Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was the King of England from 1509 until his death in 1547
Henry VIII increased the power of the monarchy and government over the country. Many people he did not like were executed under his orders, including two of his own wives. He was easily led by whoever his favourite advisor was: Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer and Richard Rich. More and Cromwell were also executed. He passed laws to merge Wales into England and was the first English monarch to be King of Ireland.
His government was able to raise more money because they stopped paying money to the Roman Catholic Church and because they closed down the monasteries. But he also spent far more money on his own enjoyment and on wars with France and Scotland. These wars did not achieve much. He made the Royal Navy much bigger and made other improvements to the armed forces.
Early in his reign he was seen as a very handsome young man who had studied a lot and enjoyed sports, music and writing. Later in his reign he became weak, ill and hugely obese. He also became unpredictable, bad-tempered and unable to admit to making mistakes. He died at the age of 55 in 1547. The next king was his son Edward VI.
Early life
Henry was born at Greenwich Palace on 28 June 1491, and was the son of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York. He was one of their seven children. Four of them survived infancy – Arthur, Prince of Wales; Margaret; Henry; and Mary .
He had his own servants and minstrels, including a fool named John Goose. He even had a whipping boy who was punished for Henry when he did something wrong. Prince Henry enjoyed music and jousting was very good at both of them. At the age of 10, he could play many instruments, including the fife, harp, viola and drums. Henry was a scholar, linguist, musician and athlete at his early age. He could speak fluent Latin, French and Spanish. He had the best tutors and he also had to learn jousting, archery, hunting and other military arts. Henry was very religious.
Henry's older brother Arthur was the heir to the throne. This means he would have become the king when Henry VII died. Arthur married a Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon (her name in Spanish was Catalina de Aragon). Prince Arthur died a few months later. He was 15 years old, and Henry was 10 years old. After his brother died, Henry was the heir to the throne.
While his father was alive he was watched closely, because the King feared for the safety of his only remaining male heir. Henry could go out only through a private door, and then he was watched by specially appointed people. No one could speak to Henry. He spent most of his time in his room, which could only be entered through his father’s bedroom. Henry never spoke in public, unless it was to answer a question from his father. He kept his enthusiastic personality under control on public occasions because he feared his father's temper. He was given little training for his future role as King by his father and relied heavily on his counselors in the early years of his reign. In 1509, Henry VII died of tuberculosis as well and his son became King Henry VIII. He was 17 years old.
Reign
Early years
Three months after becoming king, Henry married Catherine of Aragon. They tried to have children, as Henry wanted a son who could be the next king. In 1511, she gave birth to a son who they named Henry, but he died seven weeks later. She later gave birth to a girl, the future Queen Mary I. All her other children were stillborn (died before birth). He did have one son (Henry Fitzroy) through a woman he was not married to. This son could not become king.
Early on, Henry had two of his father's advisors executed. They were not popular and Henry claimed they had been stealing from the money they had been looking after. Henry would often execute anyone he did not like during the rest of his reign. From 1514, Thomas Wolsey became an important advisor to Henry. Wolsey helped Henry change the government to give the king more power. Wolsey later became a cardinal, making him an important figure in the church.
At first, Henry wanted to be friends with the King of France. But soon, he instead joined with Spain, the Pope and the Holy Roman Empire to weaken France. He dreamed of gaining more lands in France. The results were mixed: England won some battles against France in 1513. The alliance weakened France`s power over the Pope. Scotland invaded England in 1514 but lost badly at the Battle of the Flodden. But Henry spent a lot of money and did not gain much land.