Tudor Dynasty.

The English dynasty, which ruled England from 1485 to 1603, was composed of members descended from the Houses of Lancaster and York. It was essentially a chess game, where members were eliminated to reach the English throne. It had been seen fought by multiple houses over the centuries. Gruesome, violent, and filled with prolific individuals, England has seen its fair share of battles from royal members trying to win over the power that it held by dominating the entire island. The House of Tudor was no exception, and it was the only house in English history to break ties with the Roman church, produce its own church managed by a king, and produce its own bible written in English. So who founded such a house that is still considered by many to be one of the most famous and well-known houses in English history? Well, sit down and relax and delve deep down into the history of the king that ended the War of the Roses, a monarch that was obsessed with trying to procreate a male heir into the English family by constantly marrying, a king who was considered by many to be the first English monarch to be raised as a protestant, a queen known for killing and wiping out protestants and later on being remembered as the “bloody queen of England” and the “virgin” queen that changed England for the better.

Henry VIII.

Family background:

Strong, ruthless, and feared king of all, King Henry VIII was the son of the late Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, who were the first members of the House of Tudor. Born into the royal family, he was considered the “spare” heir as his oldest brother, Prince Arthur of Wales was made Duke of Cornwall from birth and Earl of Chester in 1489 and taught by the finest tutors in court, to be the future king of England. Descended and having the blood of two royal houses, Henry VIII was considered a fine specimen and a natural leader with a bright mind by his tutors, who taught him to follow a catholic line. Different from the tyrannical protestant ruler mentioned in every high school history book.

Childhood:

Born in 1491 to the royal Tudor family, Henry VIII had a happy childhood and was considered to have a close relationship with his mother, who taught him how to write at the early age of four. He learned many languages including Latin, French, Spanish, and even Greek under the tutorship of the famous poet, John Skelton. While his brother was away from his siblings being taught to be the next monarch of the country, Henry VIII was staying at his ancestral palace, Eltham Castle with his mother and 2 sisters, who taught him everything that could’ve led him to have a career at the church. But when his brother, Arthur died due to the sweating sickness that had plagued England during the early and mid-16th century, he became the next in line to the throne which meant that he had to be away from his loving mother and be his father’s latest shining star who taught him along with the finest tutors, to be the next ruler of England.

What he was mostly known for?

In order to produce a male heir to the Tudor dynasty, Henry VIII was mostly known for marrying (and beheading) six wives as he was afraid that it would end abruptly as he only successfully produced two offspring, both of whom were females. He is also known for breaking ties with the Roman Catholic Church as they were not granting him the authority or the right to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, whom, he believed that by not producing a male heir and having many miscarriages experienced by his wife was a punishment and a sign from God, as he married his late brother’s widow which is considered in the bible to be a huge red flag and that’s why he came to a conclusion that divorcing and marring a fresh would be the perfect way to procreate a son. The main reason would also come forward as it was found out by many at that time that King Henry VIII had a huge crush on another lady, Anne Boleyn, and he wanted her to be in the picture as he found her quite ravishing and was in desperate need of a male heir. Many years later, many scientists would research and come to a huge conclusion that such failed pregnancies were because of him as the result of impaired fertility and a “cursed” blood group inherited from his maternal great-grandmother, Jacquetta Woodville.

Anne Boleyn:

The second wife of Henry VIII and a member of the illustrious Boleyn family, Anne Boleyn is considered to be the reason behind the English Reformation that took place in the 16th century when the church of England, founded by Henry VIII, broke its ties with the Roman Catholic Church just because of a romance that happened between the king and the Boleyn lady, which also led him to start a movement inside England called Protestantism. His infatuation with Anne led him to also divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, which became a huge scandal in England during the mid-16th century. With the success of leaving Catherine and marrying a new lady, he believed that God would finally present him with a male child that he so desperately needed, but this would turn out to be a huge slap in his face as he experienced another loss of a child, specifically three, during his marriage with Anne. The only surviving child of King Henry VIII at that time would be Queen Elizabeth I.

To be continued….