Peter Jans

and the other, which unfortunately morphed into an extremely powerful, sadistic, overweight tyrant.

Some have theories that this change may have been the result of a head injury which he suffered whilst jousting, where he actually nearly died.

Or could it just be the old aphorism from British historian Lord Acton that says, "'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.'"

Whatever it was, he did wield his power, putting the Pope and the Catholic Church to the side and assuming the role of the head of the Church of England, to merely enable a divorce from Catherine of Aragon that would not be granted by Pope Clement VII at the time.

Today's mnemonic is on Henry VIII's six marriages.

So with no further ado, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

In common parlance, the wives of Henry VIII were the six queens consort of King Henry VIII of England between 1509 and his death in 1547.

In legal terms, Henry had only three wives because three of his marriages were annulled by the Church of England.

However, he was never granted an annulment by the Pope as he desired for Catherine of Aragon, his first wife.

Annulments declare that a true marriage never took place, unlike a divorce, in which the married couple end their union.

Along with his six wives, Henry took several mistresses.

The six women that were married to Henry VIII in chronological order are

Henry's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon lasted nearly 24 years, while the following five lasted less than 10 years combined.

Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour each gave Henry VIII one child who survived infancy, two daughters and one son respectively.

All three of these children eventually ascended to the throne as King Edward VI, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I.

In addition, Henry had a relationship with Bessie Blount, resulting in a son, Henry Fitzroy.

Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were first cousins, who were both beheaded due to accusations of infidelity.

Jane Seymour was second cousin to both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

Several of Henry's wives worked in service to another wife, typically as a lady-in-waiting.

Anne Boleyn served Catherine of Aragon.