Who were all king henerys wives?

Answer 1

The six wives of Henry VIII (1491 - 1547):

First wife - Catherine of Aragon

The Spanish princess, who had previously been married to Henry's brother Arthur, Catherine of Aragon (1485 - 1536), was unable to provide Henry with a male heir; which he desperately wanted, despite six pregnancies and only one living daughter (Mary). After Henry became enamoured of Anne Boleyn, he decided to divorce Catherine in 1533 and eventually had their marriage annulled. Her health went into decline and she died on 7 January 1536.

Second wife - Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn (c1501-07 - 1536), who displaced Catherine of Aragon in Henry's affections, had also been unfortunate enough not be able to provide Henry VIII with a male heir, and was executed on trumped up charges of adultery, incest, witchcraft - all treasonable offences. She was beheaded by an expert French swordsman, ordered by Henry as a more merciful death, on 19 May 1536. Ironically her triumph was that she was the mother of a great monarch, Elizabeth I.

Third wife - Jane Seymour

Jane Seymour (b.1504-09) the third wife of Henry VIII, betrothed to Henry the day after Anne Boleyn's execution, died on 24 October 1537, twelve days after giving birth (probably from puerperal fever) to Henry's only legitimate son, Edward, later Edward VI (1537 - 1553). It was with Jane that a dying Henry asked to be buried. They are interred together in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Fourth wife - Anne of Cleves

After the death of his third wife, Jane Seymour, Henry VIII (1491 - 1547) was eventually persuaded to marry again, but this fourth wife, Anne of Cleves (1515 - 1557) was chosen via a portrait Henry had commissioned from Hans Holbein. When he saw her in the flesh, on New Year's Day 1540, he was extremely unhappy with her appearance (apparently he called her "the Flanders Mare"). Although he went ahead and married Anne on 6 January 1540, Henry refused to consummate the marriage, so eventually this was annulled on 9 July 1540. But at least Anne of Cleves was "paid off" and did not lose her head. She received a generous divorce settlement and remained on good terms with the king. Anne died in 1557, with declining health.

Fifth wife - Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard (c1520 - 1542) was much younger than Henry VIII (1491 - 1547). They married on 28 July 1540. She made the treasonable mistake of having an affair with a cousin of her mother's, Thomas Culpepper. When King Henry was given the details of her adultery, he is said to have cried, as he had always thought of Catherine as his "rose without a thorn". Catherine (a cousin of Anne Boleyn's) was beheaded on 13 February 1542, having asked for the block to be brought to her the night before, so that she could practice placing her head upon it.

Sixth wife - Katherine Parr

Henry's last wife, Katherine Parr (b. c1512), had already been widowed twice, when she married Henry on 12 July 1543. She was a very sensible and intellectual lady, and outlived Henry, as he died on 28 January 1547. Katherine married again, after Henry's death, to Thomas Seymour, a brother of Jane Seymour. She became pregnant and gave birth to a girl on 30 August 1548, and died of puerperal fever on 5 September 1548.