King Henry VIII

Birth of King Henry VIII

Jun 28, 1491

King Henry the 8th was the third child and second son of King Henry the 7th.

King Henry the 8th Brother Dies

Apr 2, 1502

King Henry the 8th brother, Arthur, died on April, 2nd 1502. This allowed King Henry to have all of Arthur's power.

King Henry VIII

Period: Jan 1, 1509 to Dec 31, 1609

The Life and Death of King Henry VIII

Marriage to Catherine of Aragon

Jun 18, 1509

King Henry VIII is married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Catherine was previously the wife of Arthur, Henry's son, but Arthur died a few months after their wedding. With Henry VIII, Catherine became pregnant with several children, the first four of which were either miscarriages or died shortly after birth. The only child they had that lived was Mary. Henry, frustrated because he hadn't had a son and falling in love with Anne Boleyn, rejected the Pope and annulled their marriage.

King Henry the 8th Takes the Throne

Jun 24, 1509

Birth of Anne of Cleves

Sep 22, 1515

Mary was Born

Feb 18, 1516

Mary was the only child of King Henry the 8th and Catherine of Aragon.

King Henry excommunicated from the church.

Jan 21, 1525

King Henry left the Roman Catholic church because he wanted a divorce from his wife but the Pope would not let him get a divorce. After the Pope told him he could not have a divorce King Henry the 8th turned his back on the church and the Pope eventually exommunicated him from the church.

Marriage to Anne Boleyn

Jan 25, 1533

Anne Boleyn was born in 1501 into a wealthy family. Her father was the First Earl of Wilshire. From there she was raised in Hever Caslte, Kent. She was then sent to France to recieve her education. When she returned, she was pursued by King Henry VIII. Despite her efforts to stay away from the King, she married him in 1533, when he annuled Catherine Aragon. When married, they had one daughter and four miscarriages. She was later executed in 1536 because she couldn't give birth to a male child.

Divorced Catherine of Aragon

May 30, 1533

Birth of Elizabeth I

Sep 7, 1533

Elizabeth I was King Henry's second daughter and became Queen of England in 1559. One of her first acts was to repeal the Catholic legislation that was brought back by her sister Mary. Elizabeth never married, which is why she is nicknamed the "Virgin Queen." During her reign, she explored many lands in the New World and kept England safe from foreign invasion by defeating the Spanish Armada.

First Act of Supremacy

May 25, 1534

King Henry VIII asks Parliament to issue a bill declaring him as the one true supreme head of the Church of England.

Death of Catherine of Aragon

Jan 7, 1536

Death of Anne Boleyn

May 19, 1536

Marriage to Jane Seymour

May 30, 1536

After Anne Boleyn was executed, King Henry VIII picked out another bride; her name was Jane Seymour. Jane Seymour was born in 1508 Wulfall, Savernake Forest, Wiltshire. She did not recieve much eduacation, but was very talented with needle work and household tasks. She was a maid-of-honor to Catherine Aragon and went on to serve Anne Boleyn. Eleven days after Anne's execution, King Henry VIII married Jane, and they had a baby boy named Edward VI. Sadly, Jane died just days after she gave birth.

Birth of Edward VI

Oct 12, 1537

Death of Jane Seymour

Oct 24, 1537

Henry VIII Marries Anne of Cleves

Jan 6, 1540

After Jane Seymour's death, Henry was single for two years. Then He began to look for a new foreign wife to help secure more alliances between England and other countries. He chose Anne of Cleves to help form an alliance with France. Anne was from a different culture with different customs, so she didn't fit well at the throne of England. Also, Henry didn't find her attractive at all and was starting to become attracted to Kathryn Howard, so he annulled his marriage with Anne.

Henry VIII Divorces Anne of Cleves

Jul 16, 1540

Marriage to Kathryn Howard

Jul 28, 1540

Kathryn Howard was born between 1520 and 1527 in Lambeth, London. Kathryn was not very well educated due to the fact that she went to go live with her somewhat irresponsible step-grandmother. Even though she did not have a good education, she could read an write well. When she and the King first

Death of Kathryn Howard

Feb 13, 1542

Kathryn Howard dies.

Marriage to Catherine Parr

Jul 12, 1543

Catherine Parr was the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, who was the Lord of the Manor in Kendal in Westmorland (very wealthy). Her family also had many knighted members. Catherine of Aragon was Catherine Parr's godmother (probably why she was named Catherine). In the end, Catherine used this relationship to get her close to King Henry VIII, and in July 1543, Catherine and Henry got married. The marriage lasted about four years, ending with the death of King Henry VIII in 1547.

Coronation of Edward VI

Feb 20, 1547

Edward VI, Henry VIII's 3rd child, was crowned king about a month after the death of his father in 1547. At the time, Edward wasn't even 10 years old yet. Edward was a strong Protestant, and the Protestants in England were happy he was king, as they knew his sister Mary would return England to Roman Catholicism if she was at the throne. That is precisely what happened when Edward died of a terminal illness in 1553.

Death of Catherine Parr

Sep 5, 1548

Death of Edward VI

Jul 6, 1553

Mary Became Qeen

Jul 19, 1553

When Mary became queen she felt that she must burn the heretics to show them what awaited them in hell, and as an example to others. By doing this she earned the name Bloody Mary. She would burn heretics as a way to stop the reformation.

Death of Anne of Cleves

Jul 16, 1557

Queen Mary Died

Nov 17, 1558

Elizabeth I is Coronated Queen

Jan 15, 1559

2nd Act of Supremacy

Apr 29, 1559

Elizabeth declares herself the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and instituted an oath of supremacy which required anyone who took office to swear alliance to the Monarch as the head of the Church and State.

Elizabeth I Dies

Mar 24, 1603