Henry VIII

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Introduction Whenever we are asked for either entertainment or scientific purposes „who was the most notorious leader in our history?" we always picture a big, bearded man, standing in a strong, bold pose and wearing elegant clothes. This mental image represents a well-known 16th century painting made by Hans Holbein the Younger of famous, or rather infamous, King of England – Henry VIII. While Henry certainly is an interesting character why is he always our first choice? Unfortunately for us there is a large amount of candidates to choose from when seeking history's most notorious leader. It just depends on how far in time we are willing to go. We can return to the ancient Roman Empire and mention Nero who murdered his whole family and who is said to have fiddled while Rome burned. There is also Attila the Hun or Attila the Scourge of God who became the personification of barbarism and savagery. We can also chose from some of the more recent ones like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. There are many others too. All could serve as a model for a mad king, a tyrant and a dictator. But for some reason we always skip over all of those names and point our finger straight at Henry VIII. This is probably because Henry is the most interesting one. There were worse rulers than him both before and after his time but nobody was surrounded by so much intrigue, plots, assassinations, conspiracies, infidelities. We all know stories of his six wives and how most of them ended. Their fates convinced some people that Henry might have inspired the story of Bluebeard – a violent nobleman in the habit of murdering his wives. And it wasn't just the wives who had to fear for their lives. There was a joke in those days saying that people in England ... ... middle of paper ... ...England as long as she wanted. In the following years Henry continued to pursue his hobbies. He remained a dedicated athlete and developed a passion for hunting and tennis. It is said that he was so good at shooting and wrestling that nobody could defeat him. However, it is more likely that nobody dared to defeat the King fearing for their lives. Henry's healthy and athletic lifestyle turned him into a tall, strong man who was often described as „unearthly handsome". However, he was still spoiled and often described as a child in a man's body. But at the beginning he wasn't as cruel and calculated as his father was but instead artistic and religious. Seeing him like this England started hoping again that their future king will deliver them from the darkness they were in. Henry VIII was seen as a promise of joys of spring after the long winter of Henry VII's reign.

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