History UsefulNotes / HenryVIII

Henry was a devoted Catholic and remained so (at least in his own mind) until death. Working with UsefulNotes/ThomasMore -- a close friend and one of his best servants -- he published an essay ("In Defense of the Seven Sacraments") in 1521 attacking Martin Luther's teachings, for which the Pope gave him the title Defender of the Faith -- a title the British monarchy has retained to this day.

However, Catherine wasn't having it ([[MamaBear very likely because it would have rendered their daughter]], [[UsefulNotes/MaryTudor Mary]], illegitimate, and Catherine herself a whore for living with a man for so many years while unmarried) and refused to retire to a convent quietly, so Henry had to do it the hard way. Problem was, Catherine's nephew UsefulNotes/CharlesV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Castile and Aragon (i.e. Spain) had been fighting with Francis I of France and Clement VII, UsefulNotes/{{the Pope}}, over northern Italy. After winning the latest war against France and the Vatican, Charles' mercenaries had run amok, sacking Rome and taking the Pope hostage. This was sufficient to intimidate Clement into stalling over the annulment for a further six years to avoid provoking anyone. Looking back on the issue, it almost seems as if the Pope wanted Henry to take care of it himself: Henry was only excommunicated (cut off from the Church) in 1537, three years after he made himself head of the English Church (i.e. when it was clear that he had left the Roman fold and wasn't coming back).[[note]]Also because excommunication of a King was an act of war, with Francis I and Charles V obliged as good Christian Kings to crusade in England. Not an easy decision to make.[[/note]]

Soon, Henry's advisors accused Anne of adultery, witchcraft and treason. Anne was almost certainly innocent of her charges, but nonetheless was sent to the Tower of London where she was convicted and sentenced to death. Anne could have been burned at the stake, but Henry decided instead she would be beheaded. Henry also, somewhat generously, ordered a professional swordsman from France come and execute Anne with a swift, speedy sword rather than a heavy, clumsy axe. Their daughter, Elizabeth, was then declared illegitimate like her poor half-sister had years before. Henry then married his latest mistress, UsefulNotes/{{Jane Seymour|Royalty}}, just 11 days after Anne's execution; Anne was buried in an unmarked grave and rarely mentioned.

His relationship to his other surviving sister, Margaret, was more frosty. She was married to King James IV of Scotland in an ArrangedMarriage by their father. After James IV died in the Battle of Flodden, Margaret tried to consolidate power and rule as Regent. She made unwise alliances and was soon exiled from Scotland and her children. Henry gave her sanctuary and nothing else to her annoyance. Margaret soon annoyed Henry by getting an annulment from her second marriage on flimsy pretenses. [[HilariousInHindsight Henry angrily sent a letter saying marriage was sacred.]] Margaret later returned to Scotland and her son and died peacefully.

But the worst result, as far as Henry was likely concerned, was how the shock resulted in Anne miscarrying the baby, costing him the son he had broken away from Rome to attain. However, it might not have been the shock that caused Anne’s miscarriage. Because recently before Anne had walked in on her own lady-in-waiting, UsefulNotes/{{Jane Seymour|Royalty}}, on her husband’s knee.

Soon, Henry’s advisors accused Anne of Adultery, Witchcraft and Treason. Anne was almost certainly innocent of her charges, but nonetheless was sent to the Tower of London where she was convicted and sentenced to death. Anne could have been burned at the stake, but Henry decided instead she would be beheaded. Henry also, somewhat generously, ordered a professional swordsman from France come and execute Anne with a swift, speedy sword rather than a heavy, clumsy axe. Their daughter, Elizabeth, was then declared illegitimate like her poor half-sister had years before. Henry then married his latest mistress, Jane Seymour, just 11 days after Anne’s execution and Anne was buried in an unmarked grave and rarely mentioned.

Keep in mind that the death of Catherine of Aragon (which did purportedly lead to some tears when he read her farewell letter), the execution of Anne, the debilitating joust injury, the marriage to Jane Seymour, the Pilgrimage of Grace, ''and'' the death of Henry's acknowledged (and beloved) illegitamate son Henry Fitzroy all happened in 1536. A true ''annus horribilis''.

Some months later, Jane Seymour finally gave him the son he craved, the future Edward VI. Her death twelve days after Edward's birth has been said by some writers to have [[TheLostLenore devastated Henry]]. The one woman who had given him a legitimate son had died. Henry wore black for three months after Jane's death, and didn't feel much need for a fourth marriage, however even he knew just one legitimate son was a danger. There was a high chance that, seeing as it was Tudor England, Edward might die young.[[note]]Henry had been the second son of his father, and it was expected that his older brother Arthur, Prince of Wales would be King. However, Arthur died unexpectedly aged 15, so Henry knew the importance of a spare heir. [[/note]]

Henry decided on a fourth marriage several years after Jane Seymour's death. However, unsurprisingly foreign princesses were not keen on marrying a notorious, wife-murdering Monarch. Eventually, an alliance was arranged with Germany. Henry sent Hans Holbein to paint portraits of Anne of Cleves, and her younger sister Amelie of Cleves. Cromwell arranged the marriage to help the Protestant Schmalkaldic league in case of a war with Francis and/or Charles. Rumour has it that Hans Holbein had portrayed her as misleadingly beautiful, and that she was in fact quite unattractive, but in truth it's thought that Anne looked quite similar to her portrait. Anne was said to be tall, slim and blonde. Also keep in mind that at this point, Henry was 48 years old and morbidly obese; with nasty stinking pus-spewing ulcers covering both legs[[note]]Most fictional depictions have him suffering from only one sore, but that wasn't the case[[/note]] and possibly gout. It's most likely Anne found Henry unattractive. It didn't help that Anne could only speak German, a language Henry couldn't speak. As well as that, when they first met, Henry was confident that Anne would fall in love with him on sight and disguised himself as a peasant. However, when the old, overweight stranger burst in on Anne, she was visibly surprised. Not only that, but Anne was a sheltered, reserved ProperLady, who was only 25, meaning she was 23 years Henry's junior. Henry tried kissing her before he'd barely spoken, and Anne was horrified (not realising it was her fiancé). Henry was humiliated in front of his advisors and friends, as well as some of Anne's ladies-in-waiting. In a desperate bid to get back his respect, he declared that Anne was the ugly one, which is thought to have surprised his courtiers. Henry even gave her a cruel nickname, the "Flanders Mare" and gossip soon spread around court. Luckily for her, Anne hadn't learnt English yet, so she didn't understand the rumours about her.

Henry's next wife was Catherine Howard, a maternal cousin of Anne Boleyn who was most likely around 16 or 17 years old, but could have been as young as 15. Henry was 49, and while married to Anne of Cleves, was noted to have visited Catherine Howard's bedchamber frequently. After their wedding, Henry spoiled his beautiful young wife with new clothes, shoes and jewels. While Henry was doting on Catherine's childish desires, other men (most notably the handsome Knight Thomas Culpeper) were giving Catherine more mature desires. A year later, she was arrested under suspicion of adultery and treason (both for having imperiled the succession and for having imagined the King's death) and was eventually beheaded at approximately age 19. Unlike Anne Boleyn, the accusations against her were almost certainly true, but strangely [[SkewedPriorities Henry seemed to have been more upset]] over her pre-marital relationship with Francis Dereham (the former secretary at her grandmother’s finishing school) than her adultery with Thomas Culpeper.[[note]]In certain historians' eyes, Catherine's relationship with Dereham was not purely sexual but a pre-marital contract, which by the contemporary standards was ''de facto'' marriage. For the deeply religious Henry, it was not that he had married a non-virgin, but that he had been bigamously married, a grievous sin. You have to wonder, did he think about his wedding to Anne Boleyn?[[/note]]

UsefulNotes/CatherineParr, an intelligent and twice-widowed veteran of the royal court, was his sixth and last wife. Catherine was upset when Henry proposed to her, as she was in love with the handsome, dashing Thomas Seymour. However, she could hardly say no to the King, and was won over. Catherine got along very well with all three of her stepchildren, UsefulNotes/MaryTudor, [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI Elizabeth Tudor]] and Edward Tudor, and like her godmother and namesake Catherine of Aragon capably served as regent when Henry was away on campaign in France. However, Catherine was a devout Protestant, while Henry identified as a Protestant (yet still held traditional Catholic beliefs). Catherine tried to get Henry to be more Protestant, however he was infuriated at the idea of his wife lecturing him. He ordered guards to arrest Catherine, however she managed to win him over just in time by insisting that she didn't mean to lecture him. Catherine managed to save herself just in time, as it was rumoured Henry had plans on marrying a seventh wife, Katherine Brandon, Dowager Duchess of Suffolk. Had it not been for Catherine aiming Henry's sympathy, their marriage may very well have ended in divorce, or even an execution. Henry died before she did. A few months after Henry's death, Catherine angered her royal stepchildren by marrying her sweetheart Thomas Seymour (brother of Jane Seymour). However, they later forgave her. Catherine also took the young Princess Elizabeth into her household to be educated, along with Elizabeth's cousin Lady Jane Grey. Catherine later sent Elizabeth away after catching her having sex with her husband.[[note]]Whether this was because Catherine Parr wanted to keep her stepdaughter safe from her pedophile husband or was merely infuriated that her beloved stepdaughter would fall in love with her husband (grooming wasn’t exactly considered a thing back then) is unknown.[[/note]] Catherine was also shocked and thrilled to discover she was pregnant, aged 35 or 36, as her previous 3 marriages had resulted in no pregnancies. Catherine died giving birth aged 36 or 37 to a daughter named Mary Seymour (named after Princess Mary, Catherine's eldest stepdaughter), whose fate is not known, but she probably died in infancy.

Somewhat ironically, considering all of the above, [[ValuesDissonance by then-contemporary standards]] Henry appears to have been considered something of a romantic. While debate naturally exists over how much or little Henry truly cared about his wives beyond their ability to produce a male heir or otherwise please him, he appears to have insisted on marrying for love, or at least on having ''some'' kind of personal interest, attraction or connection with the woman he was marrying; one of his marriages, after all, ended largely because the couple just didn't click together romantically, a reason for divorce we take for granted today. In addition, numerous accounts suggest that, when things were going well at least, Henry could be a charming, considerate and affectionate spouse who valued his wives and enjoyed spending time with them. While many of these accounts have to be taken with a grain of salt -- and we still have to remember that he ended two marriages via officially-sanctioned decapitation, which hardly puts him in the running for husband of the year -- even meeting this baseline was incredibly rare in an age where most royal marriages were arranged purely for political or diplomatic advantage with little concern for whether the participants loved, liked or could even communicate with each other.[[note]]This trait was actually shared amongst his sisters, as both, when freed of their political marriages, married men that they had romantic feelings for rather than strategic alliances. The Tudor children may have been seeking to follow the example set by their parents, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York ([[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage a genuine love match which began as a political alliance]]), as their widower father [[TheMourningAfter did not remarry]] even though it would have been politically (and financially) advantageous to do so, because he was still in love with his late wife. Another formative example for them would have been their grandfather Edward IV, who married their lowborn grandmother Elizabeth Woodville for love over a dynastic marriage with a continental ally.[[/note]]

In an [[{{Irony}} ironic twist]], Henry's long sought-after son Edward VI would only reign under regents for six years before dying at age 15. It would be Henry's daughters, first Mary, then Elizabeth, to lead England for the next fifty years--and it would be his sister Margaret's line that would reign in England after his daughters' deaths, down to this very day.

* Creator/JonathanRhysMeyers played him on ''Series/TheTudors'', albeit a slightly [[HistoricalBeautyUpdate more attractive]] version (though it should be noted that Henry ''was'' considered [[IWasQuiteALooker handsome in his youth]], when he was also very strong and fit).
* Keith Mitchell played him in ''Series/TheSixWivesOfHenryVIII'', although the focus is more on the women in his life, it is by many considered the best and most accurate portrayal of Henry on screen

* The 1960 play ''Theatre/AManForAllSeasons'' is about Thomas More's refusal to support Henry's divorce, and the ensuing conflict. In the 1966 film adaptation, Henry is played by Creator/RobertShaw.
* The 1948 play ''Theatre/AnneOfTheThousandDays'' is about Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn. In the 1969 film adaptation, he's played by Creator/RichardBurton.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E11MargicalHistoryTour Margical History Tour]]", [[UniversalAdaptorCast which shows the characters in the place of famous historical figures]], Homer appears as Henry. The segment [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade escalates]] Henry's [[TheBluebeard Bluebeard]] tendencies to [[LaughablyEvil comical extremes]], as he kills all of his wives but the first (who he imprisoned and later [[TheDogBitesBack murdered him]]) for failing to produce a male heir and punishes Thomas More (Flanders) by "canonizing" him ([[TheNotSoHarmlessPunishment firing him out of a cannon]]). Henry is introduced [[VillainousGlutton stuffing his face]] while singing his own version of his namesake Music/HermansHermits song.
-->''I am Henry the Eight, I am\\
Henry the Eight, I am, I am\\
I've been eating since 6 AM\\
For dessert, I'll have dinner again\\
My name is synonymous with gluttony\\
I'll always eat a turkey or a ham''
* His portrait gets a lingering look from Creator/CateBlanchett in the 1998 film ''Film/{{Elizabeth}}''. Understandably, since she's his daughter.
* Appears as a supporting character in the first three of Philippa Gregory's Tudor Court novels: ''The Constant Princess'', ''Literature/TheOtherBoleynGirl'' and ''Literature/TheBoleynInheritance''; the novels chart his progress from boyhood to middle age through the eyes of his wives. He's played by Creator/JaredHarris in the 2003 TV adaptation of ''The Other Boleyn Girl'' and Creator/EricBana in the [[Film/TheOtherBoleynGirl 2008 film version]].

* Creator/SidJames played another Cockney version in the 1971 comedy ''Film/CarryOnHenry''.
* [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/show/p0056cb5/henry_80/ Henry 8.0]] depicts Henry as living in a modern suburb, played by Creator/BrianBlessed.

* He's the husband and father of the main characters in the first four books of the ''Literature/YoungRoyals'' (which focus on Mary, Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn, and Catherine of Aragon). His perspective is also included alongside Catherine's in ''Patience, Princess of Catherine''.
* In 2015, he was portrayed by Creator/DamianLewis in the [[Creator/TheBBC BBC2]] adaptation of Hilary Mantel's novel ''Series/WolfHall'': a very human Henry, but with [[PsychopathicManchild a colossal tantrum]] and a [[NeverMyFault disturbing self-righteousness]]. The same book was adapted into a highly successful stage play starring Creator/NathanielParker as Henry.
* Henry was a suspect in two murder cases in ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseTravelInTime''.
** The first was Case #11, where Catherine of Aragon was the victim, [[FictionalizedDeathAccount eighteen years before she was supposed to have died naturally]]. When first interrogated by the player, he is mad that his wife was murdered. Then, the player found a threatening ode written to Catherine by Henry, who confessed he suspected his wife of having an affair with a visiting Frenchman, which she denied. He turned out to be innocent of the crime, and condemned the real killer to the Tower of London until he figured out what to do with her.
** The second murder he was a suspect in was Case #15, where the victim was a de Medici woman named Lady Fiore, to whom he had been betrothed after his first wife’s murder. When first interrogated, he was upset that his fiancé had been killed, as it dashed hopes for an alliance with Florence and possibly a male heir. It was later revealed that Henry believed Lady Fiore to be infertile after a medieval fertility test (which was proved inaccurate by modern day medicine), and saw her death as a godsend from a fruitless marriage. Again, he was proved innocent. It was revealed that during the investigation of Lady Fiore’s murder, sparks had flown between him and Anne Boleyn, and she took Fiore’s place in the wedding as Henry’s bride.
* He's a supporting character in ''Film/WhenKnighthoodWasInFlower'', which is mainly about his sister Mary and her love affair with Charles Brandon.

* Henry is also a PosthumousCharacter in the 2022 series ''Series/BecomingElizabeth'', as the series explores how his death impacted his daughter Elizabeth, her two siblings, his widow and various other scheming courtiers.
* In Sandra Worth's the ''Literature/RoseOfYorkSeries'' a young Henry appears in the epilogue as a CreepyChild who unnerves his mother and resents her hidden affection for her [[UsefulNotes/RichardIII long dead uncle]]. Only the fact that he hates his father more prevents him from telling on his mother.
* In the fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Handmaid}}'', Henry, at Katherine of Aragon's suggestion, decides to take Anne Boleyn as a handmaid, bearing his children on Katherine's behalf, in order to still produce heirs without the hassle of an annulment. This would change the course of English history and the fates of his wives and children. [[spoiler: Henry and Anne's son Edmund becomes king on the death of Henry years later from what's implied to be natural causes. It's noted Katherine died around the same time and Anne a year later from what's implied to be a broken heart (she had come to care for Henry and was in love with Katherine). It's also noted that of Henry's other real-life wives, only Jane Seymour has an unhappy ending because of her AdaptationalVillainy.]]

* He is a recurring character in the ''Literature/HorribleHistories'' franchise even getting his own book and episode in the show where he's played by ''Creator/RowanAtkinson''.
* ''Patience, Princess Catherine'' by Carolyn Meyer starts in 1501 when Catherine of Aragon goes to marry Arthur, but instead marries Henry VIII.

* In the fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Handmaid}}'', Henry, at Katherine of Aragon's suggestion, decides to take Anne Boleyn as a handmaid, bearing his children on Katherine's behalf, in order to still produce heirs without the hassle of an annulment. This would change the course of English history and the fates of his wives and children. [[spoiler: Henry and Anne's son Edmund becomes king on the death of Henry years later from what's implied to be natural causes. It's noted Katherine died around the same time and Anne a year later from what's implied to be a broken heart (she had come to care for Henry and was [[LesYay in love]] with Katherine). It's also noted that of Henry's other real-life wives, only Jane Seymour has an unhappy ending because of her AdaptationalVillainy.]]
* The circumstances of his life and death are covered extensively in an episode of ''WebAnimation/{{Oversimplified}}''.

After ''seven years'' of legal stalling tactics, Henry decided he'd had enough and outlawed the Pope's authority in 1533. He turned his divorce settlement over to Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury, married UsefulNotes/AnneBoleyn in January of 1533, and made himself Supreme Head of the Church in England in 1534. At the height of UsefulNotes/TheProtestantReformation, he had every monastery in the kingdom closed and their possessions confiscated; monastic life would not return to England for over three hundred years[[note]]until the Oxford Movement in th 19th century[[/note]]. He also forced almost every literate man in England to swear an oath upholding the new succession and his new title; those who wouldn't, including his "close friend" Thomas More, ended up on the chopping block.

UsefulNotes/CatherineParr, an intelligent and twice-widowed veteran of the royal court, was his sixth and last wife. Catherine was upset when Henry proposed to her, as she was in love with the handsome, dashing Thomas Seymour. However, she could hardly say no to the King, and was won over. Catherine got along very well with all three of her stepchildren, UsefulNotes/MaryTudor, [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI Elizabeth Tudor]] and Edward Tudor. However, Catherine was a devout Protestant, while Henry identified as a Protestant (yet still held traditional Catholic beliefs). Catherine tried to get Henry to be more Protestant, however he was infuriated at the idea of his wife lecturing him. He ordered guards to arrest Catherine, however she managed to win him over just in time by insisting that she didn't mean to lecture him. Catherine managed to save herself just in time, as it was rumoured Henry had plans on marrying a seventh wife, Katherine Brandon, Dowager Duchess of Suffolk. Had it not been for Catherine aiming Henry's sympathy, their marriage may very well have ended in divorce, or even an execution. Henry died before she did. A few months after Henry's death, Catherine angered her royal stepchildren by marrying her sweetheart Thomas Seymour (brother of Jane Seymour). However, they later forgave her. Catherine also took the young Princess Elizabeth into her household to be educated, along with Elizabeth's cousin Lady Jane Grey. Catherine later sent Elizabeth away after catching her having sex with her husband.[[note]]Weather this was because Catherine Parr wanted to keep her stepdaughter safe from her pedophile husband or was merely infuriated that her beloved stepdaughter would fall in love with her husband (grooming wasn’t exactly considered a thing back then) is unknown.[[/note]] Catherine was also shocked and thrilled to discover she was pregnant, aged 35 or 36, as her previous 3 marriages had resulted in no pregnancies. Catherine died giving birth aged 36 or 37 to a daughter named Mary Seymour (named after Princess Mary, Catherine's eldest stepdaughter), whose fate is not known, but she probably died in infancy.

UsefulNotes/CatherineParr, an intelligent woman who had previously been married twice before to old men. She was his sixth and last wife. Catherine was upset when Henry proposed to her, as she was in love with the handsome, dashing Thomas Seymour. However, she could hardly say no to the King, and was won over. Catherine got along very well with all three of her stepchildren, UsefulNotes/MaryTudor, [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI Elizabeth Tudor]] and Edward Tudor. However, Catherine was a devout Protestant, while Henry identified as a Protestant (yet still held traditional Catholic beliefs). Catherine tried to get Henry to be more Protestant, however he was infuriated at the idea of his wife lecturing him. He ordered guards to arrest Catherine, however she managed to win him over just in time by insisting that she didn't mean to lecture him. Catherine managed to save herself just in time, as it was rumoured Henry had plans on marrying a seventh wife, Katherine Brandon. Had it not been for Catherine aiming Henry's sympathy, their marriage may very well have ended in divorce, or even an execution. Henry died before she did. A few months after Henry's death, Catherine angered her royal stepchildren by marrying her sweetheart Thomas Seymour (brother of Jane Seymour). However, they later forgave her. Catherine also took the young Princess Elizabeth into her household to be educated, along with Elizabeth's cousin Lady Jane Grey. Catherine later sent Elizabeth away after catching her having sex with her husband.[[note]]Weather this was because Catherine Parr wanted to keep her stepdaughter safe from her pedophile husband or was merely infuriated that her beloved stepdaughter would fall in love with her husband (grooming wasn’t exactly considered a thing back then) is unknown.[[/note]] Catherine was also shocked and thrilled to discover she was pregnant, aged 35 or 36, as her previous 3 marriages had resulted in no pregnancies. Catherine died giving birth aged 36 or 37 to a daughter named Mary Seymour (named after Princess Mary, Catherine's eldest stepdaughter), whose fate is not known, but she probably died in infancy.