Henry VIII
by Rob Cottignies
“Alas, what shall I do for love?
For love, Alas, what shall I do?
Since now so kind, I do you find
To keep you me unto…”
Those romantic words were written by Henry VIII, former king
of England, to his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
Henry VIII, or as his friends knew him- Hanky Ocho, has a
pretty bad reputation. He’s been called a tyrant, glutton, murderer, and worst
of all- British. Most of the king’s infamy comes from having six wives, two of
which got their heads prematurely removed. But what many people don’t know is
that Hank was also a musician, writer, and quite the self-proclaimed lover.
Although Henry VIII has a bad name, he was definitely one of
the most influential people in the history of England and the world as a whole.
Born in Greenwich, England, on June 28 of 1491, Henry VIII
was the son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. He and his brother, Prince
Arthur, were born into the Tudor Dynasty. Since Arthur was the first born and
rightful heir to the throne, Henry was named Duke of York. Henry was content
with his position since he was highly admired as a handsome, courteous man who frequently
hunted and played tennis. And because royalty is how it is, Arthur married
Spain’s Princess Catherine of Aragon.
Henry was a very religious man, known to have gone to mass
up to three times per day. He was also admired for his incredible intelligence,
being fluent in English, French, Latin, and Spanish. Henry wrote often, with
his most important text being Defense of
the Seven Sacraments, which was written in response to Martin Luther and
his attack on the Roman Catholic Church. It was this book that made Pope Leo X
decide to name Henry ‘Defender of the Faith’, a choice he would’ve likely
regretted had he seen the rest of the then-Duke’s life.
Henry’s world changed drastically in 1502, when Prince Arthur
died of either tuberculosis or plague, making Henry heir to the throne.
Seven years later, Henry VII died from tuberculosis,
birthing the reign of King Henry VIII. Since he was just seventeen and not yet
properly educated to be king, he looked to his elders for advice.
Arthur’s widow, Catherine of Aragon, was now without a
husband, so Henry decided to marry her on June 11, 1509. They were jointly
crowned on June 24 of the same year. Since Catherine was five years older than
Henry and involved in politics, he often went to her for advice. She was the daughter
of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, who funded Christopher
Columbus’s bogus journey to the New World. This gave Henry more power than he
already had, which was tremendous.
Henry and Catherine were a happy couple for over twenty
years. Henry *only* had two mistresses during their marriage, which was
relatively small based on the time period and his title of King.
Now that Henry had a wife, he needed an heir to his throne.
Soon after the wedding, Catherine gave birth to a stillborn
child. A year later, she had a son who survived the childbirth. Henry threw a
huge celebration for his son, Henry IX. But sadly, fifty-two days after being
born, the child died.
In 1516, Catherine bore a daughter who survived infancy and
childhood, who would much later become known as “Bloody” Mary.
Henry needed a male heir, since he refused to have England
be ruled by a woman after his death. Catherine was now beyond childbearing
years and Henry had alternately fallen in love with a woman named Anne Boleyn,
who was a sister of one of his mistresses and among Catherine’s maids of honor.
In these times, divorces were not legal unless granted by
the Pope, so Henry sent his Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey to Pope Clement VII
in 1527 asking for an official divorce for Henry from Catharine. But the same
Pope who gave Henry’s sister Margaret an annulment from James IV declined the
king’s request. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V also said no, at least partly
because Catherine was his aunt.
Henry petitioned the Pope’s decision until he offered to rethink
the case, which kept Henry in suspense for seven years, until the Pope responded
with another negative. During this time, Henry was very harsh to Catherine,
insisting that she join a convent, which would void the marriage. Catherine
refused, to ensure Mary would be the ruler of England upon Henry’s death. He
eventually forbade her from seeing Mary.
At Court, Henry and would appear with Anne Boleyn in the
Queen’s chair. People started referring to Anne as Queen, and Catherine refused
to acknowledge anyone who wouldn’t call her Queen Catharine.
Although Henry appeared to be married to Anne Boleyn, his marriage
with Catherine was still valid. Thomas Cranmer (Archbishop of Canturbury) and
Thomas Cromwell (Secretary of State) suggested to the king that he simply get
the marriage annulled in England. Since the King of England was able to enact
any law he wanted, Henry had Parliament pass the Act in Restraint of Appeals in
1533, which stated that all church cases were to be decided in England instead
of Rome, where the Pope was.
He then signed the Act Of Supremacy, which made the King of
England (himself) the head of both church and state.
In January of 1533, Henry ordered Thomas Cranmer to annul
the marriage to Catherine and married Anne Boleyn.
But Anne was smart and knew Henry wanted a male heir more
than anything. Not wanting to simply be used for that, she refused to have sex
with him. She had always refused to become Henry’s mistress, as her sister Mary
was, and was not about to change her ways.
However, Anne mysteriously gave birth in September of the
year they were married. Henry was so convinced she was going to have a male that
he started throwing celebrations, which on until he found out he had another
daughter, which he named Princess Elizabeth, after his mother.
Henry was convinced this was a sign that Anne would next
produce a healthy boy. Anne got pregnant a couple more times after Elizabeth,
but all those ended in miscarriages, which naturally upset Henry. (Let’s hope
it was because of the sadness, but we know he still sought a male heir.)
As Anne became unhealthy, Henry’s eye (amongst other parts)
began to wander to other women. Now Anne Boleyn had to be taken out of the
picture, which was pretty easy now that Henry was in charge of such affairs.
Henry signed the Treason Act in 1534, stating that anyone
who denied his power would be tried as a traitor, which all-but-definitely
meant guilt and execution.
Henry used the Act against Anne, her personal musician had (under
torture) given him names of men she slept with, including Anne’s own brother
George. It didn’t take long for Henry to declare that adultery against him was
equivalent to treason. He also accused her of incest and plotting to kill him.
All the men except one were convicted and sentenced to be hanged. Anne and her brother
went on trial at the same time and were convicted. George was hanged with the
rest of the men, while it was Henry’s choice to see Anne beheaded.
Under his orders, Henry’s wife was officially taken out of
the picture in 1536. It has been said that the beheading of Anne Boleyn started
Henry’s “reign of terror”.
…
Because of laws like these and the power Henry had given
himself, Pope Paul III excommunicated him from the Catholic Church in 1538. In
retaliation, Henry made the Church of England strictly Protestant and signed
the Six Articles Act, which said that his church was to have no pope.
Excommunicated but not defeated, Henry still didn’t have a
son.
Shortly after Anne Boleyn was killed, Henry married Jane
Seymour, one of Anne’s maids of honor. (Classy.) To avoid looking foolish
again, he declared he would wait for her to deliver a healthy son before
crowning her as Queen. Jane was actually pleased with this, based on what
happened to his first two wives. She wanted Henry to spend more time with his
children- Mary, Elizabeth, and Henry Fitzroy, who was Henry VIII’s illegitimate
son from an affair.
In 1537, Jane gave birth to Henry’s long-awaited son, Edward
VI and an enormous celebration was ordered. Sadly, Jane was stricken with
puerperal fever and died twelve days later. Since Henry mourned her passing for
over two years, Jane Seymour is said to be Henry’s most beloved wife.
…
In 1540, Thomas Cromwell arranged for Henry to marry Anne of
Cleves. Henry was very excited to be married a fourth time until he finally met
his bride-to-be, who was said to be ugly, dull, and annoying, among other
negative qualities. He wanted the marriage to be called off immediately but could
not be granted this due to political reasons.
On January 6, 1540, they were married. At Henry’s request,
the marriage was never consummated. Henry quickly decided to have the marriage
annulled and Cromwell’s head cut off for arranging such an awful alliance. Henry
gave her many things when they split up, such as houses and money. She is said
to be his most fortunate wife.
Shortly after, Hank married again, this time to Anne’s maid
of honor, Catherine Howard. (What was it with him and maids of honor?) Catherine
was young and pretty, which made her stray from her overweight, aging husband in
favor of someone she planned to marry before she had even met the king. This
man was immediately hanged as a traitor and Catherine was taken to the Tower of
London, where she got to choose the dress for her beheading. After the deed was
done, Catherine was buried next to the body of her decapitated cousin, Anne
Boleyn.
Three years later, Henry married his sixth and final wife,
Catharine Parr. She was very concerned with the education of Mary and Elizabeth
and did all she could to get them proper tutoring. She was a very pleasant wife
for Henry, who was in declining health dating back to when Jane Seymour had
died. She knew her job was not to give the king a son but to nurse him, which
she did until his death on January 28, 1547.
What exactly killed Henry is still uncertain.
King Henry VIII was one of the most controversial, feared,
unique, respected men in history. Although most people only know him as a tyrant
who cut his wives heads off, they are highly mistaken. Well, not really, but his
legacy involves much more than that. Henry VIII is not only a very important
part of England’s history, but his actions affected the entire world.
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the exploits of Hanky
Boy.