Why did Henry VIII marry six times? - The Complete Series (7 lessons)

Along the way, your class will use a variety of historical sources to find out what Henry VIII was like both as a king and a man, debate his choices and motivations, and learn about the often ill-fated lives of the six women he married.

This Henry VIII lesson plan pack provides everything you need to deliver an outstanding History scheme of work to your KS2 children. There is an easy-to-follow lesson plan for each of the seven lessons, along with a slideshow for each of the whole-class teaching inputs, differentiated activities, and a range of printable resources, such as worksheets, picture cards, information sheets and quizzes. By the end of the scheme of work, your class will be able to confidently answer the question, 'Why did Henry VIII marry six times?'

For further lessons on the Tudors check out our 'Tudors' cross-curricular topic.

This first lesson introduces the Tudor family and explains how they came to power at the Battle of Bosworth, what the Tudor Rose symbolises and teaches your class to place the Tudors on a timeline. They will also have a whistle-stop tour through the love life of Henry VIII as they find out about his six wives, learning a few key facts about each one.

This lesson takes a closer look at Henry VIII himself as your class study some portraits of one of England’s most famous kings. They will think about what they can learn about Henry through his portraits before reading some accounts of him from his contemporaries to find out further information.

This lesson teaches your class about the roles, responsibilities and importance of being a monarch in Tudor England, and examines what a typical day would have been like for Henry, from attending mass and signing papers to hunting and feasting. They will then consider how the life of a monarch today might be different to Henry’s experience as king.

The first and longest of Henry's marriages is the focus of this lesson as your class looks at his marriage and divorce to Catherine of Aragon. Your class will find out some of the reasons why Henry sought a divorce, looking particularly at the lack of a male heir and his relationship with Anne Boleyn, and think about some of the reasons for why Henry wanted a divorce but Catherine did not.

Now that Henry was rid of wife number one, he was free to marry Anne Boleyn. This lesson looks at her rise and fall, considering some of the reasons for the failure of the marriage, including Henry’s roving eye! After finding out about Anne’s beheading, your class will find out about Henry’s short-lived marriage to Jane Seymour and the birth of his only live son.

This interesting lesson examines how marriage was as much (if not more) about political alliances for Henry as it was about love. It explores some of the reasons for which Henry chose Anne of Cleves for his fourth wife and looks at why the marriage was so short-lived, taking into account what your class already know about Henry VIII (and his ego!).

The final lesson in this series identifies Henry’s last two wives as Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr, and challenges your class to carry out their own research to find out about them and their marriages to the now old and ill Henry. They can use a variety of sources to find out the information they need, as well as creating an overview of the six wives of Henry VIII.