Henry VIII (1491-1547) was king of England from 1509 until his death in 1547. Despite his many successes in foreign policy and in the religious and artistic fields, he is remembered above all for having had an unusually high number of wives: six in all. Even the succession of cancellations, deaths and new marriages had a historical significance: by canceling his first marriage, Henry VIII brought the Protestant Reformation to England. Fortunately, there are several tricks to remember the name of all Henry's wives.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Using Rhymes to Remember
Step 1. Remember the nursery rhyme that describes the fate of the queens. "Divorced, beheaded, passed away. Divorced, beheaded, survived."
A similar ditty has been memorized by generations of British schoolchildren.
It is not entirely accurate. The marriages with Catherine of Aragon and Anna of Clèves from a legal point of view ended in an annulment, not a divorce. And both Anna of Cleves and Katherine Parr outlived the king, in the sense that they died after him
Step 2. You can also rhyming "married" with "beheaded"
Another rhyme says: "King Henry VII married six wives. One died, one survived, two divorced, two beheaded".
This version is not accurate because it says that the king "divorced", while it would be more correct to say that "he annulled the marriage". It also does not specify the order of the queens. However, it has a catchy and easy-to-remember metric
Step 3. Consider this nursery rhyme with the names of queens: "To Kate and Anne and Jane he gave his love, and then to Anne and Kate (again, again!)". Note that "again, again" remembers that there are two Kates at the end of the list: Catherine Howard, followed by Katherine Parr.
Method 2 of 3: Using Initials and Names
Step 1. Remember the names of the queens through the initials of their surnames
One version could be: "Even the Good Subjects Certainly Spoke."
If you can remember it, you can also remember: Aragona, Bolena, Seymour, Clèves, Howard, Parr.
Step 2. Remember the initials by connecting them to the story
One version could be: Acting Craving in Secret Hidden Has the Past. It's easy to remember because of all the tragedies connected with the lives - and deaths - of Henry's wives. Think of Anna plotting to rise in rank in the palace and get closer to the king. Or imagine Catherine Howard, cousin of the late Anna, carrying on her affair behind the king's back.
Step 3. Use a phrase that remembers the sound of queens' names
This is a rarer, but useful mnemonic trick: The Arrogant Anna Albeit Crudel Obtained as far as Par anel was concerned.
Arrogant remembers Aragon, Anna is Anna Bolena, Although she remembers Seymour, Crudel is similar to Clèves, Ottenne remembers Howard and Par is similar to Parr. Furthermore, it has the advantage of being historically accurate. Anna Bolena was certainly arrogant and eventually got the wedding ring.
Method 3 of 3: Learning to Know the Six Queens
Step 1. Learn about each of the queens
It is much easier to remember the order and fate of Henry VIII's wives if you know something about their lives. That way, you'll see them as real people, not a list of names.
Step 2. Catherine of Aragon came from Spain to marry Henry's brother Arthur
Arthur, however, died shortly after. Enrico and Caterina married in 1509.
- Catherine of Aragon had a daughter, who would reign as Maria I (also known as "Bloody Mary" or "Bloody Mary").
- Henry's first marriage was also the longest, from 1509 to 1533.
- Desperately longing for a child, Enrico asked for annulment, arguing that the marriage was invalid as Catherine had been married to Arthur. When the pope refused, Henry broke with the Catholic Church, declared himself head of the Church of England and arranged for the annulment.
Step 3. Anna Bolena, already pregnant, married Henry in 1533
They had been lovers while she served as Queen Anne's lady-in-waiting.
- Anna also had only one daughter, who would become the famous Queen Elizabeth I.
- After various miscarriages, Enrico decided to put an end to this marriage as well under the pretext that Anna was having an affair with another man.
- Anna was tried for treason and beheaded in 1536.
Step 4. Finally, Jane Seymour gave Henry a son
Like Anna, she was a lady-in-waiting who had attracted the king's attention.
- In 1537 she gave birth to Edward, who would reign for a short time before dying prematurely.
- Jane Seymour died a few days after giving birth, plunging the king into mourning.
Step 5. Anne of Clèves came from Germany in 1540 for an arranged diplomatic marriage
Enrico found her unattractive. Worse still, the diplomatic situation changed, making the marriage less advantageous.
Anna of Clèves collaborated in the annulment of the marriage. He survived Henry for a decade, dying in his castle in 1557
Step 6. Catherine Howard was another lady-in-waiting doomed to a tragic fate
At just nineteen she married Enrico only a few days after the cancellation of the previous marriage, in 1540.
Catherine Howard was Anna Bolena's first cousin and shared her fate. Her relationship with Thomas Culpeper was discovered and she was beheaded for treason in 1542
Step 7. Katherine Parr was Henry VIII's last wife, but only the second to survive him
They married in 1543, just four years before the king's death.
- Cultured and pious, Katherine worked hard to strengthen the Protestant Reformation.
- Katherine was the first woman and the first queen of England to publish a book in her own name. He published a second after King Henry's death.
- After the king's death she remarried to Sir Thomas Seymour, the uncle of King Edward VI.
- Katherine died five days after giving birth to her only daughter, named Lady Mary (like her half-sister), on September 5, 1548.
- Katherine's tomb at Suedley Castle, which features an intricate effigy, is the most elaborate of Henry's wives' tombs.
