FREE ESSAY ON HENRY VIII

HENRY VIII

On June 28, 1491 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, , 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 wives 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. One of his
underlying reasons is that Catherine fails to bare a male heir. He tells Thomas Wosley to
talk to the pope so he can divorce Catherine. But, Cardinal Wosley wasn't able to
convince the Pope. Thus, in 1529 Henry took Wesley's authority away from him. Henry then
appointed Sir Thomas More. Through Thomas Cramner, Henry got the divorce 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. Thus, ..... the entry if England into the Reformation movement was an accident,
the result of a side issue... the desire of King Henry VIII to get an annulment of the
marriage between himself and his legitimate wife Catherine.... (Belloc, ibid., pp.22-23)
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, Cardinal, and 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. Then, Henry 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 the 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. However, when Henry finally saw her, he found her to
be quite unnactractive. Therefore, 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 conquer 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 in spite 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, re established
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. On 30 July, 1540, of six victims who were dragged to Smithfield, three were
reformers burnt for heretical doctrine, and the other three Catholics, hanged and
quartered for denying the king's supremacy. Of all the numerous miserable beings whom
Henry sent to execution, Cromwell, perhaps, is the only one who fully deserved his fate.
Looking at the last fifteen years of Henry's life, it is hard to find one single feature
which does not evoke repulsion, and the attempts made by some writers to whitewash his
misdeeds only give proof of the extraordinary prejudice with which they approach the
subject. (catholic Encyclopedia: Henry VIII) 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 and rich fellow, but he
was also disloyal to God and made many mistakes . 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. Apart
form the two queens 'with their accomplices,' Henry VIII's list of kills compromised
cardinals, bishops, abbots, priests, scholars, peers, knights, middle-class citizens and
many women of gentle birth: the sum total ran into hundreds.... (ibid.,p.256) Henry the
VIII was not only a selfish, wealthy man but a horrible ruler and a big sinner.