Henry the Eight - Essay Example

HENRY THE EIGHT KING HENRY VIII of England and Ireland, the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, was born on the 28th of June 1491 at Greenwich Palace. His two brothers, Prince Arthur and Edmund, Duke of Somerset, and two of his sisters predeceased their father; Henry VIII was the only son, and Margaret, afterwards Queen of Scotland, and Mary, afterwards Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk, were the only daughters who survived (Pollard, 289). EARLY LIFE AND HIS PERSONALITY In his youth he was educated in the new learning of the Renaissance and developed great skill in music and sports. His personality was quite amazing; his intelligence, learning, and curiosity impressed even the world-weary ambassadors who littered his court.  His thirst for knowledge was insatiable, though it never became the near-mania that haunted Philip II.  Henry VIII didnt spend his declining years surrounded by slips of paper detailing the most minute occurrences in his realm.  But he did spend his entire reign reading dispatches, scribbling notations, meeting with diplomats and politicians.  He was usually genial company.  He loved music and wrote his own.  He enjoyed dancing and entertainment.  He held countless banquets and tournaments.  He enjoyed all physical activities and excelled at most of them.  Hunting, archery, tennis, jousting - the king made his court into an endless round of competition and celebration (englishhistory.net).  THE SIX WIVES AND THE SON AND DAUGHTERS OF THE KING HENRY Catherine of Aragon: Henry VIII was married to his first wife for over 20 years, and for a long time they were happy together. Catherine (the widow of Henrys brother Arthur) was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, and had received an excellent education at their court. She had long red-gold hair and blue eyes, and in her youth was considered pretty. Catherine was five years older and much more sedate. She was interested in politics and Henry often turned to her for advice. In 1513 she ruled as regent while Henry was campaigning in France. Although Catherine was pregnant many times, only one of her children, Princess Mary, survived. Henry was a doting father and didnt seem to blame Catherine for her failure to bear healthy sons. Henry is only known to have had two mistresses during his marriage to Catherine, which made him a reasonably faithful husband by the standards of the time. Catherine knew of his affairs but kept silent. Then Henry met the woman who was to be his second wife. . . Anne Boleyn: Anne Boleyn was probably born in 1500 or 1501. Her father was an English diplomat and her mother was the daughter of an earl. In 1522 Anne came to England and went to live at King Henrys court as a member of Queen Catherines household. There she became secretly betrothed to a young courtier, Henry Percy - secretly because Percy was already promised to another woman, and his family would not approve of his marrying Anne Boleyn. But the lord chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, heard of the engagement and alerted the king, who told Wolsey to end the relationship. Wolsey did just that, lecturing Percy for becoming involved with a "foolish girl" and summoning Percys father, who forbade him to see Anne again. Percy was forced to marry the bride his father had chosen for him, and Anne never forgave Wolsey. Anne was banished from the royal court after the abrupt ending of her romance with Percy and did not return until 1524 or 1525. In 1526 Henry began to pursue Anne openly. But Anne refused to become his mistress, saying, "I would rather lose my life than my honesty." Bewitched by Annes sparkling black eyes, long dark hair and vivacious personality, the king began scheming to end his marriage to Catherine. He claimed that it had never really been a marriage because she had been his brothers wife. Catherine insisted that her first marriage didnt count because it hadnt been consummated, and church authorities agreed. For years Henry struggled unsuccessfully to have his marriage annulled. In the end, determined to have his way, he broke free of the Catholic Church, established the Church of England, banished Catherine from court, had his first marriage declared invalid, and married Anne Boleyn. Queen Anne was crowned in June of 1533. Later that year she gave birth to her only surviving child, Princess Elizabeth. The years of waiting had been hard on Anne. She was in her thirties now, moody and sharp tongued, and Henry was falling out of love with her. She had friends at court, but also many enemies. She had brought about the downfall of Cardinal Wolsey, who died in 1530, and she also plotted against Catherine of Aragon and her daughter Mary. Catherine died on January 7, 1536, and Anne rejoiced. She was pregnant again, and if she gave birth to a healthy son her position as queen would be secure. But Anne had a miscarriage. Later Anne was arrested and charged with having affairs with five men, including her own brother George. The charges were false, but Anne and all of the men were convicted and sentenced to death. On May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn was beheaded. And on May 30 Henry VIII married his third wife . . . Jane Seymour: The Seymours were an old and noble family. Jane, who was probably born between 1507 and 1509, had been maid of honour to both Queen Catherine and Queen Anne. As Henry grew tired of Annes tantrums he was drawn to Janes gentle, modest ways. Jane sympathized with Catherine and was apparently happy to help bring about Queen Annes downfall. Like Anne before her, Jane virtuously rejected the kings advances, and once again Henry fell in love with the woman he could not have. After their marriage Jane remained quietly obedient to Henry. In October of 1537 Jane gave birth to a son, Prince Edward. Twelve days later she died. Henry grieved for her, but he also began looking for a new wife. This time he wanted to make a politically advantageous marriage. The royal women of Europe were understandably reluctant to marry him, and it was two years before Henry VIII became betrothed to his fourth wife . . Anne of Cleves: Cleves was a dukedom in modern day Germany and Anne was the sister of its ruler, Duke William. Born in 1515, she was given a sheltered upbringing, and was less educated and worldly than Henrys previous wives. Henry approved of her portrait, so in 1539 a marriage treaty was signed and Anne set sail for England. When she arrived Henry was so eager to see her that he raced to where she was staying and burst in upon her unannounced. Anne didnt speak English, didnt know who this fat stranger was, and was busy watching something out the window, so she more or less ignored Henry. The kings pride was wounded. "I like her not!" he told all and sundry. He found her ugly - downright repulsive - and the last thing he wanted to do was marry her. But Henry couldnt wriggle out of his treaty with Cleves. The wedding took place on January 6, 1540 with the groom protesting every step of the way. At first Anne had no idea that her husband was displeased with her. Eventually Anne learned that her husband wished to be rid of her. She was shrewd enough to realize that her life was in danger. To Henrys amazement, she cooperated with his desire to have the marriage annulled. Relieved, he gave her money and property and treated her very well. Anne remained in England, and never remarried. Henry called her his sister and often invited her to court. She outlived Henry and was certainly the most fortunate of his wives. Less than twenty days after his marriage to Anne of Cleves ended, Henry married his fifth wife. . . Katherine Howard: Katherine Howard, a first cousin of Anne Boleyn, was 15 or 16 when she married Henry. She was lively, pretty and kind and Henry saw her as perfect and unspoiled, a "rose without a thorn." But Katherine had secrets. Several years earlier shed had an affair with a man named Francis Dereham and promised to marry him. This alone made her ineligible to marry the king. She had also been involved with another man, Thomas Culpepper, and as queen she resumed her relationship with him. In time, of course, her infidelity was discovered and she was arrested. In December of 1541 Dereham and Culpepper were executed. Katherine Howard was beheaded in February 1542. Henry was horrified and heartbroken, but he had not given up on matrimony. The following year he married his sixth and final wife. . . Katherine Parr: Katherine Parr was born around 1512. In her teens she married a man named Lord Borough, who was in his sixties. He soon died and Katherine married another older man, Lord Latimer. Katherine and her second husband frequently visited the royal court, and Henry became fond of the auburn-haired Lady Latimer. Lord Latimer died in March 1543 and Henry quickly began courting Katherine. She was in love with Jane Seymours handsome brother Thomas, but she didnt dare refuse the king. On July 12, 1543, Henry and Katherine were married. Henry was old and ill now, and legend has it that Katherine was as much a nurse to him as a wife. She was good to his children and helped him reconcile with Catherine of Aragons daughter Mary. But Katherines keen intellect and radical religious views placed her in danger. She argued with Henry about religion and he angrily ordered her arrest. Learning of this, Katherine took to her bed crying, which so distressed Henry that he cancelled the arrest warrant. After that Katherine took care not to dispute with the king. Henry VIII died on January 28, 1547. Within months Katherine had married her true love, Thomas Seymour. But Seymour soon betrayed her by trying to seduce her stepdaughter, Henrys daughter Elizabeth. Henry VIIIs last unfortunate wife died from complications of childbirth on September 7, 1548 (Cinderella, 1998). THE REFORMATION The English Reformation started in the reign of Henry VIII. Henry VIII decided to rid himself of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, after she had failed to produce a male heir to the throne. However, a divorce was not a simple issue in a Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic faith believed in marriage for life. It did not recognize, let alone support, divorce. This put Henry VIII in a difficult position. If he went ahead and announced that as king of England he was allowing himself a divorce, the pope could excommunicate him. The pope refused to grant Henry divorce and by 1533 his anger was such that he ordered the Archbishop of Canterbury to grant him a divorce so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. The Archbishop granted Henry his divorce - against the wishes of the pope. These events effectively lead to England breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church based in Rome. Henry placed himself as head of the church and in that sense, in his eyes, his divorce was perfectly legal. The vast bulk of the population was very angry at the way the Roman Catholic Church had used them as a source of money. To get married you had to pay; to get a child baptized you had to pay; you even had to pay the Church to bury someone on their land. Therefore, the Catholic Church was very wealthy while many poor remained just that….poor. Their money was going to the Catholic Church. Therefore, there were no great protests throughout the land as many felt that Henry would ease up on taking money from them. Henry knew of the Catholic Church’s unpopularity and, therefore, used this to his advantage. Henry was made Supreme Head of the Church by an Act of Parliament in 1534. The country was still Catholic but the pope’s power had been ended. The wealthiest Catholics in England were the monasteries where monks lived. They were also the most loyal supporters of the pope. This made them a threat to Henry. However by the time of Henry, many monks had grown fat and were lazy. They did not help the community as they were meant to do. All they seemed to do was take money from the poor. Also some monasteries were huge and owned vast areas of land. Henry decided to shut down the monasteries of England. Henry wanted to make the Dissolution appear to be backed by law. He sent round government officials to check up on what the monks were doing. This was organized by his chief minister, Thomas Cromwell. The officials knew what the king wanted in their reports - information that the monks were not working, were not saying their prayers etc. Anything to discredit the monks was considered useful. One report sent to Cromwell commented that the head of the monastery visited, the prior, was a "virtuous man". However, his monks were "corrupt" and "full of vice". The report claimed that the monks had eight to ten girl friends each. This was all that Cromwell needed to shut down the monastery. The allegations against some monks and nuns spoke for themselves. As a result of these the smaller monasteries were shut down by 1536 while the larger and more valuable ones were shut by 1540. Some monastery buildings were reduced to ruin as the local population was allowed to take what they wanted as long as the silver and gold in the monastery went to the Crown. This meant that expensive building bricks etc. could be acquired for free. This alone made the Dissolution popular with the majority of the people who tended to dislike lazy monks anyhow. However, the vast bulk of the wealth of the monasteries went to Henry. Some was spent building defences against France on the south coast around Portsmouth; a small amount went on paying pensions to monks and abbots (Chris Trueman, 2000). King Henry VIII was initially opposed to the ideas of Luther. He was praised by the pope for a pamphlet that he wrote in 1521 that criticized the German monk. However after the Split with Rome many of the things that Luther said should happen, did happen in England. Henry VIII ordered Bibles to be published in English and took much money and land from the church. However Henry did this for political gains, not because he supported the ideas of Luther. However because of his actions Henry VIII laid the foundations of Protestantism in England which under the rule of Edward and Elizabeth would transform England from a Catholic to a Protestant nation. By 1603 the Protestant Reformation in this country was complete (SchoolsHistory.org.uk, 2004). HIS DEATH As a young man he was a skilled horse rider though as he got older, he put on a lot of weight and this lead to him exercising less and the less he exercised, the fatter he got. In the last few years of his life, he was affected by ulcerous legs that turned gangrenous, he may have had syphilis and he may have had osteomyelitis possibly caused by a jousting accident (Chris Trueman, 2000). The well known theory that he suffered from syphilis was first promoted approximately 100 years after his death. More recent support for this idea has come from a greater understanding of the disease and has led to the suggestion that Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I all displayed symptoms characteristic of congenital syphilis. Henry died on 28 January 1547 at the Palace of Whitehall. He died on what would have been his fathers 90th birthday. Henry VIII was buried in St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle, next to his wife Jane Seymour (Answers.com, 2006). Work Cited Answers.com, Henry VIII (2006) 5 December 2006 Chris Trueman, The Reformation (2000) 5 December 2006 Cinderella, King Henry VIII (1998) 5 December 2006 englishhistory.net King Henry VIII 5 December 2006 Pollard, A.F. Henry VIII (1491-1547) Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Ed., Vol XIII. Cambridge University Press, 1910. 289. SchoolsHistory.org.uk, The Protestant Reformation (2004) 5 December 2006 Read More