Henry VIII
Henry VIIIEarly years
Henry VIII was born on June 28, 1491 at Greenwich Palace. His Parents, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, were very loving and proud parents, even though they didn�t see much of their children. Henry was their second son. He was styled as the �Duke of York�. He had his own servants, Court Jesters, and to top it off he had is own whipping boy that would receive whippings whenever Henry did something bad.
Henry was said to be charming, handsome and full of life. He loved music, so much that when he was only ten years old he could play many instruments including the Fife, Harp, Viola, and drums. He was also very smart. He could speak French, Latin, and a bit of Spanish. He loved Hunting. His favorite sports were hunting ,of course, and wrestling.
Henry had and an older brother named Arthur. He was he was the family heir to the throne. Therefore, his father arranged a marriage for him. He was to marry Catherine of Aragon when he turned sixteen years old. Arthur seemed to be healthy, in fact, he danced at his wedding for a long time without a bit of fatigue and weakness or sweat it was believed to be said by Royal Court Jester and some servants who witnessed the celebration from the back. The sad part is only a few months later Arthur died. Historians believe he died from T.B. Historians also believe he could also have had the plague or Sweating sickness.
This meant Henry was now heir to the Throne. His fathers concerns for him caused Henry to be guarded heavily at all times and able to be seen by only a few people. When he was in public he was scared of doing many things and acting himself because he was scared of his fathers temper.
In 1509 Henry VII died of Tuberculosis and his son Henry became King Henry VIII. He became King at seventeen years old.
Early Reign
With his fathers death he inherited a stable realm with a wealthy monarch. At that time parliament had not been summoned for supplies in 5 years. Henry�s different interests and lack of application of government business increased the influence of Thomas Wolsey, a son of a butcher, who became the Lord Chancellor in 1515. Wolsey ended up becoming one of the most powerful ministers in all of British history. He was also appointed Cardinal that year and given papal legate powers that allowed him to counter any decision made by archbishop of Canterbury. It allowed him to �govern� the Church of England. This made him very wealthy and powerful, so powerful he had a bigger house and more land than Henry did.
2nd half of Reign
Henry was engaged to Catherine of Aragon, widow of his older brother Arthur at age 12 when his brother died. Catherine was...
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