Henry VIII and his Six Wives Trivia Quiz

Answer: Anne of Cleves

If you think Henry executed all his wives, you're getting this mixed up with the 'Arabian Nights' and Sheherazade. Henry divorced Wife Number Four (Anne of Cleves) after six months on the basis of her looks (he called her the 'Flanders mare'), and she got a very good bargain for going along with it.

Answer: Twenty-four years

Catherine of Aragon did not get as raw a deal as some other of Henry's wives. He was married to her from 1509 (his coronation) to 1533 (when he finally obtained an annulment from her). He was actually secretly married to Anne Boleyn for several months, so for a while he was a bigamist. Catherine was sent to filthier and filthier country manors for refusing to acknowledge the divorce and finally died of what was probably cancer in January 1536, aged 51.

Answer: Defender of the Faith

This was before Henry broke away from the Catholic church and made himself head of the Church of England so that he could divorce Catherine of Aragon. The Church of England didn't differ very much from the Catholic church at that time; just in name.

Answer: Six

Only one of the six lived beyond infancy, Mary, who grew up to become (Bloody) Mary I. This was the main reason Henry ditched his first two wives, to get a male heir.

Answer: 1536

Robert Aske began the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536. He objected to Henry's changes in the church and raised an enormous following. Henry lied to the pilgrims and they went home. Then peasants pretended they were from the Pilgrimage of Grace, which was just what Henry wanted. He executed Aske and the other ringleaders.

Answer: Greensleeves

Henry, for all his faults, was a musical man. The song itself is 'anonymous', but a lot of people think Henry wrote it.

Answer: Thomas Wyatt

Wyatt was among Anne's admirers, but as soon as he sensed trouble he hurried home. The charges, however, were probably trumped-up as Anne had also failed to give Henry a male heir and he wanted to get rid of her to marry one of her ladies-in-waiting, Jane Seymour.

Answer: Three

Anne Boleyn was one of Catherine of Aragon's {ladies-in-waiting;} Jane Seymour was one of Anne Boleyn's maids of {honor;} Catherine Howard was one of Anne of Cleves' ladies.

Answer: Catherine Parr

During Catherine Parr's marriage, Henry was cracking down on rebels from the church of England. Catherine didn't always agree with his doctrines and made the mistake of questioning him. She had to come back and make a groveling apology to save herself from being executed like two of his other wives.

Answer: Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard and Anne Boleyn were first cousins on the Howard side. Catherine's father, Lord Edmund Howard, was the brother of Anne Boleyn's mother. Oddly enough, they met the same fate: execution for adultery.