Henry Tudor VIII And His Wife Katherine Of Aragon At The National Portrait Gallery NPG Art Gallery In London Editorial Photo

Henry is best known for his six marriages, and his efforts to have his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. Henry is known for his radical changes to the Constitution of England, expanding royal power and ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings in opposition to papal supremacy. He frequently used charges of treason and heresy to quell dissent, and those accused were often executed without a formal trial by means of bills of attainder. He achieved many of his political aims through the work of his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. As he aged, he became severely overweight and his health suffered. He is frequently characterised in his later life as a lustful, egotistical, paranoid and tyrannical monarch