Henry VIII’s Wives

Catherine of Aragon: Married June 11 1509, divorced May 23, 1533

Catherine of Aragon was a Spanish princess.

The youngest child of Ferdinand and Isabella of

Spain.

She married Arthur the eldest son of Henry VII,

aged 16. When Arthur died she married his

brother Henry VIII.

Henry and Catherine married in 1509 and were

crowned King and Queen of England.

Now all Catherine had to do was provide Henry

with the male heir to the throne.

Catherine gave birth to many children but

only one survived infancy. This was Mary I.

Henry wanted a son, so when in 1533 Catherine

became too old for child bearing he divorced her.

Find out more about Catherine

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Tudor Family Tree

Catherine of Aragon: Married June 11 1509, divorced May 23, 1533

As Catherine grew older the King started to worry

That he would not have an heir.

He noticed a young girl named Anne Boleyn in

court and decided he wanted to marry her.

Henry first had to divorce Catherine. Henry was

Catholic so he had to ask the Pope’s permission.

The Pope refused to annul the marriage.

Henry declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England. He could now do as he liked

without consulting the Pope.

Henry divorced Catherine and married Anne.

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Anne Boleyn: married January 25 1533, beheaded May 19 1536

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Anne Boleyn had been Catherine of Aragon’s

lady-in-waiting. Henry saw her in court and

fell in love.

He divorced Catherine and married Anne.

Anne became pregnant and Henry hoped he

would finally get his male heir to the throne.

Anne gave birth to a girl Elizabeth.

Henry became bored with Anne and was not

happy that she had failed to give him a son.

He wanted to get rid of her so he accused her

of plotting against him.

She was tried, found guilty and beheaded. Click on me to hear me speak

Tudor Family Tree

Jane Seymour: Married May 30 1536, died October 24 1537

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After the disgrace of Anne Boleyn it did not take

long for Henry to fall in love again.

Jane was quiet and did as she was told.

11 days after Anne was executed Henry and

Jane were married. Jane quickly became

pregnant and in 1537 gave birth to Henry’s first

and only male heir, Edward.

Jane had given Henry everything he needed.

After the birth Jane became very ill and died 12

days later.

Henry was heartbroken. He vowed that when he

died he would be buried next to her.

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Tudor Family Tree

Anne of Cleves : Married January 6 1540, divorced July 9 1540

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After the death of Jane, Henry decided to

marry for political gain instead of love.

He had made enemies of the Catholic

countries France and Spain when he split

from the Catholic church.

He looked for a Protestant wife and found

Anne of Cleves, the sister of a German Duke.

They did not meet before the wedding.

Henry had chosen her from a portrait.

When Henry met her on the wedding day he

did not like her. He said she was ugly.

She thought he was fat.

When the danger of war had passed he

divorced Anne. The marriage had lasted

six months.

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Catherine Howard: Married July 28 1540, executed February 13 1542

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Catherine was a beautiful young woman

in the court.

Henry fell in love with her immediately.

Catherine was only 20 and liked to have

fun. Henry was nearly 50.

Henry asked Catherine to marry him. She

could not say no, but she wanted to be

with her boyfriend.

Once Catherine was married she

continued to meet with her old boyfriend.

Henry found out and they were both tried

for treason (plotting against the king) and

executed.

Many of Catherine’s friends and family

were also arrested and tortured.Click on me to hear me speak

Catherine Parr: Married July 12 1543, married to Henry until his death.

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Catherine Parr looked after Henry in his

old age. She reunited Henry with all three

of his children.

She acted as his nurse.

She became very close to all of Henry’s

children acting as a tutor to Elizabeth.

Catherine was a very popular queen.

She was fair minded and intelligent.

When Henry died Catherine remarried

again to her fourth husband, Thomas

Seymour (Jane Seymour’s brother).

She died in 1548, eight days after giving

birth to a daughter

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Task 1

Use the portrait frame to complete

your own piece of artwork

Showing one of Henry’s wives.

Task 2

Create a profile about one of the

wives. You can use the information

on

the powerpoint to help with your

writing as well as the internet for

Your own research.

Use the profile template to

help with laying out your

work correctly

Extension

Look at the family tree on the next slide.

Write 4 or 5 sentences to explain what you can

find out about the different Tudor monarchs

from the family tree.

True or False?

1. Henry VII is Henry VIII’s dad? __________

2. Edward VI only reigned for 3 years

_________

3. Henry VIII’s sisters were called Margaret and

Elizabeth __________

4. Henry VIII died in 1547 _______

The Tudor family treeHenry VII – Elizabeth of York

1485 –1509

Henry VIII Margaret Mary 1509 – 47

James V of Scotland

Frances

Mary I Edward VIElizabeth I1547-531558-16031553-58

Mary Queen

Lady Jane Greyof Scots

1553

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