Henry VIII was born in Greenwich Castle, on June 28, 1491, to Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Of Henry’s six siblings; only three, Arthur, the Prince of Wales, Margaret and Mary, survived infancy. In 1493, at the age of two, Henry was made Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1494. Henry became the Duke of York around the same time, as well as the Earl Marshal of England and the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Henry received an extensive education, becoming fluent in French, Spanish and Latin. At the time, Henry’s older brother, Arthur, was the heir apparent to the English crown and Henry was being groomed for a life in the Catholic Church.
The Childhood of Henry VIII
In 1502, Arthur died suddenly at the age of 15. Now becoming the Prince of Wales and the heir to the English throne, Arthur’s death thrust all of his duties on to Henry’s shoulders. At the same time, Henry VII redoubled his efforts to secure an alliance between England and Spain by proposing a marriage between Henry and Arthur’s widow, Catherine of Aragon.
The First Marriage of Henry VIII
For Henry to marry his brother’s widow, a dispensation was required from the Pope, in order to overrule the impediment of affinity as defined in the Book of Leviticus, in the Old Testament. Catherine claimed that her marriage to Arthur had never been consummated. However, it was decided that in order to assure the legitimacy of Catherine’s marriage to Henry VIII, a Papal dispensation was needed. Pope Julius II eventually agreed to grant the dispensation, however, by this time, Henry VII had lost interest in an alliance with Spain and Henry VIII claimed that the marriage to Catherine of Aragon had been arranged without his consent. The diplomatic manoeuvring concerning the fate of the marriage of Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon continued until the death of Henry VII, in 1509. Henry and Catherine of Aragon were married on June 11, 1509. They were crowned King and Queen of England on June 24 at Westminster Abbey.
Shortly after the coronation, Henry ordered the arrest of Sir Richard Empson and Edward Dudley, his father’s two most unpopular ministers, and had them put to death on charges of treason. At the same time, Henry cultivated an image of himself as a Renaissance man and his court became a centre of scholastic and artistic achievement. Henry was also an accomplished musician, poet and author, as well as an avid gambler. Henry excelled at sports, particularly jousting, hunting and tennis. He was also known for his strong defence of Christianity.
In 1511, Pope Julius II called for the formation of a Holy League against France. The Papal alliance was composed primarily of Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and England. Henry used the opportunity to acquire lands in northern France. At the same time, he also signed the Treaty of Westminster, which was a mutual defence pact with Spain, and prepared to enter the War of the League of Cambrai.
In 1513, Henry invaded France, defeating the French at the Battle of the Spurs. At the same time, Henry’s brother-in-law, James IV, the King of Scotland, invaded England at the urging of Louis XII, the King of France. However, the Scots failed to draw Henry’s attention from France. James IV was killed on September 9, 1513, at the Battle of Flodden Field. The death of the King of Scotland ended Scottish involvement in the war.
On February 18, 1516, Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Mary. She was Henry’s first child to survive infancy.
Financially, the reign of Henry VIII was a disaster. Henry inherited a prosperous economy from his father. However, heavy spending and high taxes placed the English economy under heavy strain. During his rule, Henry expanded the size of the Royal Navy from five to 53 ships. Henry also loved palaces. He constructed more than 50 by the end of his reign, in which he hung thousands of tapestries. Henry also took great pride in his collection of weapons, which included more than 6,000 handguns.
Henry VIII and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
From 1514 to 1529, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey served as Henry’s Lord Chancellor, exercising practical control of Henry’s foreign and domestic policy. Cardinal Wolsey negotiated a peace treaty with France and formed an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire. He also centralized the national government and expanded the jurisdiction of the courts, particularly the Court of the Star Chamber. Wolsey used forced loans to pay for unpopular foreign wars, which angered the nobles, along with Wolsey’s great wealth and luxurious life style. Wolsey disappointed Henry when he was unable to secure a quick divorce from Catherine of Aragon. At the same time, years of extravagant living had left the royal treasury empty. Henry’s subjects, nobles and commoners alike, were dissatisfied and Henry saw that a change was necessary. In 1529, Cardinal Wolsey was replaced and in 1530, he was arrested on trumped up charges of treason. Cardinal Wolsey later died in custody. The fate of Cardinal Wolsey was a warning for the Pope and the English clergy of what could happen to anyone who failed Henry or got in his way. Following the dismissal and arrest of Cardinal Wolsey, Henry took personal control of the government. However, Henry’s court was still filled with plots and intrigue as various factions sought to advance their own agendas by gaining the King’s favour.
Some modern historians have argued that the reign of Henry VIII saw a major revolution in government. They credit Henry with shrewdness, cunning and intellect, but many historians argue that the lasting changes of Henry’s reign came about due to the influence of Thomas Cromwell. Henry is generally seen by modern historians as being a competent, but lazy and opportunistic ruler who relied on others to govern the kingdom. Some modern historians argue that Henry’s six marriages are evidence that he was not fully in control of his own fate. Thomas Cromwell began to conceive of a Commonwealth of England in which the English people participated in the governing of the kingdom through Parliament. Thomas Cromwell believed that Parliamentary consent did not weaken the King’s authority. Henry VIII saw himself as a paternalistic ruler and as such he was not afraid of exercising royal authority. Thomas Cromwell believed that popular consent reinforced Henry’s royal power.
Henry VIII Breaks with Rome
Henry VIII never formally renounced the Catholic Church, but declared himself to be the supreme head of the Church in England. This action, along with subsequent steps taken during the reigns of Edward VI and Elizabeth I, eventually led to the emergence of Anglicanism as a separate denomination of Christianity. Henry’s motives for declaring himself to be the supreme head of the English Church were complex. In Henry’s eyes, the Pope seemed to behave more like an Italian Renaissance prince than the personification of the high-minded ideals of Christianity. The Pope appeared to be more interested in secular politics than in seeing to his religious duties. From the perspective of Henry and his ministers, the Church treated England like a minor step child, only allowing England one Cardinal and no possibility of becoming Pope. Henry found it increasingly intolerable that important decisions that affected the whole Kingdom could only be resolved in Rome. The issue of Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon exemplified the problem. So long as Cardinal Wolsey remained in control of the royal administration, the reform movement in England was stifled. Henry’s desire to reform the Catholic Church in England was motivated by more than just the desire for a new wife and an heir. In 1536 and 1537, Henry introduced a number of measures that dealt with the relationship between the King and the Pope, as well as the structure of the Catholic Church in England. During this time Henry also suppressed the monasteries and religious shrines in his attempts to reform the Church in England. Henry was always the dominant force in making religious policy, which some modern historians have described as a search for the middle way to religious reform.
Sources
Ashley, Mike. British Kings and Queens. Robinson:London.1998
Scarisbrick, JJ. Henry VIII. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1997
Terry Long - I hold degrees in history and journalism. In addition to my contributions to Suite 101, I have also written for the Brampton Bulletin, the ...
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