King of England Henry VIII - A brief history of Henry VIII: king, reformer and tyrant

Derek Wilson is one of the leading Tudor historians today, having written extensively on the personalities and the period in In The Lions Court, The Uncrowned Kings of England and the award winning Brief History of the Circumnavigators. He is also the highly-acclaimed biographer of Hans Holbein and Martin Luther. He runs the annual Cambridge History festival and lives in Devon. His website is www.derekwilson.com .

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF

Reformer and Tyrant

DEREK WILSON

Constable & Robinson Ltd

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First published in the UK by Robinson,

an imprint of Constable & Robinson, 2009

Copyright Derek Wilson, 2009

The right of Derek Wilson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

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UK ISBN 978-1-84529-903-3

eISBN 978-1-47210-763-3

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First published in the United States in 2009

by Running Press Book Publishers

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US ISBN 978-0-7624-3623-1

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An engraving depicting Henry VIIIs suppression of the Roman Catholic Church. Topfoto / Fotomas. (1102213).

The burning of Anne Askew. Publishers own collection.

As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable

Book of Proverbs 25:3

Unfortunately, Hans Holbein Junior was a genius. Why unfortunately? Only because he has provided us with that image of Henry VIII which, whether we like it or not, automatically comes to mind whenever the name of the king is mentioned. We see him standing belligerently, hands on hips, his barrel chest adorned with jewel-encrusted vesture, his codpiece thrusting forward. He glowers at us from the canvas, warning us not even to think of contradicting him. The portrait is a magnificent piece of propaganda which has proved its effectiveness from the time of its creation in 1537 right down to the present day. However, (leaving aside issues of art appreciation) that is all it is propaganda. A starting point for a realistic understanding must be the rejection of this forceful icon. This is Henry as he wanted to be seen strong, assertive, his own man, not only powerful but worthy of power. This image of Henry the Magnificent has always, in the popular imagination, seen off other less flattering evaluations. The Elizabethan poet, Ulpian Fulwell, declared the late king to have been a tender father to his subjects. Lord Herbert of Cherbury called Henry one of the most glorious princes of his time. James Froude exculpated the kings crimes by asserting that he sustained nobly the honour of the English name and carried the commonwealth securely through the hardest crisis of its history.

Other commentators have thought differently. To Martin Luther, Henry VIII was a fool, a liar and a damnable, rotten worm. Sir Walter Ralegh said of him, if all the pictures and patterns of a merciless prince were lost in the world, they might all again be painted to the life out of the story of this king. Jacob Burckhardt found him loutish and disgusting. Charles Dickens was repelled by a man who was nothing more than a blot of blood and grease upon the history of England. In our own day, Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch has not hesitated to compare the second Tudor to Joseph Stalin. The prevailing interpretation seems to be that of a monster but one who is nevertheless compelling aggressive, macho and definitely sexy. Like him or loath him, there is absolutely no doubt that Bluff King Hal remains everlastingly fascinating.

Why? There are several answers to that question. One is that he presided over and was in some degree responsible for the most sweeping cultural and social changes in English history. The England of 1547 was profoundly different from the England of 1509. It had been staunchly orthodox Catholic; it was now reformed and under the papal ban. The Church had been a major landowner and a political partner in the life of the state at central and local levels; now the bulk of its wealth had changed hands, much of it going to augment an emerging propertied middle class. In terms of international affairs, England had become a major European power, exercising an influence out of proportion to its economic standing. Then, of course, everyone knows that Henry VIII was the king who had six wives. This accomplishment has provided the material for a whole library of romantic novels and biographies, not to mention films and television series. To the aesthete Henry VIII will always be the vandal whose greed laid waste the monasteries and destroyed their garnered ancient treasures. For the aficionado of English history, this monarch uniquely compels attention. His personality was as massive as his frame and one cannot gainsay J.J. Scarisbricks assessment that the thirty-seven-and-a-half years of his reign left a deeper mark on the mind, heart and face of England than did any event in English history between the coming of the Normans and the coming of the factory.