It was very important to
Henry VIII that his wife, Catherine
of Aragon, should give birth to a male child. Without a son to
take over from him when he died. Henry feared that the Tudor family
would lose control of England. Catherinegave birth to six children
but five died within a few weeks of being born. Only one child, Mary,
survived into adulthood.
By 1530 Catherine was
too old to have any more children. Therefore, Henry decided he would
have to have another
wife. His choice was Anne
Boleyn,
the 20-year-old daughter of Thomas
Boleyn, Viscount
Rochford. Before
he could marry Anne, Henry had
to gain permission from the Pope.
Henry sent a message to
the Pope arguing that his marriage to Catherine
of Aragon had been invalid as she had previously been married
to his brother Arthur. When Catherine discovered Henry's plans she
informed King Charles V of Spain. Unwilling to have his aunt lose
her position, Charles warned the Pope that he would be very angry
if he granted Henry a divorce.
The Pope knew that once
he made a decision, he would upset one of these two powerful monarch.
In an attempt to keep the peace, the Pope put off making a decision
about Henry's marriage.
In January 1533 Henry
VIII discovered that Anne Boleyn
was pregnant. As
it was important that the child should not be classed as illegitimate,
arrangements were made for Henry and Anne to get married. King Charles
V of Spain threatened to invade England if the marriage took place,
but Henry ignored his threats and the marriage went ahead.
In September Anne gave
birth to a daughter called Elizabeth.
While Henry was furious about having another daughter, the supporters
of Catherine of Aragon were delighted
and claimed that it proved God was punishing Henry for his illegal
marriage to Anne.
In March 1534 the Pope
eventually made his decision. He announced that Henry's marriage to
Anne Boleyn was invalid. Henry reacted
by declaring that the Pope no longer had authority in England. In
November 1534, Parliament passed an act that stated that Henry
VIII was now the Head of the Church of England.
Henry was delighted when
Anne became pregnant again. In January 1536 Anne had a son. Unfortunately
the child was born dead. Later that year Henry accused Anne of committing
adultery with five different men. Anne and the men were all executed.
Ten days later Henry married Jane Seymour.
The following year, Jane died giving birth to a son called Edward.
Henry now at last had a male heir.
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