Henry VIII

1491-1547.

King of England (1509-1547) who succeeded his father, Henry VII. He established the Church of England by the Act of Supremacy (1534) after divorce from Catherine of Aragon, the first of his six wives, compelled him to break from the Catholic Church.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Henry VIII

(Biography) 1491–1547, king of England (1509–47); second son of Henry VII. The declaration that his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was invalid and his marriage to Anne Boleyn (1533) precipitated the Act of Supremacy, making Henry supreme head of the Church in England. Anne Boleyn was executed (1536) and Henry subsequently married Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. His reign is also noted for the fame of his succession of advisers, Cardinal Wolsey, Sir Thomas More, and Thomas Cromwell

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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Noun

Henry VIII - son of Henry VII and King of England from 1509 to 1547; his divorce from Catherine of Aragon resulted in his break with the Catholic Church in 1534 and his excommunication 1538, leading to the start of the Reformation in England (1491-1547)

House of Tudor, Tudor - an English dynasty descended from Henry Tudor; Tudor monarchs ruled from Henry VII to Elizabeth I (from 1485 to 1603)

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References in classic literature

Very likely it had remained in some quiet monastery library for hundreds of years until Henry VIII. scattered the monks and their books.

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The ambitious cardinal, who was prime minister to Henry VIII., permitting his vanity to aspire to the triple crown,[5] entertained hopes of succeeding in the acquisition of that splendid prize by the influence of the Emperor Charles V.

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It traced its origin to an abbey school, founded before the Conquest, where the rudiments of learning were taught by Augustine monks; and, like many another establishment of this sort, on the destruction of the monasteries it had been reorganised by the officers of King Henry VIII and thus acquired its name.

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But that was not inexcusable; for she had always thought he was Henry VIII, and she did not approve of him.

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In mediaeval times many of the wealthiest fraternities obtained their estates in this simple and cheap manner, and once when Henry VIII of England sent an officer to confiscate certain vast possessions which a fraternity of monks held by frankalmoigne, "What!" said the Prior, "would you master stay our benefactor's soul in Purgatory?" "Ay," said the officer, coldly, "an ye will not pray him thence for naught he must e'en roast." "But look you, my son," persisted the good man, "this act hath rank as robbery of God!" "Nay, nay, good father, my master the king doth but deliver him from the manifold temptations of too great wealth."

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Hall described Henry VIII, on his way to the Tower previous to his coronation, as wearing "a jacket of raised gold, the placard embroidered with diamonds and other rich stones, and a great bauderike about his neck of large balasses." The favourites of James I wore ear-rings of emeralds set in gold filigrane.

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Henry VIII. stole it from some one or the other, I forget whom now, and lived in it.

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We are amused at beholding the costume of Henry VIII, or Queen Elizabeth, as much as if it was that of the King and Queen of the Cannibal Islands.

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Henry VIII, the Defender of the Faith, seized upon the monastery and its possessions and hanged and tortured some of the monks who could not accommodate themselves to the pace of his reform.

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Anne of Cleves, King Henry VIII's fourth wife, was one of the few wives who survived her marriage to the king.

Anne of Cleves; Henry VIII's discarded bride

The fact that his son Henry VIII chose to clamp down on the Welsh language is a sign of how far removed the Tudors were from Wales by that period.

Spread of English; COMMENT & DEBATE YOUR LETTERS TO THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF WALES

ERIC Pickles was accused of acting like Henry VIII yesterday as his housing policy was ruled illegal.

ERIC IN PICKLE OVER HOUSING TARGETS; Minister 'acted like Henry VIII'