Henry VIII Fridge Magnet

Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 at age 17, until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. Henry cultivated the image of a Renaissance man and his court was a centre of scholarly and artistic innovation and glamorous excess. He was an accomplished musician, author, and poet; and he is reputed to have written "Greensleeves" but probably did not. Henry was an avid gambler and dice player, and excelled at sports, especially jousting, hunting, and real tennis. He was an intellectual, the first English king with a modern humanist education. He read and wrote English, French, and Latin, and owned a large library. He was also over 6 feet tall and well built, as many portraits depict.