King Henry VIII is considerable the most controversial monarch Great Britain has ever had. He is commonly known for his ill-advised decisions, six wives, and splitting Great Britain from the Catholic Church to create the Church of England. King Henry VIII of England’s determination to guarantee his family line’s continuation in the throne caused many problems, such as religious tensions, economic hardships, and political adversaries that continued one long after his death. King Henry VIII was born on June 28, 1491 in Greenwich, England. He was the second son of his father, King Henry VII. Henry was not the heir to the throne; instead, his brother Arthur was. However, Arthur died a year after his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, making Prince Henry the heir. It was then decided that Catherine would remain in England, as King Henry was trying to create a new marriage contract with her for Prince Henry. If Catherine returned to Spain, then her dowry would go with her, as would their alliance with Spain [1]. Days before Henry turned 18, his father died. He quickly occupied the throne, and a few weeks after Henry became king, he married Catherine, with special permission from the pope. As Henry was the sole heir to the throne, one of his first priorities was to produce sons [1]. This influenced many of his later actions, including splitting from the Catholic Church. Henry VIII was not raised to become king; his brother was. When Henry took the throne, he had a great education, but no clue about what to accomplish as king and how to do it. Henry was more concerned with his image – he would throw lavish parties to show his luxurious lifestyle, and made few decisions himself concerning governing, instead relying heavily on his councilor... ... middle of paper ... ...ad been in a state of economic crisis for an extensive time. These actions created a rift between his subjects; many remained loyal to the church and wanted Henry to reinstate it, while others believed it to be corrupted, and accepted the new change. Revolution hung in the air and threatened the stability Henry had been pushing to create. He knew that the tension would recede should he bear a son to carry on the Tudor name. In 1536, Henry began to believe that his wife was being unfaithful. She was charged with treason and adultery, and soon beheaded. He then married Jane Seymour. She gave him a male heir, Edward, and then died a few days after childbirth [1]. Works Cited "Henry VIII." Elizabethan World Reference Library. Ed. Sonia G. Benson and Jennifer York Stock. Vol. 2: Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2007. 119-127. World History in Context. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.
From his fifteen year minority to the inept rule of the rest of his reign, Henry VI was a "child", at least as far as governing ability was concerned. The period of his minority and the time that he was the titular king laid the groundwork for the Wars of the Roses. Had Henry been an intelligent king, with at least some political acumen, and the ability to win the respect of his nobles, their may have never been any Wars of the Roses. But his weakness in allowing government by favorites and governing foolishly on his own, at the very least directed his country down the road to a bloody civil war.
Henry V is not a simple one as it has many aspects. By looking into
Henry II was known as one of England’s greatest kings. Along with being king of England, he was also Count of Anjou, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Duke of Normandy, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland, and controlled little bits of Western France and Scotland. He was most famous for his legal administrative systems, his long disputes with the Church, and his dramatic turmoil with his family. One of his greatest quotes was, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”
To be a good king you have to manage your money well and keep your country in order like stop rebellions happening, Henry succeeded with this at the start of his reign but as time passed greed and the control took over. He spent a lot of money on wars against France and a lot of money was spent on his banquets
... removed all obstacles to the divorce from Catherine and to the legalization of Henry VIII's marriage with Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn had failed Henry VIII once again with no male heir to the throne, she was them sentence to death with the conviction of Adultery. Henry VIII then married Jane Seymour. She gave birth to Edward VI, who then died in 1537.
Henry VIII had been engaged to his brother’s widow, Catherine of Aragon. Henry VIII protested against the marriage, but in the end, in a few months the marriage was complete. This was mostly due to the pressure lead on by Catherine’s father. At first young King Henry VIII toke little interest in politics and for the first 2 years of him taking the throne, his affairs were managed by the pacific Richard Foxe and Warham. Cardinal Wosley became supreme, Henry was immersed his other interest, including sports.
However, he didn't listen to the duke of york who desperately wanted a say. This could have been another reason for the outbreak of conflict because the people didn't think he always made the right decision and the duke of York didn't like not being listened to. Another problem was with patronage, as Henry was overgenerous, but only to some people, he would give lots of patronage to Somerset and Suffolk but none to York. This was even worse because he had borrowed from York and instead if paying him back, gave patronage to others. He gave away more and more money and land so that there wasn't much left for important times like war and to make people happy or come onto his side.
Henry implemented many methods in order to control the nobility with varying success. Henry sought to limit the power of the nobles as he was acutely aware the dangers of over mighty subjects with too much power and little love for the crown or just wanted a change like Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick who deposed two kings to replace them. Also Henry’s own rise to the throne was helped by nobles dislike towards Richard III. By restricting the nobles Henry wanted to reduce the power of the nobles and possible threats against him and return the nobles from their quasi king status to leaders in their local areas but under the power of the crown.
Passage Analysis - Act 5 Scene 1, lines 115-138. Shakespeare’s ‘King Henry IV Part I’ centres on a core theme: the conflict between order and disorder. Such conflict is brought to light by the use of many vehicles, including Hal’s inner conflict, the country’s political and social conflict, the conflict between the court world and the tavern world, and the conflicting moral values of characters from each of these worlds. This juxtaposition of certain values exists on many levels, and so is both a strikingly present and an underlying theme throughout the play.
Henry came to the throne at the age of 17. Henry was said to be the King to “clense every eye of tears and substitute praise for loan moaning”. (Starkey 1985) As his first act, Henry imprisoned the two most unpopular ministers and charged them with high treason, and had them executed. Such executions would be Henry’s main tactic for dealing with the ones who stood in his way.
Although Henry VII founded the Tudor dynasty; the real focus of instigating dynastic representation is with Henry VIII. Kevin Sharpe follows this by stating despite creating one of the greatest historical monarchs - Henr...
The king next in line was King Henry VIII, Henry VII’s son. Henry was known as one of the most feared kings in England, he is also the reason for the pope and church splitting up, which is also known as the Reformation. Henry became king in 1509, soon after his father had passed away then late...
Henry VIII married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, in a political marriage (much like most weddings of the time). When Catherine of Aragon had stillborn children as well as early infancy deaths to all of their children, except Mary, Henry VIII began to worry that he would not have a son to heir the thrown. He began to petition the court for an annulment, so that we could marry his mistress Ann of Boleyn. At first Catherine, was kept in the dark of Henry's plans, he was using the text of Leviticus to justify his annulment. In the book of Leviticus, it states that if a man takes his brother's wife they shall remain childless. Even though they had a healthy daughter, Mary, this did not count in Henry's eyes, it was the male heir to the thrown that he wanted. Catherine was adamant in her claims that she had not consummated her marriage with Author, Henry's brother. The political and legal debate continued for six years, Catherine not only wanted to retain her position, but also her daughter's position in the kingdom.
The major endeavours of Henry VIII during his reign over England from 1509 to 1547 included the Field of the Cloth of Gold and the Reformation of the English Church. The sole reason for these actions is said to be love and seems to be related to the King’s obsession for a male heir but other factors were involved. Paramount among these is the influence of his family in the earlier years of his life. Other reasons such as general insecurities and competitiveness with other royal houses are also possible motives. To say that the major endeavours of Henry VIII during his reign were motivated by his obsession with a male heir is not completely accurate as other, more viable, explanations are available.
Henry VII was born 28 January 1457, “twenty thousand men had met in fierce combat, and the day had ended in defeat of the stronger army its leader the king had died in the fight”. (Tudor history.org) Henry VII was one of those people who would not be expected to become king. But when Henry became king people thought it was a miracle; Henry’s father was Edmund Tudor. It was the ancestors of his mother that gave him the right of the throne. “By 1485 the war of the roses had been raging in England for many years between the houses of York and Lancaster”. (Tudor history.org) Henry then married Elizabeth of York. “The main problem facing Henry was restoring faith and strength in the monarchy, Henry also had to deal with other claimants, and with some of them having a far stronger claim than his own.” (Tudor history.org)” Henry strengthened the government, Henry also had to deal with a treasury that was nearly bankrupt.” (Tudor history.org) Henry gathered a lot of money for his son so when Henry died his son would have a lot of money to get him started when he became King of England. Henry VII died 21 April 1509; Henry also had seven children with Elizabeth the York. (Tudor history.org)