The Six Wives of Henry VIII - Season 1

First aired: 9/10/2001 4 episodes

Through dramatic reconstructions and his own passionate narration, controversial Tudor historian Dr David Starkey profiles the six women who married Henry Vlll.

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Episodes

1. Catherine of Aragon

Aired: 9/10/2001

Beautiful Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon, Henry's first wife, succeeded in giving him a child, Mary. Her fierce yet eventually futile resistance to his efforts to divorce her started the religious revolution that made England a Protestant country.

2. Anne Boleyn

Aired: 9/17/2001

Temptress Anne Boleyn, who charmed the King with her seductive French ways, gave him his second daughter, Elizabeth. However, Henry soon tires of her and has her beheaded.

3. Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves

Aired: 9/24/2001

The luckless Jane Seymour manages to evade Henry's wrath by giving him his only surviving son, Edward. Unfortunately, she dies during childbirth. Anne of Cleves, the 'Flanders Mare' as she was affectionately known, did not please her husband in bed. Somehow though, she earns herself a pay-off, guaranteeing her a life of luxury.

4. Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr

Aired: 10/1/2001

When she was just 18 years old, Henry became besotted with Katherine Howard's stunning beauty and unbridled sexuality. Unfortunately for his queen, she found it hard to make do with only Henry's loving which left the King with only one option — to cut off her head. Catherine Parr, possibly the most intelligent and humane of Henry's wives, outlived Henry by a year and eight months. With four husbands, she is the most-wed English queen. She's the first woman in England to publish in print an original work under her own name in the English language.