by Marsha Coles

Created on: December 13, 2010

The six wives of Henry VIII, whether political alliances, love, lust, affection, or thoughts of once was each marriage is an equal part of history. Let no one say that one marriage was more important than the other for each one paved the way for the next.  

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon, born on the 16th day of December 1485 to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, was betrothed to Arthur, the son of Henry VII of England when she was three years old. Near the age of sixteen years Catherine set sail for England to marry her betrothed. They were wed on the 14th day of November 1501, a little over a month after she arrived in the country. Her escort down the aisle was Arthur’s younger brother, Henry.

They were barely six months into their marriage when young Arthur succumbed to illness, leaving Catherine a widow at the tender age of sixteen. After the year of mourning King Henry VII betrothed Catherine to his surviving son, the future King Henry VIII. The marriage was not to be held until Henry was of a suitable age but when, in 1505, he was old enough to marry his sister by marriage Henry VII advised his son to break the betrothal. The old king did not favor the Spanish ties as he once had.

When King Henry VII died in 1509 the new king married Catherine. Their marriage produced a stillborn daughter, a young son called Prince Henry who lived only 52 days, another miscarriage and son who perished in infancy. One child was born healthy to the King and Queen, a baby girl they named Mary.

Henry VIII had at least two mistresses and soon he began to pull away from his wife. He had fallen in love with one of the queen’s ladies; Anne Boleyn. His wife was beyond childbearing age and he decided to petition the Pope for an annulment from Catherine.  The annulment was granted in 1533 and Catherine was renounced as Queen of England. She was now titled the Princess Dowager of Wales but refused to claim the title. She died at Kimbolton Castle on the 7th day of January 1536.

Anne Boleyn

Little is known of Anne Boleyn early life but it is estimated that she was born around 1500. She attended to the French Queen for nearly a decade before returning to England. It is said that after a failed marriage plan to the heir of Ormonde she began a liaison with Henry Percy. After the ending of that relationship another was started with Sir Thomas Wyatt. Henry VIII had noticed Anne by this time and soon fell in love. After a long battle for annulment and finding

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