hed England, Henry hurried to meet her with all a
lover's ardor. To his dismay, he found that not only was she
ridiculously ugly, but that she could speak--so he said--"nothing but
Dutch," of which he did not understand a word. Matters, however, had
gone too far to retract, and the marriage was duly solemnized (1540).
The King obtained a divorce within six months, and then took his
revenge by cutting off Cromwell's head. What is more, he cut it off
by virtue of that very Act of Attainder which Cromwell had used so
unscrupulously in Henry's behalf (S351).

The same year (1540) Henry married Catharine Howard, a fascinating
girl still in her teens, whose charms so moved the King that it is
said he was tempted to have a special thanksgiving service prepared to
commemorate the day he found her.

Unfortunately, Catharine was accused of having been guilty of
misconduct before her marriage. She confessed her fault, but for such
cases Henry had no mercy. The Queen was tried for high treason, and
soon walked that fatal road in which Anne Boleyn had preceded her
(S355).

Not to be baffled in his matrimonial experiments, the King took
Catherine Parr for his sixth and last wife (1543). She was inclined
to be a zealous Protestant, and she too might have gone to the block,
on a charge of heresy, but her quick wit came to her rescue. She
flattered the King's self-conceit as a profound theologian and the
compliment saved her life.

357. Henry's Action respecting Religion.

Though occupied with these rather numerous domestic infelicities,
Henry was not idle in other directions. By an act known as the Six
Articles, or, as the Protestants called it, the "Bloody Act," or the
"Whip with Six Lashes" (1539), the King established a new and peculiar
form of religion. In words, at least, it seemed to be practically the
same as that upheld by the Pope, but with the Pope left out.[1]

[1] The Six Articles: The chief article ordered that all persons who
denied the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation should be burned at
the stake as heretics and that all their possessions should be
forfeited to the Crown. The remaining five articles affirmed the
obligation of all persons to accept and obey certain other Catholic
doctrines under pain of punishment for felony, if they refused.

Geographically, the country was about equally divided between
Catholicism and Protestantism. The northwestern half clung to the
ancient faith; the southe