Henry VIII

*This article is about the fictionalized version of King Henry VIII, you may be looking for the episode that was named after him.*

## Henry VIII

* Old and fat
* Adult
* Young
* Child
* Real Life

### Relatives

* Henry VII (father)

* Elizabeth of York (mother)
* Catherine of Aragon (first wife)
* Anne Boleyn (second wife)
* Jane Seymour (third wife)
* Anne of Cleves (fourth wife)
* Catherine Howard (fifth wife)
* Catherine Parr (sixth wife)
* Edward the Confessor (ancestor)
* Harold Godwinson (14x and 15x great grandfather)
* William the Conqueror (12x great grandfather)
* Edgar the Peaceful (15x and 16x great grandfather)
* Æthelred the Unready (14x and 15x great grandfather)
* George III (Great Nephew)
* Queen Victoria (Great Niece)
* Mary I (daughter)
* Elizabeth I (daughter)
* Edward VI (son)

## Biographical information

### Place of Birth

Palace of Placentia, Greenwich, Kent, Kingdom of England

### Place of Death

Palace of Whitehall, London, Kingdom of England

## Appearance Information

### Latest Appearance

The Napoleonic Wars (cameo)

> “TREASON!„
>
>
>  – Henry VIII, Henry VIII (episode)
>
>

**Henry VIII** was the thirty-seventh king of England. He reigned from 1509 to 1547, for a total of 37 years. He was the second leader of the House of Tudor, which collapsed in 1603, following the death of his last surviving daughter, Elizabeth I. He is best remembered for two things, having six Queen consorts throughout his 37-year reign and for being gluttonous.

## Wives

1. Catherine of Aragon (1509-1533; annulled; mother of Mary I)
2. Anne Boleyn (1533-1536; decapitated: mother of Elizabeth I)
3. Jane Seymour (1536-1537; complicating after birth; mother of Edward VI)
4. Anne of Cleves (1540-1540; annulled)
5. Catherine Howard (1540-1542; decapitated)
6. Catherine Parr (1543-1547; lived past the death of Henry VIII)

## Biography

Henry VIII was born on June 28, 1491. He became the heir to the English throne after the death of his brother and then became king of England after his father died. He married Catherine of Aragon after becoming king of England. He was known to be a very generous man, which became a problem for the English economy. The council was also responsible for keeping the king from doing dangerous activities, such as jousting and a war against the French Kingdom. The English council was somewhat successful but then backfired when Cardinal Wolsey proclaimed that he was the King and could do anything he pleased. Henry helped the Pope fight the French and won multiple battles. Henry's successes were widely popular around Europe, and his wife was pregnant. However, Henry became bankrupt, and the French prepared to attack Italy. Henry returned to England, and his daughter was born. After some convincing by Wolsey, Henry made a peace treaty with Francis I of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. However, the peace treaty was short-lived as Charles V of Spain and Henry allied against France. However, Henry left France after multiple victories without Charles at sight. However, Charles defeated the French at the Battle of Pavia. He captured Francis I, and Henry and Charles split after Charles denied Henry king of France.

Now living back in England, Henry ate his 5,000 calories of food and gained weight. He became more infatuated with Anne Boleyn and sent her multiple love letters. Henry ordered Wolsey to ask the Pope for a divorce between him and Catherine. However, everyone became aware of this because the Pope was under the control of Charles V. Henry got angry at Wolsey and started his divorce trial. Henry claimed that the Pope was wrong to allow him and Catherine to marry with evidence from the Pope's Bible. The Pope declined Henry’s divorce, and he split from the Papal with England. Henry fired Wolsey from the court and removed England from the Pope's influence. He became the Supreme Head of the English Church and divorced Catherine.

Henry married Anne Boleyn and celebrated all day long. Henry dissolved many monasteries and gained all their wealth. After experiencing a fall from his horse while jousting in 1536, Henry was no longer be physically active and caused around 60 to 70,000 people's deaths. After only receiving a daughter from Anne and her talking smack against Henry, Henry hired Thomas Cromwell. Then, he and many others learned that Anne had an affair. She was sentenced to death after being charged with several crimes. After Anne's execution, Henry married Jane Seymour and convinced the public that he was masculine. Due to daily eating and a lack of activity, Henry became unhealthy. Henry worked hard at determining the theology of the English Church after separation from the Pope. He created a new Bible for his church and suppressed those who were against him.

In 1537, Jane gave birth to Edward VI and died from it. Henry mourned her until he married Anne of Cleves. Henry and Anne divorced six months later, and Henry sentenced Thomas to death for several excepted crimes. Henry married a young teenager named Catherine Howard. However, Henry was sad after learning that Catherine was involved in several affairs. He sentenced Catherine to death and married Catherine Parr. However, their marriage nearly ended when Catherine disagreed with Henry's subject on theology. Henry asked guards to arrest Catherine, but he told them to leave after Catherine explained she was simply learning from him. At some point, Henry hired a cardinal named Sigmund to the English court. Henry grew more suspicious, and he beheaded more people. He returned to fight France and beat them at Boulogne. In 1547, Henry VIII died at the age of 55.

## Appearances

* Henry VIII (episode)
* The Napoleonic Wars (cameo)

## Trivia

* Henry VIII and Adolf Hitler are the only historical figures to have videos explaining them in detail.
	+ He was the only person whom OverSimplified covered for their entire lifetime, as he only covered Hitler's life until WW2.
* The metric system acronym "King Henry Died Drinking Chocolate Milk" most likely referred to Henry VIII. This is not true, as Henry VIII did not as legend has it, die from drinking chocolate milk, what really happened was that he died from natural causes and poor health. Also, his date of death was on Friday, January 28, 1547.
* As his video explains all of his lifetime, he is the character with most forms of appearance.

## Gallery

Henry VIII's pin on the OverSimplified merch shop.