Fun Friday Facts - King Henry VIII

For the past couple of months, I've been on a Tudor history kick. It started with Philippa Gregory's Tudor books (The Other Boleyn Girl, The Boleyn Inheritance, The Queen's Fool, etc.) then I moved on to The Tudors, the Showtime series. Still hungry for information, I moved on to non-fiction. The following is a list of "Fun Facts" about the legendary King Henry VIII:

--King Henry's 1st wife, Catherine of Aragon, was the widow of Henry's older brother, Authur. Catherine was almost 20 years older than Henry.

--Anne Boleyn, Henry's 2nd wife, was rumored to have had 6 fingers on one hand.

--Anne Boleyn's motto was, "Grumble all you like, this is how it's going to be". This was emblazoned on her livery.

--Although Henry had numerous illegimate children, Jane Seymour - his 3rd wife - produced the only legal male heir, Edward. King Edward I became king at age 9 and died at age 16.

--Jane Seymour's motto was, "Bound to obey and serve".

--When Henry's 4th marriage to Anne of Cleaves was annuled, he declared her "my sister."

--When Henry's 5th wife, Catherine Howard was sentenced to be beheaded, it is said she practiced for days how to lay her head on the chopping block.

--Catherine Parr was Henry's 6th and final wife. She had two previous marriages before she married King Henry, and she remarried once more after Henry's death.