Here are the key changes which took place under Henry VIII: On Midsummer's Day in 1509 a 17 year old was crowned king of England. He would go on to transform his realm over almost four decades on the throne. But who was Henry VIII? Man or monster, statesman or tyrant?
Evidence for significant change in religious life can be seen firstly in the doctrinal changes that took place during Henry VIII’s reign. The first significant changes began with the enforcement of the Royal Supremacy as under the Act of Supremacy in 1534 Henry was declared Supreme Head of the Church.
Sign Me Up Henry VIII was one of England’s most extraordinary monarchs. During his 37 year reign Henry married six wives, executed thousands for treason and radically overhauled English religion, parliamentary powers and the Royal Navy. He even transformed the postal service.
In the last years of his reign Henry grew moody, obese and suspicious, hobbled by personal intrigues and by the persistent leg wound from his jousting injury. His final marriage, to the widow Catherine Parr in 1543, saw his reconciliation with Mary and Elizabeth, who were restored to the line of succession.
Henry VIII was the king of England (1509–47). He broke with the Roman Catholic Church and had Parliament declare him supreme head of the Church of England, starting the English Reformation, because the pope would not annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He wanted to remarry and produce a male heir.
Contents. King Henry VIII (1491-1547) ruled England for 36 years, presiding over sweeping changes that brought his nation into the Protestant Reformation. He famously married a series of six wives in his search for political alliance, marital bliss and a healthy male heir.
William I ('William the Conqueror'), r1066–87 This brave, brutal, illiterate but clever Norman warlord attained at the battle of Hastings (14 October 1066) the most durable victory of any monarch in English history. At the head of 5,000 knights, he made himself master of a kingdom with perhaps 1.5 million inhabitants.
Henry VIII was a famous Tudor king. He began the English Reformation that established the Church of England, he united England and Wales and he had three children who each went on to rule England after he died.
The establishment of the Church of England also enabled Henry to abolish England’s Roman Catholic monasteries and convents. 800 religious institutions were suppressed and their vast wealth transferred to the Crown during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Many of Henry’s vessels, like his flagship the Mary Rose, were fitted with modern artillery. The navy moved away from boarding tactics and began to employ gunnery. The Mary Rose c. 1546, taken from The Anthony Roll of Henry VIII’s Navy. Image credit: Public Domain.
The statutes which changed England forever. Between 1532 and 1537 Henry introduced a number of statutes which ended the relationship between the Pope and England. They made supporting the Pope an act of treason, punishable by death.
Henry’s reasons for separating the English Church from the influence of the Pope were complex. In addition to the annulment, Henry knew that removing the Pope’s influence would extend his own political power and grant him access to additional income.
Henry VIII was one of England’s most extraordinary monarchs. During his 37 year reign Henry married six wives, executed thousands for treason and radically overhauled English religion, parliamentary powers and the Royal Navy. He even transformed the postal service.
In 1534 the Act of Supremacy stated that t he king would be ‘accepted and reputed the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England.’ . After the Treasons Act, all adults in England could be made to swear an oath acknowledging the king’s supremacy in religious matters. Henry did not make these decisions alone.
3. The Church of England and the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Church of England was a bold new idea for how religion might operate in England. The King was its head, rather than the Pope, and Henry thus wielded unrivalled religious authority in the land.
Henry VIII: Dissolving a Marriage, Splitting the Church. Henry VIII: More Marriages and Deaths. Henry VIII: Death and Legacy. King Henry VIII (1491-1547) ruled England for 36 years, presiding over sweeping changes that brought his nation into the Protestant Reformation. He famously married a series of six wives in his search for political alliance, ...
In January of 1536 Henry was unhorsed and injured during a jousting tournament. When news of his accident reached the pregnant Anne, she miscarried, delivering a stillborn son. Henry then spurned her, turning his affections to another woman of his court, Jane Seymour.
He then married Catherine Howard, but two years later she too was beheaded for treason and adultery. In the last years of his reign Henry grew moody, obese and suspicious, hobbled by personal intrigues and by the persistent leg wound from his jousting injury.
He also worried that his marriage to Catherine had been cursed by God because of the Old Testament ban on marrying the widow of one’s brother. The king decided to seek a papal annulment that would free him to remarry.
Henry VIII: Death and Legacy. Henry VIII died at age 55 on January 28, 1547. His 9-year-old son Edward VI succeeded him as king but died six years later.
Henry was born on June 28, 1491 , the second son of Henry VII, the first English ruler from the House of Tudor. While his older brother Arthur was being prepared for the throne, Henry was steered toward a church career, with a broad education in theology, music, languages, poetry and sports.
The sole survivor was Mary (later Mary I ), born in 1516.