Crown of Ireland Act 1. English monarch to rule as King of Ireland. His contemporaries considered Henry in his prime to be an attractive, educated and accomplished king. He has been described as one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne. He was an author and composer. As he aged, Henry became severely obese and his health suffered, contributing to his death in 1. He is frequently characterised in his later life as a lustful, egotistical, harsh, and insecure king. He was succeeded by his son Edward VI. Early years. Henrys childhood copy of De Officiis, bearing the inscription in his hand, Thys boke is myne Prynce HenryBorn 2. June 1. 49. 1 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Kent, Henry Tudor was the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Of the young Henrys six siblings, only three Arthur, Prince of Wales Margaret and Mary survived infancy. He was baptised by Richard Fox, the Bishop of Exeter, at a church of the Observant Franciscans close to the palace. In 1. Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was subsequently appointed Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age three, and was inducted into the Order of the Bath soon after. The day after the ceremony he was created Duke of York and a month or so later made Warden of the Scottish Marches. In May 1. 49. 5, he was appointed to the Order of the Garter. The reason for all the appointments to a small child was so his father could keep personal control of lucrative positions and not share them with established families. Henry was given a first rate education from leading tutors, becoming fluent in Latin and French, and learning at least some Italian. Not much is known about his early life save for his appointments because he was not expected to become king. In November 1. Henry also played a considerable part in the ceremonies surrounding the marriage of his brother, Prince Arthur, to Catherine of Aragon, the youngest surviving child of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. As Duke of York, Henry used the arms of his father as king, differenced by a label of three points ermine. He was further honoured, on 9 February 1. Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I who made him a Knight of the Golden Fleece. Detail of illumination in the Vaux Passional thought to depict Henry mourning the loss of his mother 1. His sisters are also pictured. In 1. 50. 2, Arthur died at the age of 1. Catherine. 1. 3 Arthurs death thrust all his duties upon his younger brother, the 1. Henry. After a little debate, Henry became the new Duke of Cornwall in October 1. Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester in February 1. Henry VII gave the boy few tasks. Young Henry was strictly supervised and did not appear in public. As a result, the young Henry would later ascend the throne untrained in the exacting art of kingship. Henry VII renewed his efforts to seal a marital alliance between England and Spain, by offering his second son in marriage to Arthurs widow Catherine. Both Isabella and Henry VII were keen on the idea, which had arisen very shortly after Arthurs death. On 2. 3 June 1. 50. A papal dispensation was only needed for the impediment of public honesty if the marriage had not been consummated as Catherine and her duenna claimed, but Henry VII and the Spanish ambassador set out instead to obtain a dispensation for affinity, which took account of the possibility of consummation. The young Henrys age, only eleven, prevented cohabitation. Isabellas death in 1. Castile, complicated matters. Her father preferred her to stay in England, but Henry VIIs relations with Ferdinand had deteriorated. Catherine was therefore left in limbo for some time, culminating in Prince Henrys rejection of the marriage as soon he was able, at the age of 1. Ferdinands solution was to make his daughter ambassador, allowing her to stay in England indefinitely. How To Install A Hot Water Tank. Devout, she began to believe that it was Gods will that she marry the prince despite his opposition. Early reign. Eighteen year old Henry VIII after his coronation in 1. Henry VII died on 2. April 1. 50. 9, and the 1. Henry succeeded him as king. Soon after his fathers burial on 1. May, Henry suddenly declared that he would indeed marry Catherine, leaving unresolved several issues concerning the papal dispensation and a missing part of the marriage portion. The new king maintained that it had been his fathers dying wish that he marry Catherine. Whether or not this was true, it was certainly convenient. Emperor Maximilian I had been attempting to marry his granddaughter and Catherines niece Eleanor to Henry she had now been jilted. Henrys wedding to Catherine was kept low key and was held at the friars church in Greenwich on 1. June 1. 50. 9. 2. On 2. 3 June 1. 50. Henry led the now 2. Catherine from the Tower of London to Westminster Abbey for their coronation, which took place the following day. It was a grand affair the kings passage was lined with tapestries and laid with fine cloth. Following the ceremony, there was a grand banquet in Westminster Hall. As Catherine wrote to her father, our time is spent in continuous festival. Two days after Henrys coronation, he arrested his fathers two most unpopular ministers, Sir Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley. They were charged with high treason and were executed in 1.