HISTORICAL TIME LINE of the King's Wives

King Henry VIII's
Six Wives

Basic Facts & Timeline

From Youngest to Oldest - at death :

	Katherine Howard 5	Jane Seymour 3	Anne Boleyn 2	Catherine Parr 6	Anne of Cleves 4	Katherine of Aragon 1
Born	c.1520/25	c.1508/1509	c. 1501/7	c.1512	1515	1485
Married Henry	1540	1536	1533	1543	1540	1509
Duration of marriage	21 mths (Annulled)	18 mths (her death)	3 yrs (Annul) 7 yrs (Betroth)	3 1/2 yrs (Henry's death)	6 mths (Annul)	4 yrs (Betroth) 18 yrs (Sep) 24 yrs (Annul)
Died	1542	1537	1536	1548	1557	1536
Cause of Death	Beheaded	Infection from Childbirth	Beheaded	Infection from Childbirth	Illness	Illness (cancer)
Age at Death	17 - 22 yrs	28 - 29 yrs	29 - 35 yrs	36 yrs	42 yrs	50 yrs

*Annul = annulled - with 4 annullments, Henry only recognised 2 of his marriages. Jane Seymour & Catherine Parr
Sep = seperated
Betroth = betrothed

First Decade	1490 - 1500
Portrait thought to be of Katherine c.1496	Bust thought to be of Henry c.1495
1485 - December 16	Katherine of Aragon born
1491 - June 28	Prince Henry Tudor - the future King Henry VIII is born
1497	Katherine was Betrothed to Prince Arthur Tudor
1499 - May 19	Arthur & Katherine Marry by Proxy
1500	Katherine sits for a portrait by Miguel Sittow, who would later paint the portrait of her as a young widow. She wears her red-gold wavy hair loose and wears a red dress and blue cloak in her hands she holds a gold jar.

Second Decade	1500 - 1510
aged 16/17 c 1502	aged 18 1509
1501 - November 14	Wedding of Arthur & Katherine of Aragon (Katherine aged 16 & Arthur 15) Katherine adopts the motto "Not for my Crown"
1502 - April 2	Prince Arthur Tudor dies & Katherine is widowed
1503 - June 25	Katherine is betrothed to Prince Henry ( She is 18 & Henry is aged 12)
1505 - June 27	Henry repudiates his betrothal to Katherine on his father's insistance
1505 - 1509	Katherine Suffers from financial troubles
1509 - Early June	Members of the Privy Council urge Henry to marry Katherine
1509 - June 11	Queen Katherine of Aragon & King Henry VIII marry (she is aged 24 & he is 18) & re-allies Spain & England
1509- June 15	Katherine's first offical apperance at court as Queen of England
1509 - June 24	Coronation of King Henry VIII & Queen Katherine of Aragon
1510 - January 31	Katherine delivers a Stillborn daughter
1510 - late May	Katherine either suffers from an infection or has a phantom pregnancy. When she emerges from her birthing chambers, without a child, she & Henry violently quarrel.[Citation needed]
1510	Katherine Finds out Henry has taken an interest in Anne Stafford, Duke of Buckingham's sister & she is sent from court. Henry is angry that she has spied on him & sends Lady Elizabeth Fitzwalter (who was in her retinue & told her brother about the dalliance) from court in retaliation.
1511	Son Henry is born & dies 52 days later
1513	Katherine Acts as Regent in Henry's Absence (She is aged 28) She is appointed Captain-General of the Home forces & Governor of the Realm
1513	Son Henry is born & dies hours later
1514	Stillborn daughter
1514	Rumours circulate in Rome that Henry means "to repudiate his wife ...because he is unable to have children by her" [Starkey]
1514	Elizabeth Blount catches Henry's eye at the Christmas Mummery
1516	Daughter Princess Mary Tudor is born
1518	Stillborn daughter - it is said that Katherine went into premature labour when she saw Elizabeth Blount was plumper & glowing.
1519	Summer - Katherine learns that Henry's teenaged mistress, Bessie Blount had given birth to a son, Henry Fitzroy. She is upset & humiliated & begins to withdraw from court life.
Third Decade	1520 - 1530
1520	"Cloth of Gold" summit with Francis I, Katherine of Aragon & the two Boleyn sisters are in attendance.
1522	Anne Boleyn debuts at a court masquerade
1523-24	Secret Betrothal of Anne Boleyn to Henry Percy, Duke of Northumberland ( a love match)
c.1521 - 25	Sometime between those dates, Mary Boleyn is Henry's mistress ending in the summer of 1525
aged 40/41 c. 1525/26	aged 34/35 c. 1525/26
1524	After 15 years of marriage, Henry stops sexual relations with Queen Katherine of Aragon. He begins to have serious doubts about the validity of their marriage & believes that God is punishing him for marrying his brother's wife by not giving him a son. (Katherine is aged 39 & Henry is 33)
1524	Wolsey breaks the betrothal between Anne Boleyn & Henry Percy, she is sent back home to Hever Castle ("so furious she smoked" - Cavendish) & Percy is hurriedly married to Lady Mary Talbot, to whom he had been betrothed since adolescence. The marriage is disastrous.
1525 - Summer	Henry attempts to build up Henry Fitzroy as an alternative heir.
1525 - August	Princess Mary Tudor is sent to Ludlow to establish her own court & Katherine is upset that she won't see her again.
1526	Henry ceases to co-habit with Katherine
1526 - February	Henry asks Anne Boleyn to be his mistress. She refuses saying she will only surrender her virginity to the man she marries. (Anne is aged 18-25 & Henry is 35) She refuses him for more than a year & keeps her distance., staying away from court.
1526 - Autumn	Henry sends the first of a series of at least 17 love letters to Anne.
1526 - Christmas	Katherine is reunited with her daughter Mary but becoming isolated at Court.
1527 - Spring	Henry informs Queen Katherine of Aragon he wants a divorce/annulment after 18 years of marriage.
1527 - June 22	Henry formerly tells Katherine that they must separate because they have been living in sin. He asks her to co-operate & to choose a house to retire to until the matter is resolved. She is stunned & upset & makes it quite plain that she will resist an annulment.
1527 - June/July	Anne sends Henry a trinket - a ship with a lone woman on board & a diamond pendant signifying her surrender to him.
1527 - Summer	Henry & Anne agree to marry (ie. they become betrothed)
1527 - September	Henry asks the Pope for an annulment of his marriage to Katherine
1528 - June 23	One of Anne Boleyn`s ladies is stricken by the 'sweating sickness' & Anne survives a bout with the illness
1528 - Summer	There is public support for Katherine of Aragon and the people shout "victory over your enemies" when she is in public
1528 - Autumn	Katherine is still living at court but is becoming increasingly isolated.
1528 - September	Anne retires back to Hever Castle
1528 - September 29	The Pope sends Cardinal Campeggio to hear Henry's case
1528 - October 24	Campeggio, the Pope's emissary meets with Katherine & advises her to enter a convent & retire gracefully. She refuses.
1528 - Late October	Katherine receives a letter telling her that by riding out & attracting the cheers of the people, she was inciting rebellion. The council also tells her that if she continues to work against the King in this way she will be completely separated from both the City & Princess Mary.
1528 - November	She continues to fight the annulment and is now separated from her daughter
1528 - November	Henry rushes to Anne's side at Hever castle. There is also a serious rift between Anne & Wolsey
1529 - June 18	Queen Katherine of Aragon makes her famous impassioned speech at the Legatine Court at Blackfriars & challenges the authority of the court
1529 - November 30	Henry dines with Katherine in an effort to appear civil but it doesn't go well & she is angry with him.
1529 - December 8	Anne Boleyn's father is elevated to two Earldoms of Wiltshire & Ormond. Anne Boleyn is now fashioned as Lady Anne Rochford (until 1532)
c. 1529 - 30	Jane Seymour comes to court and has a position in Katherine's household.
1529 - December 24	Henry tells Katherine that even if the Pope declares their marriage to be lawful he would still have his divorce. He tells her that the Church of Canterbury is more important than that of Rome & that if the Pope found against him then he would declare the Pope a heretic & marry whomever he chooses.
1529 - Christmas	Henry celebrates Christmas with Katherine and Anne declines to appear.
Fourth Decade	1530 - 1540
1530 - January	From The New Year, Henry spends more time with Anne than Katherine.
1530 - November 29	Wolsey dies after being arrested for plotting (along with Katherine & the Pope) to force Anne into exile.
1530 - Christmas	Anne has the livery coats of her servants embroidered with the motto "Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne" (Let them grumble, that is how it is going to be) as a joke but has it removed a few weeks later
1531 - June	Henry appeases Katherine by allowing her to see her daughter Princess Mary Tudor
1531 - July 14	Henry separates from Katherine & never sees her again. She is banished from court.
1531 - Christmas	Henry returns Katherine's gift saying that they are no longer man & wife it is not proper for them to exchange gifts.
1532 - January	Mary is allowed to visit her mother
1532 - July	Henry Percy is interrogated because Mary Talbot had said they were never married due to him being legally contracted to marry Anne Boleyn. He swears under oath that there was no pre-contract.
1532 - August	Katherine's her closest friend, Maria de Salinas, Lady Willoughby, is ordered to leave her household & she is told not to make any attempt to communicate with her.
1532 - September	Anne Boleyn is imbued with nobility & created 1st Marquess of Pembroke
1532 - Late October	Anne begins living openly with Henry at Greenwich
1532 - October/November	Anne accompanies Henry on a state trip to Calais to meet with Francis I
1532 - November 14	This date may have been a formal commitment by Henry & Anne or a first wedding date as affirmed by certain supporters and opponents of the couple at the time.
1533 - January 25	Secret wedding of Anne Boleyn to Henry (Anne aged 32 + Henry is 42)
1533 - May 13	Katherine of Aragon's Marriage to Henry is declared annulled. She is styled Dowager Princess of Wales but refuses to relinquish her title of Queen.
1533 - May 28	Henry's marriage to Anne is validated by Thomas Cranmer (Anne is approx 5 months pregnant)
1533 - June	Katherine has her entourage put into new liveries embroidered with H & K to celebrate their marriage of 24 years.
1533 - June	Anne Boleyn crowned Queen
1533 - July 11	Henry is excommunicated by the Pope
1533 - September	Anne & Henry's daughter Princess ElizabethTudor is born
1533 - December	Anne announces she is pregnant for the 2nd time
aged approx 24 - 29 copy of a contemporary portrait c. 1520's	aged about 44 yrs c.1535
1534	An act of Parliament is passed making Katherine's marriage to Henry "utterly dissolved"
1534 - February/March	Anne offers for Princess Mary Tudor to reconcile with Henry if she would accept her as queen. Mary's response is that she knew no queen but her mother but if the king's mistress wished to intercede she would be grateful. (Anne would try this again on two more occasions with the same result.)
1534 - May 23	Pope pronounces Katherine of Aragon's marriage to Henry valid
1534 - May	Katherine moves to Kimbolton
1534 - June/July	Anne delivers a stillbirth. Henry orders it be kept secret.
1534 - July	Katherine's health deteriorates & both Chapuys & Maria De Salinas are denied permission to visit her.
1534 - Mid March	Anne is pregnant again
1535 - April/May	There are plans for Katherine to escape organized by Chapuys & Charles V but they are cancelled because of the fear that if they were discovered both she and her daughter would be executed.
1535 - Late June	Anne Miscarries.
1535 - September	Henry stays at Jane Seymour's father`s residence of Wolf Hall and notices her in a romantic sense (even though she had been at court for more than 6 years).
1535 - November	Henry starts to court Jane Seymour (she is about 27 & Henry is 44)
1535 - Late November	Anne is pregnant again
1535 - December	Chapuys is given permission to visit Katherine because she is considered to be dying. Henry is still considering if he will allow Mary to visit.
1536 - January 5	Maria de Salinas, Lady Willoughby, forces her way into Kimbolten Castle to see Katherine despite being refused permission to visit.
1536 - January 7	Katherine of Aragon dies (aged 50 & Henry is 45, Anne is 28-35) amidst rumours of poisoning due to her blackened heart. Today it is believed she died from cancer. She lived the longest of all Henry's wives.
1536 - January 24	Henry`s jousting accident
1536 - January 29	Anne suffers a miscarriage 5 days later
1536 - March	Jane Seymour returns Henry`s unopened letter & purse indicating she will not be his mistress.
1536 - April	Jane moves into adjoining rooms to King`s apartments vacated by Thomas Cromwell , but is always chaperoned by her family.
1536 - May 1	Anne is arrested
1536 - May 15	Anne's Trial. Henry Percy sat on the jury that found Anne guilty of adultery. When the verdict was announced, he collapsed & had to be carried from the courtroom. Percy left no children, suffered from stomach problems, & died only months after Anne's death.
1536 - May 19	Anne Boleyn is executed by having her head struck from her body by a french swordsman (aged 29 - 35 & Henry 45)
1536 - May 20	Jane Seymour is betrothed to Henry ( 24 hours after Anne`s execution)
aged 28 c.1536	aged 46 C.1537

1536 - May 30	Jane Marries Henry
1536 - June 4	Jane Seymour is declared queen consort
1536 - June 22	Princess Mary Tudor accepts illegitimate status
1536 - July 6	Jane arranges for Mary & Henry to reunite
1537 - October 12	Son Prince Edward Tudor born, Jane attends Edwards christening two days later with both Henry's daughters Mary and Elizabeth present. Is reported to have been very "weak" and ill looking.
1537 - October 24	Jane Seymour dies of puerperal fever (aged 29 & Henry 46)

aged 24 1539	aged 49 c.1540
1539 - March	March - Negotiations for the marriage of Henry & Anne of Cleves
1539 - October4	Marriage treaty is signed
1539 - December 27	Anne of Cleve's ship lands at Deal
1538	Katherine Howard's uncle Thomas Howard arranges for her to become a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves (aged approximately 18)
Fifth decade	1540 - 1550
1540 - January 1	Henry pays a surprise visit to Anne which doesn't go well
1540 - January 6	Anne of Cleves Marries Henry (aged 25 & Henry 49)
1540 - June 24	Anne is ordered to leave court
1540 - July 6	Anne is Informed of the King's will to annul the marriage
1540 - July 9	The marriage is annulled & Anne is now styled "The King's Sister"

Approx 18 - 20	51 years old c.1542
1540 - July 28	Katherine Howard marries Henry (aged 17/19 & Henry 49)
1540 - Winter	Katherine reaquaints with her cousin Thomas Culpepper whom she has not seen since childhood.
1541 - Spring	Rumours about Katherine & Culpepper start to circulate throughout court.
1541 - Summer	Thomas Cranmer investigates & builds a case against Katherine
1541 - Autumn	Katherine is arrested & interrogated, and sent to Syon abbey, Katherine never sees Henry again.
1541 - December 8	Thomas Culpepper & Francis Dereham are executed at Tyburn. Francis is hung, drawn and quartered while Culpepper was spared with a simple beheading possibly due to being a favourite of the king.
1542 - January	Katherine Howard's Trial by the law of attainder.
1542 - February 10	Katherine is taken to the Tower of London, where it is rumoured she asked to have the block brought to her room so that she could practice laying her head on it.
1542 - February 13	Katherine Howard is beheaded along with Jane Boleyn on Tower Green & both are buried next her cousin Anne( aged 20) Henry is out hunting and celebrates st valentines day without his Queen.

aged 31/33	aged Mid 50's
1542	Catherine Parr catches Henry's eye
1543 - July 12	Henry & Catherine marry ( she is aged 31 & Henry 52)
1546 - May 24	Catherine's friend, the reformer Anne Askew is arrested & horribly tortured. However, there was enough other evidence against the Queen to issue a warrant for her arrest. The warrant was accidentally dropped and someone loyal to the Queen saw it and then quickly told her about it.
1546	A warrant for her arrest was drawn up but she manages to reconcile with the King
1547 - January 18	King Henry VIII dies aged 56
1548 - September 5	Catherine Parr dies of puerperal fever after the birth of her child by Thomas Seymour (aged 36)
1557 - July 16	Anne of Cleves dies of an undisclosed illness (aged 42) - ten years after Henrys death and the last of the wives.

HISTORICAL TIME LINE of the King's Wives

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