HENRY VIII

(1492-1547), king of England and Ireland; second s. of Henry VII.; succ. of 1509, and m. Catharine of Aragon, his 6.’s widow; invaded France, winning Battle of Spurs, 1514; held conclave with Francis I. at Field of Cloth of Gold, 1520, but sided with Francis’s rival, Charles V.; made peace with France in 1527. Having no male heir, H. desired divorce; Wolsey’s failure to obtain the nece ary papal decree led to his downfall. H. disavowed papal supremacy in England, and, with Cromwell’s aid, broke with Rome and established himself as head of Eng. Church; divorced Catharine, 1533, and m. Anne Boleyn, who was beheaded in 1536; di olved monasteries, 1536, and put down Pilgrimage of Grace, 1537. After Anne Boleyn’s execution, H. m. Jane Seymour, their s. afterwards reigning as Edward VI.; subsequent wives were Anne of Cleves, Catharine Howard and Catharine Parr. Later years marked by - wars with France and Scotland; led expedition to France; took Boulogne, 1544.