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Henry VIII, son of Henry Tudor (Henry VII) reigned from 1509 to 1547. Often portrayed in film as a fat over-eater with an eye for the ladies, he was a short tempered man whom it was dangerous to displease. Several of his ministers and his wives were to learn this to their cost.

Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536) was Henry's first wife. She was a Spanish princess, daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, and had been married to Henry's elder brother, Arthur, to cement an alliance between England and Spain. Arthur died unexpectedly and to retain the alliance Henry was married to his brother's widow, in 1509. She was still only 23, he was 18. The marriage lasted over 20 years, during which Catherine suffered many miscarriages and still-births and produced only one healthy child. She was the future Queen Mary (Bloody Mary, 1553-1558). Henry was desperate to have a son to secure the succession after he died. At length, as Catherine grew older, he despaired of their union ever producing a son. He wished to remarry, and asked her to become a nun, to clear his path. She refused. He sent Cardinal Wolsey to Rome to ask the Pope to grant him a divorce, on the grounds that he should not have married his brother's widow. For political reasons the Pope was unable to comply. In desperation, Henry broke England away from the Roman Catholic Church. His Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, annulled the marriage in 1532, clearing the way for Henry to marry his lover, Anne Boleyn.

Anne Boleyn (1504-1536) was one of Catherine of Aragon's 'Maids in Waiting'. Henry's roving eye had settled upon her well before his marriage to Catherine ended, but she had been unwilling to join the ranks of his mistresses. She wanted more. However, she was already pregnant before Henry's marriage to Catherine ended, adding to the King's desperation. He was hopeful of a son, but needed to be legally married to Anne if the child was not to be a bastard and therefore unable to be King. Henry rushed to marry the feisty Anne, in 1533, who soon afterwards gave birth to..........a girl. She was the future Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The King was disappointed. When Anne's second child was also a girl, Henry seems to have concluded that God was angry with him. He determined to end his marriage to Anne. He had false charges of adultery brought against her. These constituted treason against the King. She was found guilty and was executed at the Tower of London in 1536. Her head was severed by the stroke

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