The Reign of King Henry VIII
Henry VIII (born 1491, ruled 1509-1547). The second son of Henry VII
and Elizabeth of York was one of England's strongest and least popular
monarchs. He was born at Greenwich on June 28, 1491. The first English
ruler to be educated under the influence of the Renaissance, he was a
gifted scholar, linguist, composer, and musician. As a youth he was gay and
handsome, skilled in all manner of athletic games, but in later life he
became coarse and fat. When his elder brother, Arthur, died (1502), he
became heir apparent. He succeeded his father on the throne in 1509, and
soon thereafter he married Arthur's young widow, Catherine of Aragon.
During the first 20 years of his reign he left the shaping of policies
largely in the hands of his great counselor, Cardinal Wolsey (See Wolsey,
Cardinal). By 1527 Henry had made up his mind to get rid of his wife. The
only one of Catherine's six children who survived infancy was a sickly girl,
the Princess Mary, and it was doubtful whether a woman could succeed to the
English throne. Then too, Henry had fallen in love with a lady of the court,
Anne Boleyn.
When the pope (Clement VII) would not annul his marriage, Henry turned
against Wolsey, deprived him of his office of chancellor, and had him
arrested on a charge of treason. He then obtained a divorce through Thomas
Cranmer, whom he had made archbishop of Canterbury, and it was soon
announced that he had married Anne Boleyn.
The pope was thus defied. All ties that bound the English church to
Rome were broken. Appeals to the pope's court were forbidden, all payments
to Rome were stopped, and the pope's authority in England was abolished. In
1534 the Act of Supremacy declared Henry himself to be Supreme Head of the
Church of England, and anyone who denied this title was guilty of an act of
treason. Some changes were also made in the church services, the Bible was
translated into English, and printed copies were placed in the churches.
The monasteries throughout England were dissolved and their vast lands and
goods turned over to the king, who in turn granted those estates to
noblemen who would support his policies. In the northern part of the
kingdom the people rose in rebellion in behalf of the monks, but the
Pilgrimage of Grace, as it was called, was put down.
Although Henry reformed the government of the church, he refused to
In the beginning of their relationship, it is quite that Henry VIII was deeply infatuated with Anne, as she remained something unattainable in his eyes. The evidence of their love story remains as the letters Henry wrote to Anne prior to their marriage were left undamaged in the attempt to erase Anne from history. In his letter to her in 1528, Henry is not shy about calling Anne his sweetheart and discussing his desire to be with her as he begins to see the flaws in his marriage to Catherine of Aragon (N. Key & R. Bucholz (Eds.), 2009). He was hopeful for a new marriage, and a male heir, that would ensure his family’s claim to the throne. In part, it is this stage of hist...
The Challenges to Henry VII Security Between 1487 and the end of 1499 Henry VII faced many challenges to his throne from 1487 to the end of 1499. These included many rebellions and pretenders to his throne. To what extent was the success he dealt with them differs although the overriding answer is that by the end of his reign he had secured his throne and set up a dynasty, with all challengers removed. Lambert Simnel challenged Henry’s security when Richard Symonds passed him off as Warwick. Simnel was taken to Ireland, which had become the centre of Yorkist plotting.
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
Kittelson, James M. Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and His Career. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003.
...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.
“‘La magnificence et la galanterie n’ont jamais paru en France avec tant d’éclat que dans les dernières annèes du règne de Henri second.’ (p. 35)... However, this image of classical perfection is quickly fractured by the mention of the event that guides the life of the court-the passion of Henry II for the Duchesse de Valentinois Later in the narrative, the heroine, like the reader, asks for further explanation for this unusual passion between a woman not only much older than the king, but one who, in addition to having been Henry’s father’s mistress, also has several other lovers..” (Judovitz, 1038-1039)
The father and son relationship is one of the most important aspects through the youth of a young man. In Shakespeare’s play Henry IV, he portrays the concept of having "two fathers". King Henry is Hal’s natural father, and Falstaff is Hal’s moral father. Hal must weigh the pros and cons of each father to decide which model he will emulate. Falstaff, who is actually Hal’s close friend, attempts to pull Hal into the life of crime, but he refuses.
Henry in Henry V The bishops refer to Henry in the first scene as "a sudden scholar" who can "reason in divinity. " Canterbury says, "The king is full of grace, and fair regard. Ely quotes "and a true lover of the holy church. The two bishops, pretty much have the same view on Henry, they think highly of him.
In the play Henry V written by Shakespeare. Henry was presented as the ideal Christian king. His mercy, wisdom, and other characteristics demonstrated the behavior of a Christian king. Yet at the same time he is shown to be man like any other. The way he behaves in his past is just like an ordinary man. But in Henry’s own mind he describes himself as “the mirror of all Christian kings” and also a “true lover of the holly church.
He was a human that had emotions, he experienced grief with the multiple miscarriages and deaths of his sons and the betrayals of his wife’s, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard. Also the death of Jane Seymour, the only wife to give him a male heir, brought him into a depression. These events changed Henry’s perspective of his own self, that he was without a legal heir, his health was horrendous and he was being betrayed by those closest to him. Lipscomb describes the transformation of Henry from the popular prince to the tyrant king know today. As shown, “the last decade of his reign, Henry VIII had begun to act as a tyrant. The glittering, brilliant monarch of the accession, toppled into old age by betrayal, aggravated into irascibility and suspicion as a result of ill health and corrupted by absolute power, had become a despot”. Henry is not thought of as the good Christian, but Lipscomb writes throughout this book that Henry was very serious about his religious affiliations. Lipscomb portrays Henry VIII as, “a man of strong feeling but little emotional intelligence, willful and obstinate but also fiery and charismatic, intelligent but blinkered, attempting to rule and preserve his honor against his profound sense of duty and heavy responsibility to fulfil his divinely ordained role”. In other words he was an emotional mess that did not know what to do with his feelings, so he bottled them up and south to seek
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.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.
During Luther’s early life he faced a severe inner crisis. When he sinned he looked for comfort in confession and followed the penance, the fasting, prayer and observances that the church directed him. But, he found no peace of mind and worried about his salvation. But reading St. Paul’s letters he came to believe that salvation came though faith in Christ. Faith is a free gift, he discovered, it cannot be earned. His studies led him to a conclusion that, “Christ was the only mediator between God and a man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are given by god’s grace alone” (Martin Luther, 01). Historians agree that, “this approach to theology led to a clash between Luther and the Church officials, precipitating the dramatic events of Reformation”.
In Henry V, the actions of King Henry portray him as an appalling leader. Among Henry's many negative traits, he allows himself to be influenced by people who have anterior motives. This is problematic because the decisions might not be the best decisions for the country, or neighboring countries. The bishops convinced Henry to take over France because they would be able to save land for the Church. Henry doesn't have the ability to accept responsibility for his actions, placing the blame on others. Before Henry begins to take over a French village, he tells the governor to surrender or risk having English troops terrorize civilians. This way, if the governor declines, it would be the governor's fault for the atrocities that would occur. Henry has gotten his troops to go along with the take over by manipulating them. He tells the soldiers that what they're doing is noble, and that they should be proud. In fact, they're attacking another country in order to conquer it. Henry's character comes off as coldhearted and careless. Henry shows ruthlessness towards civilians, threatening them with atrocities. He's careless with his soldiers, thoughtlessly allowing their executions, or playing hurtful games with them.