Henry VIII

King Henry VIII of England (28 June 1491-28 January 1547), reigned from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was, by all accounts, an attractive and charismatic man, educated and accomplished. He ruled with absolute power, perhaps the last English monarch to do so. His overwhelming desire to provide England with a male heir, perhaps partly from personal vanity, but also on the grounds that a female would not be strong enough to consolidate the Tudor Dynasty and the fragile peace that existed following the Wars of the Roses, led to the two things that Henry VIII is remembered for today: his six wives, and the English Reformation.

It is sometimes stated that Henry introduced Protestantism to England, but strictly speaking this is not true. Protestantism grew out of reforms sought by disaffected Christians on the European continent and its doctrines were brought to England by priests and intellectuals, where they were embraced by English reformers also at odds with the Church’s excesses. Henry VIII was a staunch Catholic and had written Assertio Septem Sacramentorum, a treatise in which he defended the Church against Martin Luther and asserted the primacy of the Pope. The Pope gave Henry the title Fidei Defensor Defender of the Faith, a style still used by the English monarch today. However, Henry’s eventual break with the Church of Rome and declaring himself head of the Church in England, combined with his persecution of those who still held to Papal Supremacy, allowed a situation in which protestant ideas would develop and result in separate churches with differing doctrines. Protestantism was officially established during the reign of Henry’s son, Edward VI.

Highlights and paradoxes of Henry VIII’s reign:

- Establishment of the Church of England. Henry VII never formally repudiated the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, but he declared himself supreme head of the church in England. This, combined with subsequent actions, eventually resulted in a separated church.

- Dissolution of the Monasteries

- The births of Mary I of England in 1516 and Elizabeth I of England in 1533, both of whom would eventually rule England. Despite Henry’s best efforts, his only son Edward VI died young and the Tudor Dynasty ended with the death of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry’s daughter.

- Expansion of the Royal Navy. Henry is considered by some to be one of the founders of the Royal Navy, which went from 5 to 53 ships during his reign, largely as a result of his campaigns in Europe.

- Depletion of the treasury. Henry inherited a prosperous economy from his father, Henry VII, and despite additional gains from seizing the property of the church, the economy was ruined by the time Elizabeth came to the throne.

- Decimation of the intelligentsia. Henry VIII was a humanist himself, but the imprisonment and execution of those who opposed him resulted in modern terms in a “brain drain” of English thinkers.

The early life of Henry VIII

Prince Henry was born on the 28th June 1491, the third child and second son of Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York. Little was written about the prince during his early years; Henry was not the heir to the throne and it has been suggested that he was well educated because his father intended him for the church.

The death of the Prince of Wales and Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon

Arthur, the Prince of Wales was married to Catherine, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. The Prince of Wales died when Prince Henry was ten years old, and for reasons of state, it was decided to marry Henry to his brother’s widow, who was several years his senior. This raised the question of the ethics of the proposed arrangement: was it moral and legal for Henry to married his late brother’s wife?

For her part, Catherine stated and always affirmed that her marriage to Arthur had never been consummated and she was therefore able to marry Henry. Because her parents wanted the marriage, they did not want there to be any doubt and so they petitioned the Pope to grant a Dispensation allowing Catherine and Henry to marry. These matters would be of great significance later.