Henry VIII: Worst Monarch In History

“Wife-murdering tyrant”, “Gross man-child”, “Obsessive”, “self-indulgent”, and “syphilitic” are words used to describe King Henry VIII by many people. There has been a survey that was conducted by the Historical Writers Association (HWA), and 20% of authors chose Henry VIII as the worst monarch in history. Even though many authors has mentioned him as one of the worst monarch in history because of the facts that he executed two of his wives, broke with the Catholic Church, started the English Reformation, and made himself as a head of Church of England, executing many people who got in his way, that doesn’t mean that it makes him the worst monarch in history. In fact, it is true that England flourished economically during Henry’s reign. He

After years of trying and failing to get his first marriage annulled, Henry asked Thomas Cromwell to help him. In 1532, Cromwell got Parliament to pass a law making Henry the head of the Church of England, separating from Catholic Church. Henry’s power increased exponentially over the next decade as he became the head of the Church of England as well as his wealth. All English monasteries were closed, and their assets transferred to Henry’s coffers. Opponents of the revolution, such as Thomas More who was Henry’s old friend and adviser were executed. In the late 1530s and early 1540s, Henry executed various members of the Pole and Courtenay families because they were against him, but mostly because they were competing for the throne. In 1540, Henry even executed Thomas Cromwell because he failed annulling his marriage with Anne of Cleves. It is said that about 70,000 people were executed during his reign. There is more evidence that makes him a tyrant. Henry VIII inherited large amount of money from his father and also from taxes. However, despite with this huge amount of money, his government always seemed to going bankrupt due to his profligate spending. Henry’s court was one of the most lavish in history. During his reign, Henry devalued England’s coinage, which made inflation worse. If there was no profligate spending by him,

Despite Henry’s brutal actions such as killing two of his wives, it is true that he achieved many accomplishments in various areas such as religion, politics, and military. He started the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536 which gradually made England wealthy. The Mary Rose which was the first English gunship was built between 1509 and 1511 and earned the title “Father of English Navy” because of his great success in France invasion. Moreover, because Henry didn’t like nobles having great power, he increased the power of Parliament and of course for himself. Even though he achieved several accomplishments, these accomplishments don’t be recognized as much because of his many brutal actions that he did to his wives and citizens in