Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I — page 3
INTRODUCTION K ing Henry VIII of England thought men made the best rulers He wanted a son to take his place as king The English ruler tried almost everything to have a male heir Henry VIII’s quest began at the age of seventeen when he married twenty-three-year-old Catherine of Ara gon Catherine was the widow of Henry’s brother Arthur In those days people married very young At the time of Catherine’s first wedding she was only fifteen years old and Henry’s brother was fourteen While Catherine’s first marriage lasted only one year she and Henry VIII were married for twenty-four years During this time Catherine was pregnant six times in nine years She only had one surviving child a girl named Mary Des perate for a son Henry ended his marriage to Catherine and married a woman named Anne Boleyn When Anne was pregnant letters were sent out announcing the arrival of a boy But Anne had a girl instead The baby was named Eliz abeth after both of her parents grandmothers When Elizabeth was only two years old Henry had Anne killed by beheading Days after the execution Henry married again He chose Jane Seymour as his wife Because Jane had six brothers Henry thought she would be more likely to have a son After eighteen months of marriage Jane gave birth to a son named Edward but she died shortly after childbirth Henry then married three more times but he did not have any more sons Upon Henry VIII’s death Edward became king at the age of nine but he died six years later 6