Why did King Henry VIII so desperately want a son?

Answer 1

He needed a son to be King after him, to establish the still fairly-new Tudor dynasty, and to carry the Tudor name on. It was extremely important in those days; a woman was not considered fit or able to rule by herself. Once Henry did get a son (Edward VI), it became less imperative, but another son or two would have been good to have as spare. Infant mortality was high; Edward could have died early -as, in fact, he did - and another son would have ensured the future of the Tudors.

As it happened, after the early death of Edward, two Queens ruled England in their own right, as Queens Regnant, and we remember them more than we did the longed-for son! However, these two Queens died without issue, and the Tudor dynasty died out with the death of Elizabeth I.

Answer 2

King Henry Son

Answer 3

King Henry VIII desperately wanted a son because that was the RULE. He simply wanted some one to rule over when he died, and having a woman reign as king/queen in a monarchy is just so wrong in those times. They valued men better than women and they just simply thought that women are not capable of ruling.

Answer 4

One thing to remember is that Henry was only the second Tudor to reign. The family was hardly settled on throne.

Also, in England, women did not directly count in the succession--they were only considered if there was no male heir. Better the crown pass to a male child and have a regency than for it to pass to a woman--that was their way of thinking. That is why Henry's son became king after his death over his sisters who were both older.

Henry saw trouble brewing if there were not a prince to take over--especially since the Spanish royal house was intertwined with his by marriage. He could see the possibility of the rich, powerful Spanish crown trying to put one of its members onto the British throne by marriage (in fact, IIRC, Phillip makes some sort of argument like this to justify sending the Armada).

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Answer 5

Henry not only wanted a son, but needed a son. Though a female could succeed to the throne, Henry was worried about the strength of his realm, and the weakness perceived under a female ruler. Additionally, a female wouldn't rule on her own. the Tudor dynasty was new, and Henry was worried about the loss of the dynasty. A female, as Queen, would be bound to marry and the rule pass from the Tudors to the family of the husband.
Also, in the 16th century, it was a sign of weakness in a ruler if he couldn't produce a son. Ridiculous, but true.

Answer 6

henry vii (henry vii's father) had taken the throne of england by conquest at the battle of bosworth field in 1485.

seizing the throne of a kingdom is usually both bloody and difficult, but england had been drenched in civil wars for almost a hundred years (since the deposition of richard ii by henry iv in 1400).

during the eighty-odd years of the wars of the roses england had lost almost all its french territory, had seen huge numbers of the aristocracy kill each other off in battles or by poison, and had had a very bad time with two women leaders: joan of arc in france and margaret of anjou (the wife of henry vi who took over the running of the war from her husband).

the king in 1485 was richard iii. richard iii had very little entitlement to the throne, but then nor did anybody else. richard had probably murdered the princes in the tower, and with them gone there was nobody obvious to be king at all.

henry vii had even less claim to the throne of england than richard iii, but when there is total chaos anybody can have a pop (think about kabul or baghdad today). when henry vii's army won, the tudors were in.

after a century of civil war what everybody wanted (the king, the country, even most of the nobles) was peace. the whole nation was tired of killing, they wanted things to run smoothly.

henry vii's eldest son was arthur. arthur was raised to be king of england, and married to katherine of aragon, but then - out of nowhere - arthur was dead. everybody wondered: 'here we go again?'

but luckily henry's second son - henry - was just as athletic, clever, militarily minded, and diplomatic as his big brother. henry was even willing to marry arthur's widow.

so the second son became henry viii.

henry viii needed a son because even though queens were possible, they were usually a disaster. women were perceived as weak (they frequently were) so any strong barons would be tempted to revolt. also adjacent countries with a king would be tempted to invade. france and spain had both had their eyes on england for some time.

and then again the pope didn't like women.

henry viii knew that if one of his daughters succeeded him she would need to be unbelievably strong to prevent england from sinking back into civil war or being attacked by a foreign power.

he underestimated just what a tough nut queen mary would be.

he also underestimated how queen elizabeth would be able to see off both an attempted civil war (when the greys tried to seize the throne under lady jane grey) and a major invasion attempt (the armada).

henry viii thought of himself as a pretty tough king. (so did most of those who knew him).

but he never realised that either of his daughters would make him look like britney spears.

Answer 7

He wanted a son to desperately continue his progeny.


And he did have a son, with Dame Jane Seymour.


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Answer 8

If he didn't have a definite heir (a male), then a relative could have taken over and his direct line would not have continued to rule.

Answer 9

Only male heirs were allowed to take the throne. No male heir, no continued power and authority for your family.

Answer 10

For the simple reason that he wanted an heir and, for a long time, didn't get one.