Preview

How Did King Henry Desire For A Male Heir (Personal Factor?

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1243 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did King Henry Desire For A Male Heir (Personal Factor?
Decision Process
1. King Henry: Desire for a male heir (Personal Factor)
King Henry had married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, in 1509. Catherine had produced only one surviving child - a girl, Princess Mary, born in 1516. By the end of the 1520s, Catherine was in her forties and he was desperate for a son.
The Tudor dynasty had been established by conquest in 1485 and King Henry was only its second monarch. England had not so far had a ruling queen, and the dynasty was not secure enough to run the risk of handing the Crown on to a woman, risking disputed succession or domination of a foreign power through marriage.
In the meantime, King Henry had anyway fallen in love with Anne Boleyn, the sister of one of his many mistresses, and tried to persuade the Pope to grant him an annulment of his marriage on the grounds that it had never been legal.
Royal divorces had happened before: Louis IX had been granted a divorce in 1499, and in 1528 James IV's widow Margaret (Henry's sister) had also been granted one. However, a previous Pope had specifically granted Henry a license to marry his brother's widow in 1509.
Apart from the ideological reasons for the pope’s refusal, there
…show more content…
One of the clear biases involved was over short-term emotion. The decision to leave the Roman Catholic Church was majorly due to the Pope’s rejection of the request to divorce Catherine. Further, King Henry recognized the church’s diminishing state and took this time to because Supreme Head of the Catholic Church through an Act of Supremacy in 1534. This put the Pope out of work, but King Henry saw this act as an act of justice for the people. The Church became independent. Accordingly, there are signs of confirmation bias and overconfidence bias in King Henry’s decision process. Overall, this decision made King Henry very popular in England and favorable among his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Henry was born in 1491; he was the third child of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Henry was given the title of Prince Henry in 1503 until the passing of his father when he took the title of King Henry VIII in 1509. Henry was quickly thrown into the world of responsibilities and duties of the King of England. He married his eldest brothers widow Katharine of Argon in 1503, before his reign as King started. Henry is one of the most memorable Kings for many reasons, his relations with France throughout the years, executions, and many failed marriages are a few of the events that made Henry so memorable.…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Henry the VII becomes King of England. Henrys mother Margaret was a decendant of Edward III. This gave Henry a claim to the throne. He sequered his crown by dividing and undermining the power of nobility. obilityHenry was eventually crowned as king on August 22nd 1485. He continued to rulke from ruled from August 1485 to April 1509.…

    • 58 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It is thought that Anne was pregnant with Henry’s child at this point. Henry and Catherine were still officially married, but Archbishop Cranmer proclaimed the marriage to be null and void. Henry’s desire to annul the marriage between himself and Catherine in order to marry Anne, led to the break with Rome. Anne gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth, on August 26th 1533. Anne Boleyn fell pregnant again in 1534 but it either ended in miscarriage or the child being stillborn. In 1535 Anne suffered a miscarriage. King Henry VIII desperately desired a male heir and he started to spend time with one of Anne’s ladies-in-waiting, Jane…

    • 4482 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    In 1534 England was ruled by King Henry VIII. “He ruled for 36 years during this time he married six different wives all to gain more political power.”[1] Two of his marriages ended in annulment, two from natural deaths, and the others from beheadings. What upset a lot of people from the Church of England is the fact that he wanted to annul his first marriage without receiving approval from the pope.…

    • 1588 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    By the time of his divorce conflict, Henry was in love with Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting. He wanted to wed Anne instead of Catherine. However, he could not get a divorce because Pope Clement VII was a prisoner of Charles V.…

    • 3911 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Mr. David Starkey, Henry VIII (the king) was far from similar to Henry VIII (the kid). Instead of researching through the records of the Royal Chamber, Starkey was able to find more details about Henry VIII’s early childhood in the Exchequer. The Royal Chamber wasn’t implemented yet until King Henry VII invades France back in 1492. By scavenging through the documents of the Exchequer, Starkey found a window where he could look at how Henry VIII was before all those wives and before becoming a king. To Starkey, how Henry VII was raised was a very crucial part of his life because it would explain how much of an influence it had made on his way to the throne and also during his reign at the throne.…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Henry also had to marry his brother’s betrothed, Catherine of Aragon. The marriage was strategic for the Tudors, as they had only been in power for one generation, and Catherine was the daughter of the King and Queen of Spain. Catherine did not produce any sons, so Henry asked the Pope for an annulment. As his reason, Henry claimed that Catherine had relations with his brother before his death, making their marriage…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He also achieved stability by divorcing his current, infertile wife, Catherine of Aragon, who would not grant him a Catholic annulment or give him a male heir, which left questions as to what would occur in the event of Henry’s death. When he broke from the Catholic Church, Henry was able annul his marriage to her and find new, young, fecund wives who would be able to provide him with the crucial male heirs needed for his family’s stability. His marriages after his break are obvious evidence of his attempts to politically strengthen his family’s…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King Henry VIII was a man known for being girl crazy, he seemed like he would want a new girl everyday. In a way he loved girls, but had no feelings for them. According to Lord Mountjoy to Erasmus, 1509 “He used to marry a new wife every day, and chop off her head next morning.”(Lord Mountjoy to Erasmus, 1509) He had been married six times; divorced four times, and beheaded two of them. He was the reason of getting rid of the pope’s power in England, because of the very reason of wanting to get a divorce. He was a relentless tyrant that wanted virtue, glory and immortality.…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King Henry had six wives, which lead to the splitting of the catholic church. By marrying his six wives Henry was looking for a few thing. A male heir for the throne, Political…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To six wives he was wedded, one died, one survived, two divorced, and two beheaded. This is the timeline of Henry VIII’s six wives. Henry VIII was a king who was known for marrying six different times. Each time he got married, something bad would happen to his wife. Therefore, when his name is mentioned, a negative connotation is felt, but this should not be the case. Henry was very religious, and “In 1521 he wrote a pamphlet attacking Martin Luther and his teachings...” (Beck, 431). At the time Martin Luther was against the pope and his teachings, so Henry was rewarded by the Pope for writing against Martin Luther. This shows Henry’s commitment and well-being. Henry should not be blamed for…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Martin Luther and King Henry VIII both had very different reasons of why they disagreed with the Catholic Church. Martin Luther didn’t agree with the church because they were selling indulgences and he knew that that wasn’t right. In result he posted 95 theses on the doof of the church and the church excommunicated him because he refused to take them down.…

    • 260 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, Source 8 does not make mention of Anne Boleyn, and instead puts forward the idea that Henry’s main motivation with his divorce, and by proxy his break with Rome was his desire for a male heir to succeed him, as he believed that he was cursed by God and that he would not father a son if he was still in a “illegitimate” relationship with Catherine, who was his brother’s wife before he…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Tudor dynasty experienced differing uncertainties throughout their reigns on the throne of England. From politics and war overseas, to succession difficulties. Each Monarch throughout early modern England faced conflicting challenges and hardships, nevertheless Henry VIII stands out among them all. Henry’s turbulent years on the throne presents an evolution throughout English society, culture, religion and politics, to name a few. Henry was not expected to become King, being only the third child of Henry VII, himself also an unexpected King, winning his throne on the battle field against Richard III in 1485. His early youth was not that of the first in line to the throne, due to the unexpected death of this elder brother Arthur, Henry…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    reformation

    • 1010 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Henry VIII was forced to create the Anglican Church because all he wanted was a son so that the son could rule after him. After marrying his deeds brother wife Catherine of Aragon and not having a son, he declared that the whole thing was cursed since it was his brothers wife, but the church did not give the required papal annulment. Charles VIII declared his supremacy over English spiritual affairs. Finally being able to decide his own marriage status.…

    • 1010 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays