Henry VIII was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland, from 21 April 1509 until his death. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII. Henry VIII is famous for having been married six times. He wielded perhaps the most unfettered power of any English monarch, and brought about the English Reformation (including the creation of the Church of England as well as the Dissolution of the Monasteries) and the legal union of England and Wales.

Many significant pieces of legislation were enacted during Henry VIII's reign. They included the several Acts which severed the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church and established the king as the supreme head of the Church in England.

Henry VIII is known to have been an avid gambler and dice player. In his youth, he excelled at sports, especially jousting, hunting, and real tennis. He was also an accomplished musician, author, and poet. Henry VIII was also involved in the original construction and improvement of several significant buildings, including Nonsuch Palace, King's College Chapel, Cambridge and Westminster Abbey in London. Many of the existing buildings Henry improved were properties confiscated from Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, such as Christ Church, Oxford, Hampton Court Palace, palace of Whitehall, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He founded Christ Church Cathedral School, Oxford in 1546.

In 1502, when his brother, Arthur, suddenly died Henry was thrust into all the duties of his late brother, becoming Prince of Wales and, of course, heir to the throne.

Henry's father renewed his efforts to seal an alliance between England and Spain via marriage; in place of the dead Arthur, Henry was offered up to Spain for marriage to Prince Arthur's widow, Catherine of Aragon. Thus, fourteen months after her young husband's death, Catherine found herself betrothed to his brother, the new Prince of Wales. By 1505, however, the king lost interest in an alliance with Spain, and Henry declared that his betrothal had been arranged without his assent. Continued diplomatic maneuvering over the fate of the proposed marriage lingered until the death of Henry VII in 1509. Only 17 years old, Henry married his brother's widow, Catherine, on 11 June 1509, and on 24 June 1509, the two were crowned at Westminster Abbey.