June 28, 1491
DEATH DATE

January 28, 1547
Henry VIII was a great king but he became very stubborn and cruel. When people didn't do what he wanted, he executed them, he was responsible for the execution of over 70,000 people during his reign, five a day!
On February 18, 1516, Queen Catherine bore Henry his first child to survive infancy, Princess Mary. Henry grew frustrated by the lack of a male child and began keeping two mistresses at his beckon. One of his mistresses, Mary Boleyn, introduced him to her sister, Anne Boleyn. Anne and Henry began secretly seeing one another. Catherine, by now 42 and unable to conceive, set Henry in a mission to obtain a male heir. Henry configured a way to officially abandon his marriage with Catherine. Though Catherine had borne him a child, that child was a girl, which, in Henry's logic, did not count. In 1533, Henry's mistress, Anne Boleyn, became pregnant. Henry decided he didn't need the pope's permission on matters of the Church of England. Thomas Cranmer, the new archbishop of Canterbury, presided over the trial that declared his first marriage annulled and Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn married secretly in January 1533. In September of that year, Anne gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth. Inside the court, Queen Anne suffered greatly from her failure to produce a living male heir. After she miscarried twice, Henry became interested in Jane Seymour, one of Anne's ladies-in-waiting. In an all-out effort to leave his unfruitful marriage, Henry contrived an elaborate story that Anne had committed adultery, had incestuous relations and was plotting to murder him. Henry charged three men on account of their adultery with his wife, and on May 15, 1536, he put her on trial. Anne, regal and calm, denied all charges against her. Four days later, Henry's marriage to Anne was annulled and declared invalid. Anne Boleyn was then taken to the Tower , where she was given a private beheading. Within 24 hours of Anne's execution, Jane Seymour and Henry VIII formally got married. He had other 3 wives: Anne of Cleves, the marriage was annulled six months later; Catherine Hawthorne, who was condemned for treason and executed. Finally, Catherine Parr, who survived Henry.

Elizabeth took a moderate approach to the divisive religious conflicts in her country. The Roman Catholic Church took a dim view of her actions, and in 1570, Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth. She loved music and could play the lute.  She died in 1603.