How Many Wives Did Henry VIII Have And Why Did He Get Married So Many Times?

Henry Vlll had six wives. Henry lived from 1491-1547 and was King of England from 1509-1547.
Although Henry was actually responsible for setting up the Church of England, it is for his wives that he is actually remembered most. He established the Church of England in order to secure a divorce, since this was not possible in the Roman Catholic Church.
His first wife was Catherine of Arragon, she had several children, but only one, Mary survived. He divorced Catherine.
Next he married Anne Boleyn but he executed her. They had one child who became Queen Elizabeth. His third wife was Jane Seymour, they had a son, Edward, but he later died. Jane died from giving birth.
He then married Anne of Cleves, but divorced her after only 6 months.
Next came Catherine Howard whom he then executed for adultery. Finally, in 1543, he married Catherine Parr but he died four years later at the age of 55.

He d 6 wives

6 wives

Well he had 6 wives

Henry divorced his wives - or had them executed - because they were unable to bear him a son to carry on the royal line.

He got married 6 times and he married so many times because he wanted a son.

Henry had 6 wives and he got married so many times because he wanted a Son and heir to his throne and Kingdom

Life in the 1500s was very harsh and it is easy to judge events back then but the pressures on political leaders were immense. Henry's health was very bad and he overate and drank too much becoming extremely obese. He became very cruel and a tyrant and wanted his own way all of the time.

His first wife, Catherine of Aragon had not given birth to any sons and Henry got increasingly worried about not having a male heir. Eventually, he decided that the only way out of this situation was to divorce Catherine but the Pope would not allow it. After a bitter wrangle, Henry split from the Roman Church and founded the Church of England and the country became a protestant not a catholic state.

Henry then got his wish for a divorce and he then married Anne Boleyn. He didn't bother to divorce her but executed her instead. Jane Seymour, his third wife died in childbirth (the child was Edward VI). He then married Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard, but beheaded them both. His sixth wife, Catherine Parr, survived Henry but did not manage to provide him with any surviving children. Ironically, despite spending so much of his efforts trying to get a male heir, his daughter Elizabeth eventually succeeded him and became one of the greatest English monarchs.

Henry the VIII had six wives and they were Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Kathryn Howard and Katherine Parr.

Catherine of Aragon was a Spanish Princess and she was first married to Henry's brother 'Arthur'. Henry and Catherine were married for twenty years and she had only managed to produce one daughter. Henry wanted a son so he finally managed to get the marriage annulled. It is thought that catherine died of a broken heart after being seperated from her daughter.

Katherine Parr and Anne of Cleves were the only wives to outlive Henry VIII and two of his wives (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard) he had killed for treason and adultary.

His favourite was Jane Semour and she was the first wife to produce a son. Sadly she died during child birth and Henry was still mourning for her when he married Anne of Cleves.

Henry was obsessed with procuring a male heir.
This marriage to his firat wive was a disappintment to him because Catherine of Aragon was older than himself, having first been married to Henry's older brother Arthur. The marriage produced one live child who survived. Mary is daughter from the marriage was a disappointment to him because she was a girl - she suffered badly from the rejection both she and her mother suffered.
Even by the standards of the time Henry was extreme . He used the situation with Catherine to undertake political moves to break away from the Church of Rome, thus becoming head of the church in England.
Henry married six times in order to manipulate religious and political afffairs as well as to get a son. It is known through analysis of historical documents that the charges against the wives he executed were fabricated in order to rid himself of them.
The man's character was very flawed and we would now say that he had problems in dealing with relationships with both men and women as many men also suffered at his hands when he tired of them. It is said that he was a good King but analysis of his reign gives up evidence to dipute this.
His daughter Elizabeth by Ann Bolyn was to become one of the strongest most able monarchs of British history - what would Henry have made of that!

Henry had 6 wives and he did so because he was trying to have a male heir to the throne