King Henry Viii Research Paper

Henry VIII remains one of the most colorful kings in England’s history. Henry’s older brother, Prince Arthur, was the first son in line to become king. While on his honeymoon with his Spanish bride, Catherine of Aragon, Prince Arthur developed influenza and died from complications of this illness. Following the death of the sons’ father, King Henry VII, Henry VIII ascended to the throne. Catherine’s parents paid an extravagant amount of gold as a dowry for her marriage to Prince Arthur, and to keep the dowry, King Henry VIII married her. Henry VIII ruled England with an iron hand, and he punished anyone who disagreed with him. Personally, Henry VIII failed in his marital life, and he suffered physical setbacks. In order to understand the effects

Henry VIII and Catherine’s union produced one living daughter, Mary. Henry needed a male heir to his throne, and he would need a new wife to accomplish this goal. Henry VIII met Anne Boleyn when she was a lady in waiting to Queen Catherine. Authors Pollard and Dickens state, “His love for Anne Boleyn was certainly his great folly, the one overmastering passion of his life” (152). King Henry VIII obsessed over Anne Boleyn, and he sought ways to achieve his goal to marry her. King Henry VIII sent his emissary, Cardinal Wolsey, to Rome to plead for a petition of divorce. The Pope denied Henry VIII’s request. Bowle in his book suggests, “Henry was now determined to possess himself of a sovereignty which none of his predecessors had ever supposed he had a right to…” (148). In retaliation, King Henry VIII broke from the Roman Catholic Church and became the supreme head of the Church of England. King Henry VIII formed a Reformation Parliament, and he appointed a new Archbishop, Thomas Cranmer. In this role, Cranmer ruled that the Pope did not have the authority to license Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine, and they had never been husband and wife (Pollard and Dickens 240). Actually, King Henry VIII had already married pregnant Anne Boleyn before the decree of divorce. Anne gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth. Anne never produced a living male heir for King Henry