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HENRY VIII. 1509 - 1547

Born 1492. Began to reign, 1509. - Reigned 35 years. - Died 1547.

Married - (1) Katharine of Aragon; (2) Anne Boleyn - (the marriage certainly took place, but the exact data is uncertain; it was at all events before any competent court had declared the King's previous marriage null and void); (3) Jane Seymour; (4) Anne of Cleves; (5) Katharine Howard; (6) Catharine Parr. He had three sons and two daughters

DOMINIONS England, Ireland, Calais. The royal government of Ireland was made much more complete than had been the case. The supremacy of the Earls of Kildare within the English Pale was broken down, and the Irish chieftains were encouraged to send their children to England for education, to accept English titles, and by degrees it was hoped English laws and customs. The spoliation instead of the reform of the church, and the religious quarrel fomented by foreign powers, prevented the favourable progress of this policy. Henry took the title of King instead of Lord of Ireland. In 1536 Wales was incorporated with England by act of Parliament, and Welsh counties and boroughs were directed to return members to the English Parliament In 1543 the County Palatine of Chester was directed to return members to Parliament From 1513 to 1519 Tournay, and some small places in the neighbourhood, were in the hands of the English. In 1544 Henry's officers took Boulogne, which remained in English hands till the end of the reign.

PRINCIPAL EVENTS
War with France and Scotland 1513: the English fleet defeated at Brest, and James IV. of Scotland defeated and slain at Flodden Field. Wolsey created Cardinal and Chancellor of England, 1515. Henry becomes Defender of the Faith, 1520. A rebellion in Ireland suppressed, 1523. Commencement of the English Reformation, 1527. Wolsey arrested for high treason, and dies, 1530 The papal supremacy abrogated by parliament, 1534. Suppression of the monasteries, 1537. Establishment of parish registers, 1538. War with Scotland, 1542. War with France, 1543. Peace with Scotland and France. Persecutions of Protestants and papists for rejecting the doctrines of transubstantiation and the royal supremacy.

Henry VIII, King of England, son of Henry VII., born in 1491, succeeded his father in 1509. He was soon prevailed upon to join in a league formed against Louis XII. of France. Some campaigns in France followed, but the success of the English at the Battle of the Spurs (1513) was succeeded by no adequate result, the taking of Tournay being the only fruit of this expensive expedition. Meantime, more splendid success attended the English arms at home, James IV. of Scotland being completely defeated and slain at Flodden Field (1513). Henry, however, granted peace to the Queen of Scotland, his sister, and established an influence which rendered his kingdom long secure on that side. Finding himself deluded by his allies, be soon after made peace with France, retaining Tournay and receiving a large sum of money.

From 1515 until 1529 the government was practically in the hands of Wolsey, no parliament being summoned in that period until 1523. After the election of Charles V. to the German Empire, both Charles and the French king, Francis I. sought the alliance of England. A friendly meeting took place between Henry and Francis at the the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520), but the interest of Charles preponderated, and Henry declared war against France, though with no important results.

Now came the determination of the king to divorce his wife Catharine, who was older than he, had borne him no male heir, and had, moreover, been in the first place the wife of his elder brother. The last of these points was the alleged ground for seeking divorce, though Henry was probably influenced largely by his attachment to Anne Boleyn, one of the queen's maids of honour. Wolsey, for his own ends, had at first been active in promoting the divorce, but drew back and procrastinated when it became apparent that Anne Boleyn would be Catharine's successor. This delay cost Wolsey his power and the papacy its authority in England. Henry in disgust eagerly caught at the advice of Thomas Cranmer, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, to refer the case to the universities, from which he soon got the decision that he desired.

In 1533 his marriage with Catharine was declared null and an anticipatory private marriage with Anne Boleyn declared lawful; and as these decisions were not recognized by the pope, two acts of parliament were obtained, one in 1534 setting aside the authority of the chief pontiff in England, the other in 1535 declaring Henry the supreme head of the church. But although Henry discarded the authority of the Roman Church, he adhered to its theological tenets; and while, on the one hand, he executed Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More for refusing the oath of supremacy, he brought many of the reformers to the stake. Finding that the monks and friars in England were the most direct advocates of the papal authority, and a constant source of disaffection, he suppressed the monasteries by act of parliament, and thereby inflicted an incurable wound upon the Catholic religion in England. The fall of Anne Boleyn was, however, unfavorable for a time to the reformers.

Henry then married Jane Seymour, and the birth of Prince Edward in 1537 fulfilled his wish for a male heir. The death of the queen was followed in 1540 by Henry's marriage with Anne of Cleves, the negotiations of which were conducted by Cromwell. The kings dislike to his wife, which resulted in another divorce, became extended to the minister who had proposed the union, and Cromwell's disgrace and death soon followed.

A marriage with Catharine Howard in 1541 proved no happier, and in 1542 she was executed on a charge of infidelity. In 1543 he married his sixth wife, Catharine Parr, a lady secretly inclined to the Reformation, who survived the king.

In the meantime Scotland and France had renewed their alliance, and England became again involved in war James V. ravaged the borders, but was defeated at Solway Moss in 1542, and in 1544 Boulogne was captured, Henry having again allied himself with Charles V. Charles, however, soon withdrew, and Henry maintained the war alone until 1546. Disease now so much aggravated the natural violence of Henry that his oldest friends fell victims to his tyranny. The Duke of Norfolk was committed to the Tower, and his son the Earl of Surrey was executed. Henry died on Jan. 28, 1547. and was succeeded by his son. Edward VI.