A son and heir

 

Henry VIII was clever, handsome, strong, and good at all sports. But he was also selfish, and he could be cruel. He showed his cruelty, above all, in the way he treated his wives.

 

Like most men in his days, Henry VIII thought that ruling England was a man's job. So he wanted a son to take over when he died. By 1527, though, his only child was a daughter (Mary). He, therefore, decided to divorce Catherine, his first wife, and marry again. He hoped that a new wife would give him a son.

 

As England was still a Catholic country, Henry needed the Pope's permission for a divorce. The Pope said 'No'. Henry then said that he, not the Pope, was head of the Church in England. He got Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to say that he was free to marry again.

 

Henry did marry again, but his second queen, Anne Boleyn, also gave birth to a daughter. A third marriage, to Jane Seymour, led at last to the birth of a son, but Queen Jane died in childbirth. Three more wives followed, but no more children.

 

Walter Robson: Crown, Parliament and People; Oxford University Press, 1992/2002, page 16