Henry VIII Essay, Research Paper
subject = History
title = Henry VIII
papers =
On June 28, 1941 Henry the VIII of England was born. This young
man will form his own church. He will succeed to the throne in 1509. He
will also marry six women! Something good will happen when he is king,
he will unite England and Wales and will also do some bad things like
executing people who would not follow his rules. In 1539, the Act of
Supremacy declared Henry to be the head of the Church of England.
King Henry the VIII of England had a good side and a bad side.
Though popular with the people of England and also very talented he had
many bad times and many good times for himself. Henry was not only
selfish but, also handsome and had a hearty personality, he was also a gifted
scholar, linguist, composer, and a musician. He was talented at many sports
and was also good with the ladies. Henry was the second son and the third
child of his father. Henry the VIII died in 1509, the only reason Henry would
become king is because of his brothers, Arthur, death in April of 1502.
Soon after that, Henry would marry his first wife, his brother (Arthur’s)
widow, Catherine of Aragon. Many wifes would follow after her.
During most of his early reign, Henry relied on Thomas Cardinal
Wosley to do much of the political and religious activities. Henry soon got
tired of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, so he decides that he doesn’t
want to be married to her anymore, so he tells Thomas Wosley to talk to the
pope so he can divorce Catherine. But, Cardinal Wosley wasn’t able to
convince the pope, so in 1529 Henry took Wosley’s authority away from him.
Henry then appointed Sir Thomas More. Henry then got that divorce through
Thomas Cramner, that he wanted with Catherine of Aragon and then married
Anne Boleyn. Cramner now the Arch Bishop of Canterbury, made Henry’s
marriage with Catherine void and his marriage with Anne valid. This made
the Pope furious. So in 1534, King Henry had the parliament pass a law
saying that the king, not the pope, would from now on be the supreme head
of the Church of England. Since Henry was now in charge of the Church, he
was going to make some changes. He had all the bibles translated into
English. He then had all the people take an oath for this law. But Sir
Thomas More and, then Cardinal, John Fisher wouldn’t accept the religious
supremacy of the English monarch, so they were then executed. These
changes gradually led to the formation of the Church of England.
In 1536, Henry accused his second wife, Anne Boleyn of adultery, so
Henry then executed her. A few days after that, he married a young woman
by the name of Jane Seymour. Jane Seymour, Henry’s third wife, was the
mother of Henry’s only legitimate son, Jane Seymour died after bearing this
certain child. Edward the VI was Henry’s only legitimate son. A couple of
years after Jane Seymour had died, Henry decided to marry once again. He
married a german princess by the name of Anne of Cleaves. In 1540, Henry
was told that Anne of Cleaves was a beautiful and pretty young woman. So
then, when Henry finally saw her he thought she was really ugly. So he then
divorced Anne of Cleaves and then beheaded Thomas Cromwell for having
tricked him. Being unloyal to God as much as Henry possibly could, he
made the decision to marry his fifth wife by the name of Catherine Howard.
Catherine Howard was then summarily executed in 1542 for being unchaste
prior to marriage with Henry the VIII and for committing adultery. Henry
had only one more wife to go, in 1543 Henry married his sixth and final wife,
Catherine Parr. Catherine then survived Henry and then lived on to marry
fourth husband.
In 1536, during Henry the VIII’s reign, England and Wales were finally
united as one country. During the 1280’s, after Edward the I had conquered
Wales, the Welsh people had revolted several times against the English
people, due to Edward’s conquer. But, the Welsh people finally accepted the
idea of unity with the English people. In the acts of 1536 and 1543, Henry
joined both Wales and England under one system of government. When
Ireland was made a nation or kingdom in 1541, King Henry then became the
king of Ireland. Henry now the king, had many wars with Scotland and
France, during 1542 King Henry’s troops defeated the Scots at Solway Moss.
In 1544, Henry’s troops also captured Boulogne-sun-Mer from the French,
and then a peace treaty was made when Henry received an indemnity from
France in 1546. Henry’s wars with Scotland remained indecisive inspite of
some small victories. Though he opposed the Reformation, his very own
creation of a national church started the real beginning of the English
Reformation. On January 28 1547, Henry the VIII of England died in the city
of London. Henry was buried in Saint Georges Chapel in the famous
Windsor Castle. During the reign of Edward the VI, Henry the VIII’s only
legitimate son, the parliament passed many more church reforms. But, then
in 1553, Edward’s half sister, Mary, the daughter of Catherine of Aragon was
a Roman Catholic, she reestablished Catholicism as the state religion.
Even though Henry altered the Church, he did not even wish to
introduce Protestant doctrine. Those people who refused to accept the
Church of England and its teachings were executed. The only important
religious changes made during his reign were the licensing of an English
translation of the Bible, the issuance of Cramner’s litany and the translation
of English of certain parts of the traditional service.
In conclusion, Henry the VIII of England was not only a talented
fellow and a rich one at that. But, he was also disloyal to God and made
many mistakes at that. Making the Church of England was probably his
greatest achievement as the King of England. Forcing people to follow a
certain religion and do what he told them to do was one of his lowest
achievements. Henry the VIII was not only selfish, wealthy man but a
horrible ruler and a big sinner.