Why do we think of Henry VIII when we talk about the Tower of London?How many wives did Henry VIII have?
Many of my students can answer these questions now.
Ginette is going to share with us what she learned in her Thursday Conversation class. We read a text about one of the wives and we listened to more information about the other wives on a CD. But first, try taking this quiz to see what you already know (or what you remember from our classwork) about Henry VIII.
1. Henri VIII was born in
a. 1491 b. 1527 c. 1616
2. He died when he was ________ years old.
a. 62 b. 55 c. 49
3. He had __ wives.
a. 8 b. 7 c. 6
4. His first wife, Catherine of Aragon, had only one child, a girl named _________
a. Mary b. Jane c. Anne
5. Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn ________________________.
a. died in a hunting accident b. died of pneumonia c. was beheaded
6. The wife who gave him the son he wanted so much was _______________
a. Anne Boleyn b. Anne de Cleves c. Jane Seymour
7. Because Henry had not seen her before the wedding, this famous painter was sent to paint a portrait of the future Queen, Anne de Cleves. The painter was ______________.
a. Holbein b. Caravaggio c. Picasso
8. Henry never slept with his fourth wife---he said that she looked like a _________.
a. witch b. man c. horse
9. Anne Boleyn is the mother of Princess Elizabeth who would later become Queen Elizabeth I and reign for __________ years.
a. 30 b. 40 c. 45
10. How many of Henry's marriages ended in divorce?
a. 2 b. 3 c. 4
11. Henry's first divorce is the reason for
a. the loss of many of the Crown jewels b. the creation of the Church of England c. his health problems
12. How many of Henry's wives were beheaded?
a. 2 b. 3. c. 4
13. Henry called his young wife, Catherine Howard,
a. "his precious jewel" b. "a rose without a thorn" c." his little cabbage"(!)
14. Henry VIII was the second monarch of the House of ___________.
a. Windsor b. Tudor c. Stuart
Are your answers all correct?
Read Ginette's report to check your answers.
It's at the bottom of this post. Scroll down further.
But if you don't know the answer to number 14, Ginette doesn't help you. Look on the internet, wikipedia, for example. All the other answers are in Ginette's text.
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The Tower of London witnessed many tragedies particularly the beheading of two of Henry VIII's six wives.
Henry VIII (born June 28, 1491 and died January 28th, 1547) was probably the most famous King of England. He married six times!! An explanation: he absolutely needed to have a male heir.
1. The first time, in 1509, he married Catherine of Aragon. But Catherine couldn't give him a male heir. Only Princess Mary survived; the other babies died. Under the influence of his mistress Anne Boleyn, he decided to divorce Catherine. But divorce was forbidden so he broke away from the Pope and created his own church, "The Church of England" so he could marry a second time. This first marriage lasted 24 years.
2. Anne Boleyn married Henry in 1533 after his divorce. The English people didn't like this marriage and they thought Anne to a witch. And, she wasn't able to give Henry the son he wanted. In 1533 the little Princess Elizabeth was born; she would later reign over England for 45 years! This marriage lasted 3 years...Henry learned that Anne had not been a faithful wife, so she was beheaded in the Tower of London in May 1536.
3. Jane Seymour comes next. Eleven days after Anne's execution, Henry married Jane Seymour. In 1538 she gave him a son, Prince Edward. Unfortunately, Jane died of postnatal complications two weeks after Edward's birth. She was the only one of Henri's wives to receive a Queen's funeral. Henri asked to be buried next to her. They were married for less than two years but she is said to be the woman he loved the most.
4. Anne of Cleves
After two years of mourning, Henry married again for political reasons. His fourth wife was Anne of Cleves, a German princess. Henry wanted to make an alliance with a protestant country. He saw Anne for the first time in a very flattering portrait painted by Hans Holbein. It was love at first sight, so he agreed to marry her. But, when Anne arrived in England, he found her very unattractive and said (in private) that she looked like a horse!!! The marriage was never consummated and they divorced six months later!
5. Katherine Howard
In 1540, Henry was unhappy and depressed. He was also very fat and in bad health. Then he met a young fifteen-year-old girl, Katherine Howard, and fell in love. He called her his "rose without a thorn." He was infatuated by her. He was very generous with Katherine; he bought her diamonds, pearls and furs with rubies. But Henry's counsellors suspected that she was unfaithful and she was betrayed by one of her ladies-in-waiting. In fact, she had taken a former lover as her secretary! And she had a new young lover in the castle! Henry was very angry and on February 13th, 1542, she was taken to Tower Hill and beheaded. She was buried next to her cousin Anne Boleyn in the Tower of London. This marriage lasted only a year and a half.
6. Catherine Parr
Henry married his last wife, a wealthy widow in 1543. They argued over religion; she was a reformer, Henry was a conservative. She helped reconcile Henry with his two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. Henry died before Catherine. She died in 1548.
TO HELP YOU REMEMBER HENRY'S SIX WIVES:
"DIVORCED, BEHEADED, DIED
DIVORCED, BEHEADED, SURVIVED"
Thank you very much Ginette!
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PS In the photo you can see UIAD students standing around the memorial, created in 2006 in remembrance of 10 people who were executed on Tower Green.
