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For other uses, see Henry VIII (disambiguation).

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Henry VIII
$\"Full-length$ Portrait of Henry VIII after Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1540\u20131547
King of England Lord/King of Ireland (more...)
Reign	22 April 1509^[a] \u2013 28 January 1547
Coronation	24 June 1509
Predecessor	Henry VII
Successor	Edward VI

Born	28 June 1491 Palace of Placentia, Greenwich, England
Died	28 January 1547 (aged 55) Palace of Whitehall, Westminster, England
Burial	16 February 1547 St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Berkshire
Spouses	\n \n Catherine of Aragon \n (m. 1509; ann. 1533) \n \n Anne Boleyn \n (m. 1533; ann. 1536) \n \n Jane Seymour \n (m. 1536; died 1537) \n \n Anne of Cleves \n (m. 1540; ann. 1540) \n \n Catherine Howard \n (m. 1540; died 1542) \n \n Catherine Parr (m. 1543) \n
Issue more...	\n Henry, Duke of Cornwall \n Mary I \n Elizabeth I \n Edward VI \n Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset (ill.) \n
House	Tudor
Father	Henry VII of England
Mother	Elizabeth of York
Religion	\n Catholic (1491\u20131534) \n Church of England (1534\u20131547) \n
Signature	$\"Henry$

Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated by the pope.\n

Henry brought radical changes to the Constitution of England, expanding royal power and ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings in opposition to papal supremacy. He frequently used charges of treason and heresy to quell dissent, and those accused were often executed without a formal trial using bills of attainder. He achieved many of his political aims through his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, and Thomas Cranmer all figured prominently in his administration.\n

Henry was an extravagant spender, using proceeds from the dissolution of the monasteries and acts of the Reformation Parliament. He converted money that was formerly paid to Rome into royal revenue. Despite the money from these sources, he was often on the verge of financial ruin due to personal extravagance and costly and largely unproductive wars, particularly with King Francis I of France, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King James V of Scotland, and the Scottish regency under the Earl of Arran and Mary of Guise. He founded the Royal Navy, oversaw the annexation of Wales to England with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, and was the first English monarch to rule as King of Ireland following the Crown of Ireland Act 1542.\n

Henry's contemporaries considered him an attractive, educated, and accomplished king. He has been described as \"one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne\" and his reign described as the \"most important\" in English history.^[3]^[4] He was an author and composer. As he aged, he became severely overweight and his health suffered. He is frequently characterised in his later life as a lustful, egotistical, paranoid, and tyrannical monarch.^[5]^[6] He was succeeded by his son Edward VI.\n

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Name\n	Birth\n	Death\n	Notes\n
By Catherine of Aragon (married Palace of Placentia 11 June 1509; annulled 23 May 1533)\n
Unnamed daughter\n	31 January 1510\n	stillborn\n
Henry, Duke of Cornwall\n	1 January 1511\n	22 February 1511\n	died aged almost two months\n
Unnamed son\n	17 September 1513\n	died shortly after birth\n
Unnamed son\n	November 1514^[165]\n	died shortly after birth\n
Queen Mary I\n	18 February 1516\n	17 November 1558\n	married Philip II of Spain in 1554; no issue\n
Unnamed daughter\n	10 November 1518\n	stillborn in the 8th month of pregnancy^[166] or lived at least one week\n
By Elizabeth Blount (mistress; bore the only illegitimate child Henry VIII acknowledged as his son)\n
Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset\n	15 June 1519\n	23 July 1536\n	illegitimate; acknowledged by Henry VIII in 1525; no issue\n
By Anne Boleyn (married Westminster Abbey 25 January 1533; annulled 17 May 1536) beheaded 19 May 1536\n
Queen Elizabeth I\n	7 September 1533\n	24 March 1603\n	never married; no issue\n
Unnamed child\n	Summer 1534^[167]\n	miscarriage or false pregnancy^[e]\n
Unnamed child\n	1535\n	Possible miscarriage^[f]\n
Unnamed son\n	29 January 1536\n	miscarriage of a child, believed male,^[g] in the fourth month of pregnancy^[168]\n
By Jane Seymour (married Palace of Whitehall 30 May 1536) died 24 October 1537\n
King Edward VI\n	12 October 1537\n	6 July 1553\n	died unmarried, age 15; no issue\n
By Anne of Cleves (married Palace of Placentia 6 January 1540) annulled 9 July 1540\n
no issue\n
By Catherine Howard (married Oatlands Palace 28 July 1540; annulled 23 November 1541) beheaded 13 February 1542\n
no issue\n
By Catherine Parr (married Hampton Court Palace 12 July 1543) Henry VIII died 28 January 1547\n
no issue\n

Regnal titles\n
Henry VIII House of Tudor Born: 28 June 1491 Died: 28 January 1547\n
Preceded by Henry VII \n	Lord of Ireland 1509\u20131542\n	Crown of Ireland Act 1542 \n
King of England 1509\u20131547\n	Succeeded by Edward VI \n
Vacant Title last held by Ruaidr\u00ed Ua Conchobair \n	King of Ireland 1542\u20131547\n
Political offices\n
Preceded by William Scott \n	Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports 1493\u20131509\n	Succeeded by Edward Poyning \n
Preceded by The Marquess of Berkeley \n	Earl Marshal 1494\u20131509\n	Succeeded by The Duke of Norfolk \n
Peerage of England\n
Vacant Title last held by Arthur \n	Prince of Wales 1504\u20131509\n	Vacant Title next held by Edward (VI) \n
Preceded by Arthur \n	Duke of Cornwall 1502\u20131509\n	Vacant Title next held by Henry \n

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Early years

Early reign

France and the Habsburgs

Marriages

Annulment from Catherine

Marriage to Anne Boleyn

Execution of Anne Boleyn

Marriage to Jane Seymour; domestic and foreign affairs

Marriage to Anne of Cleves

Marriage to Catherine Howard (and fall of Thomas Cromwell)

Marriage to Catherine Parr

Shrines destroyed and monasteries dissolved

Second invasion of France and the \"Rough Wooing\" of Scotland

Physical decline and death

Wives, mistresses, and children

Succession

Public image

Government

Finances

Reformation

Military

Ireland

Historiography

Style and arms

Genealogical table

See also

Notes

References

Works cited

Further reading

Biographical

Scholarly studies

Historiography

Primary sources

External links

Henry VIII - King of England from 1509 until 1547

Henry VIII - King of England from 1509 until 1547