1-156-537 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Henry VIII, King of England, c1520. Henry (1491-1547) succeeded his father, Henry VII, in 1509. Obsessed with passing the throne on to a male heir, he had six wives in the course of his reign, none of whom provided him with a son who survived. In divorcing his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in 1533, Henry severed the English church from Rome.