Essay, Research Paper: Henry VIII : The King Who Made History

King Henry VIII was a man who knew what he wanted in life. Henry wanted a world that revolved around him, no matter what the consequences were. Henry didn't wait for life to pass him by. He went out to get done what he wanted. And he did. At just eighteen years of age, Henry became King of England after his brother Arthur had died in 1502. Henry was known for his marriages to six different women; two, he had executed; two, he divorced; and one, died a natural death. As his marriage with his first wife Catherine of Aragon failed to produce a male heir, Henry became frustrated with her inability to produce a future king. He decided he would divorce. His failure to be granted a divorce led Henry to set up the Church of England, which he would head. Henry did not take orders, and refused to subjugate himself to anyone. Any person that challenged Henry's authority would most likely be put to death, as Sir Thomas More was for the refusal to accept the mandate that Henry was the head of the Church of England. Henry VIII was a memorable man, a memorable man who made history.
In 1509, King Henry VIII wed Catherine of Aragon, who gave birth to three daughters, including Mary Tudor, popularly known as Bloody Mary. The other two daughters died early in life. But Henry did not want a female. He wanted a male to assume his position after his death. After Catherine failed to produce a son for Henry, he decided that he would divorce her, and marry Anne Boleyn, whom he thought could produce a male for him. No big deal, right? Wrong, back in the back in the sixteenth century, divorce was illegal in the Roman Catholic Church. So the Pope refused to grant Henry a divorce, and Henry set up a church of his own (Williams, 1971).
Henry then married Anne Boleyn in hope of conceiving a baby boy. Anne was a pulchritudinous, well mannered, young woman. Anne knew of the sexual affairs that took place between Henry and both her mother and sister, but she refused to connect with him carnally until she was certain that he would take her hand in marriage. During his marriage to Anne, a baby girl named Elizabeth was born. After this, she had two more miscarriages. Henry conveniently came to believe that it was God that disapproved of the marriage, and accused Anne of adultery . Anne found herself in court on May 15, 1536, on charges of adultery. It took almost no time at all for Anne to be found guilty of this crime. King Henry ordered that Anne be brought to The Tower of London where she would await her execution by either burning or beheading. On May nineteenth, Anne walked out to her place of execution in front of many silent English people. She spoke few words to the crowd, and then without resistance or complaint, placed her head down. She said, "To Jesu Christ, I commend my soul"(Fraser, 1992, p. 257). The swordsman then quickly ended Anne's life with one swift slice of a sword (Erickson, 1984).
At the time, most people must have known that the charges of adultery were false. So why did Henry execute his wife? He had Anne tried for adultery, and killed as an excuse to marry yet another woman, Jane Seymour. It took Henry but one day after Anne Boleyn's execution to marry Jane. Jane was a soft-spoken, young woman, who pleased Henry to the greatest extent when she gave birth to a male, whom the couple named Edward, in 1537. Unfortunately, Jane was unable to raise her son. Soon after Edward's birth, she passed away due to complications of childbirth (Fraser, 1992).
Now that Henry had his son, one might think that Henry would no longer need, or even want, another wife. But Henry must have had the urge to fulfil his need for power. So In 1540, three years after the death of Jane Seymour, Thomas Cromwell introduced Henry to Anne of Cleves. Henry took one look at Anne, and found her rather unattractive. Despite her lack of beauty, he married her anyway because of the connections with the Duke of Cleves, her uncle. The marriage lasted less than a year, when Henry divorced her because of her appearance. The biggest loser in the divorce was Thomas Cromwell, who was executed soon after the annulment for setting Henry up in a marriage to his disliking. Anne was not harmed by the king, and was given enough money from Henry to live on comfortably until her death (www.maryrose.org/6wives.htm).
On the day of Cromwell's execution, Henry married Catherine Howard. Catherine Howard was a beautiful young woman who had had many relationships before her marriage to Henry, and apparently a few while she was with him. Henry of course, did not take this all too well, and despite Catherine's beauty, he executed her.
After Henry had executed both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, it would seem that any woman in her right mind would stay clear of King Henry for fear of execution. But one woman must have overcome that fear. Catherine Paar was the only wife of King Henry the Eighth who was not either divorced or beheaded by him.
As Henry was becoming more and more angered by Catherine of Aragon's failure to produce a male, he began to think about divorcing her. But he knew that in the Roman Catholic Church, divorce was illegal. Ignoring this fact, Henry took his case to Pope Clement VII. The pope turned down Henry's plea for a divorce. Henry then called on the Parliament, later known as the Reformation Parliament, to pass laws that took away all power from the Pope in England (http://members.tripod.com/~jeanneann/henryviii/htm). With the Reformation Parliament enacting the Act of Supremacy, Henry VIII was granted a divorce to Catherine of Aragon, and the Church of England was established with Henry as its head.
The Church of England was in many ways identical to the Roman Catholic Church. The two major differences in Anglicanism and Catholicism, were that divorce was legal, and the king was the head of both Church and state. As Henry set up this Anglican Religion, he rampaged through England and Ireland and destroyed all Catholic monasteries. King Henry wanted no one to interfere with neither his religion nor his power. But why would Henry go to such extremes just to be granted a divorce? When King Henry had his mind made up, nobody was going to change it. Once the Pope denied him the divorce, it was only a matter of time before Henry was going to change the face of religion in England (Williams, 1971).
Henry VIII was known for executing such notables as Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell, along with his two wives. What is less known is that Henry executed on the average, 120 people per month (http://www.wwlia.org/uk-more.htm). As Henry set up his Church, More wouldn't recognize Henry as the head of the Church. Even though Henry was a long time friend of More, he executed him for treason. Thomas Cromwell introduced Henry to his future wife. Henry later blamed him for setting him up in a marriage that he was not fond of. Cromwell was executed just days after the divorce.
One must wonder what was going through King Henry's mind as he had two of his wives executed. Two of the people that he loved most in life, or at least should have. Henry probably felt no shame in executing the women. He was obviously tired of them and wanted change. He sure got it. One may say that there have been kings in the past that have executed their wives. So what makes Henry stand out as such a villain for these actions? For one thing, Henry kept getting married after he executed his prior wife. This goes to show that Henry probably didn't execute the women for crimes they had committed, but rather to explore the world of women that surrounded him, and pursue and secure his family's place on the throne in England.
However, the argument does exist that History made Henry VIII. When Henry's father Henry II passed away, the throne was left to Henry VIII older brother Arthur. Arthur died shortly after taking the position of King of England. In comes Henry, inheriting all of the riches and powers that some along with being the king. One can argue that if Henry had not been a part of the royal family that he would never lived the glamorous life that he did. But it has been proven that King Henry has made history in many different ways.
King Henry was one of the more infamous leaders of his time. Through his actions he expressed his role as one of the most dominant leaders in the history of England. Henry was not a man to be reckoned with. He showed his power through his many public executions, his ability to marry almost any woman he wanted at will, and his role in the formation of The Church of England. In pursuing his goal of securing England's position as a world power, and his family's role within that power structure, King Henry VIII of England was willing to use any means to justify this end, and in doing so, made history.

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