There’s no doubt that royalty can be as sinfully corrupt as the aristocracy. Whether that be through their lust, their contempt for humanity, their greed, or even their indifference, the magnificence of a king can erode, the memory of his existence fading with time, all because of his selfishness. But while it’s interesting to think about, it has also happened in real life. King Henry VIII was the epitome of this type of ruler, and despite everything he’d done to try to preserve his own immortality, he only succeeded in making himself one of the most infamous rulers of England.

Henry was an arrogant man who had wanted a son to succeed him on the throne. However, his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, hadn’t borne him one, and rather than accept his beautiful daughter, he decided that it wasn’t enough. When he tried divorcing her, however, the Pope intervened and prevented him from doing so. Not only this, but Catherine recognized the dire situation she was in, and as such refused to divorce him for the sake of her daughter. By the time the ordeal was done, there was a deep division between Henry and the Catholic Church.

His next marriage was with the infamous Anne Boleyn. Because of her intelligence and carefree attitude, she already had enemies within the court, so much so that some may have even labeled her a witch. And though she tried her best to give Henry a son, she ended up producing a daughter, who later become Elizabeth I. Anne was later convicted of treason, and was subsequently executed.

After two more failed attempts, one with a woman he truly loved named Jane Seymour, the other with Anne of Cleves, he finally met a lover with whom he was completely infatuated in the form of a young woman named Katherine Howard. A figure who has sparked novels like The King’s Rose by Alisa M. Libby and The Rose Without a Thorn by Jean Plaidy, Katherine was a naive girl thrust into the deceptive glamor of the court. While she, like the other wives, tried to cling to the role of the king’s favorite, many rumors swirled around her. Alleged affairs were whispered behind her back as she made her way through the hallways, with one of them managing to reach Henry’s ear. Although he didn’t readily believe them at first, in the end he decided to have her executed.

His last wife, Catherine Parr, was perhaps one of the few that Henry managed to trust in the end, so much so that he allowed her to rule in his place. When the king died, she ended up freeing a man named Thomas Seymour, and married him. Shortly later she died, and thus concludes the tale of Henry’s six wives.

Many writers have drawn inspiration from the king’s turbulent marriages. However, every writer has different interpretations of the wives. Some have depicted Catherine of Aragon to be strong-willed, others independent. Others have taken to Anne Boleyn, portraying her as a lustful, manipulative woman who managed to twist the king around her finger. Even Katherine, with her numerous affairs, wasn’t immune to them. Many writers have even taken to analyzing his children, Mary and her half-sister Elizabeth, both of whom fought for the throne of England.

It’s abundantly clear that Henry VIII was a divisive figure in history. Not only did he manage to separate the church from the government, but he destroyed many lives, both with his obsession with a male heir, and his obsession to exert his power over others. His affairs, his willingness to use his wives as political pawns, and his determination to get people to obey him was something to behold, and to this day is something that many writers and artists alike have continued to use for inspiration.