Hello everyone. To mark the launch of the new Famous Icons page, and now that I have got on top of my studies, which I have worked effortlessly to complete, I wanted to mark the birth of the new Famous Icons page by doing a case study based on Henry VIII. Also, another small change has been made to the pages bar, and now, the 2 pages: “Nominations / Awards” and “Purpose” have been moved into a drop-down menu, overlapping on the Directories page, just like how I did the drop-down menus for the 2 ‘About’ pages. Don’t worry, all of the pages on here are still accessible, including the Directories page and the other pages that have been condensed down into drop-down menus, so all of your worries are now at ease :-).
Henry VIII (28th June 1491 – 28th January 1547 (Aged 55).
Born on the 28th June 1491 at Greenwich Palace in Greenwich, Henry VIII, for 48 years, was the King of England, and was also coronated on the 24th June 1509. Henry VIII follows just after his predecessor, Henry VII of England. Henry VIII’s mother was Elizabeth of York.
Famously known for having six wives, he was often a controversial and historical icon of the Tudor times, as his years of marriage only lasted briefly due to consequences that lied ahead. The famous saying has always been around, and surrounds the 6 wives that Henry VIII used to be with, and that was: “Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived”.
The history of Henry VIII dates all the way back to the 1500s, when he became one of the most controversial icons of the 16th century, and up to the present day, he will always remain a controversial icon that defined Great Britain for the large, and widespread amount of history that we have around as of today.
Henry VIII’s Six Wives – Divorced, Beheaded & Died, Divorced, Beheaded & Survived.
Catherine of Aragon – She was the Queen of England from 1509 until 1533, as she was not just the first wife of Henry VIII, but she was previously married to Prince Arthur, when she used to be known as the Princess of Wales.
Anne Boleyn – From 1533 until 1536, Anne Boleyn was the Queen of England, until her execution on the 19th May 1536, which, in turn made her the second wife of Henry VIII and also becoming the Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Her coronation was on the 1st June 1533, and her Tenure as the Queen of England lasted from the 28th May 1533 to the 17th May 1536.
Jane Seymour – Sworn in as the Queen of England just after Anne Boleyn’s execution, Jane Seymour was the third wife of Henry VIII, who had sadly died of post-natal complications less than 2 weeks after she gave birth to what would be her only child, known as Edward VI. Out of the 6 wives that Henry VIII had, Jane Seymour was the only wife of Henry’s that received her own queen’s funeral, which would also be his only consort to be buried beside her and Edward VI at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
Anne of Cleves – With Anne of Cleves being the Queen of England for only 6 months, she was the fourth wife of Henry VIII, though her marriage to Henry VIII was declared to be never consummated, with Anne not being crowned the queen consort. Despite the annulment of the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves, she was given a generous settlement by the King, and was, from there, to be referred to as the King’s Beloved Sister. She lived to see the coronation of Queen Mary I, also outliving not just Henry VIII himself, but also the rest of his wives.
Catherine Howard – Referred to by Henry VIII as his “rose without a thorn”, Catherine Howard was the Queen of England from 1540 until 1541 as Henry VIII’s fifth wife, which came almost immediately after Henry VIII’s annulment of his previous marriage to Anne of Cleves. However, after less than 2 years of marriage to Henry VIII, Catherine Howard was beheaded on the sufficient grounds of committing adultery and treason while she was married to Henry VIII. She had also become the third of Henry’s wives in which she was a member of the English gentry instead of the European nobility.
Catherine Parr – To become the last wife of Henry VIII just before he passed away in 1547, Catherine Parr was the Queen of England from 1543 until 1547. She outlived Henry VIII by one year, and she was also the most-married English Queen with four husbands, and was also the first English Queen to be titled the: “Queen of Ireland”. She had enjoyed a close relationship with Henry VIII’s three children, and she was also personally involved in the education of Elizabeth and Edward, both of whom would later go on to become English Monarchs. Catherine was also an influential figure in Henry’s passing of the Third Succession Act which, in 1543, had restored both of his own daughters, Mary & Elizabeth, to the line of succession to the throne. Catherine Parr, despite outliving Henry VIII by one year, died on the 5th September 1548 at the age of 36.
I did quite a lot of research on Henry VIII and also his six wives by finding out some or most of the information via Wikipedia.
Still to come…Case Study #2 will focus on the famous Queen herself, and that is…Queen Victoria. Make sure to check back for Case Study #2 very soon on Mother Nature.
Thank you for reading this article.
Alex Smithson
Mother Nature 