"Meet the Tudors/ Henry VIII":

Meet the Tudors:

Tudors' Family

Henry VIII:

Henry VIII (1491-1547) was Henry VII's second son. From his birth in 1491 until the death of his elder brother Arthur in 1502, he was brought up in an almost exclusively female household,(portato in una famiglia di sole donne) with his sisters, nurses and his mother,Elisabeth of York. From an early age he was a know figure at court, and his youth he was a natural sportsman, which made him popular both (sia) with the English elite and with the English public. He was called the "Golden Prince" both for his natural good looks and his chivalry (cavalleria) and education.In 1521 he was granted (concesso) the title of " Defender of the Faith" ( Difensore della fede) by the pope in recognition of his Latin treatise (trattato) defending the sacraments. This title has been maintained by English monarchs ever since and is on English coins still today.After Arthur's death, Henry married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, by special dispensation. In twenty years of marriage Catherine only produced a daughter, Mary, and Henry desperately wanted a male heir to keep the country united and strong.( Voleva disperatamente un erede maschio per mantenere il paese unito e forte.) He began (iniziato) to consider marriage to his pregnant mistress (amante incinta) Anne Boleyn, a lady-in-waiting, and asked the pope for a divorce in order to marry her. When it was clear that the pope would not declare his first marriage invalid, Henry broke with Rome and declared himself "Supreme Head on Earth of the Curch of England' by means of the Act of Supremacy (1534). This meant (significato) that he had the right to appoint (nominare) bishop,decide on articles of faith and impose his will (volontà) on the monasteries

The king soon dissolved the monasteries,talking their wealth (ricchezza), and social charities (Enti di beneficenza)-such as schools and hospitals for the poor (povero)- mostly disappeared ( per lo più scomparsi). Another consequence of Henry's policy was that Ireland remained a Catholic country and this marked the beginning of the Irish question. Henry married Anne Boleyn in 1533, and she gave him a second daughter, Elizabeth.She fell out of favour (caduta in disgrazia),however (tuttavia), and was tried and executed for treason in 1536,leaving the king free to remarry. Henry went on to have four more wives in quick succession and one son, Edward,from Jane Seymoure.

He had six wives:

1- Catherine of Aragon.

2- Anna Boleyn.

3- Jane Seymoure.

4- Anna  of Cleves.

5- Kathryn Howard.

6- Katherine Parr.