Today in History: Henry VIII Died

On this day (January Twenty-Eight) in 1547, Henry VIII died. He was one of the most influential kings England ever had changing the course of its government and history as decisively as did William the Conqueror in the eleventh century. Over the course of his reign, Henry came to the opinion that the pope was usurping authority over the church in England that Henry believed rightly belonged the king. He was influenced in this opinion by his desire to rid himself of his wife, Catharine of Aragon, and marry Anne Boleyn, who was probably the great love of his life at least until he grew irritated with her and executed her on trumped up charges. Henry’s decision to take control of the English church put England into the Protestant camp in Europe but Henry was a rather Catholic Protestant and successfully resisted efforts to make his church one of the more radical ones. Henry would be succeeded by his nine-yea- old son, Edward VI. Edward was less bloodthirsty than either his father or his two half sisters but didn’t live long enough for us to see what sort of king he would have been.