Our common ancestors - English Royal family - Contents

Henry VIII

Henry VIII (see here and here),
born 28th June 1491,
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland 1494-6,
reigned 1509-47,
mar 1stly to Catherine of Aragon and had issue:

1. Mary I (see here), reigned 1553-58,
   extremist Catholic, persecuted English Protestants ("Bloody Mary"),
   mar Philip II, King of Spain.

the play Henry VIII (see here) by Shakespeare spans 1521-33,
from 1526 he courted Anne Boleyn,
expelled the gypsies from England 1530,
broke with Rome 1531 when could not get divorce to marry Anne Boleyn, made her Marchioness of Pembroke 1532,
mar 2ndly, 1533, to Anne Boleyn and had issue:

1. Elizabeth I (and here), reigned 1558-1603,
   see her minister William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
   her favourites Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester and Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormonde,
   and her governor of Ireland Sir Henry Sidney.
   Crown passed to House of Stuart.

Act of Supremacy 1534,
executed Anne Boleyn 1536,
mar 3rdly to Jane Seymour and had issue:

1. Edward VI, reigned 1547-53,
   succeeded briefly by Lady Jane Grey.

mar 6thly to Catherine Parr,
died 28th Jan 1547, age 55 yrs.

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• After Mary I:
  • Queen's Co., Ireland (now Co.Laois)
  • Maryborough (now Portlaoise), Co.Laois
  • The nursery rhyme "Three blind mice" is supposed to refer to Mary I.
  • The nursery rhyme "Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow?" may refer to Mary I. Or it may refer to Mary, Queen of Scots. Or there may be no political meaning.

• After Philip II, King of Spain:
  • King's Co., Ireland (now Co.Offaly)

• After Elizabeth I:
  • The state of Virginia in the USA (named by Sir Walter Raleigh after "the Virgin Queen").
  • Virginia, Co.Cavan

• Elizabeth I site

• Movies:
  • Elizabeth (1998).
  • Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007).