Editing Henry VIII

{{Short description|King of England from 1509 to 1547}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Pp-semi-indef}}
{{Pp-move}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Henry VIII
| image        = After Hans Holbein the Younger - Portrait of Henry VIII - Google Art Project.jpg
| caption      = ''[[Portrait of Henry VIII]]'' after [[Hans Holbein the Younger]], {{Circa|1540–1547}}
| alt          = Full-length portrait painting of King Henry VIII
| succession   = [[King of England]]<br/>[[Lord of Ireland|Lord]]/[[King of Ireland]]
| moretext     = ([[Style of the English sovereigns|more...]])
| reign        = {{Nowrap|22 April 1509{{Efn|Henry's [[Regnal years of English and British monarchs|regnal years]] are dated from 22 April.<ref>{{cite book |year=1962 |chapter=Chapter Five: Table of regnal year of English Sovereigns |title=Sweet & Maxwell's Guide to Law Reports and Statutes |edition=Fourth |location=London |publisher=Sweet & Maxwell's Guide |url=https://guides.library.harvard.edu/ld.php?content_id=12548485 |page=27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=C. R. |editor1-last=Cheney |editor1-link=C. R. Cheney |editor2-first=Michael |editor2-last=Jones |editor2-link=Michael Jones (historian) |title=A Handbook of Dates for Students of British History |series=[[Royal Historical Society]] Guides and Handbooks |volume=4 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |edition=Revised |year=2000 |pages=37–38 |isbn=978-0-521-77095-8 }}</ref>}}&nbsp;– 28 January 1547}}
| coronation   = 24 June 1509
| cor-type     = [[Coronation of Henry VIII and Catherine|Coronation]]
| predecessor  = [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]
| successor    = [[Edward VI]]
| birth_date   = 28 June 1491
| birth_place  = [[Palace of Placentia]], Greenwich, England
| death_date   = 28 January 1547 (aged 55)
| death_place  = [[Palace of Whitehall]], Westminster, England
| burial_date  = 16 February 1547
| burial_place = [[St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle]], Berkshire
| issue        = {{Indented plainlist|
* [[Henry, Duke of Cornwall]]
* [[Mary I]]
* [[Elizabeth I]]
* [[Edward VI]]
* [[Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset]] ({{Abbr|ill.|illegitimate}})
}}
| issue-link   = #Wives, mistresses, and children
| issue-pipe   = more...
| house        = [[House of Tudor|Tudor]]
| father       = [[Henry VII of England]]
| mother       = [[Elizabeth of York]]
| religion     = {{Plainlist|
* [[Catholic]] (1491–1534)
* [[Church of England]] (1534–1547)
}}
| spouses      = {{Plainlist|
* {{Marriage|[[Catherine of Aragon]]|11 June 1509|23 May 1533|end={{Abbr|ann.|annulled}}}}
* {{Marriage|[[Anne Boleyn]]|25 January 1533|17 May 1536|end={{Abbr|ann.|annulled}}}}
* {{Marriage|[[Jane Seymour]]|30 May 1536|24 October 1537|end=d}}
* {{Marriage|[[Anne of Cleves]]|6 January 1540|9 July 1540|end={{Abbr|ann.|annulled}}}}
* {{Marriage|[[Catherine Howard]]|28 July 1540|13 February 1542|end=d}}
* {{Marriage|[[Catherine Parr]]|12 July 1543}}
}}
| signature    = HenryVIIISig.svg
}}

'''Henry VIII''' (28 June 1491{{Spnd}}28 January 1547) was [[King of England]] from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his [[Wives of Henry VIII|six marriages]] and his efforts to have his first marriage (to [[Catherine of Aragon]]) [[annulled]]. His disagreement with [[Pope Clement VII]] about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the [[English Reformation]], separating the [[Church of England]] from papal authority. He appointed himself [[Supreme Head of the Church of England]] and [[dissolution of the monasteries|dissolved convents and monasteries]], for which he was [[List of people excommunicated by the Catholic Church|excommunicated]] by the pope.

Born in [[Greenwich]], Henry brought radical changes to the [[Constitution of England]], expanding royal power and ushering in the theory of the [[divine right of kings]] in opposition to [[papal supremacy]]. He frequently used charges of treason and heresy to quell dissent, and those accused were often executed without a formal trial using [[bills of attainder]]. He achieved many of his political aims through his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. [[Thomas Wolsey]], [[Thomas More]], [[Thomas Cromwell]], and [[Thomas Cranmer]] all figured prominently in his administration.

Henry was an extravagant spender, using proceeds from the dissolution of the monasteries and acts of the [[English Reformation Parliament|Reformation Parliament]]. He converted money that was formerly paid to Rome into royal revenue. Despite the money from these sources, he was often on the verge of financial ruin due to personal extravagance and costly and largely unproductive wars, particularly with King [[Francis I of France]], [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]], King [[James V of Scotland]], and the Scottish regency under the [[James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault|Earl of Arran]] and [[Mary of Guise]]. He founded the [[Royal Navy]], oversaw the annexation of Wales to England with the [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542]], and was the first English monarch to rule as [[King of Ireland]] following the [[Crown of Ireland Act 1542]].

Henry's contemporaries considered him an attractive, educated, and accomplished king. He has been described as "one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne" and his reign described as the "most important" in English history.{{Sfn|Guy|2000|p=41}}<ref name="StarkeyWives">{{Cite web |last=Starkey |first=David |author-link=David Starkey |title=The Six Wives of Henry VIII. About the Series. Behind the Scenes |url=https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/sixwives/about/behind_int_starkey2.html |access-date=17 July 2020 |website=Thirteen.org |publisher=PBS}}</ref> He was an author and composer. As he aged, he became severely overweight and his health suffered. He is frequently characterised in his later life as a lustful, egotistical, paranoid, and tyrannical monarch.{{Sfn|Ives|2006|pp=28–36}}{{Sfn|Montefiore|2008|p=129}} He was succeeded by his son [[Edward VI]].

== Early years ==
{{Multiple image|image1=Enrique VII de Inglaterra, por un artista anónimo.jpg|image2=British School, 16th century - Elizabeth of York - Haunted Gallery, Hampton Court Palace.jpg|total_width=350|footer=Henry VIII's parents, [[King Henry VII]] and [[Elizabeth of York|Queen Elizabeth]]}}
Born on 28 June 1491 at the [[Palace of Placentia]] in [[Greenwich]], Kent, Henry Tudor was the third child and second son of King [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] and [[Elizabeth of York]].<ref name="Crofton2006">{{Harvnb|Crofton|2006|p=128}}</ref> Of the young Henry's six (or seven) siblings, only three&nbsp;– his brother [[Arthur, Prince of Wales]], and sisters [[Margaret Tudor|Margaret]] and [[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Mary]]&nbsp;– survived infancy.<ref name="Crofton2006a">{{Harvnb|Crofton|2006|p=129}}</ref> He was baptised by [[Richard Foxe]], the [[Bishop of Exeter]], at a church of the [[Observant Franciscans]] close to the palace.<ref name="scarisbrick3">{{Harvnb|Scarisbrick|1997|p=3}}</ref> In 1493, at the age of two, Henry was appointed [[Constable of Dover Castle]] and [[Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports]]. He was subsequently appointed [[Earl Marshal of England]] and [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]] at age three and was made a [[Knight of the Bath]] soon after. The day after the ceremony, he was created [[Duke of York]] and a month or so later made [[Warden of the Scottish Marches]]. In May 1495, he was appointed to the [[Order of the Garter]]. The reason for giving such appointments to a small child was to enable his father to retain personal control of lucrative positions and not share them with established families.<ref name="scarisbrick3"/> Not much is known about Henry's early life – save for his appointments – because he was not expected to become king,<ref name="scarisbrick3"/> but it is known that he received a first-rate education from leading tutors. He became fluent in Latin and French and learned at least some Italian.{{Sfn|Churchill|1966|p=24}}{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=14–15}}

In November 1501, Henry played a considerable part in the ceremonies surrounding his brother Arthur's marriage to [[Catherine of Aragon|Catherine]], the youngest child of King [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] and Queen [[Isabella I of Castile]].{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=4}} As duke of York, Henry used the [[Coat of arms|arms]] of his father as king, differenced by a ''label of three points ermine''. He was further honoured on 9 February 1506 by [[Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I]], who made him a [[Knight of the Golden Fleece]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Complete Peerage, Volume III |date=1912 |publisher=St Catherine's Press |editor-last=Gibbs |editor-first=Vicary |page=443}} Under Duke of Cornwall, which was his title when he succeeded his brother as Prince of Wales.</ref>

In 1502, Arthur died at the age of 15, just 20 weeks after his marriage to [[Catherine of Aragon]].<ref name="crofton126">{{Harvnb|Crofton|2006|p=126}}</ref> Arthur's death thrust all his duties upon his younger brother. The 10-year-old Henry became the new [[Duke of Cornwall]], and the new [[Prince of Wales]] and [[Earl of Chester]] in February 1504.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=4–5}} Henry VII gave his second son few responsibilities even after the death of Arthur. Young Henry was strictly supervised and did not appear in public. As a result, he ascended the throne "untrained in the exacting art of kingship".{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=6}}

Henry VII renewed his efforts to seal a marital alliance between [[Kingdom of England|England]] and Spain, by offering his son Henry in marriage to the widowed Catherine.<ref name="crofton126"/> Henry VII and Queen Isabella were both keen on the idea, which had arisen very shortly after Arthur's death.<ref name="loades22">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|p=22}}</ref> On 23 June 1503, a treaty was signed for their marriage, and they were betrothed two days later.<ref name="scarisbrick8">{{Harvnb|Scarisbrick|1997|p=8}}</ref> A [[papal dispensation]] was only needed for the "impediment of public honesty" if the marriage had not been [[consummated]] as Catherine and her [[duenna]] claimed, but Henry VII and the Spanish ambassador set out instead to obtain a dispensation for "[[Affinity (Catholic canon law)|affinity]]", which took account of the possibility of consummation.<ref name="scarisbrick8"/> Cohabitation was not possible because Henry was too young.<ref name="loades22"/> Isabella's death in 1504, and the ensuing problems of succession in [[Crown of Castile|Castile]], complicated matters. Ferdinand II preferred Catherine to stay in England, but Henry VII's relations with Ferdinand had deteriorated.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=22–23}} Catherine was therefore left in limbo for some time, culminating in Prince Henry's rejection of the marriage as soon he was able, at the age of 14. Ferdinand's solution was to make his daughter ambassador, allowing her to stay in England indefinitely. Devout, she began to believe that it was God's will that she marry the Prince despite his opposition.<ref name="Loades2009">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|p=23}}</ref>

== Early reign ==
[[File:HenryVIII 1509.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Portrait by [[Meynnart Wewyck]], 1509]]
Henry VII died in April 1509, and the 17-year-old Henry succeeded him as king.<ref>{{harvnb|Loades|2009|p=17|quote=When Henry VII died, on 22 April 1509, the auguries for the new reign were good.}}; {{harvnb|Pollard|1905|p=43|quote=the old King lay sick in April, 1509 ... On the 22nd he was dead.}}; {{harvnb|Scarisbrick|1968|pp=11–12|quote=But on 22 April 1509 the old king lay dead in Richmond Palace. His son was at his bedside. ... he came to the Tower amidst the trumpets and rejoicing on that 23 April, the second day of his reign}}</ref> Soon after his father's burial on 10 May, Henry suddenly declared that he would indeed marry Catherine, leaving unresolved several issues concerning the papal dispensation and a missing part of the [[marriage portion]].<ref name="scarisbrick8"/><ref name="loades24">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|p=24}}</ref> The new king maintained that it had been his father's dying wish that he marry Catherine.<ref name="Loades2009"/> Whether or not this was true, it was convenient. Emperor Maximilian I had been attempting to marry his granddaughter [[Eleanor of Austria|Eleanor]], Catherine's niece, to Henry; she had now been jilted.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=12}} Henry's wedding to Catherine was modest and was held at the friars' church in Greenwich on 11 June 1509.<ref name="loades24"/> Henry claimed descent from [[Constantine the Great]] and [[King Arthur]] and saw himself as their successor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stewart |first=James Mottram |title=Empire and Nation in Early English Renaissance Literature |date=2008 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-8438-4182-1 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XGXVO8aOg1QC&pg=PA17 17] |oclc=213307973 |ol=23187213M}}</ref>

On 23 June 1509, Henry led the now 23-year-old Catherine from the [[Tower of London]] to [[Westminster Abbey]] for [[Coronation of Henry VIII and Catherine|their coronation]], which took place the following day.<ref name="scarisbrick1819">{{Harvnb|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=18–19}}</ref> It was a grand affair: the King's passage was lined with tapestries and laid with fine cloth.<ref name="scarisbrick1819"/> Following the ceremony, there was a grand banquet in [[Westminster Hall]].{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=19}} As Catherine wrote to her father, "our time is spent in continuous festival".<ref name="loades24"/>

Two days after his coronation, Henry arrested his father's two most unpopular ministers, [[Richard Empson]] and [[Edmund Dudley]]. They were charged with [[high treason]] and were executed in 1510. Politically motivated executions would remain one of Henry's primary tactics for dealing with those who stood in his way.<ref name="Crofton2006"/> Henry returned some of the money supposedly extorted by the two ministers.{{Sfn|Hall|1904|p=17}} By contrast, Henry's view of the [[House of York]] – potential rival claimants for the throne – was more moderate than his father's had been. Several who had been imprisoned by his father, including [[Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset]], were pardoned.{{Sfn|Starkey|2008|pp=304–306}} Others went unreconciled; [[Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk]] was eventually beheaded in 1513, an execution prompted by his brother [[Richard de la Pole|Richard]] siding against the King.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=31–32}}

Soon after marrying Henry, Catherine conceived. She gave birth to a [[stillborn]] girl on 31 January 1510. About four months later, Catherine again became pregnant.<ref name="loades26">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|p=26}}</ref> On 1 January 1511, New Year's Day, a son [[Henry, Duke of Cornwall|Henry]] was born. After the grief of losing their first child, the couple were pleased to have a boy and festivities were held,{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=18}} including a two-day [[joust]] known as the [[1511 Westminster Tournament Roll|Westminster Tournament]]. However, the child died seven weeks later.<ref name="loades26"/> Catherine had two stillborn sons in 1513 and 1515, but gave birth in February 1516 to a girl, [[Mary I of England|Mary]]. Relations between Henry and Catherine had been strained, but they eased slightly after Mary's birth.<ref name="loades4849">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|pp=48–49}}</ref>

Although Henry's marriage to Catherine has since been described as "unusually good",{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=103}} it is known that Henry took mistresses. It was revealed in 1510 that Henry had been conducting an affair with one of the sisters of [[Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham]], either Elizabeth or [[Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon]].{{Sfn|Hart|2009|p=27}} The most significant mistress for about three years, starting in 1516, was [[Elizabeth Blount]].<ref name="loades4849"/> Blount is one of only two completely undisputed mistresses, considered by some to be few for a virile young king.<ref name="Fraser1994">{{Harvnb|Fraser|1994|p=220}}</ref><ref name="loades4748">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|pp=47–48}}</ref> Exactly how many Henry had is disputed: [[David Loades]] believes Henry had mistresses "only to a very limited extent",<ref name="loades4748"/> whilst [[Alison Weir]] believes there were numerous other affairs.<ref name="Weir">{{Harvnb|Weir|1991|pp=122–123}}</ref> Catherine is not known to have protested. In 1518, she fell pregnant again with another girl, who was also stillborn.<ref name="loades4849"/>

Blount gave birth in June 1519 to Henry's illegitimate son, [[Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset|Henry FitzRoy]].<ref name="loades4849"/> The young boy was made Duke of Richmond in June 1525 in what some thought was one step on the path to his eventual legitimisation.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=98,&nbsp;104}} FitzRoy married [[Mary FitzRoy, Duchess of Richmond and Somerset|Mary Howard]] in 1533, but died childless three years later.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|page=255}} At the time of his death in July 1536, [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] was considering the [[Second Succession Act]], which could have allowed him to become king.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=255,&nbsp;271}}

== France and the Habsburgs ==
[[File:British - Field of the Cloth of Gold - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|The meeting of Francis I and Henry VIII at the [[Field of the Cloth of Gold]] in 1520]]

In 1510, [[Kingdom of France|France]], with a fragile alliance with the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in the [[League of Cambrai]], was winning a war against [[Republic of Venice|Venice]]. Henry renewed his father's friendship with [[Louis XII of France]], an issue that divided his council. Certainly, war with the combined might of the two powers would have been exceedingly difficult.<ref name="Loades27">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|p=27}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, however, Henry also signed a pact with Ferdinand II of Aragon. After [[Pope Julius II]] created the anti-French [[War of the League of Cambrai#Holy League|Holy League]] in October 1511,<ref name="Loades27"/> Henry followed Ferdinand's lead and brought England into the new League. An initial joint Anglo-Spanish attack was planned for the spring to recover [[Aquitaine]] for England, the start of making Henry's [[English claims to the French throne|dreams of ruling France]] a reality.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=27–28}} The attack, however, following a formal declaration of war in April 1512, was not led by Henry personally<ref name="Scarisbrick2831">{{Harvnb|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=28–231}}</ref> and was a considerable failure; Ferdinand used it simply to further his own ends, and it strained the Anglo-Spanish alliance. Nevertheless, the French were pushed out of Italy soon after, and the alliance survived, with both parties keen to win further victories over the French.<ref name="Scarisbrick2831"/>{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=30–32}} Henry then pulled off a diplomatic coup by convincing Emperor Maximilian to join the Holy League.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|p=62}} Remarkably, Henry had secured the promised title of "[[Most Christian King]] of France" from Julius and possibly coronation by the Pope himself in Paris, if only Louis could be defeated.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=33–34}}

[[File:Henry VIII with Charles Quint and Pope Leon X circa 1520.jpg|thumb|left|Henry (left) with [[Pope Leo X]] (centre) and [[Emperor Charles V]] (right); painting by unknown artist {{circa|1520}}]]

On 30 June 1513, Henry invaded France, and his troops defeated a French army at the [[Battle of the Spurs]] – a relatively minor result, but one which was seized on by the English for propaganda purposes. Soon after, the English took [[Thérouanne]] (handing it over to Maximilian){{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=62–63}} and [[Tournai]], a more significant settlement, which it kept for five years before handing it back to the French.<ref name=mayer>{{cite journal |last1=Mayer |first1=T. F. |title=Tournai and Tyranny: Imperial Kingship and Critical Humanism |journal=The Historical Journal |date=1991 |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=257–277 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2639498 |issn=0018-246X}}</ref> Henry had led the army personally, complete with a large entourage.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=35–36}} His absence from the country, however, had prompted his brother-in-law [[James IV of Scotland]] to invade England at the behest of Louis.{{Sfn|Guicciardini|1968|p=280}} Nevertheless, the English army, overseen by Queen Catherine, decisively defeated the Scots at the [[Battle of Flodden]] on 9 September 1513.<ref name="loades63">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|p=63}}</ref> Among the dead was the Scottish king, thus ending [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]]'s brief involvement in the war.<ref name="loades63"/> These campaigns had given Henry a taste of the military success he so desired. However, despite initial indications, he decided not to pursue a 1514 campaign. He had been supporting Ferdinand and Maximilian financially during the campaign but had received little in return; England's coffers were now empty.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=65–66}} With the replacement of Julius by [[Pope Leo X]], who was inclined to negotiate for peace with France, Henry signed his own treaty with Louis: his sister [[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Mary]] would become Louis's wife, having previously been pledged to the younger Charles, and peace was secured for eight years, a remarkably long time.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=66–67}}
[[File:Flemish School, 16th century - The Meeting of Henry VIII and the Emperor Maximilian I - RCIN 405800 - Royal Collection.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Flemish painting showing the encounter between Henry and Emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]] in 1513. In the background is depicted the [[Battle of the Spurs]] against [[Louis XII]] of France.]]

[[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], the nephew of Henry's wife Catherine, inherited a large empire in Europe, becoming [[king of Spain]] in 1516 and [[Holy Roman Emperor]] in 1519. When Louis XII of France died in 1515, he was succeeded by his cousin [[Francis I of France|Francis I]].{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=67–68}} These accessions left three relatively young rulers and an opportunity for a clean slate. The careful diplomacy of Cardinal [[Thomas Wolsey]] had resulted in the [[Treaty of London (1518)]], aimed at uniting the kingdoms of western Europe in the wake of a new [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] threat, and it seemed that peace might be secured.<ref name="loades6869">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|pp=68–69}}</ref> Henry met King Francis on 7 June 1520 at the [[Field of the Cloth of Gold]] near [[Calais]] for a fortnight of lavish entertainment. Both hoped for friendly relations in place of the wars of the previous decade. The strong air of competition laid to rest any hopes of a renewal of the Treaty of London, however, and conflict was inevitable.<ref name="loades6869"/> Henry had more in common with Charles, whom he met once before and once after Francis. Charles brought his realms into war with France in 1521; Henry offered to mediate, but little was achieved and by the end of the year Henry had aligned England with Charles. He still clung to his previous aim of restoring English lands in France but sought to secure an alliance with the [[Habsburg Netherlands|Netherlands]], then a territorial possession of Charles, and the continued support of the Emperor.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|p=69}} A small English attack in the north of France made up little ground. Charles [[Battle of Pavia|defeated and captured Francis at Pavia]] and could dictate peace, but he believed he owed Henry nothing. Sensing this, Henry decided to take England out of the war before his ally, signing the [[Treaty of the More]] on 30 August 1525.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=70–71}}

== Marriages ==
{{Main|Wives of Henry VIII}}
{{Family tree of the Wives of Henry VIII}}

=== Annulment from Catherine ===
{{Stack|
[[File:Catalina de Aragón, palacio de Lambeth.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Catherine of Aragon]], Henry's first queen, {{circa|1520}}]]
[[File:1491 Henry VIII.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Portrait of Henry VIII by [[Joos van Cleve]], {{circa|1531}}]]
}}
During his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry conducted an affair with [[Mary Boleyn]], Catherine's [[lady-in-waiting]]. There has been speculation that Mary's two children, [[Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon|Henry Carey]] and [[Catherine Carey]], were fathered by Henry but this has never been proven. King Henry never acknowledged them as he did in the case of Henry FitzRoy.{{Sfn|Cruz|Suzuki|2009|p=132}} In 1525, as Henry grew more impatient with Catherine's inability to produce the [[male heir]] he desired,{{Sfn|Smith|1971|p=70}}<ref name="crofton51">{{Harvnb|Crofton|2006|p=51}}</ref> he became enamoured of Mary Boleyn's sister, [[Anne Boleyn]], then a charismatic young woman of 25 in the Queen's entourage.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=154}} Anne, however, resisted his attempts to seduce her, and refused to become his mistress as her sister had.{{Sfn|Weir|2002|p=160}}{{Efn|For arguments in favour of the contrasting view – i.e. that Henry himself initiated the period of abstinence, potentially after a brief affair – see {{Cite book |last=Bernard |first=G. W. |url=https://archive.org/details/anneboleynfatala00bern |title=Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions |date=2010 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-3001-6245-5 |url-access=registration}}.<ref name="gunn"/>}} It was in this context that Henry considered his three options for finding a dynastic successor and hence resolving what came to be described at court as the [[King's "great matter"]]. These options were legitimising Henry FitzRoy, which would need the involvement of the Pope and would be open to challenge; marrying off Mary, his daughter with Catherine, as soon as possible and hoping for a grandson to inherit directly, but Mary was considered unlikely to conceive before Henry's death, or somehow rejecting Catherine and marrying someone else of child-bearing age. Probably seeing the possibility of marrying Anne, the third was ultimately the most attractive possibility to the 34-year-old Henry,{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=88–89}} and it soon became the King's absorbing desire to annul his marriage to the now 40-year-old Catherine.{{Sfn|Brigden|2000|p=114}}

[[File:Henryviiiannulmentverdict.jpg|thumb|left|The annulment verdict given by Thomas Cranmer, 1533]]Henry's precise motivations and intentions over the coming years are not widely agreed on.<ref name="elton103"/> Henry himself, at least in the early part of his reign, was a devout and well-informed Catholic to the extent that his 1521 publication ''[[Assertio Septem Sacramentorum]]'' ("Defence of the Seven Sacraments") earned him the title of ''[[Fidei Defensor]]'' (Defender of the Faith) from Pope Leo X.<ref name="elton75">{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|pp=75–76}}</ref> The work represented a staunch defence of papal supremacy, albeit one couched in somewhat contingent terms.<ref name="elton75"/> It is not clear exactly when Henry changed his mind on the issue as he grew more intent on a second marriage. Certainly, by 1527, he had convinced himself that Catherine had produced no male heir because their union was "blighted in the eyes of God".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=Roderick |title=Untying the Knot: A Short History of Divorce |date=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5214-2370-0}}</ref> Indeed, in marrying Catherine, his brother's wife, he had acted contrary to [[Leviticus]] 20:21, a justification [[Thomas Cranmer]] used to declare the marriage null.<ref name="Cole2015">{{Cite book |last=Cole |first=William Graham |title=Sex in Christianity and Psychoanalysis |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-3173-5977-7 |language=English}}</ref>{{Efn|"And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless."}} [[Martin Luther]], on the other hand, had initially argued against the annulment, stating that Henry VIII could take a second wife in accordance with his teaching that the Bible allowed for [[polygamy]] but not [[divorce]].<ref name="Cole2015"/> Henry now believed the Pope had lacked the authority to grant a dispensation from this impediment. It was this argument Henry took to [[Pope Clement VII]] in 1527 in the hope of having his marriage to Catherine annulled, forgoing at least one less openly defiant line of attack.<ref name="elton103"/> In going public, all hope of tempting Catherine to retire to a nunnery or otherwise stay quiet was lost.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=91–92}} Henry sent his secretary, [[William Knight (bishop)|William Knight]], to appeal directly to the [[Holy See]] by way of a deceptively worded draft papal bull. Knight was unsuccessful; the Pope could not be misled so easily.<ref name="Elton109">{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|pp=109–111}}</ref>

Other missions concentrated on arranging an ecclesiastical court to meet in England, with a representative from Clement VII. Although Clement agreed to the creation of such a court, he never had any intention of empowering his legate, [[Lorenzo Campeggio]], to decide in Henry's favour.<ref name="Elton109"/> This bias was perhaps the result of pressure from Emperor Charles V, but it is not clear how far this influenced either Campeggio or the Pope. After less than two months of hearing evidence, Clement called the case back to Rome in July 1529, from which it was clear that it would never re-emerge.<ref name="Elton109"/> With the chance for an [[annulment]] lost, Cardinal Wolsey bore the blame. He was charged with ''[[praemunire]]'' in October 1529,<ref name="Lockyer2014">{{Cite book |last=Lockyer |first=Roger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a22hAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |title=Tudor and Stuart Britain: 1485–1714 |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-3178-6882-8 |page=46 |quote=The king had no further use for Wolsey, who had failed to procure the annulment of his marriage, and he summoned Parliament in order that an [[act of attainder]] should be passed against the cardinal. The act was not needed, however, for Wolsey had also been commanded to appear before the common-law judges and answer the charge that by publishing his bulls of appointment as papal legate he had infringed the Statute of Praemunire. |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref> and his fall from grace was "sudden and total".<ref name="Elton109"/> Briefly reconciled with Henry (and officially pardoned) in the first half of 1530, he was charged once more in November 1530, this time for treason, but died while awaiting trial.<ref name="Elton109"/>{{Sfn|Haigh|1993|pp=92ff}} After a short period in which Henry took government upon his own shoulders,{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=116}} [[Thomas More]] took on the role of [[Lord Chancellor]] and chief minister. Intelligent and able, but a devout Catholic and opponent of the annulment,<ref name="Losch2002">{{Cite book |last=Losch |first=Richard R. |title=The Many Faces of Faith: A Guide to World Religions and Christian Traditions |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-8028-0521-8 |page=106}}</ref> More initially cooperated with the King's new policy, denouncing Wolsey in Parliament.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=123}}

A year later, Catherine was banished from court, and her rooms were given to Anne Boleyn. Anne was an unusually educated and intellectual woman for her time and was keenly absorbed and engaged with the ideas of the Protestant Reformers, but the extent to which she herself was a committed Protestant is much debated.<ref name="gunn"/> When [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] [[William Warham]] died, Anne's influence and the need to find a trustworthy supporter of the annulment had Thomas Cranmer appointed to the vacant position.<ref name="Losch2002"/> This was approved by the Pope, unaware of the King's nascent plans for the Church.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=175–176}}

=== Marriage to Anne Boleyn ===
{{See also|Henry VIII#Reformation}}
[[File:AnneBoleynHever.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Portrait of [[Anne Boleyn]], Henry's second queen; a copy of a lost original painted around 1534]]
In the winter of 1532, Henry met with Francis I at Calais and enlisted Francis's support for his new marriage.{{Sfn|Williams|1971|p=123}} Immediately upon returning to [[Dover]] in England, Henry, now 41, and Anne went through a secret wedding service.{{Sfn|Starkey|2003|pp=462–464}} She soon became pregnant, and there was a second wedding service in London on 25 January 1533. On 23 May 1533, Cranmer, sitting in judgment at a special court convened at [[Dunstable Priory]] to rule on the validity of the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, declared the marriage of Henry and Catherine null and void. Five days later, on 28 May 1533, Cranmer declared the marriage of Henry and Anne to be valid.{{Sfn|Williams|1971|p=124}} Catherine was formally stripped of her title as queen, becoming instead "princess dowager" as the widow of Arthur. In her place, [[Coronation of Anne Boleyn|Anne was crowned queen]] on 1 June 1533.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=178}} The Queen gave birth to a daughter slightly prematurely on 7 September 1533. The child was christened [[Elizabeth I|Elizabeth]], in honour of Henry's mother, Elizabeth of York.{{Sfn|Williams|1971|pp=128–131}}

Following the marriage, there was a period of consolidation, taking the form of a series of statutes of the [[English Reformation Parliament|Reformation Parliament]] aimed at finding solutions to any remaining issues, whilst protecting the new reforms from challenge, convincing the public of their legitimacy, and exposing and dealing with opponents.{{Sfn|Bernard|2005|pp=68–71}} Although the [[canon law]] was dealt with at length by Cranmer and others, these acts were advanced by [[Thomas Cromwell]], [[Thomas Audley]] and [[Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk]] and indeed by Henry himself.{{Sfn|Bernard|2005|p=68}} With this process complete, in May 1532 More resigned as Lord Chancellor, leaving Cromwell as Henry's chief minister.{{Sfn|Williams|1971|p=136}} With the [[Act of Succession 1533]], Catherine's daughter, Mary, was declared illegitimate; Henry's marriage to Anne was declared legitimate; and Anne's [[issue (genealogy)|issue]] declared to be next in the line of succession.{{Sfn|Bernard|2005|p=69}} With the [[Acts of Supremacy]] in 1534, Parliament recognised the King's status as [[Supreme Governor of the Church of England|head of the church in England]] and, together with the [[Act in Restraint of Appeals]] in 1532, abolished the right of appeal to Rome.{{Sfn|Bernard|2005|pp=69–71}} It was only then that Pope Clement VII took the step of [[Excommunication in the Catholic Church|excommunicating]] the King and Cranmer, although the excommunication was not made official until some time later.{{Efn|On 11 July 1533 Pope Clement VII 'pronounced sentence against the King, declaring him excommunicated unless he put away the woman he had taken to wife, and took back his Queen during the whole of October next.'<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=77584 |chapter=Henry VIII: Appendix |date=1882 |title=Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 6: 1533 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |editor-last=Gairdner |editor-first=James |access-date=9 November 2014 |editor-link=James Gairdner}}</ref> Clement died on 25 September 1534. On 30 August 1535 the new pope, [[Paul III]], drew up a bull of excommunication which began 'Eius qui immobilis'.{{Sfn|Churchill|1966|page=51}}<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=75665 |chapter=Henry VIII: August 1535, 26–31 |date=1886 |title=Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 9: August–December 1535 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |editor-last=Gairdner |editor-first=James  |access-date=9 November 2014 |editor-link=James Gairdner}}</ref> [[G. R. Elton]] puts the date the bull was made official as November 1538.<ref name="elton282"/> On 17 December 1538 Pope Paul III issued a further bull which began 'Cum redemptor noster', renewing the execution of the bull of 30 August 1535, which had been suspended in hope of his amendment.<ref name="Scarisbrick361"/><ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=75813 |chapter=Henry VIII: December 1538 16–20 |date=1893 |title=Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 13 Part 2: August–December 1538 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |editor-last=Gairdner |editor-first=James  |access-date=9 November 2014 |editor-link=James Gairdner}}</ref> Both bulls are printed by Bishop Burnet, History of the Reformation of the Church of England, 1865 edition, Volume 4, pp. 318ff and in Bullarum, diplomatum et privilegiorum sanctorum Romanorum pontificum Taurinensis (1857) Volume VI, p. 195}}

The King and Queen were not pleased with married life. They enjoyed periods of calm and affection, but Anne refused to play the submissive role expected of her. The vivacity and opinionated intellect that had made her so attractive as an illicit lover made her too independent for the largely ceremonial role of a royal wife and it made her many enemies. For his part, Henry disliked Anne's constant irritability and violent temper. After a [[false pregnancy]] or [[miscarriage]] in 1534, he saw her failure to give him a son as a betrayal. As early as Christmas 1534, Henry was discussing with Cranmer and Cromwell the chances of leaving Anne without having to return to Catherine.{{Sfn|Williams|1971|p=138}} Henry is traditionally believed to have had an affair with [[Madge Shelton]] in 1535, although historian [[Antonia Fraser]] argues that Henry in fact had an affair with her sister [[Mary Shelton]].<ref name="Fraser1994"/>

Opposition to Henry's religious policies was at first quickly suppressed in England. Some dissenting monks, including the first [[Carthusian Martyrs of London|Carthusian Martyrs]], were executed and many more [[pilloried]]. The most prominent resisters included [[John Fisher]], Bishop of Rochester, and Thomas More, both of whom refused to take the [[Oath of Supremacy]] to the King.<ref name="elton192"/> Neither Henry nor Cromwell sought at that stage to have the men executed; rather, they hoped that the two might change their minds and save themselves. Fisher openly rejected Henry as the Supreme Head of the Church, but More was careful to avoid openly breaking the [[Treasons Act 1534]], which (unlike later acts) did not forbid mere silence. Both men were subsequently convicted of high treason, however – More on the evidence of a single conversation with [[Richard Rich]], the [[Solicitor General for England and Wales|Solicitor General]] – and both were executed in the summer of 1535.<ref name="elton192">{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|pp=192–194}}</ref>

These suppressions, as well as the [[Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535]], in turn, contributed to a more general resistance to Henry's reforms, most notably in the [[Pilgrimage of Grace]], a large uprising in northern England in October 1536.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=262–263}} Some 20,000 to 40,000 rebels were led by [[Robert Aske (political leader)|Robert Aske]], together with parts of the northern nobility.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=260}} Henry VIII promised the rebels he would pardon them and thanked them for raising the issues. Aske told the rebels they had been successful and they could disperse and go home.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=261}} Henry saw the rebels as traitors and did not feel obliged to keep his promises to them, so when further violence occurred after Henry's offer of a pardon he was quick to break his promise of clemency.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=261–262}} The leaders, including Aske, were arrested and executed for treason. In total, about 200 rebels were executed, and the disturbances ended.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=262}}

==== Execution of Anne Boleyn ====
[[File:Hans Holbein, the Younger, Around 1497-1543 - Portrait of Henry VIII of England - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|Portrait by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]], {{circa|1537}}]]
On 8 January 1536, news reached the King and Queen that Catherine of Aragon had died. The following day, Henry dressed all in yellow, with a white feather in his bonnet.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Licence |first=Amy |title=Catherine of Aragon: An Intimate Life of Henry VIII's True Wife |date=2017 |publisher=[[Amberley Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4456-5670-0 |chapter=Dark Days |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLFNDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT486}}</ref> Queen Anne was pregnant again, and she was aware that there might be consequences if she failed to give birth to a son. Later that month, the King was thrown from his horse in a tournament and was badly injured; it seemed for a time that his life was in danger. When news of this accident reached the Queen, she was sent into shock and miscarried a male child at about 15 weeks' gestation, on the day of Catherine's funeral, 29 January 1536.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=348}} For most observers, this personal loss was the beginning of the end of this royal marriage.{{Sfn|Williams|1971|p=141}}

Although the Boleyn family still held important positions on the [[Privy Council of England|Privy Council]], Anne had many enemies, including [[Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk]]. Even her own uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, had come to resent her attitude to her power. The Boleyns preferred France over the Emperor as a potential ally, but the King's favour had swung towards the latter (partly because of Cromwell), damaging the family's influence.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=250–251}} Also opposed to Anne were supporters of reconciliation with Princess Mary (among them the former supporters of Catherine), who had reached maturity. A second annulment was now a real possibility, although it is commonly believed that it was Cromwell's anti-Boleyn influence that led opponents to look for a way of having her executed.<ref name="Wilson2012">{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Derek |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2e7Uba9Q88C&pg=PT92 |title=A Brief History of the English Reformation |publisher=Constable & Robinson |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-8490-1825-8 |page=92 |quote=Cromwell, with his usual single-minded (and ruthless) efficiency, organised the interrogation of the accused, their trials and their executions. Cranmer was absolutely shattered by the 'revelation' of the queen's misdeeds. He wrote to the King expressing his difficulty in believing her guilt. But he fell into line and pronounced the annulment of Henry's second marriage on the grounds of Anne's pre-contract to another. |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref>{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=252–253}}

Anne's downfall came shortly after she had recovered from her final miscarriage. Whether it was primarily the result of allegations of conspiracy, adultery, or witchcraft remains a matter of debate among historians.<ref name="gunn">{{Cite web |last=Gunn |first=Steven |date=September 2010 |title=Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions (review) |url=http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/967 |access-date=5 April 2013 |publisher=Reviews in History |author-link=Steven Gunn (historian)}}</ref> Early signs of a fall from grace included the King's new mistress, the 28-year-old [[Jane Seymour]], being moved into new quarters,{{Sfn|Williams|1971|p=142}} and Anne's brother, [[George Boleyn]], being refused the [[Order of the Garter]], which was instead given to [[Nicholas Carew (courtier)|Nicholas Carew]].{{Sfn|Ives|2005|p=306}} Between 30 April and 2 May, five men, including George Boleyn, were arrested on charges of treasonable adultery and accused of having sexual relationships with the Queen. Anne was arrested, accused of treasonous adultery and incest. Although the evidence against them was unconvincing, the accused were found guilty and condemned to death. On 17 May 1536, Henry and Anne's marriage was annulled by Archbishop Cranmer at [[Lambeth Palace]] and the accused men were executed.{{Sfn|Weir|1991|p=332}}{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=253}} Cranmer appears to have had difficulty finding grounds for an annulment and probably based it on the prior liaison between Henry and Anne's sister Mary, which in canon law meant that Henry's marriage to Anne was, like his first marriage, within a forbidden degree of affinity and therefore void.{{Sfn|Weir|1991|p=330}} At 8&nbsp;am on 19 May 1536, Anne was executed on [[Tower Green]].{{Sfn|Hibbert|Weinreb|Keay|Keay|2010|p=60}}

=== Marriage to Jane Seymour; domestic and foreign affairs ===
{{Multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Hans Holbein the Younger - Jane Seymour, Queen of England - Google Art Project.jpg
| width1 = 158
| image2 = Family of Henry VIII c 1545 detail.jpg
| width2 = 200
| footer = [[Jane Seymour]] (left) was Henry's third wife. She is pictured (right) with Henry and the young [[Edward VI|Prince Edward]] in a painting by an unknown artist; by the time this painting was completed, {{circa|1545}}, Henry was already married to his sixth wife, [[Catherine Parr]].
}}

The day after Anne's execution, the 45-year-old Henry became engaged to Seymour, who had been one of the Queen's [[ladies-in-waiting]]. They were married ten days later{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=350}} at the [[Palace of Whitehall]], [[Whitehall]], London, in Anne's closet, by [[Stephen Gardiner]], [[Bishop of Winchester]].{{Sfn|Weir|2002|p=344}}

With Charles V distracted by the internal politics of his many kingdoms and external threats, and Henry and Francis on relatively good terms, domestic and not foreign policy issues had been Henry's priority in the first half of the 1530s. In 1536, for example, Henry granted his assent to the [[Laws in Wales Act 1535]], which legally annexed [[Wales]], uniting England and Wales into a single nation. This was followed by the [[Second Succession Act]] (the Succession to the Crown Act 1536), which declared Henry's children by Jane to be next in the line of succession and declared both Mary and Elizabeth illegitimate, thus excluding them from the throne. The King was granted the power to further determine the line of succession in his will, should he have no further issue.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=350–351}}

On 12 October 1537, Jane gave birth to a son, Prince Edward, the future [[Edward VI]].{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=353}} The birth was difficult, and Queen Jane died on 24 October 1537 from an infection and was buried in Windsor.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=355}} The euphoria that had accompanied Edward's birth became sorrow, but it was only over time that Henry came to long for his wife. At the time, Henry recovered quickly from the shock.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|page=275}} Measures were immediately put in place to find another wife for Henry, which, at the insistence of Cromwell and the Privy Council, were focused on the European continent.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=355–256}}

In 1538, as part of the negotiation of a secret treaty by Cromwell with Charles V, a series of dynastic marriages were proposed: Mary would marry a son of King [[John III of Portugal]], Elizabeth would marry one of the sons of King [[Ferdinand I of Hungary]] and the infant Edward would marry one of Charles's daughters. It was suggested the widowed Henry might marry [[Christina, Dowager Duchess of Milan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry VIII: February 1538, 11–15 Pages 88–100 Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 13 Part 1, January–July 1538 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol13/no1/pp88-100 |access-date=11 December 2022 |website=British History Online |publisher=HMSO 1892}}</ref> However, when Charles and Francis made peace in January 1539, Henry became increasingly paranoid, perhaps as a result of receiving a constant list of threats to the kingdom (real or imaginary, minor or serious) supplied by Cromwell in his role as spymaster.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=72–73}} Enriched by the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry used some of his financial reserves to build a [[Device Forts|series of coastal defences]] and set some aside for use in the event of a Franco-German invasion.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=74–75}}

=== Marriage to Anne of Cleves ===
[[File:Anne de Clèves - Hans Holbein le Jeune - Musée du Louvre Peintures INV 1348 ; MR 756 - version 2.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.75|''Portrait of [[Anne of Cleves]]'' by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]], 1539]]
Having considered the matter, Cromwell suggested [[Anne of Cleves|Anne]], the 25-year-old sister of [[William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg]], who was seen as an important ally in case of a Roman Catholic attack on England, for the Duke fell between [[Lutheranism]] and [[Catholicism]].{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=368–369}} Other potential brides included Christina of Denmark, [[Anna of Lorraine]], Louise of Guise and [[Amalia of Cleves]]. [[Hans Holbein the Younger]] was dispatched to Cleves to paint a portrait of Anne for the King.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=369–370}} Despite speculation that Holbein painted her in an overly flattering light, it is more likely that the portrait was accurate; Holbein remained in favour at court.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=373–374}} After seeing Holbein's portrait, and urged on by the complimentary description of Anne given by his courtiers, the 49-year-old King agreed to wed Anne.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=373–375}}

When Henry met Anne, however, he was much displeased with her appearance. The King was reportedly taken aback and told his courtiers "I promise you, I see no such thing as hath been shown me of her, by pictures and report. I am ashamed that men have praised her as they have done, and I love her not!"<ref name="Weir" /> Despite his protests, Henry knew that the situation was too far gone and he would have to wed his bride.

The marriage took place in January 1540, but it was never consummated. The morning after their wedding night, Henry complained about his new wife to Cromwell, stating:{{Sfn|Weir|1991|p=406}}

{{Blockquote|text=Surely, my lord, I liked her before not well, but now I like her much worse! She is nothing fair, and have very evil smells about her. I took her to be no maid by reason of the closeness of her breasts and other tokens, which, when I felt them, strake me so to the heart, that I had neither will nor courage to prove the rest. I can have none appetite for displeasant airs. I have left her as good a maid and I found her.|source=}}

Henry wished to annul the marriage as soon as possible so he could marry another.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=370}}<ref name="elton289">{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=289}}</ref> Anne did not argue, and confirmed that the marriage had never been consummated.<ref name="scarisbrick373">{{Harvnb|Scarisbrick|1997|p=373}}</ref> Anne's previous betrothal to [[Francis I, Duke of Lorraine|Francis of Lorraine]] provided further grounds for the annulment.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=372–373}} The marriage was subsequently dissolved in July 1540, and Anne received the title of "The King's Sister", two houses, and a generous allowance.<ref name="scarisbrick373" />

=== Marriage to Catherine Howard (and fall of Thomas Cromwell) ===
[[File:Hans Holbein the Younger - Portrait of a Lady, perhaps Katherine Howard (Royal Collection).JPG|thumb|Portrait of a woman believed to be [[Catherine Howard]], Henry's fifth wife, by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]], 1540]]

It was soon clear that Henry had fallen for the 17-year-old [[Catherine Howard]], the Duke of Norfolk's niece. This worried Cromwell, for Norfolk was his political opponent.<ref name="elton289291">{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|pp=289–291}}</ref>

Shortly after, the religious reformers (and protégés of Cromwell) [[Robert Barnes (martyr)|Robert Barnes]], [[William Jerome (martyr)|William Jerome]] and [[Thomas Garret]] were burned as heretics.<ref name="scarisbrick373"/> Cromwell, meanwhile, fell out of favour although it is unclear exactly why, for there is little evidence of differences in domestic or foreign policy. Despite his role, he was never formally accused of being responsible for Henry's failed marriage.<ref name="scarisbrick367377">{{Harvnb|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=376–377}}</ref> Cromwell was now surrounded by enemies at court, with Norfolk also able to draw on his niece Catherine's position.<ref name="elton289291"/> Cromwell was charged with treason, selling export licences, granting passports, and drawing up commissions without permission, and may also have been blamed for the failure of the foreign policy that accompanied the attempted marriage to Anne.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=378–379}}{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=290}} He was subsequently [[attainted]] and beheaded.<ref name="scarisbrick367377"/>

On 28 July 1540 (the same day Cromwell was executed), Henry married the young Catherine Howard, a first cousin and lady-in-waiting of Anne Boleyn.{{Sfn|Farquhar|2001|p=75}} He was delighted with his new queen and awarded her the lands of Cromwell and a vast array of jewellery.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=430}} Soon after the marriage, however, Queen Catherine had an affair with the courtier [[Thomas Culpeper]]. She also employed [[Francis Dereham]], who had previously been informally engaged to her and had an affair with her prior to her marriage, as her secretary. The Privy Council was informed of her affair with Dereham whilst Henry was away; Thomas Cranmer was dispatched to investigate, and he brought evidence of Queen Catherine's previous affair with Dereham to the King's notice.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=430–431}} Though Henry originally refused to believe the allegations, Dereham confessed. It took another meeting of the council, however, before Henry believed the accusations against Dereham and went into a rage, blaming the council before consoling himself in hunting.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=431–432}} When questioned, the Queen could have admitted a prior contract to marry Dereham, which would have made her subsequent marriage to Henry invalid, but she instead claimed that Dereham had forced her to enter into an adulterous relationship. Dereham, meanwhile, exposed Catherine's relationship with Culpeper. Culpeper and Dereham were both executed, and Catherine too was beheaded on 13 February 1542.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=432–433}}

=== Marriage to Catherine Parr ===
[[File:Catherine Parr from NPG.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Catherine Parr]], Henry's sixth and last wife]]
Henry married his last wife, the wealthy widow [[Catherine Parr]], in July 1543.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=456}} A reformer at heart, she argued with Henry over religion. Henry remained committed to an idiosyncratic mixture of Catholicism and Protestantism; the reactionary mood that had gained ground after Cromwell's fall had neither eliminated his Protestant streak nor been overcome by it.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=301}} Parr helped reconcile Henry with his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth.{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1997|p=457}} In 1543, the [[Third Succession Act]] put them back in the line of succession after Edward. The same act allowed Henry to determine further succession to the throne in his will.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=331,&nbsp;373}}

== Shrines destroyed and monasteries dissolved ==
{{Main|Dissolution of the monasteries}}
In 1538, the chief minister Thomas Cromwell pursued an extensive campaign against what the government termed "idolatry" practised under the old religion, culminating in September with the dismantling of the shrine of St. [[Thomas Becket]] at [[Canterbury Cathedral]]. As a consequence, the King was excommunicated by Pope Paul III on 17 December of the same year.<ref name="Scarisbrick361">{{Harvnb|Scarisbrick|1997|p=361}}</ref> In 1540, Henry sanctioned the complete destruction of shrines to saints. In 1542, England's remaining monasteries were all dissolved, and their property transferred to the Crown. [[Abbot]]s and [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|prior]]s lost their seats in the [[House of Lords]]. Consequently, the [[Lords Spiritual]]{{Snd}}as members of the clergy with seats in the House of Lords were known{{Snd}}were for the first time outnumbered by the [[Lords Temporal]].{{sfn|Spalding|1894|pp=28-29}}

== Second invasion of France and the "Rough Wooing" of Scotland ==
{{Main|Rough Wooing}}
[[File:Enrique VIII de Inglaterra, por Hans Holbein el Joven.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Henry in 1540, by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]]]]
The 1539 alliance between Francis and Charles had soured, eventually degenerating into renewed war. With Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn dead, relations between Charles and Henry improved considerably, and Henry concluded a secret alliance with the Emperor and decided to enter the [[Italian War of 1542–1546|Italian War]] in favour of his new ally. An invasion of France was planned for 1543.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|p=75}} In preparation for it, Henry moved to eliminate the potential threat of Scotland under his young nephew, [[James V]]. The Scots were defeated at the [[Battle of Solway Moss]] on 24 November 1542,{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=75–76}} and James died on 15 December. Henry now hoped to unite the crowns of England and Scotland by marrying his son Edward to James's successor, [[Mary, Queen of Scots|Mary]]. The Scottish regent [[James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault|Lord Arran]] agreed to the marriage in the [[Treaty of Greenwich]] on 1 July 1543, but it was rejected by the [[Parliament of Scotland]] on 11 December. The result was eight years of war between England and Scotland, a campaign later dubbed "the [[Rough Wooing]]". Despite several peace treaties, unrest continued in Scotland until Henry's death.<ref name="Elton1977b"/><ref name="Loades79"/>{{Sfn|Murphy|2016|pages=13–51}}

Despite the early success with Scotland, Henry hesitated to invade France, annoying Charles. Henry finally went to France in June 1544 with a two-pronged attack. One force under Norfolk ineffectively besieged [[Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais|Montreuil]]. The other, under Suffolk, [[Sieges of Boulogne (1544–1546)#First siege|laid siege]] to [[Boulogne]]. Henry later took personal command, and Boulogne fell on 18 September 1544.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=76–77}}<ref name="Elton1977b">{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|pp=306–307}}</ref> However, Henry had refused Charles's request to march against Paris. Charles's own campaign fizzled, and he made peace with France that same day.<ref name="Loades79">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|pp=79–80}}</ref> Henry was left alone against France, unable to make peace. Francis attempted to invade England in the summer of 1545 but his forces reached only the [[Isle of Wight]] before being repulsed in the [[Battle of the Solent]]. Financially exhausted, France and England signed the [[Treaty of Ardres|Treaty of Camp]] on 7 June 1546. Henry secured Boulogne for eight years. The city was then to be returned to France for 2&nbsp;million crowns (£750,000). Henry needed the money; the 1544 campaign had cost £650,000, and England was once again facing bankruptcy.<ref name="Loades79"/>

== Physical decline and death ==
[[File:Coffins in the vault of Henry VIII St Georges Chapel Windsor.png|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Coffins of King Henry VIII (centre, damaged), Queen [[Jane Seymour]] (right), King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] with a child of Queen [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne]] (left), contained in a vault under the choir at [[St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle]], marked by a stone slab in the floor; 1888 sketch by [[Alfred Young Nutt]], Surveyor to the Dean and Canons]]
Late in life, Henry became [[obese]], with a waist measurement of {{Convert|54|in|cm}}, and had to be moved about with the help of mechanical devices. He was covered with painful, [[pus]]-filled [[boils]] and possibly had [[gout]]. His obesity and other medical problems can be traced to the [[jousting]] accident on 24 January 1536 in which he suffered a leg wound. The accident reopened and aggravated an injury he had sustained years earlier, to the extent that his doctors found it difficult to treat. The [[chronic wound]] festered for the remainder of his life and became [[ulcer (dermatology)|ulcerated]], preventing him from maintaining the level of physical activity he had previously enjoyed. The jousting accident is also believed to have caused Henry's [[mood swing]]s, which may have had a dramatic effect on his personality and temperament.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 April 2009 |title=The jousting accident that turned Henry VIII into a tyrant |work=The Independent |location=UK |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-jousting-accident-that-turned-henry-viii-into-a-tyrant-1670421.html |access-date=25 August 2010}}</ref><ref name="discovery">{{Cite news |last=Sohn |first=Emily |date=11 March 2011 |title=King Henry VIII's Madness Explained |publisher=discovery.com |url=http://news.discovery.com/history/henry-viii-blood-disorder-110311.html |url-status=dead |access-date=25 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110630080719/http://news.discovery.com/history/henry-viii-blood-disorder-110311.html |archive-date=30 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ikram | first1=Muhammad Qaiser| last2=Sajjad| first2=Fazle Hakim| last3=Salardini |first3=Arash |date=2016 |title= The head that wears the crown: Henry VIII and traumatic brain injury |journal=Journal of Clinical Neuroscience |volume=28 |pages=16–19 |doi=10.1016/j.jocn.2015.10.035| pmid=26857293| s2cid=4394559|issn = 0967-5868 }}</ref>
[[File:Field_Armor_of_King_Henry_VIII_of_England_(reigned_1509%E2%80%9347)_MET_268139.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|This suit of armour was commissioned {{circa|1544}} when Henry's midsection had a girth of 51 inches.]]
The theory that Henry had [[syphilis]] has been dismissed by most historians.{{Sfn|Hays|2010|p=68}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Russell |first=Gareth |title=Young and Damned and Fair |date=2016 |page=130}}</ref> Historian Susan Maclean Kybett ascribes his demise to [[scurvy]], which is caused by insufficient [[vitamin C]] most often due to a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in one's diet.<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 August 1989 |title=Names in the News: Henry VIII Termed Victim of Scurvy |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-08-30-mn-1456-story.html}}</ref>

A 2010 study suggests that the king may have been of [[Kell antigen system#History|Kell-positive blood type]] to explain both his physical and mental deterioration, being consistent with some symptoms of the [[McLeod syndrome]], and the high mortality in the pregnancies attributed to him.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 March 2011 |title=Could blood group anomaly explain Henry VIII's problems? |work=SMU News |location=USA |url=https://www.smu.edu/News/2011/henry-8-07mar2011 |publisher=Southern Methodist University |access-date=6 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Whitley |first1=Catrina Banks |last2=Kramer |first2=Kyra |date=2010 |title=A New Explanation for the Reproductive Woes and Midlife Decline of Henry VIII |journal=The Historical Journal |volume=52 |issue=4 |page=827 |doi=10.1017/S0018246X10000452 |issn=0018-246X |s2cid=159499333}}</ref>

Henry's obesity hastened his death at the age of 55, on 28 January 1547 in the [[Palace of Whitehall]], on what would have been his father's 90th birthday. The tomb he had planned (with components taken from the tomb intended for Cardinal Wolsey) was only partly constructed and was never completed (the sarcophagus and its base were later removed and used for [[Lord Nelson]]'s tomb in the crypt of [[St Paul's Cathedral]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P05aAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA160-IA9 |title=The Archaeological Journal, Volume 51 |date=1894 |volume=51 |page=160 |doi=10.5284/1067966 |last1=Higgins |first1=Alfred |journal=The Archaeological Journal }}</ref> Henry was interred in a vault at [[St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle]], next to Jane Seymour.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|p=207}} Over 100 years later, King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] (ruled 1625–1649) was buried in the same vault.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dean and Canons of Windsor |title=Henry VIII's final resting place |url=http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/assets/files/LearningResources/BackgroundNotesHenryVIII.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502061037/http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/assets/files/LearningResources/BackgroundNotesHenryVIII.pdf |archive-date=2 May 2013 |access-date=12 March 2013 |publisher=Windsor Castle: College of St George}}</ref>

== Wives, mistresses, and children ==
{{See also|Wives of Henry VIII|Children of Henry VIII|Mistresses of Henry VIII}}

English historian and [[House of Tudor]] expert [[David Starkey]] describes Henry VIII as follows:

{{Blockquote|What is extraordinary is that Henry was usually a very good husband. And he liked women{{Snd}}that's why he married so many of them! He was very tender to them, we know that he addressed them as "sweetheart". He was a good lover, he was very generous: the wives were given huge settlements of land and jewels{{Snd}}they were loaded with jewels. He was immensely considerate when they were pregnant. But, once he had fallen out of love ... he just cut them off. He just withdrew. He abandoned them. They didn't even know he'd left them.<ref name="StarkeyWives"/>}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Known children of Henry VIII of England

|-
! Name
! Birth
! Death
! Notes

|-
! colspan=4 | '''''By [[Catherine of Aragon]]''''' (married [[Palace of Placentia]] 11 June 1509; annulled 23 May 1533)

|-
| Unnamed daughter
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center" | 31 January 1510
| stillborn

|-
| [[Henry, Duke of Cornwall]]
| 1 January 1511
| 22 February 1511
| died aged almost two months

|-
| Unnamed son
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center" | 17 September 1513
| died shortly after birth

|-
| Unnamed son
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center" | November 1514<ref>According to [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1139382/?page=4 John Dewhurst in The alleged miscarriages of Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn: 1984, p. 52], the Venetian ambassador wrote to his senate in November that "The queen has been delivered of a stillborn male child of eight months to the very great grief of the whole court", Holinshed, the chronicler, reported that "in November the queen was delivered of a prince which lived not long after", and John Stow wrote "in the meantime, to Whit, the month of November, the queen was delivered of a prince which lived not long after".</ref>
| died shortly after birth

|-
| Queen [[Mary I]]
| 18 February 1516
| 17 November 1558
| married [[Philip II of Spain]] in 1554; no issue

|-
| Unnamed daughter
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center" | 10 November 1518
| stillborn in the 8th month of pregnancy{{Sfn|Starkey|2003|p=160}} or lived at least one week

|-
! colspan=4 | '''''By [[Elizabeth Blount]]''''' (mistress; bore the only illegitimate child Henry VIII acknowledged as his son)

|-
| [[Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset]]
| 15 June 1519
| 23 July 1536
| illegitimate; acknowledged by Henry VIII in 1525; no issue

|-
! colspan=4 | '''''By [[Anne Boleyn]]''''' (married [[Westminster Abbey]] 25 January 1533; annulled 17 May 1536) beheaded 19 May 1536

|-
| Queen [[Elizabeth I]]
| 7 September 1533
| 24 March 1603
| never married; no issue

|-
| Unnamed child
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center" | Summer 1534{{Sfn|Porter|2007|p=337}}
| miscarriage or false pregnancy{{Efn|Eustace Chapuys wrote to Charles V on 28 January reporting that Anne was pregnant. A letter from George Taylor to Lady Lisle dated 27 April 1534 says "The queen hath a goodly belly, praying our Lord to send us a prince". In July, Anne's brother, Lord Rochford, was sent on a diplomatic mission to France to ask for the postponement of a meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I because of Anne's condition: "being so far gone with child she could not cross the sea with the king". Chapuys backs this up in a letter dated 27 July, where he refers to Anne's pregnancy. We do not know what happened with this pregnancy as there is no evidence of the outcome. Dewhurst writes of how the pregnancy could have resulted in a miscarriage or stillbirth, but there is no evidence to support this, he therefore wonders if it was a case of pseudocyesis, a false pregnancy, caused by the stress that Anne was under – the pressure to provide a son. Chapuys wrote on 27 September 1534 "Since the king began to doubt whether his lady was enceinte or not, he has renewed and increased the love he formerly had for a beautiful damsel of the court". Muriel St Clair Byrne, editor of the Lisle Letters, believes that this was a false pregnancy too.}}

|-
| Unnamed child
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center" | 1535
| Possible miscarriage{{Efn|The only evidence for a miscarriage in 1535 is a sentence from a letter from William Kingston to Lord Lisle on 24 June 1535 when Kingston says "Her Grace has as fair a belly as I have ever seen". However, Dewhurst thinks that there is an error in the dating of this letter as the editor of the Lisle Letters states that this letter is actually from 1533 or 1534 because it also refers to Christopher Garneys, a man who died in October 1534.}}

|-
| Unnamed son
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center" | 29 January 1536
| miscarriage of a child, believed male,{{Efn|Chapuys reported to Charles V on 10 February 1536 that Anne Boleyn had miscarried on the day of Catherine of Aragon's funeral: "On the day of the interment [of Catherine of Aragon] the concubine [Anne] had an abortion which seemed to be a male child which she had not borne 3 1/2 months".}} in the fourth month of pregnancy{{Sfn|Starkey|2003|p=553}}

|-
! colspan=4 | '''''By [[Jane Seymour]]''''' (married [[Palace of Whitehall]] 30 May 1536) died 24 October 1537

|-
| King [[Edward VI]]
| 12 October 1537
| 6 July 1553
| died unmarried, age 15; no issue

|-
! colspan=4 | '''''By [[Anne of Cleves]]''''' (married [[Palace of Placentia]] 6 January 1540) annulled 9 July 1540

|-
| colspan=4 style="text-align: center" | no issue

|-
! colspan=4 | '''''By [[Catherine Howard]]''''' (married [[Oatlands Palace]] 28 July 1540; annulled 23 November 1541) beheaded 13 February 1542

|-
| colspan=4 style="text-align: center" | no issue

|-
! colspan=4 | '''''By [[Catherine Parr]]''''' (married [[Hampton Court Palace]] 12 July 1543) Henry VIII died 28 January 1547

|-
| colspan=4 style="text-align: center" | no issue

|}

== Succession ==
{{See also|Third Succession Act}}
{{Multiple image
| header=All of Henry's surviving children succeeded him as monarchs.
| total_width=420px
| caption_align=center
| image1= Circle of William Scrots Edward VI of England.jpg
| caption1=[[Edward VI]]<br/>{{R.|1547|1553}}
| image2= Anthonis Mor 001.jpg
| caption2= [[Mary I]]<br/>{{R.|1553|1558}}
| image3= Darnley stage 3.jpg
| caption3=[[Elizabeth I]]<br/>{{R.|1558|1603}}
}}
Upon Henry's death, he was succeeded by his only surviving son, Edward VI. Since Edward was then only nine years old, he could not rule directly. Instead, Henry's will designated 16 [[executor]]s to serve on a regency council until Edward reached 18. The executors chose [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford]], elder brother to Jane Seymour (Edward's mother), to be [[Lord Protector]] of the Realm. Under provisions of the will, if Edward died childless, the throne was to pass to Mary, Henry VIII's daughter by Catherine of Aragon, and her heirs.

If Mary's issue failed, the crown was to go to Elizabeth, Henry's daughter by Anne Boleyn, and her heirs. Finally, if Elizabeth's line became extinct, the crown was to be inherited by the descendants of Henry VIII's deceased younger sister, Mary, the [[House of Grey|Greys]].

The descendants of Henry's sister [[Margaret Tudor]]{{Snd}}the [[Stuarts]], rulers of Scotland{{Snd}}were thereby excluded from the succession.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=332–333}} This provision ultimately failed when [[James VI of Scotland]], Margaret's great-grandson, became king of England and Ireland in 1603.

Edward VI himself would disregard the will and name [[Jane Grey]] his successor.

== Public image ==
[[File:Pastime.jpg|thumb|left|Musical score of "[[Pastime with Good Company]]", {{circa|1513}}, composed by Henry]]
Henry cultivated the image of a [[Renaissance man]], and his court was a centre of scholarly and artistic innovation and glamorous excess, epitomised by the [[Field of the Cloth of Gold]]. He scouted the country for choirboys, taking some directly from Wolsey's choir, and introduced Renaissance music into court.{{citation needed|reason= Incorrect terminology. England already had its own votive style of renaissance music. Does a source intend to mean that Henry VIII introduced continental music into his court? If so, quantify on what scale compared to his father, Henry VII, who was also a patron of music who also accepted continental influences into the final phase of the votive style found in the Eton Choirbook|date=April 2025}} Musicians included Benedict de Opitiis, [[Richard Sampson]], [[Ambrose Lupo]], and Venetian organist Dionisio Memo,<ref name="scarisbrick1516"/> and Henry himself played and kept a considerable collection of flute instruments including [[Recorder (musical instrument)|recorders]].<ref>Oxford Companion to Music. see section 2 of the article on "Recorder Family"</ref> He was skilled on the [[lute]] and played the organ, and was a talented player of the [[virginals]].<ref name="scarisbrick1516">{{Harvnb|Scarisbrick|1997|pp=15–16}}</ref> He could also sightread music and sing well.<ref name="scarisbrick1516"/> He was an accomplished musician, author, and poet; his best-known work is "[[Pastime with Good Company]]" ("The Kynges Ballade").{{Sfn|Weir|2002|page=131}} It is also frequently said that Henry wrote the sixteenth-century [[English folk music|English folk song]], [[Greensleeves]]. However, it is certain he did not, as Greensleeves is based on an Italian style of composition that did not reach England until after Henry's death.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-10 |title=Henry VIII: was he a good composer? |url=https://www.classical-music.com/features/artists/henry-viii-composer |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Classical Music |language=en}}</ref>

Henry was an avid gambler and dice player, and excelled at sports, especially jousting, hunting, and [[real tennis]]. He was also known for his strong defence of conventional Christian piety.<ref name="Crofton2006a"/> He was involved in the construction and improvement of several significant buildings, including [[Nonsuch Palace]], [[King's College Chapel, Cambridge]], and Westminster Abbey in London. Many of the existing buildings which he improved were properties confiscated from Wolsey, such as [[Christ Church, Oxford]], [[Hampton Court Palace]], the [[Palace of Whitehall]], and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].

Henry was an intellectual, the first English king with a modern [[humanist]] education. He read and wrote English, French, and Latin, and owned a large library. He annotated many books and published one of his own, and he had numerous pamphlets and lectures prepared to support the reformation of the church. [[Richard Sampson]]'s ''Oratio'' (1534), for example, was an argument for absolute obedience to the monarchy and claimed that the English church had always been independent of Rome.{{Sfn|Chibi|1997|pp=543–560}} At the popular level, theatre and [[minstrel]] troupes funded by the crown travelled around the land to promote the new religious practices; the Pope and Catholic priests and monks were mocked as foreign devils, while Henry was hailed as the glorious king of England and as a brave and heroic defender of the true faith.{{Sfn|Betteridge|2005|pp=91–109}} Henry worked hard to present an image of unchallengeable authority and irresistible power.<ref name="hibbert"/>
[[File:10. Westminster Roll selected scenes 260814 005 A5.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Catherine of Aragon watching Henry [[jousting]] in her honour after she had given birth to a son]]
Henry was a large, well-built athlete, over {{Convert|6|ft|m|disp=sqbr}} tall, strong, and broad in proportion. His athletic activities were more than pastimes; they were political devices that served multiple goals, enhancing his image, impressing foreign emissaries and rulers, and conveying his ability to suppress any rebellion. He arranged a jousting tournament at Greenwich in 1517 where he wore gilded armour and gilded horse trappings, and outfits of velvet, satin, and cloth of gold with pearls and jewels. It suitably impressed foreign ambassadors, one of whom wrote home that "the wealth and civilisation of the world are here, and those who call the English barbarians appear to me to render themselves such".{{Sfn|Hutchinson|2012|p=202}} Henry finally retired from jousting in 1536 after a heavy fall from his horse left him unconscious for two hours, but he continued to sponsor two lavish tournaments a year. He then started gaining weight and lost the trim, athletic figure that had made him so handsome, and his courtiers began dressing in heavily padded clothes to emulate and flatter him. His health declined rapidly near the end of his reign.{{Sfn|Gunn|1991|pp=543–560}}{{Sfn|Williams|2005|pp=41–59}}{{Sfn|Lipscomb|2009}}

== Government ==
The power of Tudor monarchs, including Henry, was 'whole' and 'entire', ruling, as they claimed, [[Divine right of kings|by the grace of God]] alone.{{Sfn|Guy|1997|p=78}} The crown could also rely on the exclusive use of those functions that constituted the [[royal prerogative]]. These included acts of diplomacy (including royal marriages), declarations of war, management of the coinage, the issue of royal pardons and the power to summon and dissolve Parliament as and when required.<ref name="morris2">{{Harvnb|Morris|1999|p=2}}</ref> Nevertheless, as evident during Henry's break with Rome, the monarch stayed within established limits, whether legal or financial, that forced him to work closely with both the nobility and Parliament (representing the gentry).<ref name="morris2"/>

[[File:Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Cardinal [[Thomas Wolsey]]]]
In practice, Tudor monarchs used [[patronage]] to maintain a royal court that included formal institutions such as the [[Privy Council]] as well as more informal advisers and confidants.<ref name="morris19"/> Both the rise and fall of court nobles could be swift: Henry did undoubtedly execute at will, burning or beheading two of his wives, 20 peers, four leading public servants, six close attendants and friends, one cardinal ([[John Fisher]]) and numerous abbots.<ref name="hibbert">{{Harvnb|Hibbert|Weinreb|Keay|Keay|2010|page=928}}</ref> Among those who were in favour at any given point in Henry's reign, one could usually be identified as a chief minister,<ref name="morris19">{{Harvnb|Morris|1999|pp=19–21}}</ref> though one of the enduring debates in the [[#Historiography|historiography of the period]] has been the extent to which those chief ministers controlled Henry rather than vice versa.<ref name="bandf1"/> In particular, historian [[G. R. Elton]] has argued that one such minister, Thomas Cromwell, led a "Tudor revolution in government" independently of the King, whom Elton presented as an opportunistic, essentially lazy participant in the nitty-gritty of politics. Where Henry did intervene personally in the running of the country, Elton argued, he mostly did so to its detriment.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=323}} The prominence and influence of faction in Henry's court is similarly discussed in the context of at least five episodes of Henry's reign, including the downfall of Anne Boleyn.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=407}}

From 1514 to 1529, Thomas Wolsey, a cardinal of the established Church, oversaw domestic and foreign policy for the King from his position as Lord Chancellor.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=48–49}} Wolsey centralised the national government and extended the jurisdiction of the conciliar courts, particularly the [[Star Chamber]]. The Star Chamber's overall structure remained unchanged, but Wolsey used it to provide much-needed reform of the criminal law. The power of the court itself did not outlive Wolsey, however, since no serious administrative reform was undertaken and its role eventually devolved to the localities.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=60–63}} Wolsey helped fill the gap left by Henry's declining participation in government (particularly in comparison to his father) but did so mostly by imposing himself in the King's place.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=212}} His use of these courts to pursue personal grievances, and particularly to treat delinquents as mere examples of a whole class worthy of punishment, angered the rich, who were annoyed as well by his enormous wealth and ostentatious living.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=64}} Following [[#Annulment from Catherine|Wolsey's downfall]], Henry took full control of his government, although at court numerous complex factions continued to try to ruin and destroy each other.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Derek |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GOwFYSQhTDoC&pg=PA284 |title=In the Lion's Court: Power, Ambition, and Sudden Death in the Reign of Henry VIII |date=2003 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-3123-0277-1 |pages=257–260}}</ref>

[[File:Cromwell,Thomas(1EEssex)01.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Thomas Cromwell]] in 1532 or 1533]]

Thomas Cromwell also came to define Henry's government. Returning to England from the continent in 1514 or 1515, Cromwell soon entered Wolsey's service. He turned to law, also picking up a good knowledge of the Bible, and was admitted to [[Gray's Inn]] in 1524. He became Wolsey's "man of all work".{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=168–170}} Driven in part by his religious beliefs, Cromwell attempted to reform the body politic of the English government through discussion and consent, and through the vehicle of continuity, not outward change.<ref name="Elton1977">{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=172}}</ref> Many saw him as the man they wanted to bring about their shared aims, including Thomas Audley. By 1531, Cromwell and his associates were already responsible for the drafting of much legislation.<ref name="Elton1977"/> Cromwell's first office was that of the master of the King's jewels in 1532, from which he began to invigorate the government finances.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=174}} By that point, Cromwell's power as an efficient administrator, in a Council full of politicians, exceeded what Wolsey had achieved.<ref name="Elton1977a">{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=213}}</ref>

Cromwell did much work through his many offices to remove the tasks of government from the Royal Household (and ideologically from the personal body of the King) and into a public state.<ref name="Elton1977a"/> But he did so in a haphazard fashion that left several remnants, not least because he needed to retain Henry's support, his own power, and the possibility of actually achieving the plan he set out.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=214}} Cromwell made the various income streams Henry VII put in place more formal and assigned largely autonomous bodies for their administration.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=214–215}} The role of the [[King's Council]] was transferred to a reformed Privy Council, much smaller and more efficient than its predecessor.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=216–217}} A difference emerged between the King's financial health and the country's, although Cromwell's fall undermined much of his bureaucracy, which required him to keep order among the many new bodies and prevent profligate spending that strained relations as well as finances.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=215–216}} Cromwell's reforms ground to a halt in 1539, the initiative lost, and he failed to secure the passage of an [[enabling act]], the [[Proclamation by the Crown Act 1539]].{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=284–286}} He was executed on 28 July 1540.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=289–292}}

=== Finances ===
[[File:Henry VIII crown 763986.jpg|thumb|Gold [[Crown (British coin)|crown]] of Henry VIII, minted {{circa|1544}}–1547. The reverse depicts the quartered arms of England and France.]]

Henry inherited a vast fortune and a prosperous economy from his father, who had been frugal. This fortune is estimated at £1,250,000 (the equivalent of £375&nbsp;million today).{{Sfn|Weir|2002|p=13}} By comparison, Henry VIII's reign was a near disaster financially. He augmented the royal treasury by seizing church lands, but his heavy spending and long periods of mismanagement damaged the economy.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=215–216,&nbsp;355–356}}

Henry spent much of his wealth on maintaining his court and household, including many of the building works he undertook on royal palaces. He hung 2,000 tapestries in his palaces; by comparison, James V of Scotland [[Scottish royal tapestry collection|hung just 200]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Thomas|2005|pp=79–80}}, citing {{Harvnb|Thurley|1993|pp=222–224}}</ref> Henry took pride in showing off his collection of weapons, which included exotic archery equipment, 2,250 pieces of land ordnance and 6,500 [[handgun]]s.{{Sfn|Davies|2005|pp=11–29}} Tudor monarchs had to fund all government expenses out of their own income. This income came from the crown lands that Henry owned as well as from customs duties like [[tonnage and poundage]], granted by Parliament to the King for life. During Henry's reign the revenues of the Crown remained constant (around £100,000),{{Sfn|Weir|2002|p=64}} but were eroded by inflation and rising prices brought about by war. Indeed, war and Henry's dynastic ambitions in Europe exhausted the surplus he had inherited from his father by the mid-1520s.

Henry VII had not involved Parliament in his affairs very much, but Henry VIII had to turn to Parliament during his reign for money, in particular for grants of subsidies to fund his wars. The dissolution of the monasteries provided a means to replenish the treasury, and as a result, the Crown took possession of monastic lands worth £120,000 (£36&nbsp;million) a year.{{Sfn|Weir|2002|p=393}} The Crown had profited by a small amount in 1526 when Wolsey put England onto a gold, rather than silver, standard, and had debased the currency slightly. Cromwell debased the currency more significantly, starting in [[Lordship of Ireland|Ireland]] in 1540. The English pound halved in value against the Flemish pound between 1540 and 1551 as a result. The nominal profit made was significant, helping to bring income and expenditure together, but it had a catastrophic effect on the country's economy. In part, it helped to bring about a period of very high inflation from 1544 onwards.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=312–314}}

=== Reformation ===
{{Main|English Reformation}}
[[File:King Henry VIII of England and Pope Clement VII.jpg|thumb|Henry VIII sitting with his feet upon [[Clement VII]], 1641]]

Henry is generally credited with initiating the English Reformation{{Snd}}the process of transforming England from a Catholic country to a Protestant one{{Snd}}though his progress at the elite and mass levels is disputed,<ref>{{Cite web |date=1997 |title=Competing Narratives: Recent Historiography of the English Reformation under Henry VIII |url=http://gregscouch.homestead.com/files/Henry8.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615214144/http://gregscouch.homestead.com/files/Henry8.html |archive-date=15 June 2013 |access-date=14 April 2013}}</ref> and the precise narrative not widely agreed upon.<ref name="elton103">{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|pp=103–107}}</ref> Certainly, in 1527, Henry, until then an observant and well-informed Catholic, appealed to the Pope for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine.<ref name="elton103"/> No annulment was immediately forthcoming, since the papacy was now under the control of Charles V, Catherine's nephew.<ref name="elton110">{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|pp=110–112}}</ref> The traditional narrative gives this refusal as the trigger for Henry's rejection of [[papal supremacy]], which he had previously defended. Yet as [[Llewellyn Woodward|E. L. Woodward]] put it, Henry's determination to annul his marriage with Catherine was the occasion rather than the cause of the [[English Reformation]] so that "neither too much nor too little" should be made of the annulment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woodward |first=Llewellyn |title=A History Of England |date=1965 |publisher=Methuen & Co Ltd |location=London |page=73}}</ref> Historian [[A. F. Pollard]] has argued that even if Henry had not needed an annulment, he might have come to reject papal control over the governance of England purely for political reasons. Indeed, Henry needed a son to secure the [[Tudor Dynasty]] and avert the risk of civil war over disputed succession.{{Sfn|Pollard|1905|pp=230–238}}

In any case, between 1532 and 1537, Henry instituted a number of statutes that dealt with the relationship between king and pope and hence the structure of the nascent [[Church of England]].{{Sfn|Bernard|2005|p=missing}} These included the [[Statute in Restraint of Appeals]] (passed 1533), which extended the charge of ''[[praemunire]]'' against all who introduced papal bulls into England, potentially exposing them to the death penalty if found guilty.<ref name="bernard71">{{Harvnb|Bernard|2005|p=71}}</ref> Other acts included the [[Supplication against the Ordinaries]] and the [[Submission of the Clergy]], which recognised Royal Supremacy over the church. The [[Ecclesiastical Appointments Act 1534]] required the clergy to elect bishops nominated by the Sovereign. The [[Act of Supremacy]] in 1534 declared that the King was "the only Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England" and the [[Treasons Act 1534]] made it high treason, punishable by death, to refuse the [[Oath of Supremacy]] acknowledging the King as such. Similarly, following the passage of the Act of Succession 1533, all adults in the kingdom were required to acknowledge the Act's provisions (declaring Henry's marriage to Anne legitimate and his marriage to Catherine illegitimate) by oath;{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=185}} those who refused were subject to imprisonment for life, and any publisher or printer of any literature alleging that the marriage to Anne was invalid subject to the death penalty.<ref name="bernard2005">{{Harvnb|Bernard|2005|pp=70–71}}</ref> Finally, the [[Act Concerning Peter's Pence and Dispensations|Peter's Pence Act]] was passed, and it reiterated that England had "no superior under God, but only your [[His Grace|Grace]]" and that Henry's "imperial crown" had been diminished by "the unreasonable and uncharitable usurpations and exactions" of the Pope.{{Sfn|Lehmberg|1970|p=missing}} The King had much support from the Church under Cranmer.{{Sfn|Bernard|2005|p=195}}

[[File:Henry VIII in Parliament.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.85|A 16th-century depiction of the [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] of King Henry VIII]]
To Cromwell's annoyance, Henry insisted on parliamentary time to discuss questions of faith, which he achieved through the Duke of Norfolk. This led to the passing of the [[Act of Six Articles]], whereby six major questions were all answered by asserting the religious orthodoxy, thus restraining the reform movement in England.<ref name="elton289"/> It was followed by the beginnings of a reformed [[liturgy]] and of the [[Book of Common Prayer]], which would take until 1549 to complete.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=291}} But this victory for religious conservatives did not convert into much change in personnel, and Cranmer remained in his position.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=297}} Overall, the rest of Henry's reign saw a subtle movement away from religious orthodoxy, helped in part by the deaths of prominent figures from before the break with Rome, especially the executions of Thomas More and John Fisher in 1535 for refusing to renounce papal authority. Henry established a new [[political theology]] of obedience to the crown that continued for the next decade. It reflected Martin Luther's new interpretation of the [[Ten commandments#Catholic and Lutheran Christianity|fourth commandment]] ("Honour thy father and mother"), brought to England by [[William Tyndale]]. The founding of royal authority on the [[Ten Commandments]] was another important shift: reformers within the Church used the Commandments' emphasis on faith and the word of God, while conservatives emphasised the need for dedication to God and doing good. The reformers' efforts lay behind the publication of the [[Great Bible]] in 1539 in English.{{Sfn|Rex|1996|pp=863–894}} Protestant Reformers still faced persecution, particularly over objections to Henry's annulment. Many fled abroad, including the influential Tyndale,{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=3177}} who was eventually executed and his body burned at Henry's behest.

When taxes once payable to Rome were transferred to the Crown, Cromwell saw the need to assess the taxable value of the Church's extensive holdings as they stood in 1535. The result was an extensive compendium, the ''[[Valor Ecclesiasticus]]''.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=232–233}} In September 1535, Cromwell commissioned a more general visitation of religious institutions, to be undertaken by four appointee visitors. The visitation focused almost exclusively on the country's religious houses, with largely negative conclusions.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=233}} In addition to reporting back to Cromwell, the visitors made the lives of the monks more difficult by enforcing strict behavioural standards. The result was to encourage self-dissolution.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=233–234}} In any case, the evidence Cromwell gathered led swiftly to the beginning of the state-enforced [[dissolution of the monasteries]], with all religious houses worth less than £200 vested by statute in the crown in January 1536.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=234–235}} After a short pause, surviving religious houses were transferred one by one to the Crown and new owners, and the dissolution confirmed by a further statute in 1539. By January 1540 no such houses remained; 800 had been dissolved. The process had been efficient, with minimal resistance, and brought the crown some £90,000 a year.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=235–236}} The extent to which the dissolution of all houses was planned from the start is debated by historians; there is some evidence that major houses were originally intended only to be reformed.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=236–237}} Cromwell's actions transferred a fifth of England's landed wealth to new hands. The programme was designed primarily to create a landed gentry beholden to the crown, which would use the lands much more efficiently.{{Sfn|Stöber|2007|p=190}} Although little opposition to the supremacy could be found in England's religious houses, they had links to the international church and were an obstacle to further religious reform.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=238}}

Response to the reforms was mixed. The religious houses had been the only support of the impoverished,{{Sfn|Meyer|2010|pp=254–256}} and the reforms alienated much of the populace outside London, helping to provoke the great northern rising of 1536–37, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace.{{Sfn|Meyer|2010|pp=269–272}} Elsewhere the changes were accepted and welcomed, and those who clung to Catholic rites kept quiet or moved in secrecy. They reemerged during the reign of Henry's daughter Mary (1553–58).

=== Military ===
[[File:Field Armor of King Henry VIII of England (reigned 1509–47) MET DT205963.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|Henry's Italian-made suit of armour, {{circa|1544}}]]
Apart from permanent garrisons at [[Berwick-upon-Tweed|Berwick]], Calais, and [[Carlisle]], England's standing army numbered only a few hundred men. This was increased only slightly by Henry.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|page=32}} Henry's invasion force of 1513, some 30,000 men, was composed of [[billmen]] and [[longbowmen]], at a time when the other European nations were moving to [[Arquebus|hand guns]] and [[pikemen]] but the difference in capability was at this stage not significant, and Henry's forces had new armour and weaponry. They were also supported by battlefield artillery and the [[war wagon]],{{Sfn|Arnold|2001|p=82}} relatively new innovations, and several large and expensive siege guns.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pages=32–33}} The invasion force of 1544 was similarly well-equipped and organised, although command on the battlefield was laid with the dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk, which in the latter case produced disastrous results at Montreuil.<ref name="Elton1977b"/>

Henry's break with Rome incurred the threat of a large-scale French or Spanish invasion.<ref name="elton282">{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|page=282}}</ref> To guard against this, in 1538 he began to build a chain of expensive, state-of-the-art defences along Britain's southern and eastern coasts, from [[Kent]] to [[Cornwall]], largely built of material gained from the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|demolition of the monasteries]].{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pages=183, 281–283}} These were known as Henry VIII's [[Device Forts]]. He also strengthened existing coastal defence fortresses such as [[Dover Castle]] and, at Dover, Moat Bulwark and [[Archcliffe Fort]], which he visited for a few months to supervise.<ref name="elton282"/> Wolsey had many years before conducted the censuses required for an overhaul of the system of [[militia]], but no reform resulted.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pages=87–88}} In 1538–39, Cromwell overhauled the [[Muster (military)|shire musters]], but his work mainly served to demonstrate how inadequate they were in organisation.<ref name="elton282"/> The building works, including that at Berwick, along with the reform of the militias and musters, were eventually finished under Queen Mary.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|page=391}}

[[File:Basire Embarkation of Henry VIII.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Depiction of Henry embarking at [[Dover]], c.&nbsp;1520]]
Henry is traditionally cited as one of the founders of the [[Royal Navy]].<ref name="loades83">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|p=82}}</ref> Technologically, Henry invested in large cannon for his warships, an idea that had taken hold in other countries, to replace the smaller serpentines in use.<ref name="loades83"/> He also flirted with designing ships personally. His contribution to larger vessels, if any, is unknown, but it is believed that he influenced the design of rowbarges and similar galleys.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=82–83}} Henry was also responsible for the creation of a permanent navy, with the supporting anchorages and dockyards.<ref name="loades83"/> Tactically, Henry's reign saw the Navy move away from boarding tactics to employ gunnery instead.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=83–84}} The [[Tudor navy]] was enlarged from seven ships to up to 50<ref>J.J. Scarisbrick, ''Henry VIII'' (1968) pp. 500–501.</ref> (the ''[[Mary Rose]]'' among them), and Henry was responsible for the establishment of the "council for marine causes" to oversee the maintenance and operation of the Navy, becoming the basis for the later [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]].{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=84–85}}

=== Ireland ===
[[File:Ireland 1450.png|thumb|left|The division of Ireland in 1450]]
At the beginning of Henry's reign, Ireland was effectively divided into three zones: [[the Pale]], where English rule was unchallenged; [[Leinster]] and [[Munster]], the so-called "obedient land" of Anglo-Irish peers; and the Gaelic [[Connaught]] and [[Ulster]], with merely nominal English rule.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|p=180}} Until 1513, Henry continued the policy of his father, to allow Irish lords to rule in the King's name and accept steep divisions between the communities.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=181–182}} However, upon the death of the [[Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare]], [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]], fractious Irish politics combined with a more ambitious Henry to cause trouble. When [[Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond]], died, Henry recognised one successor for Ormond's English, Welsh and Scottish lands, whilst in Ireland another took control. Kildare's successor, the [[Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare|9th Earl]], was replaced as Lord Deputy of Ireland by the [[Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk|Earl of Surrey]] in 1520.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=183–184}} Surrey's ambitious aims were costly but ineffective; English rule became trapped between winning the Irish lords over with diplomacy, as favoured by Henry and Wolsey, and a sweeping military occupation as proposed by Surrey.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=181–185}} Surrey was recalled in 1521, with [[Piers Butler]] – one of the claimants to the Earldom of Ormond – appointed in his place. Butler proved unable to control opposition, including that of Kildare. Kildare was appointed lord deputy in 1524, resuming his dispute with Butler, which had before been in a lull. Meanwhile, [[James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond]], an Anglo-Irish peer, had turned his support to [[Richard de la Pole]] as pretender to the English throne; when in 1528 Kildare failed to take suitable actions against him, Kildare was once again removed from his post.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=185–186}}

The Desmond situation was resolved on his death in 1529, which was followed by a period of uncertainty. This was effectively ended with the appointment of [[Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset]] and the King's son, as lord deputy. Richmond had never before visited Ireland, his appointment a break with past policy.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=186–187}}{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=206–207}} For a time it looked as if peace might be restored with the return of Kildare to Ireland to manage the tribes, but the effect was limited and the [[Parliament of Ireland|Irish Parliament]] soon rendered ineffective.<ref name="loades187">{{Harvnb|Loades|2009|p=187}}</ref> Ireland began to receive the attention of Cromwell, who had supporters of Ormond and Desmond promoted. Kildare, on the other hand, was summoned to London; after some hesitation, he departed for London in 1534, where he would face charges of treason.<ref name="loades187"/> His son, [[Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare|Thomas, Lord Offaly]], was more forthright, denouncing the King and leading a "Catholic crusade" against Henry, who was by this time mired in marital problems. Offaly had the Archbishop of Dublin, [[John Alen]], murdered and besieged Dublin. Offaly led a mixture of Pale gentry and Irish tribes, although he failed to secure the support of [[Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Darcy|Lord Darcy]], a sympathiser, or Charles V. What was effectively a civil war was ended with the intervention of 2,000 English troops – a large army by Irish standards – and the execution of Offaly (his father was already dead) and his uncles.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=187–189}}{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=207–208}}

Although the Offaly revolt was followed by a determination to rule Ireland more closely, Henry was wary of drawn-out conflict with the tribes, and a royal commission recommended that the only relationship with the tribes was to be promises of peace, their land protected from English expansion. The man to lead this effort was [[Anthony St Leger (Lord Deputy of Ireland)|Antony St Leger]], as Lord Deputy of Ireland, who would remain in post past Henry's death.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|p=191}} Until the break with Rome, it was widely believed that Ireland was a Papal possession granted as a mere [[fiefdom]] to the English king, so in 1542 Henry asserted England's claim to the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] free from the Papal [[Lord|overlordship]]. This change did, however, also allow a policy of peaceful reconciliation and expansion: the Lords of Ireland would grant their lands to the King, before being returned as fiefdoms. The incentive to comply with Henry's request was an accompanying barony, and thus a right to sit in the [[Irish House of Lords]], which was to run in parallel with England's.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=191–192}} The Irish law of the tribes did not suit such an arrangement, because the chieftain did not have the required rights; this made progress tortuous, and the plan was abandoned in 1543, not to be replaced.{{Sfn|Loades|2009|pp=194–195}}

== Historiography ==
The complexities and sheer scale of Henry's legacy ensured that, in the words of Betteridge and Freeman, "throughout the centuries, Henry has been praised and reviled, but he has never been ignored".<ref name="bandf1"/> In the 1950s, historian [[John D. Mackie]] summed up Henry's personality and its impact on his achievements and popularity:

{{Blockquote|The respect, nay even the popularity, which he had from his people was not unmerited.... He kept the development of England in line with some of the most vigorous, though not the noblest forces of the day. His high courage – highest when things went ill – his commanding intellect, his appreciation of fact, and his instinct for rule carried his country through a perilous time of change, and his very arrogance saved his people from the wars which afflicted other lands. Dimly remembering the wars of the Roses, vaguely informed as to the slaughters and sufferings in Europe, the people of England knew that in Henry they had a great king.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mackie |first=John D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IPPjvveNsTQC&pg=PA443 |title=The Earlier Tudors, 1485–1558 |date=1952 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-1982-1706-0 |pages=442–445}}</ref>}}

A particular focus of modern historiography has been the extent to which the events of Henry's life (including his marriages, foreign policy and religious changes) were the result of his own initiative and, if they were, whether they were the result of opportunism or of a principled undertaking by Henry.<ref name="bandf1">{{Harvnb|Betteridge|Freeman|2012|pp=1–19}}</ref> The traditional interpretation of those events was provided by historian [[A. F. Pollard]], who in 1902 presented his own, largely positive, view of the King, lauding him, "as the King and statesman who, whatever his personal failings, led England down the road to parliamentary democracy and empire".<ref name="bandf1"/> Pollard's interpretation remained the dominant interpretation of Henry's life until the publication of the doctoral thesis of [[Geoffrey Elton]] in 1953.

Elton's 1977 book on ''The Tudor Revolution in Government'' maintained Pollard's positive interpretation of the Henrician period as a whole, but reinterpreted Henry himself as a follower rather than a leader. For Elton, it was Cromwell and not Henry who undertook the changes in government – Henry was shrewd but lacked the vision to follow a complex plan through.<ref name="bandf1"/> Henry was little more, in other words, than an "ego-centric monstrosity" whose reign "owed its successes and virtues to better and greater men about him; most of its horrors and failures sprang more directly from [the King]".{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=23, 332}}

Although the central tenets of Elton's thesis have since been questioned, it has consistently provided the starting point for much later work, including that of [[J. J. Scarisbrick]], his student. Scarisbrick largely kept Elton's regard for Cromwell's abilities but returned agency to Henry, who Scarisbrick considered to have ultimately directed and shaped policy.<ref name="bandf1"/> For Scarisbrick, Henry was a formidable, captivating man who "wore regality with a splendid conviction".{{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1968|p=17}} The effect of endowing Henry with this ability, however, was largely negative in Scarisbrick's eyes: to Scarisbrick, the Henrician period was one of upheaval and destruction and those in charge worthy of blame more than praise.<ref name="bandf1"/> Even among more recent biographers, including [[David Loades]], David Starkey, and [[John Guy (historian)|John Guy]], there has ultimately been little consensus on the extent to which Henry was responsible for the changes he oversaw or the assessment of those he did bring about.<ref name="bandf1"/>

This lack of clarity about Henry's control over events has contributed to the variation in the qualities ascribed to him: religious conservative or dangerous radical; lover of beauty or brutal destroyer of priceless artefacts; friend and patron or betrayer of those around him; chivalry incarnate or ruthless chauvinist.<ref name="bandf1"/> One traditional approach, favoured by Starkey and others, is to divide Henry's reign into two halves, the first Henry being dominated by positive qualities (politically inclusive, pious, athletic but also intellectual) who presided over a period of stability and calm, and the latter a "hulking tyrant" who presided over a period of dramatic, sometimes whimsical, change.<ref name="morris19"/>{{Sfn|Starkey|2008|pp=3–4}} Other writers have tried to merge Henry's disparate personality into a single whole; [[Lacey Baldwin Smith]], for example, considered him an egotistical borderline neurotic given to great fits of temper and deep and dangerous suspicions, with a mechanical and conventional, but deeply held piety, and having at best a mediocre intellect.{{Sfn|Smith|1971|pp=passim}}

== Style and arms ==
{{Multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Coat of Arms of Henry VIII of England (1509-1547).svg
| width1 = 180
| alt1 =
| caption1 =
| image2 = Coat of Arms of England (1509-1554).svg
| width2 = 180
| alt2 =
| caption2 =
| footer = Henry's armorial during his early reign (left) and later reign (right)
}}
Many changes were made to the royal style during his reign. Henry originally used the style "Henry the Eighth, by the Grace of God, [[List of monarchs of England|King of England]], [[English Kings of France|France]] and [[Lord of Ireland]]". In 1521, pursuant to a grant from Pope Leo X rewarding Henry for his ''Defence of the Seven Sacraments'', the royal style became "Henry the Eighth, by the Grace of God, King of England and France, [[Defender of the Faith]] and Lord of Ireland". Following Henry's excommunication, [[Pope Paul III]] rescinded the grant of the title "Defender of the Faith", but an [[Act of Parliament]] ([[35 Hen. 8]]. c. 3) declared that it remained valid; and it continues in royal usage to the present day, as evidenced by the letters FID DEF or F.D. on all British coinage. Henry's motto was "Coeur Loyal" ("true heart"), and he had this embroidered on his clothes in the form of a heart symbol and with the word "loyal". His emblem was the [[Tudor rose]] and the [[Beaufort portcullis]]. As king, Henry's [[heraldry|arms]] were the same as those used by his predecessors since [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]]: ''Quarterly, Azure three [[fleurs-de-lys]] Or (for France) and Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or (for England)''.

In 1535, Henry added the "supremacy phrase" to the royal style, which became "Henry the Eighth, by the Grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland and of the Church of England in Earth Supreme Head". In 1536, the phrase "of the Church of England" changed to "of the Church of England and also of [[Church of Ireland|Ireland]]". In 1541, Henry had the [[Parliament of Ireland|Irish Parliament]] change the title "Lord of Ireland" to "King of Ireland" with the [[Crown of Ireland Act 1542]], after being advised that many Irish people regarded the Pope as the true head of their country, with the Lord acting as a mere representative. The reason the Irish regarded the Pope as their overlord was that Ireland had originally been given to King [[Henry II of England]] by [[Pope Adrian IV]] in the 12th century as a feudal territory under papal overlordship. The meeting of the Irish Parliament that proclaimed Henry VIII as king of Ireland was the first meeting attended by the Gaelic Irish chieftains as well as the [[Anglo-Irish]] aristocrats. The style "Henry the Eighth, by the Grace of God, King of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith and of the Church of England and also of Ireland in Earth Supreme Head" remained in use until the end of Henry's reign.

==Genealogical table==

{{Ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
| ref=<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weir |first=Alison |title=Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy |date=2008 |publisher=Vintage Books |isbn=978-0099539735 |location=London |chapter=The Tudors |author-link=Alison Weir}}</ref>
| boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;
| boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;
| boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;
| boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;
| 1 = 1. '''Henry VIII of England'''
| 2 = 2. [[Henry VII of England]]
| 3 = 3. [[Elizabeth of York]]
| 4 = 4. [[Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond]]
| 5 = 5. [[Margaret Beaufort]]
| 6 = 6. [[Edward IV of England]]
| 7 = 7. [[Elizabeth Woodville]]
| 8 = 8. [[Owen Tudor]]
| 9 = 9. [[Catherine of Valois]]
| 10 = 10. [[John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset]]
| 11 = 11. [[Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso|Margaret Beauchamp]]
| 12 = 12. [[Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York]]
| 13 = 13. [[Cecily Neville]]
| 14 = 14. [[Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers]]
| 15 = 15. [[Jacquetta of Luxembourg]]
}}
{{Chart top|Henry VIII's relatives (selective chart){{Sfn|Scarisbrick|1968|pp=529}}}}
{{Chart/start
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Richard
 |Richard=[[Richard, Duke of York]]
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | |,|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|^|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| 
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1|Edmund|y|Margaret| | | | | |Edward| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |George| | | |Richard| | | | | |Elizabeth| |Margaret2
 |Edward=[[Edward IV]]
 |Richard=[[Richard III]]
 |George=[[George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence]]
 |Edmund=[[Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond]]
 |Margaret=[[Margaret Beaufort]]
 |Elizabeth=[[Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk]]
 |Margaret2=[[Margaret of York]]
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | |!| | | |,|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | | | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | | | | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| 
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | |Henry|y|Elizabeth| |Edward| |Richard| | | | | | |Catherine|y|William| |Ned| |Margaret|y|Dick| |John| |Edmund| |Rick
 |Henry=[[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]
 |Elizabeth=[[Elizabeth of York]]
 |Edward=[[Edward V]]
 |Richard=[[Richard of Shrewsbury|Richard, Duke of York]]
 |Catherine=[[Catherine of York]]
 |William=[[William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon]]
 |Ned=[[Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick]]
 |Margaret=[[Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury]]
 |Dick=[[Richard Pole (courtier)|Richard Pole]]
 |John=[[John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln]]
 |Edmund=[[Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk]]
 |Rick=[[Richard de la Pole]]
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| |,|-|-|-|^|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.|`|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | |,|^|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| 
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1|Arthur|~|Catherine|y|Henry|y|other| |Margaret|y|James| |Mary|y|Charles| |Exeter| |Montagu| |Reginald| |Geoffrey
 |Arthur=[[Arthur, Prince of Wales]]
 |Catherine=[[Catherine of Aragon]]
 |Henry=Henry VIII
   |boxstyle_Henry=border:2px solid
 |other=''[[#Wives, mistresses, and children|other wives]]''
   |boxstyle_other=border:0px
 |Margaret=[[Margaret Tudor]]
 |James=[[James IV of Scotland]]
 |Mary=[[Mary Tudor, Queen of France]]
 |Charles=[[Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk]]
 |Exeter=[[Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter]]
 |Montagu=[[Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu]]
 |Reginald=[[Reginald Pole]]
 |Geoffrey=[[Geoffrey Pole]]
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | |!| | | |)|-|-|-|.| | | |!| | | | | | | |!| 
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | |Mary| |Elizabeth| |Edward| |James| | | | | |Frances|y|Henry
 |Mary=[[Mary I]]
 |Elizabeth=[[Elizabeth I]]
 |Edward=[[Edward VI]]
 |James=[[James V of Scotland]]
 |Frances=[[Frances Brandon]]
 |Henry=[[Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk]]
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| 
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |MaryStuart| | | |Jane| |Catherine| |MaryGrey|
 |MaryStuart=[[Mary, Queen of Scots]]
 |Jane=[[Jane Grey]]
 |Catherine=[[Catherine Grey]]
 |MaryGrey=[[Lady Mary Grey|Mary Grey]]
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| 
}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |James| 
 |James=[[James VI and I]]
}}

{{Chart/end}}
{{Chart bottom}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|Monarchy|England|Christianity}}
* [[Cestui que]]
* [[Cultural depictions of Henry VIII]]
* [[Family tree of English monarchs]]
* [[History of the foreign relations of the United Kingdom#Tudor foreign policy|History of the foreign relations of the United Kingdom]]
* [[Inventory of Henry VIII]]
* [[List of English monarchs]]
* [[Tudor period]]
* [[Mouldwarp]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=Thomas |title=The Renaissance at War |date=2001 |publisher=Cassell and Company |isbn=0-3043-5270-5 |location=London}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Ashrafian |first=Hutan |date=2011 |title=Henry VIII's Obesity Following Traumatic Brain Injury |journal=Endocrine |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=218–219 |doi=10.1007/s12020-011-9581-z |pmid=22169966 |s2cid=37447368 |doi-access=free}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bernard |first=G. W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p2MOt53sCCgC |title=The King's Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church |date=2005 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-3001-0908-5 |author-link=George W. Bernard}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Betteridge |first=Thomas |date=2005 |title=The Henrician Reformation and Mid-Tudor Culture |journal=Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=91–109 |doi=10.1215/10829636-35-1-91}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Betteridge |first1=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ji_FpxQ4--QC |title=Henry VIII in History |last2=Freeman |first2=Thomas S. |date=2012 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=978-1-4094-6113-5 |author-mask=2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Brigden |first=Susan |title=New Worlds, Lost Worlds |date=2000 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-1401-4826-8 |author-link=Susan Brigden}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Chibi |first=Andrew A. |date=1997 |title=Richard Sampson, His Oratio, and Henry VIII's Royal Supremacy |journal=Journal of Church and State |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=543–560 |doi=10.1093/jcs/39.3.543 |issn=0021-969X}}
* {{Cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |title=The New World |date=1966 |publisher=Cassell and Company |series=History of the English Speaking Peoples |volume=2 |author-link=Winston Churchill}}
* {{Cite book |last=Crofton |first=Ian |title=The Kings and Queens of England |date=2006 |publisher=Quercus Books |isbn=978-1-8472-4141-2}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Cruz |first1=Anne J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2tCAjijsKQC |title=The Rule of Women in Early Modern Europe |last2=Suzuki |first2=Mihoko |date=2009 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-2520-7616-9}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Davies |first=Jonathan |date=2005 |title='We Do Fynde in Our Countre Great Lack of Bowes and Arrows': Tudor Military Archery and the Inventory of King Henry VIII |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |volume=83 |issue=333 |pages=11–29 |issn=0037-9700}}
* {{Cite book |last=Elton |first=Geoffrey R. |title=Reform and Reformation: England, 1509–1558 |date=1977 |publisher=Edward Arnold |isbn=0-7131-5952-9 |author-link=Geoffrey Elton}}
* {{Cite book |last=Farquhar |first=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/treasuryofroyals00farq |title=A Treasure of Royal Scandals |date=2001 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-7394-2025-9 |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Fraser |first=Antonia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=24UKxUPB5goC |title=The Wives of Henry VIII |date=1994 |publisher=Vintage Books |isbn=978-0-6797-3001-9 |author-link=Antonia Fraser}}
* {{Cite book |last=Guicciardini |first=Francesco |title=The History of Italy |date=1968 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-6910-0800-4 |editor-last=Alexander |editor-first=Sidney |author-link=Francesco Guicciardini |orig-date=1561}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Gunn |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Gunn (historian) |date=1991 |title=Tournaments and Early Tudor Chivalry |journal=History Today |volume=41 |issue=6 |pages=543–560 |issn=0018-2753}}
* {{Cite book |last=Guy |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ySRvQgAACAAJ |title=The Tudor monarchy |date=1997 |publisher=Arnold Publishers |isbn=978-0-3406-5219-0 |author-link=John Guy (historian)}}
* {{Cite book |last=Guy |first=John |title=The Tudors: a Very Short Introduction |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1916-0651-9 |author-mask=2 |author-link=John Guy (historian)}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hays |first=J. N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJReBNnOoL8C |title=The Burdens of Disease: Epidemics and Human Response in Western History |date=2010 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-4613-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hart |first=Kelly |url=https://archive.org/details/mistressesofhenr0000hart |title=The Mistresses of Henry VIII |date=2009 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-0-7524-4835-0 |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hall |first=Edward |title=The Triumphant Reign of Henry VIII |date=1904 |publisher=T.C. & E.C. Jack |editor-last=Charles Whibley |oclc=644934802 |author-link=Edward Hall |author-link2=Charles Whibley |orig-date=1548}}
* {{Cite book |last=Haigh |first=Christopher |title=English Reformations: Religion, Politics, and Society under the Tudors |date=1993 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-1982-2162-3 |author-link=Christopher Haigh}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Hibbert |first1=Christopher |title=The London Encyclopaedia |title-link=The London Encyclopaedia |last2=Weinreb |first2=Ben |last3=Keay |first3=Julia |last4=Keay |first4=John |date=2010 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4050-4925-2 |edition=3rd |author-link=Christopher Hibbert |author-link2=Ben Weinreb |author-link4=John Keay}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hutchinson |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2zR6WdBzyvEC |title=Young Henry: The Rise of Henry VIII |date=2012 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-2500-1261-6 |author-link=Robert Hutchinson (historian)}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ives |first=Eric |title=The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn: 'The Most Happy' |date=2005 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |isbn=978-1-4051-3463-7 |location=Oxford |author-link=Eric Ives}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Ives |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Ives |author-mask=2 |date=2006 |title=Will the Real Henry VIII Please Stand Up? |journal=History Today |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=28–36 |issn=0018-2753}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lehmberg |first=Stanford E. |url=https://archive.org/details/reformationparli0000lehm |title=The Reformation Parliament, 1529–1536 |date=1970 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5210-7655-5 |author-link=Stanford Lehmberg |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Lipscomb |first=Suzannah |author-link=Suzannah Lipscomb |date=2009 |title=Who was Henry? |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/who-was-henry-viii |journal=History Today |volume=59 |issue=4 |url-access=subscription}}
* {{Cite book |last=Loades |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/henryviiicourtch0000load |title=Henry VIII: Court, Church and Conflict |date=2009 |publisher=The National Archives |isbn=978-1-9056-1542-1 |author-link=David Loades |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Meyer |first=G. J. |url=https://archive.org/details/tudorscompletest00meye |title=The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty |date=2010 |publisher=Presidio Press |isbn=978-0-3853-4076-2 |author-link=G. J. Meyer}}
* {{Cite book |last=Montefiore |first=Simon Sebag |title=History's Monsters: 101 Villains from Vlad the Impaler to Adolf Hitler |date=2008 |publisher=Querkus Publishing Plc |isbn=978-1-4351-0937-7 |author-link=Simon Sebag Montefiore}}
* {{Cite book |last=Morris |first=T.A. |url=https://archive.org/details/tudorgovernment0000morr |title=Tudor Government |date=1999 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-2039-8167-2 |access-date=20 March 2013 |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Murphy |first=Neil |date=2016 |title=Violence, Colonization and Henry VIII's Conquest of France, 1544–1546 |journal=Past and Present |issue=233 |pages=13–51 |doi=10.1093/pastj/gtw018 |doi-access=free}}
* {{Cite book |last=Pollard |first=A. F. |url=https://archive.org/details/henryviii00pollgoog |title=Henry VIII |date=1905 |publisher=Longmans, Green & Company}}
*{{cite book |last1=Porter |first1=Linda |author1-link=Linda Porter (historian) |title=Mary Tudor: The First Queen |date=2007 |publisher=[[Judy Piatkus|Piatkus]] |location=London |isbn=9780749909826 |edition=2009}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Rex |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Rex |date=1996 |title=The Crisis of Obedience: God's Word and Henry's Reformation |journal=The Historical Journal |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=863–894 |doi=10.1017/S0018246X00024687 |jstor=2639860 |s2cid=159649932}}
* {{Cite book |last=Scarisbrick |first=J. J. |url=https://archive.org/details/henryviii0000scar |title=Henry VIII |date=1968 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-5200-1130-4 |author-link=J. J. Scarisbrick |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Scarisbrick |first=J. J. |title=Henry VIII |date=1997 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0-3000-7158-2 |edition=2nd |author-link=J. J. Scarisbrick}}
* {{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Lacey Baldwin |url=https://archive.org/details/henryviiimaskofr00smit |title=Henry VIII: the Mask of Royalty |date=1971 |publisher=Academy Chicago |isbn=978-0-8973-3056-5 |author-link=Lacey Baldwin Smith}}
* {{cite book |last1=Spalding |first1=Thomas Alfred |title=The House of Lords |date=1894 |publisher=T. F. Unwin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oNKsAAAAMAAJ&dq=lords+spiritual+outnumbered+by+lords+temporal&pg=PA28 |access-date=9 June 2024 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Starkey |first=David |title=Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII |date=2003 |publisher=Chatto & Windus |isbn=978-0-7011-7298-5 |author-link=David Starkey}}
* {{Cite book |last=Starkey |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dNJZJP3ns-MC |title=Henry: Virtuous Prince |date=2008 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-0072-8783-3 |author-mask=2 |author-link=David Starkey}}
* {{Cite book |last=Stöber |first=Karen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rzanpUHWLQoC |title=Late Medieval Monasteries and Their Patrons: England and Wales, c. 1300–1540 |date=2007 |publisher=Boydell Press |isbn=978-1-8438-3284-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=Andrea |title=Princelie Majestie: The Court of James V of Scotland 1528–1542 |date=2005 |publisher=John Donald Publishers Ltd |isbn=978-0-8597-6611-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Thurley |first=Simon |title=The Royal Palaces of Tudor England |date=1993 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-3000-5420-0 |author-link=Simon Thurley}}
* {{Cite book |last=Weir |first=Alison |url=https://archive.org/details/sixwivesofhenryv00weir_1 |title=The Six Wives of Henry VIII |date=1991 |publisher=Grove Press |isbn=0-8021-3683-4 |author-link=Alison Weir}}
* {{Cite book |last=Weir |first=Alison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JW-seRfZ9toC |title=Henry VIII: The King and His Court |date=2002 |publisher=Random House Digital, Inc. |isbn=0-3454-3708-X |author-mask=2 |author-link=Alison Weir}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=James |date=2005 |title=Hunting and the Royal Image of Henry VIII |journal=Sport in History |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=41–59 |doi=10.1080/17460260500073082 |issn=1746-0263 |s2cid=161663183}}
* {{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Neville |url=https://archive.org/details/henryviiihiscour00will |title=Henry VIII and his Court |date=1971 |publisher=Macmillan Publishing Co |isbn=978-0-0262-9100-2 |url-access=registration}}
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

=== Biographical ===
* {{Cite book |last=Ashley |first=Mike |url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofbr0000ashl_f1a2 |title=A brief history of British kings & queens |date=2002 |publisher=[[Running Press]] |isbn=978-0-7867-1104-8 |location=Philadelphia |ref=none |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bowle |first=John |author-link=John Edward Bowle |title=Henry VIII: A Study of Power in Action |date=1964 |publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]] |location=New York |asin=B000OJX9RI |oclc=1154362697}}
* {{Cite book |last=Erickson |first=Carolly |url=https://archive.org/details/mistressanneexce0000caro |title=Mistress Anne |date=1984 |publisher=[[Summit Books]] |isbn=978-0-671-41747-5 |location=New York |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite magazine |last=Cressy |first=David |date=October 1982 |title=Spectacle and Power: Apollo and Solomon at the Court of Henry VIII |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/spectacle-and-power-apollo-solomon-court-henry-viii |magazine=[[History Today]] |pages=16–22 |volume=32 |issue=10 |issn=0018-2753}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gardner |first=James |title=Cambridge Modern History |date=1903 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=2 |location=Cambridge |chapter=Henry VIII |oclc=219199693 |chapter-url=http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/cmh/cmh213.html}}
* {{Cite book |last=Graves |first=Michael A. R. |url=https://archive.org/details/henryviiistudyin00grav |title=Henry VIII: a study in kingship |date=2003 |publisher=Pearson Longman |isbn=978-0-582-38110-0 |series=Profiles in power |location=London |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite ODNB |last=Ives |first=E. W. |chapter=Henry VIII (1491–1547) |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/12955 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=2004 |author-link=Eric Ives}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Henry VIII. of England | volume= 13 |last1= Pollard |first1=Albert Frederick |author1-link=Albert Pollard | pages = 287&ndash;290 |short=1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rex |first=Richard |title=Henry VIII and the English Reformation |date=1993 |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |isbn=978-0-312-08665-7 |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ridley |first=Jasper Godwin |url=https://archive.org/details/henryviii00ridl |title=Henry VIII |date=1985 |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |isbn=978-0-670-80699-7 |location=New York, N.Y |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Starkey |first=David |author-link=David Starkey |url=https://archive.org/details/reignofhenryviii0000star_h2r4 |title=The reign of Henry VIII: personalities and politics |date=2002 |publisher=[[Vintage Books]] |isbn=978-0-09-944510-4 |location=London |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Starkey |first1=David |author-link=David Starkey |title=Henry VIII: Man and Monarch |last2=Doran |first2=Susan |author-link2=Susan Doran |date=2009 |publisher=British Library Publishing Division |isbn=978-0-7123-5025-9 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tytler |first=Patrick Fraser |author-link=Patrick Fraser Tytler |url=https://archive.org/details/lifekinghenryei00tytlgoog |title=Life of King Henry the Eighth |date=1837 |publisher=[[Oliver & Boyd]] |location=Edinburgh |oclc=1985361 |access-date=17 August 2008}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Josephine |url=https://archive.org/details/maryboleyntruest0000wilk |title=Mary Boleyn: the true story of Henry VIII's favourite mistress |date=2009 |publisher=[[Amberley Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-84868-089-0 |location=Stroud |oclc=302077885 |ref=none |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Weir |first=Alison |author-link=Alison Weir |url=https://archive.org/details/childrenofhenryv0000weir |title=The children of Henry VIII |date=1996 |publisher=[[Ballantine Books]] |isbn=978-0-345-39118-6 |location=New York |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wooding |first=Lucy E. C. |author-link=Lucy Wooding |title=Henry VIII |date=2015 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-138-83141-4 |edition=2. |series=Routledge historical biographies |location=London}}

=== Scholarly studies ===
* {{Cite book |last=Bernard |first=G. W. |author-link=George W. Bernard |url=https://archive.org/details/wartaxationrebel0000bern |title=War, taxation and rebellion in early Tudor England: Henry VIII, Wolsey and the amicable Grant of 1525 |date=1986 |publisher=Harvester Press |isbn=978-0-7108-1126-4 |location=Brighton |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Bernard |first=G. W. |author-mask=2 |date=1998 |title=The Making of Religious Policy, 1533–1546: Henry VIII and the Search for the Middle Way |journal=Historical Journal |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=321–349 |doi=10.1017/S0018246X98007778 |issn=0018-246X |jstor=2640109 |s2cid=159952187}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Bush |first=M. L. |date=2007 |title=The Tudor Polity and the Pilgrimage of Grace |journal=Historical Research |volume=80 |issue=207 |pages=47–72 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2281.2006.00351.x |issn=0950-3471}}
* {{Cite book |last=Doran |first=Susan |title=The Tudor Chronicles: 1485–1603 |date=2009 |publisher=Metro Books |isbn=978-1-4351-0939-1 |location=New York |pages=78–203}}
* {{Cite book |last=Elton |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Elton |url=https://archive.org/details/tudorrevolutioni0000elto |title=The Tudor revolution in government: administrative changes in the reign of Henry VIII |date=1974 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-04892-7 |edition=Repr |location=Cambridge |ref=none |orig-date=1953 |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Guy |first=John |author-link=John Guy (historian) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=utATDAAAQBAJ |title=The children of Henry VIII |date=2014 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-870087-6 |location=Oxford}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Head |first=David M. |date=1982 |title=Henry VIII's Scottish Policy: a Reassessment |journal=Scottish Historical Review |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=1–24 |issn=0036-9241}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Hoak |first=Dale |date=21 December 2005 |title=Politics, Religion and the English Reformation, 1533–1547: Some Problems and Issues |journal=[[History Compass]] |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=** |doi=10.1111/j.1478-0542.2005.00139.x |issn=1478-0542}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lindsey |first=Karen |url=https://archive.org/details/divorcedbeheaded0000lind |title=Divorced, beheaded, survived : a feminist reinterpretation of the wives of Henry VIII |date=1995 |publisher=[[Perseus Books Group]] |isbn=978-0-201-40823-2 |location=Reading, Mass. |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |title=The reign of Henry VIII: politics, policy and piety |date=1995 |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |isbn=978-0-312-12892-0 |editor-last=MacCulloch |editor-first=Diarmaid |editor-link=Diarmaid MacCulloch |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mackie |first=John D. |url=https://archive.org/details/earliertudors1480000mack_j0o2 |title=The earlier Tudors, 1485-1558 |date=1991 |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-821706-0 |edition=Repr |series=The Oxford history of England |location=Oxford |orig-date=1952}}
* {{Cite book |last=Moorhouse |first=Geoffrey |title=The pilgrimage of grace: the rebellion that shook Henry VIII's throne |date=2003 |publisher=[[Phoenix Press]] |isbn=978-1-84212-666-0 |series=A Phoenix paperback |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Moorhouse |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Moorhouse |url=https://archive.org/details/greatharrysnavyh0000moor_k8h2 |title=Great Harry's navy: how Henry VIII gave England sea power |date=2006 |publisher=[[Phoenix Press]] |isbn=978-0-7538-2099-5 |location=London |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Moorhouse |first=Geoffrey |url=https://archive.org/details/lastdivineoffice0000moor |title=The last divine office: Henry VIII and the dissolution of the monasteries |date=2009 |publisher=BlueBridge |isbn=978-1-933346-18-2 |location=New York |oclc=262886733 |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |title=Henry VIII and the English Reformation |date=1968 |publisher=Heath |editor-last=Slavin |editor-first=Arthur J. |location=Lexington, Mass. |oclc=184548}}
* {{Cite book |last=Smith |first=H. Maynard |url=https://archive.org/details/henryviiireforma0000hmay |title=Henry VIII and the Reformation |date=1948 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |oclc=1389078 |ol=6047819M |ol-access=free}}
* {{Cite Q|Q107248000|author=[[Stubbs, William]]}}<!-- The Reign of Henry VIII.-->
* {{Cite Q|Q107248047|author-mask=2}}<!-- Parliament under Henry VIII. -->
* {{Cite magazine |last=Thurley |first=Simon |date=June 1991 |title=Palaces for a Nouveau Riche King |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/palaces-nouveau-riche-king |magazine=[[History Today]] |volume=41 |issue=6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wagner |first=John A. |title=Bosworth Field to Bloody Mary: an encyclopedia of the early Tudors |date=2003 |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]] |isbn=978-1-57356-540-0 |location=Westport, Conn.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Walker (academic) |url=https://archive.org/details/writingundertyra0000walk |title=Writing under tyranny: English literature and the Henrician Reformation |date=2005 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-928333-0 |location=Oxford |oclc=ocm61129173 |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wernham |first=R. B. |author-link=R. B. Wernham |url=https://archive.org/details/beforearmadagrow0000wern/ |title=Before the Armada: the growth of English foreign policy, 1485-1588 |date=1966 |publisher=[[Jonathan Cape]] |location=London |oclc=530462}} History of foreign policy.

===Historiography===
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/revolutionreasse0000unse |title=Revolution reassessed: revisions in the history of Tudor government and administration |date=1986 |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-873064-4 |editor-last=Coleman |editor-first=Christopher |location=Oxford [Oxfordshire] |editor-last2=Starkey |editor-first2=David}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Fox |first1=Alistair |title=Reassessing the Henrician Age: humanism, politics and reform 1500-1550 |last2=Guy |first2=John |date=1986 |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |isbn=978-0-631-14614-8 |location=Oxford}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Head |first=David M. |date=1997 |title='If a Lion Knew His Own Strength': The Image of Henry VIII and His Historians |journal=[[International Social Science Review]] |volume=72 |issue=3/4 |pages=94–109 |issn=0278-2308 |jstor=41882241}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Marshall |first=Peter |date=2009 |title=(Re)defining the English Reformation |url=http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/97/1/WRAP_Marshall_redefining.pdf |journal=Journal of British Studies |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=564–585 |doi=10.1086/600128}}
* {{Cite book |last=O'Day |first=Rosemary |author-link=Rosemary O'Day |title=The debate on the English reformation |date=2014 |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |isbn=978-0-7190-8661-8 |edition=2nd |series=Issues in historiography |location=Manchester (GB)}}
* {{Cite book |last=O'Day |first=Rosemary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rcyYum-HiQ4C |title=The Routledge companion to the Tudor age |date=2010 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-44565-8 |series=Routledge companions to history |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |title=Henry VIII and his afterlives: literature, politics, and art |date=2009 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-51464-4 |editor-last=Rankin |editor-first=Mark |location=Cambridge (GB) |oclc=422765080 |editor-last2=Highley |editor-first2=Christopher |editor-last3=King |editor-first3=John N.}}

=== Primary sources ===
* {{Cite web |title=Letters and Papers, Henry VIII |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/series/letters-and-papers-henry-viii |website=[[British History Online]]}} Multiple volumes, covers from 1509 to January 1547. Originally published by [[His Majesty's Stationery Office]] (1864–1920).
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/englishhistorica0005davi |title=English Historical Documents |date=1967 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |editor-last=Douglas |editor-first=David Charles |editor-link=David C. Douglas |volume=5: 1485-1558 |oclc=247046009 |ol=47688798M |editor-last2=Williams |editor-first2=C. H.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Harrison |first=William |author-link=William Harrison (priest) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4qwDICPz6OoC |title=The description of England: the classic contemporary account of Tudor social life |date=1994 |publisher=[[Folger Shakespeare Library]] ; [[Dover Publications]] |isbn=978-0-486-28275-6 |editor-last=Edelen |editor-first=Georges |edition=New |location=Washington, D.C. |orig-date=1557}}
* {{Cite book |last=Luther |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Luther |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oEy_3aDT61sC |title=Luther's Correspondence and Other Contemporary Letters |date=1918 |publisher=Lutheran Publication Society |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Preserved |editor-link=Preserved Smith |volume=2 |location=Philadelphia |chapter=1521–1530 |orig-date=1 September 1525 |editor-last2=Jacobs |editor-first2=Charles M.}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/henryprivypurse00nicouoft |title=The privy purse expences of King Henry the Eighth: from November MDXXIX, to December MDXXXII - with introductory remarks and illustrative notes |date=1827 |publisher=W. Pickering |editor-last=Nicolas |editor-first=Nicholas Harris |editor-link=Nicholas Harris Nicolas |location=London |oclc=65270104 |ol=7167246M |ol-access=free}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Grene growith the holy.ogg|title=''Grene growith the holy'' (0:31)|description=A [[Christmas carol]] attributed to Henry VIII}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Henry VIII of England}}
* {{Wikisource-inline|Author:Henry VIII}}
* {{Wikisource-inline|The_Book_of_Martyrs/Chapter_XV|"Persecutions of Protestants by Henry VIII", in Foxe's ''Book of Martyrs''}}
* [https://www.royal.uk/henry-viii Henry VIII] at the official website of the [[British monarchy]]
* [https://www.rct.uk/collection/people/henry-viii-king-of-england-1491-1547#/type/subject Henry VIII] at the official website of the [[Royal Collection Trust]]
* {{IMSLP|Henry VIII|Henry VIII}}
* {{ChoralWiki|Henry VIII}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=35690}}
* {{Internet Archive author |search=( ("Henry VIII" OR "Henry Eighth" OR "Henry the Eighth" OR "Henry Tudor") AND -creator:Shakespeare )}}
* {{Librivox author |id=9634}}
* {{NPG name|name=King Henry VIII}}

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