Editing Henry VIII (section)

== Early reign ==
[[File:HenryVIII 1509.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Portrait by [[Meynnart Wewyck]], 1509]]
Henry VII died in April 1509, and the 17-year-old Henry succeeded him as king.<ref>{{harvnb|Loades|2009|p=17|quote=When Henry VII died, on 22 April 1509, the auguries for the new reign were good.}}; {{harvnb|Pollard|1905|p=43|quote=the old King lay sick in April, 1509 ... On the 22nd he was dead.}}; {{harvnb|Scarisbrick|1968|pp=11–12|quote=But on 22 April 1509 the old king lay dead in Richmond Palace. His son was at his bedside. ... he came to the Tower amidst the trumpets and rejoicing on that 23 April, the second day of his reign}}</ref> Soon after his father's burial on 10 May, Henry suddenly declared that he would indeed marry Catherine, leaving unresolved several issues concerning the papal dispensation and a missing part of the [[marriage portion]].<ref name="scarisbrick8"/><ref name="loades24">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|p=24}}</ref> The new king maintained that it had been his father's dying wish that he marry Catherine.<ref name="Loades2009"/> Whether or not this was true, it was convenient. Emperor Maximilian I had been attempting to marry his granddaughter [[Eleanor of Austria|Eleanor]], Catherine's niece, to Henry; she had now been jilted.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=12}} Henry's wedding to Catherine was modest and was held at the friars' church in Greenwich on 11 June 1509.<ref name="loades24"/> Henry claimed descent from [[Constantine the Great]] and [[King Arthur]] and saw himself as their successor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stewart |first=James Mottram |title=Empire and Nation in Early English Renaissance Literature |date=2008 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-8438-4182-1 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XGXVO8aOg1QC&pg=PA17 17] |oclc=213307973 |ol=23187213M}}</ref>

On 23 June 1509, Henry led the now 23-year-old Catherine from the [[Tower of London]] to [[Westminster Abbey]] for [[Coronation of Henry VIII and Catherine|their coronation]], which took place the following day.<ref name="scarisbrick1819">{{Harvnb|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=18–19}}</ref> It was a grand affair: the King's passage was lined with tapestries and laid with fine cloth.<ref name="scarisbrick1819"/> Following the ceremony, there was a grand banquet in [[Westminster Hall]].{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=19}} As Catherine wrote to her father, "our time is spent in continuous festival".<ref name="loades24"/>

Two days after his coronation, Henry arrested his father's two most unpopular ministers, [[Richard Empson]] and [[Edmund Dudley]]. They were charged with [[high treason]] and were executed in 1510. Politically motivated executions would remain one of Henry's primary tactics for dealing with those who stood in his way.<ref name="Crofton2006"/> Henry returned some of the money supposedly extorted by the two ministers.{{Sfn|Hall|1904|p=17}} By contrast, Henry's view of the [[House of York]] – potential rival claimants for the throne – was more moderate than his father's had been. Several who had been imprisoned by his father, including [[Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset]], were pardoned.{{Sfn|Starkey|2008|pp=304–306}} Others went unreconciled; [[Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk]] was eventually beheaded in 1513, an execution prompted by his brother [[Richard de la Pole|Richard]] siding against the King.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=31–32}}

Soon after marrying Henry, Catherine conceived. She gave birth to a [[stillborn]] girl on 31 January 1510. About four months later, Catherine again became pregnant.<ref name="loades26">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|p=26}}</ref> On 1 January 1511, New Year's Day, a son [[Henry, Duke of Cornwall|Henry]] was born. After the grief of losing their first child, the couple were pleased to have a boy and festivities were held,{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=18}} including a two-day [[joust]] known as the [[1511 Westminster Tournament Roll|Westminster Tournament]]. However, the child died seven weeks later.<ref name="loades26"/> Catherine had two stillborn sons in 1513 and 1515, but gave birth in February 1516 to a girl, [[Mary I of England|Mary]]. Relations between Henry and Catherine had been strained, but they eased slightly after Mary's birth.<ref name="loades4849">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|pp=48–49}}</ref>

Although Henry's marriage to Catherine has since been described as "unusually good",{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=103}} it is known that Henry took mistresses. It was revealed in 1510 that Henry had been conducting an affair with one of the sisters of [[Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham]], either Elizabeth or [[Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon]].{{Sfn|Hart|2009|p=27}} The most significant mistress for about three years, starting in 1516, was [[Elizabeth Blount]].<ref name="loades4849"/> Blount is one of only two completely undisputed mistresses, considered by some to be few for a virile young king.<ref name="Fraser1994">{{Harvnb|Fraser|1994|p=220}}</ref><ref name="loades4748">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|pp=47–48}}</ref> Exactly how many Henry had is disputed: [[David Loades]] believes Henry had mistresses "only to a very limited extent",<ref name="loades4748"/> whilst [[Alison Weir]] believes there were numerous other affairs.<ref name="Weir">{{Harvnb|Weir|1991|pp=122–123}}</ref> Catherine is not known to have protested. In 1518, she fell pregnant again with another girl, who was also stillborn.<ref name="loades4849"/>

Blount gave birth in June 1519 to Henry's illegitimate son, [[Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset|Henry FitzRoy]].<ref name="loades4849"/> The young boy was made Duke of Richmond in June 1525 in what some thought was one step on the path to his eventual legitimisation.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=98,&nbsp;104}} FitzRoy married [[Mary FitzRoy, Duchess of Richmond and Somerset|Mary Howard]] in 1533, but died childless three years later.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|page=255}} At the time of his death in July 1536, [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] was considering the [[Second Succession Act]], which could have allowed him to become king.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=255,&nbsp;271}}