King Henry VIII (1509 - 1547)
The best known fact about Henry is that he had six wives.
British school children learn the following rhyme to help them remember the fate of each wife:
"Divorced, Beheaded, Died: Divorced, Beheaded, Survived".

Henry Turned Beards Into A Status Symbol

Portraits of England’s best-known monarch usually depict him wearing an impressive set of whiskers. However, it isn’t widely known that Henry introduced a tax which was levied on the wearing of beards and which turned facial hair into a status symbol overnight.[10] There have been some seriously bizarre taxes over the years, but Henry’s beard tax has to be one of the strangest. In 1535, the king demanded that taxes be paid by any man who chose to wear a beard, and the amount charged varied depending on the social status of its wearer, meaning that every man who wanted to be viewed as high-status immediately decided to grow their facial hair.

So, there you have it—ten amazing things that you never knew about England’s not-so merry monarch. The next time you see a movie or TV show featuring this Tudor king, you’ll know a little more about what made him tick!

King Henry VIII (1509 - 1547)
The best known fact about Henry is that he had six wives.
British school children learn the following rhyme to help them remember the fate of each wife:
"Divorced, Beheaded, Died: Divorced, Beheaded, Survived".

Henry Was An English Sex Symbol Of His Day

All of the portraits that we see today of King Henry usually show him as a massively overweight old man with a beard. However, in his younger days, he was actually known as a bit of a sex symbol. He wasn’t only popular with the ladies because of his money and power—Henry was also hugely admired for his good looks. Clean-shaven for much of his life, Henry was very tall for the time at 191 centimeters (6’3″) and had a full head of extremely striking red hair.

Henry also had an athletic build thanks to his love of jousting, hunting, and tennis, and he was especially famous for his fine calves—the equivalent of having a six-pack today! It was only after a jousting accident in his later years led to a permanent leg injury which prevented him from exercising that he put on weight and turned into the enormous mountain of a man that we recognize from the movies.

King Henry VIII (1509 - 1547)
The best known fact about Henry is that he had six wives.
British school children learn the following rhyme to help them remember the fate of each wife:
"Divorced, Beheaded, Died: Divorced, Beheaded, Survived".

Henry Had Severe Health Anxiety

Even when he was young and healthy, Henry had a terrible fear of death and illness. He was especially afraid of catching the plague or sweating sickness, two diseases which were rife in England during Henry’s time. He was so desperate to avoid infection that he kept well away from anyone who may have been exposed to an illness, and when a bout of the sweating sickness arrived in London during 1517 and 1518, Henry left the city for almost a full year. He even refused at one point to see his ambassadors because he was so afraid of catching the sweating sickness, and despite his great passion for Anne Boleyn in 1528, he refused to go anywhere near her until she had made a full recovery from the disease.

It’s possible that the death of his brother Arthur at the tender age of 15 was the cause of Henry’s hypochondria, but his dreadful fear of illness was so great that he required his physicians to examine him every morning of his life. He even learned as much as he could about the medicine of the day, making his own remedies from a hidden cabinet of ingredients in his apartments.

King Henry VIII (1509 - 1547)
The best known fact about Henry is that he had six wives.
British school children learn the following rhyme to help them remember the fate of each wife:
"Divorced, Beheaded, Died: Divorced, Beheaded, Survived".

Henry May Have Suffered From McLeod Syndrome

Most people are aware that Henry VIII had a terrible temper and was prone to outbursts of rage, but the reasons for this remain unknown. Henry was famous in his day for his unpredictable behavior, especially during his later life, and his courtiers often experienced his wrath firsthand. He beheaded more people during his reign than any other British monarch, and many of the people who met their grisly end at his hands were his closest friends and relatives. Not only did he condemn two of his wives to an untimely death, but he also signed death warrants for a number of his intimate advisors and companions, including Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More.

Recent theories have suggested that Henry may have suffered from a condition called McLeod syndrome, which causes cognitive impairments as well as a number of other physical problems such as mobility issues, which Henry also experienced. Since McLeod syndrome also has links to people who have Kell-positive blood, it looks increasingly likely that Henry may have been a sufferer of this rare condition.

Photo credit: Hans Holbein

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