Henry VIII is the most famous English king. He is recognisable even from his mere silhouette: a wide stance with hands on hip. He is famous for the number of his wives and for making a decision that saw his kingdom turn its back on the Roman Church. His was a court of glittering talent, a place where the internationally famous figure of Sir Thomas More walked the corridors with Thomas Wolsey, a butcher’s son raised to Cardinal. Even the corridors they walked are renowned. From Hampton Court to Whitehall Palace, the Henrician Age saw a blossoming of English interest in art and architecture. The irony is that Henry VIII is regarded these days as a most English king. Yet the second Tudor, the son of a Welsh pretender to the throne, spent his entire reign trying to compete and outdo the other European monarchs. Henry was keen that his court by seen as European and, in most cases, avoided the insularity that would come to dominate English history in the century after his death.
This course will look again at the reign of Henry VIII. We will examine a vast range of sources, written and visual, to reconsider this crucial moment in English history. Henry’s upbringing and education demonstrate that the Tudors were very far from secure on the throne. Henry VIII’s young life was much overshadowed by the trials facing his father and the difficulties in establishing a new dynasty. Henry was never intended for the throne. It was the untimely death of his older brother Arthur that changed his destiny by making him heir and, ultimately, by providing him with a wife, Catherine of Aragon. The early years of Henry’s reign were a golden moment for Tudor England. The Young King was intelligent, glamorous and energetic. With his minister, Cardinal Wolsey, by his side Henry’s England forged a place on the stage of European diplomacy. It would have been impossible to predict what was to come. As Henry grew increasingly anxious about the succession his eye fell on a young noblewoman recently returned from the French court. Anne Boleyn would change the course of Henry’s reign and the shape of English history.
The course will consider the intentions of Henry’s religious changes and the vast upheaval that followed them. The great ruins of England’s abbeys – such as Fountains and Rievaulx – stand as evidence of the harsh physical changes made to the country’s very landscape. Centuries of tradition and practice were cast aside. How did people respond to this? Was it possible to oppose a king like Henry VIII? How popular was he? Finally, the course will examine Henry’s manipulation of image. The King understood the potential impact of art and architecture in constructing an image both for his contemporaries and for posterity. In his lifetime, Henry professed a desire to be known to history as ‘Henry the Great’. The title never materialised. Does this suggest that for all the desire to control his publicity, the violence and brutality of Henry’s reign continues to discolour his reputation?
