The Tale of King Henry VIII

             At each end of the spectrum of human conscience, there are certain types of people with specific mindsets toward their own well-being. At one end, there are those who selflessly give as much as they can, trying to make the lives of others more pleasant. They put other people's needs before their own on a regular basis. On the other end, there are individuals who just look out for their own interests. They will do anything necessary to get what they desire, no matter whom they betray or what lives may be ruined along the way. There are few people in our world's history that exemplify this persona better than King Henry VIII of England.
             Henry VIII is a classic example of a ruthless, selfish human being. No one could stand in his way of having a son to rule the land, not even his lawfully wedded wives. It seems as though marriage meant something different to Henry, something besides a lifelong commitment to loyalty and faithful love. To him, it was merely another mandatory step in creating his own royal dynasty, one that carried on his name forever. This type of mentality caused him to make many inhumane decisions throughout his adult life, and needlessly ruin the lives of the people closest to him.
             One person that he affected tremendously was his first wife, Queen Catherine of Spain. When she failed to birth a son after several attempts, and she was no longer physically able to have children, the king decided he needed a new wife. He tried to persuade Catherine to voluntarily agree to an annulment, but she knew that once she did that, her children would be bastards and Henry would leave them all to survive on their own. She did not agree to do such a thing, so Henry pulled out every dirty, lying trick he could use to make sure his divorce was "legal." When the divorce was final, Catherine's life was over.
             The person who I consider to be affected the most by the King's antics wa
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