Children of King Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England had several children. The most well known children are the three legitimate offspring who survived infancy and would succeed him as monarchs of England successively, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.

His first two wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, had several pregnancies that ended in stillbirth, miscarriage, or death in infancy. Henry acknowledged one illegitimate child, Henry FitzRoy, as his own, but is suspected to have fathered several illegitimate children by different mistresses.[1] The number and identity of these is a matter of historical debate.

There are many theories about whether Henry VIII had fertility difficulties.[2] His last three wives, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr are not known to have conceived by him, although Parr conceived in her next marriage.[3]

Legitimate children

Known children of Henry VIII of England
NameBirthDeathNotes
By Catherine of Aragon (married Palace of Placentia 11 June 1509; upheld by Catholic Church, annulled in the Anglican Church 23 May 1533); died 7 January 1536.
Unnamed daughter
31 January 1510
stillborn
Henry, Duke of Cornwall
1 January 1511
22 February 1511
He died aged almost two months
Unnamed son
17 September 1513
He was either stillborn or died shortly after birth[4]
Unnamed son
January 8, 1515
stillborn
Queen Mary I
18 February 1516
17 November 1558
She married Philip II of Spain in 1554 with no issue
Unnamed daughter
10 November 1518
stillbirth in the 8th month of pregnancy[5] or lived at least one week
By Anne Boleyn (married Westminster Abbey 25 January 1533; annulled 17 May 1536) beheaded on 19 May 1536
Queen Elizabeth I
7 September 1533
24 March 1603
unmarried; no issue
Unnamed son
August / September 1534
miscarriage without explanation
Unnamed son
29 January 1536
miscarriage of a child, believed male, in the fourth month of pregnancy[6]
By Jane Seymour (married Palace of Whitehall 30 May 1536) died 24 October 1537
King Edward VI
12 October 1537
6 July 1553
unmarried; no issue

Illegitimate children

Henry VIII of England had one acknowledged illegitimate child, as well as several others who are suspected to be his, by his mistresses.

He acknowledged Henry Fitzroy (15 June 1519 – 23 July 1536), the son of his mistress Elizabeth Blount, and granted him a dukedom.

Others suspected of being his include:

  • Thomas Stukeley (c. 1520 – 4 August 1578), his mother being Jane Pollard the wife of Sir Hugh Stukeley
  • Richard Edwardes (1523? – 1566), born to Mrs. Agnes Edwardes
  • Catherine Carey (c. 1524 – 15 January 1569), daughter of his mistress Mary Boleyn, the sister of his second wife, Anne Boleyn, and wife of William Carey.
  • Henry Carey (4 March 1526 – 23 July 1596), brother of Catherine
  • Ethelreda Malte (born c. 1527 – c. January 1559), born to Joan Dingley, alias Dobson. Paternity was claimed by John Malte.[7]
  • John Perrot (November 1528 – 3 November 1592), his mother being Mary Berkeley the wife of Sir Thomas Perrot

Fictional portrayals

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hart, Kelly (1 June 2009). The Mistresses of Henry VIII (First ed.). The History Press. ISBN 0-7524-4835-8.
  2. ↑ http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7918883
  3. ↑ "Catherine Parr: Children". The Six Wives of Henry VIII. PBS. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  4. ↑ The Pregnancies of Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon in: theanneboleynfiles.com [retrieved 17 April 2016].
  5. ↑ Starkey 2003, p. 160
  6. ↑ Starkey 2003, p. 553
  7. ↑ Hart, Kelly (1 June 2009). The Mistresses of Henry VIII (First ed.). The History Press. ISBN 0-7524-4835-8.

Further reading

  • The Children of Henry VIII by John Guy (Oxford UP, 2013 ISBN 978-0-19-284090-5)
  • Children of England: The Heirs of King Henry VIII 1547–1558 by Alison Weir (Jonathan Cape, 1996; Vintage, 2008 ISBN 9780099532675)
  • Hart, Kelly (1 June 2009). The Mistresses of Henry VIII (First ed.). The History Press. ISBN 0-7524-4835-8.
  • Starkey, David (2003). Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII. Chatto & Windus. ISBN 978-0-7011-7298-5.
  • Whitley, Catrina Banks; Kramer, Kyra (2010). "A new explanation for the reproductive woes and midlife decline of Henry VIII". The Historical Journal. 53 (04): 827–848. doi:10.1017/S0018246X10000452. ISSN 0018-246X.
  • Jones, Philippa (2009). The Other Tudors: Henry VIII's Mistresses and Bastards. London: New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84773-429-7.
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