1491 - The birth of Henry VIII

After the Battle of Bosworth, Henry VII devoted energy to improving the Palace of Palentia - also known today as Greenwich Palace - and spent a good deal of time there. It was here, on the 28 June 1491, that Henry VIII was born.

He was baptised soon after his birth by the Bishop of Exeter, Richard Fox, who was also one of Henry VII's chief ministers.

There remains, however, disagreement regarding the location of this baptism. The two departed sites being the Friary Church and St. Alfrege's Church. While the Friary Church tends to be the most widely reported location, the nearby St. Alfrege's does have in its favour a stained glass window of the baptism.

Possibly due to his lesser status as the 'spare', the identifies of Henry VIII's godparents don't appear to have been recorded and are therefore unknown.

Similarly, we have less information about Prince Henry's early life than we do about Prince Arthur's. We do know that he was incredibly well educated - studying the liberal arts and sciences, as well as languages - and his intelligence was often recorded by visitors to the court.