IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY WITH KING HENRY VIII
[Type the document subtitle] | Dave WWWW
How History's Most Famous King Can Help To Train Your Memory In 2010 one of my granddaughters' Lauren asked if I could help her with her homework.She was studying history at school and although the teacher was passing on the correct information,the majority of the pupils had trouble retaining the facts.Mainly the names of his six wives,what happened to them and the order in which he married them. Now history is one of my favourite subjects,probably because,at almost 60, I have lived through most of it according to my children! I pondered on the problem for most of the day and it was only when I looked at the wives that the solution appeared.It seemed so simple a method I wondered if it would work with the younger children.I taught Lauren the method and within ten minutes she was reciting word for word the correct facts.I challenged her on occasions over the next four weeks to name the wives ,their fate and the marriage order.It wont surprise you to know that she remembered everything I had told her.It is simple and it is my own method for these history facts.I did share it in an article online at the time and I would like to share it with you now.
But first what do we know about Henry VIII and what makes him stand out in history. He was King of England from 1509-until 1547 and he was married six times.That is what he is most remembered for.Rather than quote facts which can easily be found online ,if you need to find out more just go to this link Henry VIII
The Six Wives Their Fate And The Order He Married Them. Look at the order and see if you can spot anything. Catherine Of Aragon 1509-1533 Divorced Anne Boleyn 1533-1536 Beheaded Jane Seymour 1536-1537 Died Anne Of Cleves 1540-1540 7 Months Divorced Catherine Howard 1540-1541 Beheaded Catherine Parr 1543-1547 Survived
Did you spot a pattern?No.Read on all will be revealed
The Method Revealed
First consider the fate of the six wives in the order Henry married them
Divorced Beheaded Died Divorced Beheaded Survived
This is something schoolchildren learn from an early age ,repeat the six fates .It's almost singalong.You will soon remember those. But how do we remember the order of the wives in which he married them?
Look closely and you will see they are almost in alphabetical order!. Aragon
Boleyn
Seymour
Cleves
Howard
Parr
I have italicised Seymour because she is the odd one out.Now Jane Seymour was Henry's third wife,but how does that help us to remember the order?As she was his third wife she comes before four.So as you remember their names in alphabetical order just say "Seymour before four".Think you can do that.Of course you can.Just practice and you will soon know the method by heart! But what about the years?This is where a link to the number 4 used earlier comes in handy.Just think of a 24 hour clock with 1 through to 12 being am and 13 to 24 being pm.If you look closely you will see that the marriages start at 1509 (almost 3:10 in the afternoon) and finish before four(3:50pm or 1547).Just think of Henry getting married just after 3 in the afternoon (1500) This is just one way to improve your memory no doubt there are countless others.It worked for me and my Grand daughter it will work for you.
Now what was I going to do next?
The study of Brain Training is a fascinating subject and there are countless books published every year.One of the best guides I have found is “Memorise Names,Numbers and Everything Else�.
To get your copy just click here.