Henry the eighth breif biography

Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries , for which he was excommunicated by the pope. Henry brought radical changes to the Constitution of England , expanding royal power and ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings in opposition to papal supremacy.

He frequently used charges of treason and heresy to quell dissent, and those accused were often executed without a formal trial using bills of attainder. He achieved many of his political aims through his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Henry was an extravagant spender, using proceeds from the dissolution of the monasteries and acts of the Reformation Parliament.

He converted money that was formerly paid to Rome into royal revenue. Despite the money from these sources, he was often on the verge of financial ruin due to personal extravagance and costly and largely unproductive wars, particularly with King Francis I of France , Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , King James V of Scotland , and the Scottish regency under the Earl of Arran and Mary of Guise.

Henry's contemporaries considered him an attractive, educated, and accomplished king. He has been described as "one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne" and his reign described as the "most important" in English history.

How old was henry viii when he became king

As he aged, he became severely overweight and his health suffered. He is frequently characterised in his later life as a lustful, egotistical, paranoid, and tyrannical monarch. The day after the ceremony, he was created Duke of York and a month or so later made Warden of the Scottish Marches. In May , he was appointed to the Order of the Garter.

The reason for giving such appointments to a small child was to enable his father to retain personal control of lucrative positions and not share them with established families. He became fluent in Latin and French and learned at least some Italian.