Life in the 1500s was very harsh and it is easy to judge events back then but the pressures on political leaders were immense. Henry's health was very bad and he overate and drank too much becoming extremely obese. He became very cruel and a tyrant and wanted his own way all of the time.

His first wife, Catherine of Aragon had not given birth to any sons and Henry got increasingly worried about not having a male heir. Eventually, he decided that the only way out of this situation was to divorce Catherine but the Pope would not allow it. After a bitter wrangle, Henry split from the Roman Church and founded the Church of England and the country became a protestant not a catholic state.

Henry then got his wish for a divorce and he then married Anne Boleyn. He didn't bother to divorce her but executed her instead. Jane Seymour, his third wife died in childbirth (the child was Edward VI). He then married Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard, but beheaded them both. His sixth wife, Catherine Parr, survived Henry but did not manage to provide him with any surviving children. Ironically, despite spending so much of his efforts trying to get a male heir, his daughter Elizabeth eventually succeeded him and became one of the greatest English monarchs.

 Henry divorced his wives - or had them executed - because they were unable to bear him a son to carry on the royal line.

 Henry was obsessed with procuring a male heir.
This marriage to his firat wive was a disappintment to him because Catherine of Aragon was older than himself, having first been married to Henry's older brother Arthur. The marriage produced one live child who survived. Mary is daughter from the marriage was a disappointment to him because she was a girl - she suffered badly from the rejection both she and her mother suffered.
Even by the standards of the time Henry was extreme . He used the situation with Catherine to undertake political moves to break away from the Church of Rome, thus becoming head of the church in England.
Henry married six times in order to manipulate religious and political afffairs as well as to get a son. It is known through analysis of historical documents that the charges against the wives he executed were fabricated in order to rid himself of them.
The man's character was very flawed and we would now say that he had problems in dealing with relationships with both men and women as many men also suffered at his hands when he tired of them. It is said that he was a good King but analysis of his reign gives up evidence to dipute this.
His daughter Elizabeth by Ann Bolyn was to become one of the strongest most able monarchs of British history - what would Henry have made of that!