King Henry VIII Trivia Quiz Questions and Answers

King Henry VIII trivia quiz with answers.

King Henry VIII Trivia Quiz Questions and Answers

Who was Henry VIII?
A: Henry VIII was King of England from 1509 until his death.

Henry was the second Tudor monarch, succeeding whom?
A: His father, Henry VII.

Henry is best known for his six what?
A: Marriages, in particular his efforts to have his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, annulled.

His disagreement with the Pope on the question of such an annulment led Henry to do what?
A: Initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority.

What did he appoint himself?
A: The Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated.

Henry is also known as "the father of the Royal Navy"; he invested heavily in the Navy, increasing its size greatly from a few ships to how many?
A: To more than 50 ships.

Domestically, Henry is known for his radical changes to what?
A: The English Constitution, ushering into England the theory of the divine right of kings.

Besides asserting the sovereign's supremacy over the Church of England, he greatly expanded what?
A: Royal power during his reign.

Charges of treason and heresy were commonly used to quell what?
A: 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 what?
A: Banished or executed when they fell out of his favor.

Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich, and Thomas Cranmer all figured prominently in what?
A: Henry's administration.

He was an extravagant spender and used the proceeds from the Dissolution of the Monasteries and acts of the Reformation Parliament to do what?
A: Convert into royal revenue the money that was formerly paid to Rome.

Despite the influx of money from these sources, Henry was continually on the verge of financial ruin due to his what?
A: His personal extravagance as well as his numerous costly and largely unsuccessful continental wars.

At home, he oversaw the legal union of what?
A: England and Wales with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542.

Following the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 he was the first English monarch to do what?
A: Rule as King of Ireland.

His contemporaries considered Henry in his prime to be what?
A: An attractive, educated and accomplished king.

He has been described as "one of the most charismatic rulers to do what?
A: To ever sit on the English throne".

As he aged, Henry became severely what?
A: Obese and his health suffered, contributing to his death in 1547.

He is frequently characterized in his later life as a what?
A: A lustful, egotistical, harsh, and insecure king.

Who was he was succeeded by?
A: His son Edward VI.

When was Henry VIII born?
A: On June 28, 1491.

Where was he born?
A: At the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Kent.

Henry Tudor was the third child and second son of whom?
A: Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.

Of young Henry's six siblings, which three were the only ones to survive childhood?
A: Arthur, Prince of Wales; Margaret; and Mary.

He was baptized by whom?
A: Richard Fox, the Bishop of Exeter, at a church of the Observant Franciscans close to the palace.

In 1493, at the age of two, Henry was appointed what?
A: 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 what age?
A: 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 what?
A: Warden of the Scottish Marches.

In May 1495, he was appointed to what order?
A: The Order of the Garter.

What was the reason for all the appointments to a small child?
A: 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 what?
A: Latin and French, and learning at least some Italian.

Why is not much is known about his early life?
A: Because he was not expected to become king.

In November 1501, Henry also played a considerable part in the ceremonies surrounding his brother's marriage to whom?
A: Catherine of Aragon, the youngest surviving child of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile.

He was honored, on February 9, 1506, by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I who made him a what?
A: A Knight of the Golden Fleece.

In 1502, who died at the age of 15, possibly of sweating sickness, just 20 weeks after his marriage to Catherine?
A: Arthur.

Arthur's death thrust all his duties upon whom?
A: His younger brother, the 10-year-old Henry.

After a little debate, Henry became the new Duke of Cornwall in October 1502, and the new Prince of what?
A: Wales and Earl of Chester in February 1503.

Henry VII renewed his efforts to seal a marital alliance between England and Spain, by doing what?
A: Offering his second son in marriage to Arthur's widow Catherine.

On June 23, 1503, a treaty was signed for their what?
A: Their marriage and they were betrothed two days later.

Why was cohabitation not possible?
A: Because Henry was too young.

Henry VII died on 21 April 1509, and the 17-year-old Henry succeeded him as what?
A: King.

Two days after his coronation, Henry arrested whom?
A: His father's two most unpopular ministers, Sir Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley.

They were charged with what?
A: High treason and were executed in 1510.

Politically-motivated executions would remain one of Henry's primary tactics for what?
A: Dealing with those who stood in his way.

Although Henry's marriage to Catherine has since been described as "unusually good", it is known that Henry took what?
A: Mistresses.

It was revealed in 1510 that Henry had been conducting an affair with whom?
A: One of the sisters of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, either Elizabeth or Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon.

The most significant mistress for about three years, starting in 1516, was whom?
A: Elizabeth Blount.

Blount gave birth in June 1519 to whom?
A: Henry's illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy.

The young boy was made what?
A: Duke of Richmond in June 1525.

On June 30, 1513, Henry invaded what country?
A: France.

In 1525, as Henry grew more impatient with Catherine's inability to produce the male heir he desired, he became enamored of whom?
A: Mary Boleyn's sister, Anne, then a charismatic young woman of 25 in the Queen's entourage.

Anne, however, resisted his attempts to what?
A: Seduce her, and refused to become his mistress as her sister Mary Boleyn had.

In the winter of 1532, Henry met with Francis I at Calais and enlisted the support of the French king for his what?
A: His new marriage to Anne.

Immediately upon returning to Dover in England, Henry, now 41, and Anne, now 32, went through a what?
A: A secret wedding service.

She soon became pregnant, and there was a second wedding service in London on what date?
A: January 25, 1533.

Catherine was formally stripped of her title as what?
A: Queen, becoming instead "princess dowager" as the widow of Arthur.

In her place, Anne was crowned what on 1 June 1533?
A: Queen consort.