History is not boring!

Read this text and fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs from the box:

to make , to use, to approve , to grow , to enjoy , to execute, to be, to change , to lead, to punish, to compose

Historically King Henry VIII of England (1491-1547) is famous for having six wives. Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr. But what really __1______Henry VIII famous was his establishment of the Church of England. The highly powerful Rome-based Pope and Catholic Church did not ____2______his divorces so Henry went his own way and __3______ any objectors. It ____4____the course of history. Another important event during his reign was the creation of a proper English navy, starting in 1536. The English fleet __5______from three to 54 ships and established a professional administration, something that had a great bearing on the future development of the nation.

As a person Henry VIII ___6____egotistical, arrogant, boastful and treacherous. He often __7___people for his personal ends. Hailed as a great sportsman, he was an expert archer and hunter and fancied himself as a wrestler. He __8______cock fighting and playing tennis. He loved music and __11_______several pieces and poems. He also liked singing. While he _10______his extravagant arty and sporty lifestyle he ___1____ the hard work of government to others and them severely when things went_wrong, often with death.

DID YOU KNOW THAT?

1. He was tall for Tudor times, at around 6ft 2in, and had a high-pitched voice!

2. By the end of his life, Henry's waistline measured four-and-a-half feet round.

3. Henry had a remarkable memory and could remember the names of every servant employed in all the royal households.

4. The men of Henry's court were forbidden to brawl, duel or appear in public with their mistresses.

5. Henry was a spoiled child and even had his own whipping boy, who was punished every time the young Prince did something wrong!

6. The music-loving monarch owned 78 recorders, 78 flutes, five sets of bagpipes and a virginal – a type of early harpsichord.

7. Henry could wear out up to eight horses a day while hunting!

8. By the time he died, Henry owned 50 palaces, a royal record for England, including Hampton Court, Whitehall Palace (where he died) and St James's Palace (where he lay in state).

9. Henry was terrified of catching the plague, and spent most summers away from London to avoid it. His court painter Holbein was not so lucky, and succumbed to the so-called Black Death in 1543.

10. The Bishop of Rochester's cook, taking vengeance against an ungrateful master, added a toxic herb to a dish and two guests died. Henry ordered that the cook should be boiled alive in his own pot, rather than hanged, and this remained the standard punishment for poisoners for five years.

Hanry VIII and his six wives

“Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived.”