King Henry had various problems which included; the influence his seven wives had on the social order, his tyrannical reign of both politics and religion of the period, and his demonizing of the Church of England. It is easy enough for us, looking back; to see that King Henry's struggle to be the strong man of Europe was an expensive failure. It was not so easy for King Henry to see it, for he had lived splendidly and was surrounded by people who tried to please him. There was, on the other hand, one big failure, which nobody could conceal from him; he had not been able to get a legitimate son.

Catherine of Aragon had given him only a daughter, Mary. It was this failure, which led to the important events in King Henry VIII's reign. King Henry decided that he had to get rid of this wife. He had a political motive: it would be dangerous to leave the kingdom to a girl because, as most people then believed, ruling a kingdom needed the full strength of a man. He had a religious motive: Catherine had been married to Arthur, and it was against God's law to marry your brother's widow. True, the Pope had given special permission. But perhaps this was not enough,

Meanwhile, the King became fat. We can measure the girth of his suits of armor. He was ill, had painful ulcers on his legs, and could hardly walk. He was only fifty-five when he died.

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