[25], Soon after marrying Henry, Catherine conceived. [89] The building works, including that at Berwick, along with the reform of the militias and musters, were eventually finished under Queen Mary. Henry, the Duke of Cornwall, was buried at Westminster Abbey. [82] With this process complete, in May 1532 More resigned as Lord Chancellor, leaving Cromwell as Henry's chief minister. He was further honoured on 9 February 1506 by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, who made him a Knight of the Golden Fleece. [113] The birth was difficult, and Queen Jane died on 24 October 1537 from an infection and was buried in Windsor. [33] Catherine is not known to have protested. [22] As Catherine wrote to her father, "our time is spent in continuous festival". However, despite initial indications, he decided not to pursue a 1514 campaign. Please select which sections you would like to print: Assistant Master and Professor of History, Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. He was immensely considerate when they were pregnant. Many of the existing buildings which he improved were properties confiscated from Wolsey, such as Christ Church, Oxford, Hampton Court Palace, the Palace of Whitehall, and Trinity College, Cambridge. Despite several peace treaties, unrest continued in Scotland until Henry's death. Henry VIII died on the 28th of January 1547 at Whitehall Palace in London. on all British coinage. This fortune is estimated at 1,250,000 (the equivalent of 375million today). In 1542, England's remaining monasteries were all dissolved, and their property transferred to the Crown. While the exact cause of death has never been determined, doctors believed that his eventual obesity - caused by an inability to exercise . Upon Henry's death, he was succeeded by his only surviving son, Edward VI. He was charged with praemunire in October 1529,[70] and his fall from grace was "sudden and total". [234], At the beginning of Henry's reign, Ireland was effectively divided into three zones: the Pale, where English rule was unchallenged; Leinster and Munster, the so-called "obedient land" of Anglo-Irish peers; and the Gaelic Connaught and Ulster, with merely nominal English rule. Mary Tudor and their cousin, Lady Jane Grey , both were in line for . In feudal courts the trial by battle could be avoided by the establishment of a concord, or fine. Abbots and priors lost their seats in the House of Lords; only archbishops and bishops remained. Yet as E. L. Woodward put it, Henry's determination to annul his marriage with Catherine was the occasion rather than the cause of the English Reformation so that "neither too much nor too little" should be made of the annulment. Many fled abroad, including the influential Tyndale,[213] who was eventually executed and his body burned at Henry's behest. King Henry VIII. But his chaotic reign of Normandy prompted Henry to invade. This income came from the Crown lands that Henry owned as well as from customs duties like tonnage and poundage, granted by parliament to the king for life. Intelligent and able, but a devout Catholic and opponent of the annulment,[73] More initially cooperated with the king's new policy, denouncing Wolsey in Parliament. The quarrel with Becket, Henrys trusted and successful chancellor (115462), broke out soon after Beckets election to the archbishopric of Canterbury (May 1162). Henry tried to hold on but he was easily overwhelmed. He annotated many books and published one of his own, and he had numerous pamphlets and lectures prepared to support the reformation of the church. [131][132] He was subsequently attainted and beheaded. [96] Henry saw the rebels as traitors and did not feel obliged to keep his promises to them, so when further violence occurred after Henry's offer of a pardon he was quick to break his promise of clemency. [175] Henry was little more, in other words, than an "ego-centric monstrosity" whose reign "owed its successes and virtues to better and greater men about him; most of its horrors and failures sprang more directly from [the king]". [184] Cromwell's first office was that of the master of the king's jewels in 1532, from which he began to invigorate the government finances. Later that month, the king was thrown from his horse in a tournament and was badly injured; it seemed for a time that his life was in danger. The Scottish Regent Lord Arran agreed to the marriage in the Treaty of Greenwich on 1 July 1543, but it was rejected by the Parliament of Scotland on 11 December. [127] Anne's previous betrothal to the Duke of Lorraine's son Francis provided further grounds for the annulment. [177], From 1514 to 1529, Thomas Wolsey, a cardinal of the established Church, oversaw domestic and foreign policy for the king from his position as Lord Chancellor. Jessica Brain is a freelance writer specialising in history. Henry was the second son ofHenry VII and Elizabeth, daughter ofEdward IV. Those at Westminster dealt with private pleas and cases sent up from the justices on eyre. It led to a complete severance of relations and to the Archbishops voluntary exile. Apart from permanent garrisons at Berwick, Calais, and Carlisle, England's standing army numbered only a few hundred men. [230] Technologically, Henry invested in large cannon for his warships, an idea that had taken hold in other countries, to replace the smaller serpentines in use. [13] There was a general revolt of the baronage in England and Normandy, supported by Louis VII in France and William the Lion in Scotland. King Stephen agreed to accept Henry as his coadjutor and heir. [202] Historian A. F. Pollard has argued that even if Henry had not needed an annulment, he might have come to reject papal control over the governance of England purely for political reasons. In his long reign of 34 years he spent an aggregate of only 14 in England. ), "Persecutions of Protestants by Henry VIII", in Foxe's, International Music Score Library Project, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_VIII&oldid=1162010389, illegitimate; acknowledged by Henry VIII in 1525; no issue, This page was last edited on 26 June 2023, at 12:48. [138] A reformer at heart, she argued with Henry over religion. Matters were eased by the death of Geoffrey (1186), but the Kings attempt to find an inheritance for John led to a coalition against him of Richard and the young Philip II Augustus, who had succeeded his father, Louis VII, as king of France. Henrys prestige was at a low ebb after the murder of Becket and recent taxation, but he reacted energetically, settled matters in Normandy and Brittany, and crossed to England, where fighting had continued for a year. All of Henry's surviving children succeeded him as monarchs, Henry's armorial during his early reign (left) and later reign (right), Marriage to Jane Seymour; domestic and foreign affairs, Shrines destroyed and monasteries dissolved, Second invasion of France and the "Rough Wooing" of Scotland, For arguments in favour of the contrasting view i.e. Richard joined the protest of the others and was supported by Eleanor. Several who had been imprisoned by his father, including Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, were pardoned. Henry's frequent absences from England prompted the development of a bureaucracy that could operate effectively in his absence. Tudor Alternate history: what if Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon's first son had lived? Aske told the rebels they had been successful and they could disperse and go home. [42], On 30 June 1513, Henry invaded France, and his troops defeated a French army at the Battle of the Spurs a relatively minor result, but one which was seized on by the English for propaganda purposes. The baby had a state funeral, which was attended by mourners wearing black. Muriel St Clair Byrne, editor of the Lisle Letters, believes that this was a false pregnancy too. [26] Catherine had two stillborn sons in 1513 and 1515, but gave birth in February 1516 to a girl, Mary. The dissolution of the monasteries provided a means to replenish the treasury, and as a result, the Crown took possession of monastic lands worth 120,000 (36million) a year. [21] Following the ceremony, there was a grand banquet in Westminster Hall. His first task was to crush the unruly elements and restore firm government, using the existing institutions of government, with which the Anglo-Norman monarchy was well provided. This was to be Williams last hunt as he was fatally wounded with an arrow shot by the baron Walter Tirel. Henry took the throne in 1509, at age 17. This provided a system of criminal investigation for the whole country, with a reasonable verdict probable because the firm accusation of the jury entailed exile even if the ordeal acquitted the accused. [205] Other acts included the Supplication against the Ordinaries and the Submission of the Clergy, which recognised Royal Supremacy over the church. Sadly his requests fell on deaf ears. [69] Briefly reconciled with Henry (and officially pardoned) in the first half of 1530, he was charged once more in November 1530, this time for treason, but died while awaiting trial. Both hoped for friendly relations in place of the wars of the previous decade. The executors chose Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, elder brother to Jane Seymour (Edward's mother), to be Lord Protector of the Realm. Even her own uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, had come to resent her attitude to her power. [20], On 23 June 1509, Henry led the now 23-year-old Catherine from the Tower of London to Westminster Abbey for their coronation, which took place the following day. As a result, he ascended the throne "untrained in the exacting art of kingship". [183] Driven in part by his religious beliefs, Cromwell attempted to reform the body politic of the English government through discussion and consent, and through the vehicle of continuity, not outward change. Henry renewed his father's friendship with Louis XII of France, an issue that divided his council. Omissions? [92] Henry is traditionally believed to have had an affair with Madge Shelton in 1535, although historian Antonia Fraser argues that Henry in fact had an affair with her sister Mary Shelton. He converted the money that was formerly paid to Rome into royal revenue. More dangerous were the domestic quarrels, which thwarted Henrys plans and even endangered his life and which finally brought him down in sorrow and shame. Henry's motto was "Coeur Loyal" ("true heart"), and he had this embroidered on his clothes in the form of a heart symbol and with the word "loyal". Culpeper and Dereham were both executed, and Catherine too was beheaded on 13 February 1542. Response to the reforms was mixed. In her place, Anne was crowned queen consort on 1 June 1533. He was an educated and decisive ruler, being the only brother who was literate and fluent in English he earned himself the nickname Henry Beauclere, meaning good writer. [15] A papal dispensation was only needed for the "impediment of public honesty" if the marriage had not been consummated as Catherine and her duenna claimed, but Henry VII and the Spanish ambassador set out instead to obtain a dispensation for "affinity", which took account of the possibility of consummation. [169][170][171], The power of Tudor monarchs, including Henry, was 'whole' and 'entire', ruling, as they claimed, by the grace of God alone. [129], Shortly after, the religious reformers (and protgs of Cromwell) Robert Barnes, William Jerome and Thomas Garret were burned as heretics. Birth and family Mary was born on 18 February 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, England. [63], Henry's precise motivations and intentions over the coming years are not widely agreed on. [36], In 1510, France, with a fragile alliance with the Holy Roman Empire in the League of Cambrai, was winning a war against Venice. He expanded the Royal Navy, oversaw the annexure of Wales to England with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 and was the first English monarch to rule as King of Ireland following the Crown of Ireland Act 1542. [207] Finally, the Peter's Pence Act was passed, and it reiterated that England had "no superior under God, but only your Grace" and that Henry's "imperial crown" had been diminished by "the unreasonable and uncharitable usurpations and exactions" of the Pope. Soon after his accession, Henry married Catherine of Aragon, Arthurs widow, and the attendant lavish entertainments ate into the modest royal reserves. In his inheritance, having lost one son to a hunting accident, William the Conqueror left his patrimonial lands of Normandy to his eldest son Robert. The Act of Supremacy in 1534 declared that the king was "the only Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England" and the Treasons Act 1534 made it high treason, punishable by death, to refuse the Oath of Supremacy acknowledging the king as such. His continental dominions brought him into contact with Louis VII of France, the German emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa), and, for much of the reign, Pope Alexander III. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. [175] Even among more recent biographers, including David Loades, David Starkey, and John Guy, there has ultimately been little consensus on the extent to which Henry was responsible for the changes he oversaw or the assessment of those he did bring about. Kildare, on the other hand, was summoned to London; after some hesitation, he departed for London in 1534, where he would face charges of treason. Indeed, war and Henry's dynastic ambitions in Europe exhausted the surplus he had inherited from his father by the mid-1520s. Elton's book on The Tudor Revolution in Government maintained Pollard's positive interpretation of the Henrician period as a whole, but reinterpreted Henry himself as a follower rather than a leader. [67] Henry now believed the Pope had lacked the authority to grant a dispensation from this impediment. He had been supporting Ferdinand and Maximilian financially during the campaign but had received little in return; England's coffers were now empty. [98], On 8 January 1536, news reached the king and queen that Catherine of Aragon had died. [64] In going public, all hope of tempting Catherine to retire to a nunnery or otherwise stay quiet was lost. Dimly remembering the wars of the Roses, vaguely informed as to the slaughters and sufferings in Europe, the people of England knew that in Henry they had a great king.[248]. His territories are often called the Angevin Empire. Restless, impetuous, always on the move, regardless of the convenience of others, he was at ease with scholars, and his administrative decrees were the work of a cool realist. Henry VIII had changed the course of his country's history in order to marry Anne Boleyn, hoping that she would bear him the strong and healthy son that Catherine of Aragon never did. He moved quickly to buy support by granting favours, abolishing abuses and making wide-ranging concessions in his Charter of Liberties. King Henry Is story was just the beginning. [186], Cromwell did much work through his many offices to remove the tasks of government from the Royal Household (and ideologically from the personal body of the king) and into a public state. Starting at 8 a.m. [175] For Scarisbrick, Henry was a formidable, captivating man who "wore regality with a splendid conviction". [191] He was executed on 28 July 1540. Find out more about how the BBC is covering the. [134] Soon after the marriage, however, Queen Catherine had an affair with the courtier Thomas Culpeper. He was also known for his strong defence of conventional Christian piety. [175] The traditional interpretation of those events was provided by historian A. F. Pollard, who in 1902 presented his own, largely positive, view of the king, lauding him, "as the king and statesman who, whatever his personal failings, led England down the road to parliamentary democracy and empire". Meanwhile, back in France Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux had got into Roberts ear, convincing him that Henry was in collusion with William. Born: September 7, 1533 Greenwich England Died: March 24, 1603 (aged 69) England House / Dynasty: House of Tudor Notable Family Members: father Henry VIII mother Anne Boleyn Role In: Battle of Cadiz See all related content Top Questions [179] Wolsey helped fill the gap left by Henry's declining participation in government (particularly in comparison to his father) but did so mostly by imposing himself in the king's place. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-VIII-king-of-England, Luminarium - Biography of Henry VIII, king of England, Henry VIII - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Henry VIII - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). The careful diplomacy of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey had resulted in the Treaty of London in 1518, aimed at uniting the kingdoms of western Europe in the wake of a new Ottoman threat, and it seemed that peace might be secured. [220] Although little opposition to the supremacy could be found in England's religious houses, they had links to the international church and were an obstacle to further religious reform.[221]. [16] Catherine was therefore left in limbo for some time, culminating in Prince Henry's rejection of the marriage as soon he was able, at the age of 14. [84] With the Acts of Supremacy in 1534, Parliament recognised the king's status as head of the church in England and, together with the Act in Restraint of Appeals in 1532, abolished the right of appeal to Rome. [235] Until 1513, Henry continued the policy of his father, to allow Irish lords to rule in the king's name and accept steep divisions between the communities. English historian and House of Tudor expert David Starkey describes Henry VIII as follows: What is extraordinary is that Henry was usually a very good husband. [119] Enriched by the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry used some of his financial reserves to build a series of coastal defences and set some aside for use in the event of a Franco-German invasion.[120]. Born around 1068, very little is known of Henry's early life: as the youngest son of William the Conqueror he had never expected to be king. The Archbishop, after an initial compliance, refused to accept these, and they were throughout the controversy a block to an agreement. [61] Early signs of a fall from grace included the king's new mistress, the 28-year-old Jane Seymour, being moved into new quarters,[105] and Anne's brother, George Boleyn, being refused the Order of the Garter, which was instead given to Nicholas Carew. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Although the claim of his mother, Matilda, daughter of Henry I, to the English crown had been set aside by her cousin, King Stephen, in 1152, Henry advanced his fortunes by marrying the beautiful and talented Eleanor, recently divorced from King Louis VII of France, who brought with her hand the lordship of Aquitaine. Several of his children died soon after birth; his affair with a mistress also produced a son, Henry Fitzroy, who died at age 17. [21] It was a grand affair: the king's passage was lined with tapestries and laid with fine cloth. The death of Henry was unexpected, as he was reportedly a healthy baby on his birth. He became fluent in Latin and French and learned at least some Italian. How did King Henry VIII's son, Edward, die? [201] The traditional narrative gives this refusal as the trigger for Henry's rejection of papal supremacy, which he had previously defended. He had in fact managed to convince Conan Pilatus of Rouen to turn against Robert, forcing a street battle to break out between Conan and the ducal supporters. With enough support from the barons he occupied Winchester Castle. In 1184 Richard quarrelled with John, who had been ordered to take Aquitaine off his hands. Henry was born in England in 1068 or 1069, the fourth son of William the Conqueror. None was blameless, but the cause of the quarrels was principally Henrys policy of dividing his dominions among his sons while reserving real authority for himself. He is frequently characterised in his later life as a lustful, egotistical, paranoid and tyrannical monarch. When was Henry VII king of England? [145] Henry was left alone against France, unable to make peace. [227] These were known as Henry VIII's Device Forts. As reported by Hampton Court Palace, Henry VIII was happy with his marriage to Catherine. In July, Anne's brother, Lord Rochford, was sent on a diplomatic mission to France to ask for the postponement of a meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I because of Anne's condition: "being so far gone with child she could not cross the sea with the king". Of his five sons, only Richard and John survived his death on July 6, 1189. Richmond had never before visited Ireland, his appointment a break with past policy. 40 likes, 3 comments - The Queen Anne Boleyn Society (@anneboleynsociety) on Instagram: "** Mary Tudor, Queen of France, died #onthisday - 25th June - in 1533, at Westhorpe Hall, aged 37." The Queen Anne Boleyn Society on Instagram: "** Mary Tudor, Queen of France, died #onthisday - 25th June - in 1533, at Westhorpe Hall, aged 37. The king organized extravagant banquets to celebrate the birth of his son, with pageants, jousting, and bonfires attended by the people of London. [49] These accessions left three relatively young rulers and an opportunity for a clean slate. He subsequently acquired the Vexin in Normandy by the premature marriage of his son Henry to Louiss daughter, and during much of his reign he attempted to outfight or outwit the French king, who, for his part, gave shelter and comfort to Henrys enemy, Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury. Following Henry's excommunication, Pope Paul III rescinded the grant of the title "Defender of the Faith", but an Act of Parliament (35 Hen 8 c 3) declared that it remained valid; and it continues in royal usage to the present day, as evidenced by the letters FID DEF or F.D. The death of infants was also more common in the 16th and 17th centuries, with 12% of infants dying before their first birthday. Henry is known for his radical changes to the Constitution of England, expanding royal power and ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings in opposition to papal supremacy. He was subsequently appointed Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age three and was made a Knight of the Bath soon after. [64] Henry himself, at least in the early part of his reign, was a devout and well-informed Catholic to the extent that his 1521 publication Assertio Septem Sacramentorum ("Defence of the Seven Sacraments") earned him the title of Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith) from Pope Leo X. This provision ultimately failed when James VI of Scotland became King of England in 1603. [5] He was involved in the construction and improvement of several significant buildings, including Nonsuch Palace, King's College Chapel, Cambridge, and Westminster Abbey in London. He has been described as "one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne" and his reign described as the "most important" in English history. [90] In 1540, Henry sanctioned the complete destruction of shrines to saints. [175], This lack of clarity about Henry's control over events has contributed to the variation in the qualities ascribed to him: religious conservative or dangerous radical; lover of beauty or brutal destroyer of priceless artefacts; friend and patron or betrayer of those around him; chivalry incarnate or ruthless chauvinist. Soon after their marriage, Catherine became pregnant, but the child was stillborn. [126] It was followed by the beginnings of a reformed liturgy and of the Book of Common Prayer, which would take until 1549 to complete. In part, it helped to bring about a period of very high inflation from 1544 onwards. [51] A small English attack in the north of France made up little ground. The result was to encourage self-dissolution. [46] These campaigns had given Henry a taste of the military success he so desired. The tomb he had planned (with components taken from the tomb intended for Cardinal Wolsey) was only partly constructed and was never completed (the sarcophagus and its base were later removed and used for Lord Nelson's tomb in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral). [172] The crown could also rely on the exclusive use of those functions that constituted the royal prerogative. At the same time, he was forced to send troops to Wales in order to quell the rebellions breaking out across the border. The Ecclesiastical Appointments Act 1534 required the clergy to elect bishops nominated by the Sovereign. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians.This is not entirely agreed upon, however, as other historians regard him as a strong but realistic king, who was forced to conduct a policy mindful of . Henry was an extravagant spender, using the proceeds from the dissolution of the monasteries and acts of the Reformation Parliament. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. Where Henry did intervene personally in the running of the country, Elton argued, he mostly did so to its detriment. Henry originally used the style "Henry the Eighth, by the Grace of God, King of England, France and Lord of Ireland". The quarrel touched what was to be the Kings chief concernthe countrys judicial system. The king was granted the power to further determine the line of succession in his will, should he have no further issue. The Boleyns preferred France over the Emperor as a potential ally, but the king's favour had swung towards the latter (partly because of Cromwell), damaging the family's influence. [5] He was baptised by Richard Foxe, the Bishop of Exeter, at a church of the Observant Franciscans close to the palace. [89] To guard against this, in 1538 he began to build a chain of expensive, state-of-the-art defences along Britain's southern and eastern coasts, from Kent to Cornwall, largely built of material gained from the demolition of the monasteries. This analysis identifies growth hormone deficiency (GHD) as the reason for his increased adiposity but also significant behavioural changes noted in his later years, including his multiple marriages. [4] Henry returned some of the money supposedly extorted by the two ministers. The high death rate, as modern medical experts have studied, may be attributed to birth traumas or unsterilized tools used during birth, according to a report from Plimoth. He arranged a jousting tournament at Greenwich in 1517 where he wore gilded armour and gilded horse trappings, and outfits of velvet, satin, and cloth of gold with pearls and jewels. His rule was inextricably tied with the Church, however over the course of his reign the relationship was challenged by his desire to instigate further reform leading to the Investiture Controversy. Since Edward was then only nine years old, he could not rule directly. His quarrels with the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, and with various family members (including his son, Richard the Lionheart) ultimately brought about his defeat. [69][71] After a short period in which Henry took government upon his own shoulders,[72] Thomas More took on the role of Lord Chancellor and chief minister. The strong air of competition laid to rest any hopes of a renewal of the Treaty of London, however, and conflict was inevitable.