Henry VIII & His Wives Ruler - 30cm

Product Description: The Henry VIII & his Wives Ruler is plastic and measures 30cm long. It shows measurements in both inches and centimetres. On the inches scale it includes units of 1/16 of an inch and on the centimetre side units of 1 millimetre.

On the front of the ruler are images of the busts of Henry VIII and his six wives, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr.

Information: Henry VIII was born in Greenwich on the 28 June 1491 and was the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth. He was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on the 24 June 1509. When Henry acceded the throne at 17 he was tallish, handsome and of fair complexion. He spoke several languages, played musical instruments and was adept at dancing, hunting and sport. When he became older he became grossly overweight, riddled with disease, and was a very cruel King until his death in 1547.

Henry VIII’s first wife was a Spanish princess called Catherine of Aragon who he married in 1509. She had previously been married to Henry’s older brother Arthur but he had died. Catherine was pregnant many times but only a daughter called Mary (later Mary I of England) survived. Desperate for a male heir Henry had the marriage annulled in 1533. He only achieved this by breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church and making himself head of the Church of England.

Anne Boleyn was already pregnant with Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth I of England) when she married Henry in 1533. Anne failed to quickly produce a surviving male heir. Two and a half years after their wedding, a plot was led by Sir Thomas Cromwell to replace her. Although the evidence against her was unconvincing, Anne was beheaded at The Tower of London on charges of adultery, incest, and high treason on 1536.

Henry VIII had fallen in love with Jane Seymour, one of Anne Boleyn’s ladies in waiting. She only responded to his affections after Anne had been executed and married Henry in 1536. In early 1537 she became pregnant and gave birth to a male heir, the future King Edward VI of England, on 12 October at Hampton Court Palace. Jane died soon afterwards on 24 October at Hampton Court. She was buried at Windsor Castle.

Devastated by Jane Seymour’s death, Henry undertook an arranged marriage to a German princess, Anne of Cleves. They were married in January 1540, but Henry refused to consummate the relationship, and the marriage was annulled in July. She was dull and unable to speak English and was described by Henry as ‘The Flanders Mare.’

After the annulment of his marriage to Anne of Cleves, Henry made advances to Catherine Howard who he married on 28 July 1540. Catherine was nearly 30 years younger than Henry and maintained liaisons with younger lovers. When Henry found out she was arrested on 12 November 1541 and confined to her rooms at Hampton Court Palace. She was found guilty of treason and was beheaded at the Tower of London.

Catherine Parr was the last of the six wives of Henry VIII of England. She married Henry on 12 July 1543 at Hampton Court Palace. She was the most married English queen, with four husbands. Following Henry’s death on 28 January 1547, Catherine died after giving birth to her only child, a daughter, on 5 September 1548, at Sudeley Castle.