Henry VIII V1 / 亨利八世

Henry VIII is the most famous king in English history. He is best known for the ‘Reformation’ and for marrying 6 women, most of whom suffered an unpleasant fate.

亨利八世是英国历史上最有名的国王。他最出名的是“宗教改革”，还娶了六个女人，其中大多数都有不太好的结局。

Henry was born on the 28th June 1491. He was the second son of King Henry VII but became king in 1509 because his elder brother died in 1502.

亨利出生于1491年6月28日。他是亨利七世的第二个儿子，但因为他的哥哥在1502年去世，所以他于1509年成为国王。

In his youth he was very intelligent and athletic. In addition to English, he also spoke French, Latin and Spanish. In his spare time, he liked to go hunting on horseback and play tennis.

在他年轻时，他非常聪明且运动能力很强。除了英语，他还会讲法语、拉丁语和西班牙语。在业余时间，他喜欢骑马打猎和打网球。

Henry was an accomplished player of many musical instruments and composed music. The famous English tune ‘Greensleeves’ is often attributed to Henry VIII but it unlikely that he actually composed this music.

亨利是一位多才多艺的乐器演奏者，同时也是作曲家。著名的英国曲调《绿袖子》常被认为出自亨利八世之手，但他实际上创作这首曲目的可能性不大。

Henry was a staunch catholic and very religious. He often attended 3 masses a day. He wrote a book attacking the protestant leader Martin Luther and promoting the Roman Catholic church. This book was so popular that 20 editions were published. As a reward, the Pope gave him the title ‘Defender of the Faith’.

亨利是一个坚定的天主教徒，非常虔诚。他经常一天参加三次弥撒。他写了一本书攻击新教领袖马丁·路德，并宣扬罗马天主教会。这本书非常受欢迎，出版了20个版本。作为奖励，教皇授予他“信仰捍卫者”的称号。

Henry married the wife of his late brother, Catherine of Aragon. Catherine gave birth to a daughter but Henry was desperate for a male heir. Catherine was now in her forties and unlikely to produce any more children. Moreover, Henry had fallen in love with another woman called Anne Boleyn.

亨利娶了他已故兄弟的妻子阿拉贡的凯瑟琳。凯瑟琳生下了一个女儿，但亨利渴望一个男继承人。凯瑟琳此时已四十多岁，不太可能再生孩子。此外，亨利爱上了另一位名叫安妮·博林的女子。

Henry sent his advisor, Cardinal Wolsey, to Rome to ask the Pope to annul his marriage to Catherine. Cardinal Wolsey failed and Henry was going to prosecute Wolsey for his failure but Wolsey died before he could be brought to trial.

亨利派他的顾问沃尔西红衣主教去罗马，请求教皇取消他与凯瑟琳的婚姻。沃尔西红衣主教失败了，亨利原本打算因为其失败而起诉他，但沃尔西在被审判前去世了。

Henry was very angry about the Pope’s refusal and started to limit the influence of the Catholic church in England. When a new Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, was appointed by the Pope, Henry persuaded him to declare that Henry’s marriage to Catherine was invalid. Henry then married Anne Boleyn a week later.

亨利对教皇的拒绝非常生气，开始限制天主教会在英格兰的影响。当教皇任命新的坎特伯雷大主教托马斯·克兰默时，亨利说服他宣称亨利与凯瑟琳的婚姻无效。随后一周，亨利与安妮·博林结婚。

The Pope responded by excommunicating Henry from the Catholic Church. This further angered Henry and he announced that he was the sole authority in England and created a new protestant Church called the Church of England. Of course, Henry declared himself the head of this new Church. This was the start of an English historical period called the ‘Reformation’.

教皇通过将亨利逐出天主教会作出了回应。这进一步激怒了亨利，他宣布自己是英格兰的唯一权威，并创建了一个名为英格兰教会的新新教教会。当然，亨利宣称自己是这个新教会的领袖。这标志着英格兰历史上一个被称为“宗教改革”的时期的开始。

Priests and others who were then part of the Catholic Church were forced to choose between the Catholic Church and the Church of England. Those people who refused to support the Church of England were often punished and sometimes killed.

当时属于天主教会的神职人员及其他人被迫在天主教会与英格兰教会之间做出选择。那些拒绝支持英格兰教会的人经常受到惩罚，有时甚至被处死。

Another consequence of the ‘Reformation’ was the ‘Dissolution of the Monasteries’. Here, hundreds of catholic monasteries throughout England were closed down and their land and gold and silver artifacts were confiscated. These monasteries then fell into ruin and the most famous of these ruins can be visited by tourists today.

“宗教改革”的另一个后果是“修道院的解散”。在这一过程中，英格兰各地的数百座天主教修道院被关闭，其土地、黄金和银器被没收。这些修道院随后陷入废墟，如今游客仍可参观其中最著名的废墟。

Henry marriage to Anne Boleyn in 1533 was not successful. Anne produced a daughter but no male heir. Henry got rid of Anne by falsely accusing her of treason and she was executed.

亨利在1533年与安妮·博林的婚姻不成功。安妮生了一个女儿，但没有男性继承人。亨利通过虚假指控安妮叛国来摆脱她，她因此被处决。

Henry’s third marriage to Jane Seymour in 1537 was much more successful. She bore him a son who later became King Edward VI. Unfortunately, Jane died 12 days after giving birth.

亨利在1537年与简·西摩的第三次婚姻更加成功。她为他生了一个儿子，后来成为爱德华六世国王。不幸的是，简在分娩后12天去世。

Henry’s forth marriage to Anne of Cleves was also short and disastrous. It was brokered as political alliance between England and the German Duchy of Cleeves. Henri however thought that Anne was ugly. The marriage was never consummated and it was annulled 6 months later.

亨利与克莱夫的安妮的第四次婚姻也很短暂且灾难性。这次婚姻是作为英格兰与德国克莱夫公国之间的政治联盟而促成的。然而亨利认为安妮很丑。这段婚姻从未同房，并在六个月后被取消。

Henry made 2 more marriages. His fifth marriage in 1540 was to Katherine Howard, who was executed on the grounds of adultery. His sixth and final marriage in 1543 was to  Catherine Parr. This marriage also did not produce children but Catherine survived because Henry died before he could get rid of her.

亨利又结了两次婚姻。他在1540年的第五次婚姻是与凯瑟琳·霍华德结婚，她因为通奸被处死。他在1543年的第六次也是最后一次婚姻是与凯瑟琳·帕尔结婚。这次婚姻同样没有孩子，但凯瑟琳幸存，因为亨利在除掉她之前就去世了。

Henry VIII inherited a vast fortune from his father and became even richer through the confiscation of the Catholic Church’s land and other property. However, Henry was an extravagant spender. He formed the Royal Navy and fought expensive wars with France, Spain and Scotland. He built new palaces filled with works of fine art. Moreover, because his advisors’ currency speculation, the English pound was devalued by half which led to high inflation. This meant that at the end of his reign, England was a significantly poor country than when he became king.

亨利八世从父亲那里继承了一大笔财富，通过没收天主教教会的土地和其他财产变得更加富有。然而，亨利是个挥霍无度的人。他组建了皇家海军，并与法国、西班牙和苏格兰打了代价高昂的战争。他建造了充满美术作品的新宫殿。此外，由于他的顾问的货币投机，英镑贬值了一半，引发了高通胀。这意味着在他统治结束时，英格兰比他登基时明显更贫穷。

Over the years, Henry’s health had declined. An old  wound from a jousting accident never properly healed and prevented him from taking part in the physical activities that he had enjoyed in his youth. He struggled to move and became obese. These health issues also affected his mental health.

多年来，亨利的健康状况一直在恶化。一次骑士比武事故留下的旧伤从未完全愈合，阻止了他参与他年轻时喜爱的体育活动。他行动困难并变得肥胖。这些健康问题也影响了他的心理健康。

Henry VIII died at the age of 55, on 28th January 1547. He died from obesity or scurvy. He was buried in a vault in St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle. His buried next to his third wife, Jane Seymour.

亨利八世于1547年1月28日去世，享年55岁。他死于肥胖或坏血病。他被安葬在温莎城堡圣乔治礼拜堂的一个墓穴中。他被埋葬在他的第三任妻子简·西摩旁边。