Henry VIII

Henry is the second son and as a child has no expectations that he will become King of England. He actually expects a religious office and that his older brother, Arthur, will reign. But Arthur, always slave to a fragile constitution, doesn't survive his teen years and dies soon after his marriage to the Spanish princess Katherine, leaving Henry heir to the throne. Even then, Henry's life is geared toward preparing him for his eventual ascension to the throne but never for the actual event. When it occurs, Henry - at seventeen - feels unprepared. He does take the throne and soon makes himself felt as a ruler. He marries Katherine, an act that was against the express wishes of his father. When Katherine fails to produce an heir and Henry's eyes wander to a younger woman in court, he spends six years on a legal and...