King Henry VIII was born on June 28, 1491, in Greenwich, England to Henry VII and Elizabeth of York and he lived during the Reformation (1517-1648) and the Renaissance (1400-1600). When Henry was 17 he took the throne and married his first of six wives. Of those six wives, he had 3 children, all of which had possession of the crown at some point, and had 2 wives beheaded for adultery (sex with someone other than their own spouse). During his reign he bolstered the English fleet with fighting ships, reorganized the government along with adding bureaucracy (giving royal duties to the government), involving England in several expensive wars in Scotland and France, and breaking all ties between England and the Roman Catholic church, creating the
