Henry Tudor

Henry Tudor
Born	1491/06/28 Palace of Placentia, Greenwich, England
💼 Occupation
📆 Years active	1509-1547
Title	King of England

Early Life

Henry was born as the third child, and second son of Henry VII, and Elizabeth of York. He was appointed Duke of York from 1494. Since Henry wasn’t expected to become king, he was raised differently compared to his elder brother, Arthur, who was the Prince of Wales. In 1501, Arthur married Catherine of Aragon, a Spanish princess. During this time, their parents agreed on Henry marrying Victoria Charlotte Valois, the only surviving child of the already dead French king, Charles XIII. Victoria’s mother, Anne of Brittany married Charles’s successor, Louis XII, who accepted the marriage proposal. Prince Arthur suddenly died in 1502, because of sweat sickness, and this has changed everything. Henry became heir apparent, while Catherine of Aragon was widowed. His father passed away in 1509, and Henry ascended to the throne.

Career

Arthur’s death broke the English-Spanish alliance, which was really needed for England, especially with Catherine’s dowry. In 1509, after Henry became the king, he decided to immediately marry Catherine in order to strength their alliance again. Henry never even saw his ex-fiancée, by now the barely 11 years old Princess of France and Brittany, Victoria Charlotte, while Catherine was already a grown woman, being 24 years old at that time. In 10 years of marriage, Henry and Catherine has produced 6 children, but only a daughter, Princess Mary survived infancy. Henry desired about having a male heir, but Catherine failed to give birth to a healthy boy, while Henry grew more and more impatient. After getting to know that Catherine lied to him, and consummated her marriage with Prince Arthur, he wanted to annul their marriage as soon as possible. Pope Leo X refused to do it, what led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England. After the annulment of Henry and Catherine’s marriage in 1519, she was banished from court, and the king started to search for options, who he could marry. Henry’s sister, Mary was the Dowager Queen of France, since she was married to Louis XII after Anne of Brittany’s death. Knowing that Louis once agreed on marrying Princess Victoria with Henry, Mary advised her brother to send a letter to the current French king, Francis I, and ask for the now 21 years old princess’s hand. Actually this time, Francis I was in talks with Spain, about marrying Victoria to Spanish king, Charles V who was Catherine of Aragon’s nephew. After receiving Henry’s letter, Francis decided to accept Henry’s marriage offer. The Valois princess arrived to England in June of 1519, and Henry was impatiently waiting for his new wife. Their marriage was validated few days later, and Victoria Charlotte was crowned Queen of England, while Catherine of Aragon was titled Dowager Princess of Wales, pointing out she was the wife of Prince Arthur. In the autumn of 1519, it was announced that Queen Victoria Charlotte is carrying a child, and allegedly Henry couldn’t hide his big expectations about having a son. In 1520, his dream came true as the queen gave birth to a healthy boy, Prince Edward, whose birth was followed by celebrations. Henry often mentioned in his life, that Prince Edward is his brightest joy. After Henry died in 1547, he was succeeded by Edward on the throne.

Personal Life

When he was 10 years old, his elder brother, the heir Prince Arthur married Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon. During this time, the 3 years old French princess, Victoria Charlotte was proposed to Henry. Knowing that Victoria was the only surviving child of Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany (they had 5 other children, but they all died in childhood), Henry VII and Elizabeth of York feared that the princess will die soon as well, even though she was perfectly healthy. Anne of Brittany in her letter to Elizabeth explained that they don’t need to worry, because her first son, Dauphin Charles Orland was also healthy, he died only because of a virus, and her other children were all born prematurely, this caused their early death. Everything has changed when Prince Arthur suddenly died in 1502, leaving Catherine of Aragon widowed, so the English-Spanish alliance became destroyed. England was suffering from poverty, and Catherine could bring more money with her dowry to England, than Victoria. Henry was now the heir apparent, and it made his parents thinking about his marriage. Elizabeth of York died in 1503, Henry VII was in deep grief, and the king’s mother, Margaret Beaufort was against Catherine, even though they needed the Spanish alliance. Both Henry VII and Margaret died in 1509, leaving Prince Henry as the new king. He wanted to strength again the alliance with Spain, and Catherine confessed she didn’t consummate her marriage with Arthur (later it was revealed she lied, and wasn’t a virgin when she married Henry, it led to Catherine’s end), Henry would be able to wed her. It made Henry immediately marry Catherine, who became the Queen. Their first years together were described as happy, though their first child was stillborn, and their first son, Henry died as an infant. As years had passed, Catherine either miscarriaged, or gave birth to stillborn or premature baby. Henry started to be impatient, and their marriage had worsen day by day. Eventually Henry’s aunt (who used to live together with Catherine and Arthur), Margaret Pole revealed that Catherine had consummated her marriage with Arthur, what made the situation life threatening, since Henry was very angry, and wanted to get rid of Catherine as soon as possible. Pope Leo X refused to annul their marriage, so Henry formed the Church of England and made himself the head of it. This way he divorced Catherine, and the marriage became invalid. Catherine was titled Dowager Princess of Wales, and was banished from court, leaving their only living child, Princess Mary without a mother. English noblemen wanted to introduce their daughters to the king, but Henry protested, as he wanted to make new alliance with a new marriage. His younger sister, Mary was the Dowager Queen of France, and she advised Henry to send a marriage offer to France, asking again for his ex-fiancée, now adult Princess Victoria Charlotte. Henry was excited to form an alliance with France, and he immediately sent a letter. Current reigning French king, Francis I accepted the offer, even though he proposed Victoria to Catherine of Aragon’s nephew, Spanish king Charles V. In 1519, Princess Victoria arrived to England, and Henry immediately married her, then she was crowned Queen of England. Henry was excited with his new life with his new wife, and was very satisfied with her, because they said Victoria is a rarely pretty woman. In 1520, Queen Victoria Charlotte gave birth to a healthy son, Prince Edward, which was followed by big festivities, since Henry was very happy finally having a heir. Months later the king and queen went public with their son, showing to people the future king. Henry’s speech was followed by clap storm. He said ,,I stand here as the King of England, holding the future King of England in my arms. Long live Prince Edward! Long live Queen Victoria Charlotte! I can’t be thankful enough to my beautiful wife for giving me a son, a heir, a child. I am thankful to God as well, for giving me a healthy son. I am thankful to God for giving me my true love, my wife, my queen, with whom I am deeply in love. I promise you, to have a loving family, and ruling England together as good as possible.” As years passed, the couple had 3 more children, and never forgot to point out publicly their love towards each other. Based on their children’s birth dates, it seemed they carefully did a family plan, the queen had always time to recover, and raise their kids. They were married for 28 years, until Henry’s death. Their marriage has always been described as a loving, happy relationship. When Henry died, their eldest son, Edward ascended to the throne. Victoria seemed to write diary, in which she wrote about her life with Henry. When he died, she wrote the following: ,,My Henry passed away. My only love left me in this cruel world. I am feeling like I do not need to live anymore, but I promised Henry I will take care of our children, and also of Princess Mary. I will continue my life for them, and for England.”

Wives and children

First marriage to Catherine of Aragon (1509 - ann. 1519)

Children

• stillborn Princess Tudor (1510)

• Henry Tudor (1511)

• stillborn Prince Tudor (1513)

• stillborn Prince Tudor (1514)

• Mary Tudor (1516 - 1558)

• stillborn Princess Tudor (1518)

Second marriage to Victoria Charlotte Valois of France (1519 - his d. 1547)

Children

• Edward Tudor (1520 - 1553)

• Elizabeth Tudor (1522 - 1603)

• Anne Tudor (1525 - 1589)

• Henry Tudor (1527 - 1552)

He had no illegitimate children as he didn’t have any mistresses.

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