King Henry VIII is arguably something of a national legend, regardless of what you think of his practices. He was not only famous for having six wives, but for changing the laws in England so he could divorce and marry again and again.
The iconic Tudor king has been brought to life several times on the small and big screen, and as such, he remains one of the most fascinating monarchs in English history. But how much do we really know about this King? Here’s some interesting fact about Henry 8th to help clue you up.
- Henry VIII is famously depicted as a stout, corpulent figure. However, while this appears to be the most popular and common depiction of the monarch, he was actually fairly slim and athletic most of his life. However, his armour in later life had to be let out to accommodate his 60-inch waistline.
- Henry VIII has a reputation for being a bit of a ladies’ man – hence the number of wives! However, he was actually thought to be fairly prudish behind closed doors, for example shocked at the behaviour of his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
- The king was also seen as one of the most brutal rulers England has ever known. He imprisoned and executed more people during his reign than any other monarch. Thankfully, Queen Elizabeth II is much less likely to send people to the Tower!
- Henry VIII married – in chronological order – Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne Of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr. It seems he had an affinity for Catherines!
- The king divorced two of his wives and had two others beheaded. Jane Seymour died in childbirth, and his sixth wife, Catherine Parr survived him.
- Henry VIII was actually something of a paranoid hypochondriac. It’s thought that he would often isolate himself to avoid getting sick, and that he was frightened of contracting sweating sicknesses as well as the dreaded plague.
- To this day, Henry VIII remains the only English king or queen to have ruled in Belgium as well as in their homeland. That’s because he was able to capture the Belgian town of Tournai in 1513. It is only part of Belgium now in the modern age and was actually overtaken by the French in 1519.
- Henry VIII authored books. He wrote the best-selling work Defense of the Seven Sacraments. In fact, he was the first-ever English king to both write and publish his own book.
- The king was also responsible for increasing the size of the Navy exponentially, having boosted its ranks ten times over. It’s thought this was as a result of the threat of sea attacks from the Spanish.
- King Henry VIII also composed his own music. While it’s fiction that he composed the popular tune ‘Greensleeves’, he did in fact compose 33 different works otherwise, and could play wind and string instruments proficiently. It certainly seems as though he was multi-talented!
Do you know any interesting facts about Henry 8th that we’ve missed? Share them with us in the comments section below!
Previous post
10 Awesome Facts about Summer
Next post
12 Pleasing Facts about Palm Sunday
3 Comments
I would like to add that Henry VIII was not a great person. He was the only one who deserved to be hanged as he ruined the lives of his wives. Why do I say this? Because whenever he say a girl he liked the look of, she had no choice or say regarding his actions..she would be taken away, even if she already had a loved one, and was treated like a toy. If she was not good enough for him, he would either kill her or divorce her! Age did not matter to him- only looks and background. I am sure that five of them (Parr not included) would’ve been happier without him in their lives. If he was alive now, he would be arrested for abuse, being a pedophile, murder and possibly rape as the poor woman would be forced to marry her (technically).
i agree with liliax.
i agree with lilax
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🍔🥞🥞☆*: .。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:*☆(❁´◡`❁)(*/ω\*)(*/ω\*)ᓚᘏᗢ(┬┬﹏┬┬)
Related 'History' Facts
30 Fun Facts about Men!
40 Fascinating Facts about the Titanic
39 Interesting Facts about Women!
Share these facts
Twitter Facebook Linkedin RedditLearn 1000s of fascinating facts about the countries of the world!
Use our interactive map to navigate our fascinating planet and discover many interesting and fun facts for every country…
Latest Facts
54 Unique Facts about Uzbekistan
32 Alarming Facts about Global Warming
37 Spectacular Facts about Saudi Arabia
41 Electric Facts about Electricity
62 Incredible Facts about Indonesia
Categories
Tags