Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon was the youngest surviving child of Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain. She was betrothed to Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII from the age of 3 and married to him on 14 November 1501 in St Paul's Cathedral. Catherine had spent her life believing she would be Queen of England one day, but within 6 months of her marriage Arthur was dead.
Henry VII then wanted Henry VIII to marry her when he was old enough in order to maintain the English Alliance with Spain, although he later changed his mind when the alliance did not seem so appealing. However following his death, Henry VIII did marry Catherine and she was crowned Queen on 24 June 1509. Queen Catherine suffered a number of problem pregnancies and her only child to survive was Mary who was born in February 1516.
Henry VIII remained devoted to Queen Catherine until around1527 when Anne Boleyn came to his attention. He then requested that the Pope put his marriage aside on the ground that it was not a valid marriage as Catherine had been married to his brother before him. Catherine was required to give evidence that she had not consummated the marriage with Arthur and the Pope refused to grant an annulment. Henry later made himself head of the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, granted the annulment. Catherine died on 7 January 1536.
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn became Henry VIII's mistress in 1532 and was pregnant by the December. Many believe that this prompted Henry into action in order to have a legitimate heir. He married Anne Boleyn and she was anointed Queen in June 1533. Princess Elizabeth was born in September 1533, but no more children, only miscarriages followed her first successful pregnancy.
Rumours of her adultery and incest followed and Queen Anne was executed on 19 May 1536 on Tower Green.
Jane Seymour
Henry had become interested in Jane Seymour during the last months of Anne's life and they were betrothed within 24 hours of Anne's execution. They were married on 30 May 1536, although no coronation of Jane as Queen followed. By early 1537 Jane was pregnant and in October she gave birth to Henry's only son, Edward. Jane did not survive to see her child grow up and died on 24 October 1537. She was buried at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, where Henry himself was later buried. She is his only wife to be buried with him.
Anne of Cleves
Henry next married Anne of Cleves on 6 January 1540. He is rumored to have chosen her as his next wife from a portrait by the famous Tudor painter Holbein, who is said to have painted both Anne and her sister Amelia. Henry chose to marry Anne. At the time he appeared to believe that this would give him a powerful ally against France, but he apparently found his new wife unattractive and he requested an annulment. Anne agreed to grant him this and confirmed that the marriage had not been consummated. The marriage was annulled the same year.
Anne was given property on the annulment, including Hever Castle, the former home of Anne Boleyn.
Katherine Howard
Henry's fifth wife was Katherine Howard, first cousin to Anne Boleyn. She came to court as a lady in waiting to Anne of Cleves and married Henry on July 28 1540 when she was 19 and he was 49. There were rumours of her infidelity within the first year of their marriage and in November 1541 Archbishop Cranmer informed Henry that they had gathered evidence of Katherine's adulterous behaviour. Henry allowed a further investigation and Katherine was executed on Tower Green on 13 February 1541. She was buried near Anne Boleyn in the Chapel of St Peter and Vincula at the Tower of London.
Katherine Parr
Henry's sixth and final wife was Katherine Parr, who outlived him. Katherine Parr was born in 1512 while her mother was a lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon and whom Katherine was named after. She had already been widowed twice, in 1529 and 1543, when she married Henry and it is believed that she had in fact taken an interest in Thomas Seymour, brother to Jane Seymour, when Henry asked for her hand in marriage. She married Henry on 12 July 1543 at Hampton Court.
Katherine was interested in the reformed faith and it is said that she tried to use her influence over Henry in this respect. A plot against her was discovered when the warrant for her arrest was accidentally dropped and she was able to flatter Henry's ego sufficiently to avoid arrest.
Henry died in January 1547 and Katherine married Thomas Seymour in secret shortly afterwards. She was allowed to retain her guardianship of the Princess Elizabeth, but rumors of Elizabeth's relationship with Thomas Seymour led her to another household in 1548.
Katherine gave birth to Mary Katherine on 30 June 1548, but died of a fever in September that year. She was buried at Sudeley Castle.
