The world has seen many great leaders across its many great countries. Of these countries, England has seen many of these leaders take the throne throughout its long history as a nation. Some of these rulers have been outstanding and others not so outstanding. Many of these rulers have had a significant influence on their peoples daily life and standard of living. Of these not so outstanding rulers, Henry VIII is one of the most significant in English history. He was one of the most cruel and evil rulers that England had ever seen. He punished wrong doers and even beheaded two of his wives. On the other hand, Henry VIII was also one of the most influential and interesting kings England had ever had. He helped England become one of the major powers in Europe, and he brought the English reformation upon his country. He managed to convert his entire country to The Church of England and get rid of the Catholic religion almost entirely. Some of his most infamous actions were breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church, his complicated relationships with his wives, and the …show more content…
Early in his rule, Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon (16). After many years of trying to have a son, Henry VIII was convinced that he would not get a male heir from his wife. He began to call this the “King's great matter.” Henry VIII knew he needed to marry someone else (Benson, EW biographies 122). The problem was, The Roman Catholic Church did not allow divorce. Henry VIII decided to ask the Pope for an annulment. He claimed that the marriage was void because Catherine was his brother’s widow (Benson, EW almanac 17). The Pope did not agree to the annulment because he did not want to anger Catherine’s nephew, Charles V of Spain (Benson, EW biographies 122). Henry VIII fired his assistant Thomas Wolsey after he failed to get the annulment from the Pope (Benson, EW almanac
Assessment of the View that Henry VIII’s Wish for a Male Heir Was the Main Reason for the Break with Rome
After many failed attempts to obtain a divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII took momentous steps that led to "The Reformation," a significant occurrence in the history of religion. Prior to the reformation, all of England's inhabitants including King Henry VIII prescribed to Catholicism. In fact, King Henry VIII was such a strong supporter that he was given the title "Defender of the Faith" by the pope for his efforts in protecting Catholicism against the Protestants. However, all these changed upon the pope's denial of Henry's request for a divorce.
When we look at Henry as a king we have to look in the context of
Henry was a very well driven person. He used very persuasive techniques in his writings and speeches. He was a leader, he lead the state of Virginia through the first part of the war. He was a very outspoken man and he always put others before him.
Thomas Cromwell Is known as the architect of the English Reformation and legal advisor to King Henry VIII. However not many historians look into the life of Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is notorious with the English Reformation. Every source on Cromwell speaks a little on the man himself, they focus on the part he played in the Kings “great matter”. Thomas Cromwell was a self taught man and struggled for everything he had. Cromwell began his journey to the Kings court in the most modest of ways. He left home at age fifteen because of a dispute with his father. His life before the reformation helped shape his decisions and his actions. Yet very few historians spend any real time looking at whom and what led Thomas Cromwell to become the Kings
...tect his right to the throne. Ultimately, he stabilized the nation by settling the civil wars, the Wars of Roses, by marrying the apposing York family, to unite the two feuding families, the Yorks and the Lancasters. All together, King Henry VII is a new monarch for displaying all of the required traits.
William, I was king of England after conquering it during the battle of Hastings thus gaining the title 'William The Conqueror'. He changed the lifestyle, language, and culture of England during his reign. He suffered through violence from a young age and survived the constant threat from rebels and others seeking power. He conquered out of anger and friendship.
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.
Henry IV is a play that concerns itself with political power and kingship in English history. References to kingship are prevalent throughout the play, especially in the depiction of the characters. Although most of the characters in this play could teach us about kingship, I would like to focus my attention to Prince Henry. I think that this character helps us to best understand what kingship meant at this particular time in history.
King Henry VIII was one of the most powerful rulers in the fifteenth century, who had a very captivating life many people are not aware of. Most people know Henry VIII as a berserk king with too many wives, but there is more to Henry VIII than that. Many few people know about his life and what he truly contributed to our world. Henry VIII was an almighty leader in England who won’t soon be forgotten.
When one thinks of Henry the eighth the first thing that comes up is fat, wife-killer, meat eater, old, mean and overall horrendous. But almost no one refers to him as misunderstood, manipulated or young man who was not meant to be King of England. This is how Suzannah Lipscomb portrays Henry VIII in her book, 1536: The Year that Changed Henry VIII, King Henry faces many tribulations in 1536 that shaped the rest of his reign; from his marriages, injuries, heirs, to his influence in the European spectrum.
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.
When Henry took the throne, he gave most of the responsibility to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. He did this because as a 17 year old boy, he felt he wasn’t ready for all of that responsibility at once (Sommerville). Even though he was king, he had no desire to know the everyday problems of England. One of Henry’s biggest accomplishments as king was implementing a naval fleet. He tried to get England to fight with Scotland and France (Scarisbrick 738).
Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I may have been the English Reformation’s greatest benefactors, all because of self interest. Henry VIII was not originally Protestant, but after the pope denied him of his divorce, Henry VIII took things into his own hands. Due to the power kings had in the Middle Ages, Henry VIII was able to control Parliament and force it to do whatever he wanted. So in 1534, Henry VIII forced Parliament to pass a law he made known as the Act of Supremacy. The Act of Supremacy stated that the king ought to be the head of the Church of England. This law gave the king complete power over the Church of England, instead of the pope. However, the type of church and state relationship did not change. Rather all the Act of Supremacy did was take power from the pope and give it to the king. Surprisingly, the Catholics did not retaliate against this strong change. The pope had always been the head of the church, but now the king had taken his position. This serves as an example of nationalism. The Catholics did not think about how removing the pope could harm their religion in any way. However, instead the people blindly followed Henry VIII because he was the leader of the nation and they assumed he was right. Also, by imposing other laws that punished Protestants, Henry VIII did not give the people much of a choice. Fortunately, for Henry VII, nationalis...
In conclusion, Henry VIII life was marked with tragedy and achievements. The overall reign of the Tudor Dynasty is the same. There were three children of Henry that took the throne: Edward, who improved some of the protestant problems, but was largely unsuccessful; "Bloody Mary" who murdered, destroyed, and angered the populace of England; and finally Elizabeth took the throne. It's ironic but Henry's least expected heir was actually the best. Princess Elizabeth saved the country with her intelligence, wisdom, and ingenuity, brought England to become a world power. To the best state the country had been in for years. Henry would have been proud of Elizabeth the Virgin Queen. Too bad the fate of not having an heir to the throne repeated and the dynasty was given over to the Spanish.