Henry VIII: Overated and Oversexed?

Henry VIII: Overated and Oversexed?

Henry VIII probably had an 'overrated and oversexed' image following

him. By 1547, the year of Henry's death and consequently the end of

his reign, he had had six wives. He also went to great lengths to

allow him to get rid of some of these women. For example, when it came

to the point in his reign when he wanted to divorce Catherine of

Aragon he had to go to great lengths to allow this to happen. As a

divorcement is not allowed in the Catholic Church, Henry needed to

find evidence to support his statement that his marriage was illegal

so he could annul Catherine. An annulment states the marriage was not

valid in the first place, and only the pope has the right to grant

such a process, this was just one of the causes of the break with Rome

in 1533. To carry out the annulment Henry needed to be in charge of

the English Church. However Henry's desire for a divorce did not

necessarily mean he wanted to break with Rome, the English church had

been part of the Catholic Church under the power of the pope for

centuries. This was a radical move made by Henry to achieve what he

wanted.

England's break with Romerelocated the Pope's power in England to

Henry himself; however it did not lead to the end of Catholicism in

the country. Many Catholic practises remained and many people's

beliefs were not changed from Catholicism to Protestantism - this

included Henry himself. This means that the break of England from Rome

did not lead to a full reformation in England, however if Henry had

not performed this radical act, England might now be a predominately

Catholic country.

In 1534 the second act of Anna...

... middle of paper ...

...bloodless break from Rome.

Henry's image by the end of his reign was slightly different to the

one portrayed in the 1520's. He had done his best to fulfil his role

as warrior - king. The victory at Boulogne would live on in popular

memory for the rest of his life. However he had provoked real

hostility in his personal life - his rejection of Catherine of Aragon

and his series of new wives gave people a negative view on him as a

person. Fortunately, given the time period and what was happening in

central Europe, Henry kept Englandmainly at piece during his reign. I

do think that Henry VIII was slightly overrated as a King. He didn't

do anything drastically wrong but he didn't exactly do much to help

the people. If a peasant at the time had been asked what has Henry

done for you, I feel they might have been speechless.