THE LADY OF THE COURT

The sixteenth century was a time of marvelous

changes in England that occurred under the rule of one of
the wellknown figures in the Royal history of England.
They were the five sovereigns of the Tudor dynasty (Henry
VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I ) who ruled
England for 118 years. Each member of the Tudor family
was known for anticipating in certain historical events. For
instance, King Henry VIII was known for his role in the
separation of the Church of England from the Roman
Catholic Church. He was also known for his six marriages,
especially the story of his marriage to Anne Boleyn. This
research will focus whether Anne Boleyn was a victim or a
?criminal
King Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth had two sons
Arthur and Henry who was named after his father. Since
that Henry was the second son and he was not expected
to become king there are not enough details about Henry
until the death of his older brother Arthur the Prince of
Wales. Henry's older brother was married to Spanish
princess who was Catalina De Aragon or Katherine of
Aragon. After a few months Prince Arthur was dead and
Henry was the new and only heir to the throne. In 1509,
King Henry VII died and he was succeeded by his second
son, Henry VIII who was just 17 back then. Later, the pope
gave a special dispensation to the young king in order to
marry his brother's widow and who was also king Henry
VIII first wife, Katherine of Aragon in1509.
Although, Katherine was pregnant many times, only one of
her children survived who was Princess Mary who was
later became queen. Also, she was known as Bloody Mary
.for the number of Protestant executions in her reign
Henry VIII was famous for that his reign included by
two very important events that affected the history of
England :the Protestant Reformation, which led to the
formation of the Church of England and his several
marriages and the fate of his wives who were whether

divorced, beheaded, died or just survived. Also, he was

known for his relationships with Queen Katherine's ladies.
He was desperate for an heir to continue the Tudor
dynasty. Meanwhile, his twenty years of marriage to
Queen Katherine resulted in many dead sons and just one
surviving child and now the queen at the age of 40 cannot
give birth to more children, especially a male heir which
tortured him and he began to question whether their
marriage was legal and valid. To have a male heir was not
the only reason for King Henry's desire to get divorce. He
was obsessed and in love with Anne Boleyn who refused to
.be his mistress and would only accepts him by marriage
As a result, King Henry VIII wanted dispensation for
his marriage with Katherine from Pope Clement VII, in
order to marry Anne Boleyn, but the pope refused his
request. So he broke from the Catholic Church of Rome
and established the Church of England and assigned
.himself as the Head of the Church of England

. Name : Manar Naguib

. ID

: 5511042