Henry blamed his wife for the inability to give birth to a son who would become the rightful heir to the Tudor dynasty.
Gradually, a chill arose between the spouses, the king stopped sharing a bed with his wife and spent time with numerous mistresses, and the queen was more and more interested in deeds of piety. Another favorite of the king, the maid of honor of Catherine Anne Boleyn, did not want to put up with the position of a mistress and openly claimed the title of queen. Henry was so fascinated by the young beauty that he saw her in the role of his wife and expected her to give England an heir to the throne.
But in order to marry Anna, it was necessary first to divorce Catherine, who stubbornly refused to consent and defended her rights with all her might. Then Henry VIII initiated the recognition of the marriage with Catherine of Aragon as invalid and sent a corresponding petition to the Pope, but was refused. The consequences turned out to be more than serious: the monarch arbitrarily married Anna, broke off relations with the papacy and proclaimed himself the head of the Church of England.
In a marriage with Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII had a daughter, Elizabeth, the rest of his wife's pregnancies ended in miscarriages. Once again, the monarch suffered great disappointment in the wife's ability to give birth to a male heir. The king's passion for Anna was replaced by irritation. In addition, the young queen behaved quite defiantly and made many enemies who were happy to help Henry get rid of her. Anne Boleyn was accused of high treason and adultery to the king, indicatively convicted and beheaded.
Shortly after the execution of the Queen, Henry VIII married Lady Jane Seymour. She gave birth to a long-awaited son - the future King Edward VI. However, this marriage did not bring Heinrich happiness: a few days after giving birth, his beloved wife died of childbirth fever. The prince grew up sickly and weak, which made the king think again about marriage and the birth of an heir.
Henry VIII sent matchmakers to all European royal houses, but received constant refusals: potential brides were openly afraid of him, the fate of previous queens was too unenviable. Still, Henry VIII married for the fourth time. Anna Klevskaya, the sister of one of the most influential rulers of Germany, became the new wife.
This marriage was more a political and religious union than a family one. Anna and Heinrich, having met in absentia from the images in the portraits, did not like each other at all in person. Marital relations between them did not arise, so there was no talk of having children. A few months after the wedding, the alliance with the Duke of Cleves became irrelevant, and the marriage contract was canceled.
It is worth noting that the fate of Anna of Cleves was more successful than that of the other wives of Henry VIII. She remained in England as the "beloved sister of the king", took possession of the castles of Richmond and Hever, had a decent income and was very happy with her life.
With his fifth wife, young Catherine Howard, Henry VIII pinned the hopes of giving birth to another son, since Prince Edward was in poor health, which made the position of the Tudor dynasty rather precarious. The queen was kind, simple-minded, but at the same time very licentious and did not share the king's desire to give birth to an heir as soon as possible. In addition, she was unfaithful to her husband. Catherine Howard suffered the same fate as Anne Boleyn - her head was cut off for treason.
Finally, the sixth wife of Henry VIII was one of the court ladies, Catherine Parr. The monarch no longer harbored illusions about the birth of sons and wanted only peace in family life and consolation in old age. The new queen tried to surround her spouse with warmth and create comfort, was friends with his children, was the king's faithful and devoted wife until his death.
Henry VIII devoted his entire life to leaving behind a worthy heir to the English throne. However, he did not even suspect that he nevertheless presented the state with one of the greatest monarchs in history - Queen Elizabeth I, whose reign is rightfully called the "golden age of England".
