Why did King Henry VIII choose Ann's child Elizabeth to rule instead of the son he had with Mary?

Question

Why did King Henry VIII choose Ann's child Elizabeth to rule instead of the son he had with Mary?

Answer 1

Henry was never married to a Mary.  His wives were, in order: Katherine, Anne, Jane, Anne, Catherine, and Katherine.

Jane produced his only son.  That son was Edward VI, but he died as a teen.  The first Katherine (of Aragon) produced Mary, who became Mary I after Edward.  The first Anne (Boleyn) produced Elizabeth, who became Elizabeth I after Mary's death.

Henry had one illigitimate son, but it would have been difficult to give him the crown, and the argument became moot because he also died young long before Henry's own death.

Answer 2

You mean Mary Boleyn? (Anne Boleyn's sister). Mary had Henry's child but she was his mistress, not his wife. Their child wasn't eligible for the throne. And I don't think that child lived long.

Answer 3

wasn't the son illegitimate? that would explain it.

Answer 4

Henry VIII's will specified that if Edward, his son with Jane Seymour and at the time of his death his only legitimate child*, died without issue, then Mary, his daughter with Catherine of Aragon and the oldest of his three children, would be Queen to be followed by Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn.  Although the will didn't remove the taint of bastardy from either Mary or Elizabeth, it did place them in line for succession to the English throne--a remarkable achievement considering that European custom at that time excluded women from ruling.

Edward VI (r. 1547-1553), who succeeded to the throne of England upon Henry VIII's death at the age of nine, ruled through a council of regents, never reaching maturity and dying at age 15 most probably of tuberculosis.  Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen and reigned for nine days before she was deposed and replaced by Edward's oldest half-sister, Mary I, or as she is more commonly known, "Bloody Mary" (r. 1553-1558).  When Mary died at age 42 of uterine of ovarian cancer, she, in turn, was replaced by Henry VIII's surviving child, Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603), the daughter of Anne Boleyn.  

Thus, Henry VIII's children followed the natural order of male-preferred or cognatic primogeniture:  the oldest son first, followed by the oldest daughter, and then the youngest daughter. Cognatic primogeniture allows a female to succeeded to the throne if she has no living brothers or brothers who left legitimate heirs.

---

*Mary I was declared a b*****d and Henry VIII's marriage with Catherine of Aragon annuled using the justification that since Catherine had been previously married to Henry's oldest brother, Arthur, this created an "affinity" betwen Henry and Catherine which nullified any marriage contract.  Henry had obtained a papal dispensation from Pope Julius II to marry Katherine.  Of course, at the time Henry VIII's legal counselors were arguing this case before the Pope Clement VI, Henry desperately wanted a male heir that Catherine, now middle-aged, was unable to produce, and Anne Boleyn was pregnant.

Similarly, Henry VIII legal team justified his annulment of his marriage with Anne because of his previous sexual relationship with her elder sister, Mary Boleyn, outside of wedlock, which, according to this line of reasoning, also created a familial relationship between Anne and Henry and made their marriage null and void.  Then again, Henry VIII was still seeking a male heir, which Anne likewise hadn't been able to produce, and the King had already taken up with Jane Seymour. Since Jane Seymour produced a male heir and  died of childbirth fever before Henry could discard her for wife number four, Edward VI was the only legitimate child of Henry VIII.

Answer 5

There is no evidence that Mary Boleyn's son was Henry's.  He never acknowledged him, which suggests that the child was not his.

Henry was willing to include his daughters Mary and Elizabeth in the succesion, even though he had declared them both illegitimate, but he had at least been married to both their mothers, even though he had had th emarriages declared invalid.  There was never an question of him being married to Mary Boleyn though, which would perhaps have made a difference.  there would always be difficulties in making an illegitimate child his heir.

When Henry VIII came to make his will, his legitimate son Edward was the heir, followed by his daughter Mary (daughter of Catherine of Aragon) and then Elizabeth.  After Elizabeth, the next heirs were the descendents of Henry's younger sister Mary.  Henry would naturally have hoped that his son Edward would live to raise a family of his own, and he would not have wanted either of his daughters to succeed him, but nevertheless he did make them his heirs after Edward.

Answer 6

Mary was his daughter, and he had no son with her.

His son became king first, but died in childhood; then his daughter Mary became queen.  When she died, then Elizabeth became queen.

Answer 7

No!!!!!!

Answer 8

Mary was his daughter by his firts wife Catherine from Spain. One son was by Anne Boleyn's sister i think her name was Mary, he was illigitimate. There was another son, I think his name was James, he was by Jane Seymour, he was sickly and ruled before Mary he died at a young age then Mary got the throne then when she died Ann Boleyn's daughter  got it.

Answer 9

The son died.

Answer 10

You have this wrong on a few points. Henry 8th was dead by the time Elizabeth was CHOSEN to rule. He had three children by three different wives; Mary by Kartherine of Aragon (the first wife), Elizabeth by Anne Boleyn, and then Edward by Jane Seymour who became Edward 6th (I think it's the 6th) after his death.

Edward was sickly and only reigned for about 5 years at the most. Then Mary, the eldest daughter, swept in and took the throne from the Seymours (Edward's family) and reigned until she died (I think of a tumor).

So then the last child was Elizabeth. Henry had nothing to do with it! And she had the best of both parents, Henry' autocratic confidence, and Anne Boleyn's charisma.

Answer 11

He didn't. Edward was crowned king but died very young because he was always very sickly. Next, Mary took the throne but it did not last, and when she died Elizabeth took the throne and held it for 45 years.

Answer 12

Zoraster will say only of her she was and is a Great Lady and treats a visiting dignitary Persian Feline Sentiant as he is, another PERson.

And should she never ask for forgiveness her debt to Mmslle Marie la Fey De Skye is not a blessing nor curse.  She doesn't Escape my fate nor do I relinquish my pleasure in my bonehead shaque.    AND the coulor gurls sang, Ka Ba Akb Ab.

Answer 13

Mary Boleyn  did have an affair with Henry, but  the affair was brief, ending in mid-1525 (probably July.)  

On 4 March 1526, Mary gave birth to a son, called Henry, and who was given the surname Care, the surname of Mar;s husband, William.  

He was widely assumed to be the king's son.  

He physically resembled the king, a  fact often remarked upon.  

However. Mary's  relationship with Henry VIII was not his first.  He also publicly acknowledged another illegitimate son, born in 1519.  

This boy was called Henry Fitzroy - the surname traditionally given to royal b******s - and was ennobled, given the title duke of Richmond.

If Henry Carey was also his son, why didn't Henry do the same for him?  

The answer lies in his determination to divorce Katharine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn, the child's aunt.  

It is likely that even Henry VIII would have been too embarrassed to recognize his b*****d son by his fiancee's younger sister.)  

Henry Carey was eventually ennobled as Lord Hunsdon by Elizabeth I, the queen who was almosr certainly his half-sister and was undoubtedly his cousin.  

Though he served her ably, Elizabeth only offered Hunsdon a title upon his deathbed.  

To this dubious honour, the old man aptly replied that if the queen hadn't thought him worth it while he was in health, he would not accept it while ill.

Answer 14

he didn't chose elizabeth. edward the 6th his son got the throne but he was a sickly child and died young around 13 or 14. then henry's daughter mary got the throne. then it came to elizabeth 1st.

Answer 15

For one thing, he was married to Anne and not to Mary; for another, movie and novel notwithstanding, since Mary was maried to William Carey when her son was born, there's a good chance that the boy was William's son and not Henry's.