He wanted to separatefrom his first wife,Catherine of Aragon, to remarry Anne Boleyn.
This was forbidden in the Catholic church.
He formed the Church of England so he wouldn’t be restricted by the Pope.
Henry, Duke of Cornwall, was his first son, born by Catherine of Aragon.
He also had Queen Mary I with his first wife.
Henry VIII was famously enthralled with having a son to be his heir.
However, Henry, Duke of Cornwall, didn’t survive infancy.
Historic Royal Palacesexplains that all three of his other children went on to sit on thethrone.
Despite being the youngest, Edward took to the throne in 1547, at the age of nine.
However, it’s reported that he died of tuberculosis in 1553.
Mary then took over the throne, but again only ruled for a short period, until 1558.
However, that’s not to say that they were very close.
It’s reported that after a military failing Seymour was executed in 1552.
Traditionally, monarchs come to the throne with married partners.
However, at nine that wasn’t the case for Edward.
Lady Jane Grey sat on the throne for only nine days before Mary became Queen.
She was executed in 1554.
She didn’t align with her father or brother’s protestant beliefs and was a staunch catholic.
She’s potentially most remembered in history books for burning around 300 protestants at the stake for heresy.
It earned her the nickname Bloody Mary.
Throughout her reign, she was plagued with what are thought now to be phantom pregnancies.
In 1558 she died after suffering from illness.
As she never had a child, the throne was passed onto Elizabeth.
The publication outlines that their tensions stemmed from who they believed had the right to sit on the throne.
These included two children with Mary Boleyn, sister of his second wife Anne.
However, the publication outlines that he only acknowledged one of his illegitimate children, Henry Fitzroy.
Henry Fitzroy was born in 1519 while Henry VIII was still married to Catherine of Aragon.
His mother was Elizabeth Blount.
Before he was six, Henry VIII made him a knight.
He went on to become 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset.
It’s reported that Henry Fitzroy died at the age of 17 years old in 1536.
A year later, Henry VIII got his first male heir when Edward was born.
