“circa Regna tonat:” This Latin phrase can be translated to, ‘thunder rolls around the crown.’ The phrase was used repeatedly in Thomas Wyatt’s poem, V. Innocentia Veritas Viat Fides Circumdederunt me inimici mei (Wyatt). Wyatt scrawled this revealing poem while he watched Anne Boleyn, who was believed to be his former lover, be beheaded by Henry VIII’s authority (Ridgway). Wyatt’s phrase can be used to describe the fear that Henry VIII’s court felt during in the later part of his reign as King of England, regnal dates, 1509-1547, that we all know and remember Henry VIII best for. The phrase is a fitting description for the later part of Henry’s reign because the courtiers did not know where the crown’s lighting was going to strike after they heard the thunder, and the thunder, Henry, was not always aware of the power of his lighting that followed. Scholars argue that while it is true that Henry VIII behaved volatilely during the second half of his life and reign, he was not always like this; it is worth highlighting the part of Henry’s life when he was a gracious and athletic king that was loved by many. This is important so that Henry VIII can be remembered correctly, as a diverse person—as most of us are. Henry VIII is one of the most infamous and immortal monarchs of British history because of his controversial and disastrous marriages and his gigantic and boisterous personality and physical figure. Because Henry had such an unbelievably interesting life, it has been stereotyped and romanticized in books and on the movie and television screen. The media constructions of Henry’s personality make us feel like we know the king well, but can we trust this? (“Who was Henry?”) Since the more tragic events of Henry VIII’s life are shown, the general belief of him today is that he was a cruel tyrant.  Henry VIII did not naturally transform his personality into what was and is described as a tyrant; forces in Henry’s life caused him to change from a friendly lord, enjoyed by his court and subjects, into the tempered and feared king that we see him portrayed as today. 

Henry VIII was the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, the first of the Tudor dynasty that emerged from the conclusion of the War of the Roses (Amin). The new king and queen of England had three children, Arthur, Henry, and Mary Tudor. Henry was the middle child and second son, so because of primogenitor rules, much of Henry’s young childhood was not recorded because he was not the focus, his older Artur brother was. Everything changed when his brother and the heir to the English throne, Arthur Prince of Wales, died at age sixteen, right before Henry’s ninth birthday (Elton); this death changed the course of British history because this allowed Henry VIII, one most influential British monarch of all time, to mark his place in the history books. Whenever Henry became heir to the throne at his brother’s death in 1502, he inherited more than his brother’s title; Henry was now to marry Arthur’s unconsummated bride, Catharine of Aragon, after Henry’s succeeds the throne. This political match was thought smart by a majority of the English kingdom because of Catharine’s powerful and respected lineage. Catharine was the daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, the two monarchs that untied Spain; the two also gained respect of the Pope by defeating and conquering the Muslim population in the Iberian Peninsula, they opened up Spain to the riches of the New World by allowing Columbus to go on his adventure, and were seen as saints and models of Christianity, creating the Golden Age in Spain (“The Golden Age”). The reputation of these two pivotal Spanish monarchs came with Catharine when she was brought over to England, so her arranged marriage to Henry was very exciting to practically everyone in the kingdom. Henry was crowned King of England in 1509, and married Catharine of Aragon soon after (Elton). The courtiers had great expectations for the young king. Henry was a dashing, muscularly built, six-foot-tall athlete, that most who encountered him recorded him to have an equally dashing and charismatic personality (“Who Was Henry?”). Sebastian Giustinian, a Venetian ambassador described Henry VIII as “the handsomest potentate I ever set eyes on.” (“Who Was Henry?”) and, Edward Hall, a chronicler, praised Henry’s talents, “I cannot express the gifts of grace and of nature that God has endowed him with all.” (“Who Was Henry?”). These first hand descriptions of Henry VIII show us how Henry was viewed by those around him, as a handsome and capable man and king. Henry was not only seen as athletic, but well-read as well; in 1515, Ambassador Giustinian recorded that Henry was “so gifted and adorned with mental accomplishments of every sort that we believe him to have few equals in the world.” (“Who Was Henry?”). There is no doubt that Henry VIII’s accession to the throne of England was full of joy and excitement at ushering in the new dashing young king’s reign. The early actions and reign of Henry VIII cannot be described as tyrannical because of all of the positive commentary and expectations. 

Henry VIII was beloved by his subjects because of his strong stature and personality in politics. The English subjects all carry the stories of what happened in the past whenever they had a military and politically weak king, with them. One of England’s horribly weak kings was John I, regnal dates, 1199-1216. John I was responsible for the destruction of England’s Angevin Empire, that consisted of half of now-a-days Western France, northern Ireland, and England. The weak English monarch had a series of battles over land on the mainland, with the powerful French king Philip II, the French were victorious is all battles. Even though the English lost, the battles still cost men, resources, and money. The English nobles might have been okay with paying increasing taxes for winning battles, but since they only lost, tensions grew, leading to a noble insurrection and the forced signing of the Magna Carta by John I, in 1215. John I was seen as a coward and hated by his people, so much so, that it is believed that he was poisoned by monks when he visited an abbey (Wilde). This is just one example of the disastrously weak kings England has had, and what the English feared; Henry VIII was the opposite of a faint-hearted yes-man, a strong king’s rule meant protection and victory in the eyes of the everyday Englishman. Lord Mountjoy, William Blount, wrote a in a letter about Henry’s accession to the throne, “The heavens laugh, the earth exults, all things are full of milk, of honey, of nectar. Avarice is expelled from the country… Our King does not desire gold or gems or precious metals, but virtue, glory and immortality” (“Who Was Henry?”). Henry VIII was believed by his court and subjects to be capable of handling anything that came their way, they felt a sense of safety in Henry’s dominant personality and abilities. Henry VIII cannot be described as a cruel tyrant because he was a strong king and that is what England needed and wanted.

Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon had a relationship that seemed permeant to everyone including Henry and Catharine themselves. When looking at events in history, we cannot look at an initial event with the event that follows in mind. With Henry and Catharine, we know that they would not be together forever, but in that moment in time, their marriage to each other seemed as permanent. Henry VIII showed he thought his marriage to the Spanish princess was ever-lasting too by having Tudor dynasty roses intertwined with the Spanish pomegranate (Grueninger). So, it would be a shock to everyone when Henry initiated Henrician Church Reform to annul his marriage to the beloved, devout Catholic, Catharine of Aragon. It all began when Catharine had repeated miscarriages of male heirs of Henry, Mary Tudor, born 1516, was the only baby that survived Catharine’s womb. Having a rightful male heir to the throne was critical for Henry to be remembered as a successful king, and Henry VIII was well aware of that fact. In the past, chaos and civil war has ensued over the English throne because there was not a rightful male heir who could be easily chosen through primogenitor. Henry I, regnal dates, 1100-1135, was the grandson of the great William I, The Conquer, who conquered England in 1066 and ushered in a new line of French-Norman English kings. Henry I’s only son and heir, William Atheling, was lost in the “White Ship Disaster” in 1120, causing the king and his subjects to mourn the loss of the prince. So, in 1127, Henry I proclaimed his daughter, Matilda, as heir to the throne, making all of his nobles promise that at his death, they will honor his wish for Matilda to be reigning Queen of England. But, alas, at Henry I’s death the nobles rejected Matilda as queen and chose her cousin, Stephan of Blois and of course, chaos and civil war ensued. The war ended with the battle of Lincoln and the Treaty of Winchester, where it was agreed that Stephan would be able to finish his reign as King of England until he died, but the son of Matilda, Henry II, would be the heir to the throne (“Matilda—Daughter of Henry”). Henry VIII did not want to be put in the same situation as Henry I with an attempt at only leaving a female heir. Having a rightful male heir was very important for the preservation of his dynasty and the safety of his kingdom. Henry VIII cannot be called a tyrant for wanting a male heir, all kings that wanted to be seen as having a successful reign and that wanted their kingdom to not be left in a state of anarchy after they passed, needed a rightful male heir. Therefore, after all of Catharine’s miscarriages, Henry began to think that Catharine was not a real virgin at the time of her marriage to Henry VIII and that, consequently, God was punishing him for marrying his brother’s wife. These were the terms for annulment of his marriage to Catharine of Aragon that Henry VIII brought to the reigning Pope, Pope Clement VII. Such kingly matters would have gone through, but this was not the case because of Catharine’s lineage. The Catholic and pure Spanish lineage that was adored by all in Catharine, was the very reason that Henry would have such a hard time of getting rid of her; it was also one of the reasons that Henry’s public opinion started to waver, especially in devout Catholic subjects, since Catharine was seen as so devout to the religion. Catharine of Aragon was the aunt of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V of Spain, who Pope Clement VII never dared to cross after his imprisonment by the Emperor in 1527-1528. Another force that caused Henry VIII to seek annulment was Anne Boleyn. Mary and Anne Boleyn were daughters of an English nobleman, and the first Earl of Wiltshire, Thomas Boleyn. The Boleyn sisters came to Henry VIII’s court after staying in the French court of Francis I, where Mary gained an unsavory reputation for being on her back that caused her to be a mistress to Henry VIII before her sister, Anne, was (“Who Is Mary Boleyn? Everything You Need to Know”). Henry VIII was soon infatuated with Anne after she came to his court and became one of his wife’s, Catharine’s, ladies in waiting. “The King’s great matter,” as Henry’s quest for annulment became known as, lasted until Henry’s secret marriage to Anne Boleyn and the passing of the Act of Supremacy in 1533 that ended with Pope Clement VII excommunicating Henry VIII(“Act of Supremacy”). The Act of Supremacy placed Henry VIII, the King of England, as head of the Church of England, not the Pope, therefore, allowing Henry to have control over the church services and rules in his domain. Henry VIII made Protestant reformation possible in England, because this was the first introduction of Protestant ideas into politics (Biography.com). The Act of Supremacy also forced Henry VIII’s subjects to agree to an oath of loyalty, recognizing his marriage to Anne Boleyn as true (“Act of Supremacy”). This is where Henry VIII’s actions can be debated as tyrannical or untyrannical. The Oxford English Dictionary’s first definition for the word tyrant was, “One who seizes upon the sovereign power in a state without legal right; an absolute ruler; a usurper.” (“A Matter of Judgement”). This definition refers to ruler who rules without the consent of his subjects and without legal boundaries. Henry VIII cannot be called a tyrant under this definition because Henry did not force his rule onto any of his subjects and he did not break any laws of his kingdom. Another definition of tyranny comes from William Thomas in 1548, in the first biography of Henry VIII, who defines tyranny by character, “the immoderate satisfaction of an unlawful appetite, when the person, whether by right or wrong, hath power to achieve his sensual will, and that person, also, who by force draws unto him that which of right is not his.” (“A Matter of Judgement”) It is possible to accuse Henry VIII as a tyrant by these standards because he did disregarded the mental effect of separating England from Rome on his devout Catholic subjects, that would come back to hurt him later on, for his personal needs to annul the marriage with Catharine and marry his beloved Anne Boleyn. It can also be argued, however, that Henry’s actions to separate England from the Pope were because he needed to marry Anne Boleyn to have a male heir, in order to have a successful reign and not leave his subjects in chaos at his death. 

The scholar and curator of research at Hampton Court Palace, Suzannah Lipscomb, calls the year 1536, “annus horribilis.” for HenryVIII (“Who Was Henry?”). The year 1536 held all the ingredients to turn a gracious king into a tempered and volatile monarch. By the time 1536 started, Anne Boleyn had already given birth to princess Elizabeth and was three months pregnant. But, Henry’s accursed year started in January with a serious and detrimental jousting accident. The accident not only knocked the king unconscious, but also opened up an old ulcer in his leg that would cause him pain and torment for the rest of his life (Gammell). So, all of the events that followed in that year, Henry faced with debilitating pain from a smelly and pussy opening on his leg; chronic pain is enough to make anyone depressed, much less a king who was known for his athleticism and who had the responsibility of an entire kingdom on his shoulders. Then shortly after Henry VIII’s life-changing accident, his ex-wife, Catharine of Aragon, died from natural causes on the same day that his current wife, Anne, had a miscarriage of Henry’s long awaited male heir (Gammell). We have already discussed the importance of a male heir for the English throne so, that loss must have been heart-breaking for Henry. But, the death of his ex-wife, whom he was married to for twenty-four years and used to love, on the same day, must have made the whole day earth-shattering for the king. In May of the year, rumors of Anne being an adulteress with her brother, George Boleyn, and other courtiers surfaced and the girl that Henry loved so dearly, was tried and executed (Gammell). Henry had fought so hard for the annulment of his marriage with Catharine of Aragon, going as far as changing the whole religion of England, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, and Henry now believed that she had cheated on him with her own brother and others, so he sentenced her execution. This was another heart-rending event for Henry in 1536, that undoubtedly would have changed his outlook on life to be more pessimistic and his actions crueler, because he felt betrayed by someone he loved most. Henry VIII had a not-so-secret son from a mistress, named Henry Fitzroy, which Henry VIII named Duke of Richmond and Somerset. The young Duke and Henry VIII’s son, died at age seventeen, a few months after the Boleyn incident, leaving Henry with no son at all (Gammell). Now, after the failed attempts of two wives to give Henry a son and heir, his only son from a mistress dies after the already tumultuous events of the year so far; the loss of a child is already enough to drive the sanest person into despair and madness. Rounding the condemned year off, there was an uprising in the north from Catholic rebels who called their cause the Pilgrimage of Grace, after Henry VIII was publicly criticized by his Catholic cousin in Scotland for rejecting the Pope. Henry VIII’s armies were outnumbered by the Pilgrimage and Henry was forced to reach an agreement with the rebels (Gammell). Now, finally, after all of the destructive events that happened in 1536, he is now having to swallow his pride as a strong king and reach an agreement with, whom Henry would have seen as traitors to the crown. So, 1536 birthed the Henry VIII that he is mostly remembered by, an obese, cruel, diseased and, personally tyrannical king. The events that took place in Henry VIII’s personal and political life during 1536 changed his character; Henry VIII was a diverse person, not just one sided.

 In conclusion, Henry VIII possessed qualities that made him a good king of England, he was a strong king that England desired and needed yet, he is still most remembered and shown as the callous king that Henry became after the events in the year 1536. Early in Henry VIII’s reign, he was a gracious and athletic king who was loved and enjoyed by many and, who also had great expectations from courtiers and subjects for what greatness was to come from his reign. Henry did not choose to turn into a mean old man in the second part of his life and reign, but the events that occurred in 1536 caused Henry VIII to be seen as the larger-than-life tyrant he is portrayed as today.
