When he ascended the throne in 1509 Henry VIII immediately married Catherine of Aragon, the widow of his brother. This secured the alliance with Spain (Aragon and Castile) against France. Henry VIII was almost 18 when he ascended the throne. His first resolve was to invade France to press the claim of the Monarchs of England to the French throne. He married his sister Mary Tudor to the King Louis XII of France (1514). The 6 marriages of Henry VIII in his search for a son to succeed him were the driving force of many changes during this reign. His six wives were Catherine of Aragon(divorced?)mother of Queen Mary, Anne Boleyn (executed), mother of Queen Elizabeth I, Jane Seymour (died in childbirth), Anne of Cleves (marriage set aside and pensioned off), Catherine Howard ((executed), Catherine Parr (outlived the King). The realm of England was declared an Empire, making it an autonomous nation-state and the break with the Pope and the Church of Rome with Henry becoming Head of the Church of England. Closely followed by the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Later he became King of Ireland.

Famous people during this reign are: William Wareham (1450-1532), Archbishop of Canterbury (1504), Lord Chancellor (1504); Thomas Wolsey (1473-1530), Archbishop of York (1514), Cardinal (1515), Lord Chancellor (1515); Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540); Thomas Linacre (1460-1524), Physician to the King (1509) and founded the College of Physicians (1518) translated the works of Galen (medical) from Greek to Latin; Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536), humanist scholar; John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester and catholic martyr; Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor (1529) writer of Utopia and catholic martyr; Robert Aske, leader of the Pilgrimage of Grace;  William Tyndale (1491?-1536), translator of the New Testament into English.