第6章 Lesson 6 The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Henry VIII, who was also known as Henry Tudor, was the king of England in the 1500s. However, he is best remembered for having six wives. His first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was originally his brother Arthur's wife. After Arthur died at age 15, however, the way was paved for Henry, who was only ten at the time, to become king. Henry VII, Henry VIII's father, was anxious to maintain his alliance with Spain, so he offered his son Henry to be Catherine's husband instead. Spain accepted, but things did not go well. Henry divorced her 24 years later because she was unable to bear him a son to inherit the throne.

Henry's second wife was Anne Boleyn — sister of one of Henry's other mistresses. When Anne became pregnant by him in 1533, the two were secretly married. However, the child was a girl and she subsequently miscarried twice. Once again Henry's attention began to wander. He became interested in one of Anne's ladies in waiting, Jane Seymour. In order to get out of his second marriage, he claimed that Anne had committed adultery and was plotting to kill him. Anne denied the charges, but the marriage was annulled and Anne was beheaded. Within 24 hours of her death, Henry and Jane Seymour were married.

In 1537, Jane produced a son whom they named Edward. However, Jane died soon afterwards from an infection related to the pregnancy. Henry mourned her and considered her his only "true" wife. Nevertheless, Henry was ready to marry again three years later. He married another Anne — the sister of the Duke of Cleves. However, he didn't like her and the marriage lasted barely six months. By this time, Henry was 49 years old, but that didn't stop him from marrying 19 year old Catherine Howard, who was a cousin of Anne Boleyn. They were happy at first, but Catherine was young and beautiful, whereas Henry was obese and nearly crippled. As a result, Catherine began to seek attention from men her own age. When it was discovered that she had committed adultery, Henry had her beheaded in 1542.

Henry's last wife was a widow by the name of Catherine Parr. She and Henry were married in 1543. However, Henry's health quickly deteriorated and he became so obese that he couldn't walk by himself. He died in 1547 at the age of 55 and was succeeded on the throne by his son Edward VI.

I. Word List

bear: to give birth to

plotting: planning

obese: very fat, overweight

seek: to look for

deteriorated: became worse

II. Vocabulary Skills—Find the correct words in the reading.

1. a woman whose husband has died: w _ _ _ _

2. to have one's head chopped off: b _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3. physically handicapped: c _ _ _ _ _ _ _

4. cancelled: a _ _ _ _ _ _ _

5. afterwards: s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

III. True or False—Read the sentences carefully. Write T (true) or F (false) for each one.

___ 1. Henry VIII. never had a son.

___ 2. All Henry VIII's wives committed adultery.

___ 3. Henry VIII. was beheaded.

___ 4. Catherine Parr was Henry VIII's final wife.

___ 5. Near the end of his life, Henry VIII. was overweight.

IV. Opposites—Find the opposites to these words in the reading.

1. rejected - a _ _ _ _ _ _ _

2. married - d _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3. false - t _ _ _

4. lived - d _ _ _

5. skinny - o _ _ _ _