Henry VIII

Sir Thomas More said of King Henry VIII, “[that] [i]f a loin knew his strength, it [would be] hard for any man to hold him”.[1] This quote suggests that King Henry VIII knew exactly what it meant to be king and that nobody was going to stand in his way. This proved to be true as King Henry VIII was the most contentious king in England’s history. He is most famous for his six wives, two of whom he beheaded, and his role as instigator of the English Reformation. Through his manipulation of…

His precedent flipped the Catholic idea of the pope wielding both swords of temporal and spiritual rule, giving it to the English crown instead. In the 1534 Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy, Henry is herald as “justly and rightfully is and oweth to be the supreme head of the Church of England.” This act of parliament cemented the Erastian rule promising that Henry’s heirs and successors would also “have full power and authority…

Niccolo Machiavelli influences rulers and leaders throughout history such as Otto Von Bismarck, King Henry VIII, and Adolf Hitler. In Machiavelli's book The Prince he gives political advice on how to ruler and govern their land and to gain power. He says it's better to be cruel than merciful and that it's better to be stingy than generous. Bismarck, Henry VIII, and Hitler follow his advice on how to be a good ruler. Niccolo Machiavelli was a diplomat and writer who was born on May 3, 1469 and…

King Henry VIII is commonly remembered as the English monarch who broke with the Roman Church. When King Henry VIII became the king of England in 1509, he started his reign with a lot of money and motivation to be one of the greatest kings in England. During his rule he declared himself the Head of the Church of England (Anglican Church), in effect, replacing the Pope. He quickly closed down monasteries and took all of their money. This caused a rebellion, but Henry stopped it as he became more…

Differences of the church of England and Lutheran beginnings The church of England started out by the king wanting to get a divorce. The pope didn’t let King Henry VIII get a divorce so King Henry VIII decided to build his own church and spread apart from the catholic church. The church he built was called the church of England. Once King Henry VIII built the church he got divorced from Catherine of Aragon and got a new wife. This had happened several times except five of the six wives died by…

knowingly marry a serial killer? In the most recent installment of Philippa Gregory’s Tudor Court series, The Taming of the Queen, the answer to that question becomes all too clear: because he is the KING! Kateryn Parr, the final Queen in the reign of Henry VIII, is the subject of this latest piece of historical fiction. Picking up shortly after the execution of Katherine Howard, King Henry’s fifth wife, this book introduces the world to the little known Queen Kateryn. With most of the…

on September 7, 1533 to King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. As a child, Elizabeth lived apart from her parents at the Royal Palace of Hatfield, where she was exposed to education and politics at a young age. When she was only two years old, her mother was executed on erroneous charges of witchcraft, adultery, and incest. Throughout her childhood, her father married four more times, each marriage (except the last) ending bitterly through divorce or execution. After Henry VIII’s death in 1547,…

herself. She was a child of a merchant family that became extremely rich. Because of all the money her family had, she was able to learn in France and become acquainted with court doings in both England and France. She was the second wife to King Henry VII, right after Catherine of Aragon. She had one living daughter- who was Queen Elizabeth I. After being the Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, Anne Boleyn was beheaded by a skilled swordsman on May 19, 1536 (Spectator 1). Because Anne was a…

Behind the Golden Age of England Elizabeth Tudor led a scandalous and difficult early life. With a scandalous birth and a removal from the line of succession by her father, Elizabeth had a troubled childhood. However, she would eventually become Queen Elizabeth I of England, even sometimes known as “Good Queen Bess”, “Gloriana”, and “The Virgin Queen” (www.royal.gov.uk). Her 45-year reign was considered one of England’s high points in art, religious compromise, literature, and more. I found…

ambassadors In 1532 Jean de Dinteville arrived in England for his second diplomatic venture. Whilst it yielded little, he was sent by the French king to protect relations with Henry VIII, who was in an uproar, planning to break away from the pope in Rome and the Catholic church. Dinteville had little to do in English court of Henry VIII other than wait for the pregnant Anne Boleyn to marry and become queen of England, which brought about the English Reformation in following year. In the spring…