Character and aims

• Henry VIII


  Came to the throne 7 years after Arthur's death, meaning he was well educated for the task, including exposure to humanist teaching
• Henry VIII


  • Well read although according to John Guy his mind was able but second rate
  • Extrovert, affable and charming (according to Eric Ives)
  • Had a profound dislike for the business of government and found the writing and reading of State papers both tedious and painful
  • Lacked the worth ethic attributed to his father, instead preferring to pass the time with good company
• Henry VIII's accession was welcomed after the sinister atmosphere associated with the influence of Empson and Dudley in the last years of Henry VII's reign
• Sir Thomas More: 'For Sir Thomas More it represented 'the end of sadness, the beginning of joy''
• Henry VIII


  • Had the ability to intervene suddenly in the business of government, contradicting decisions already taken place
  • This had serious implications for the quality of decision-making within his administration which was especially important given the nature of personal monarchy
• Courtly activities emphasis


  • Pageants
  • Revelry
  • Sports
  • Hunting
  • Tournaments
• Governing through council


  1. Renewed emphasis in the short term

  2. Two comebacks at later stages of the reign (1529-32, 1540-47)
• Chief minister


  Shaped the structures of government to meet his own needs
• Thomas Wolsey


  • Adept at using the Star Chamber
  • Appointed cardinal by Pope Leo X in 1515
  • His appointment as papal legate in 1518 which was confirmed for life in 1524
  • Outranked the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Warham, and gave him control over the religious orders in England
• Thomas Cromwell


  Developed his role as principal secretary
• Legacy of Henry VII

  • Money - Henry VII left around £300,000 upon his death
  • Used in the revival of traditionally aggressive foreign policy towards France
  • Unpopular mechanisms for extracting money
  • A peaceful foreign policy
  • A conciliar form of government
  • Disappeared in the short-term as a result of the emergence of Wolsey as the focus of government
• Reign began


  1. Members of the Council disposing other and thus establishing their power

  2. Richard Fox assisted by Sir Thomas Lovell and Richard Weston secured the arrest of Empson and Dudley

  3. The Council Learned in the Law was abolished by Act of Parliament in January 1510

  4. This cancelled many of the bonds and recognisances which the Council Learned had imposed
• Henry's early aims


  • To establish his status amongst European monarchs through marriage
  • To re-establish the role of the nobility
  • To establish himself as a warrior king through success in battle
• Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon


  1. A marriage between Henry and Arthur's widow, Catherine of Aragon, had been discussed since Arthur's death, but had not been finally agreed while Henry VII was king

  2. Henry VIII was anxious to conclude the marriage as quickly as possible

  3. This suited Henry's councillors who took the view that marriage for Henry would deflect him from political matters and enable them to conduct conciliar business as usual

  4. Catherine and Henry married on 11 June 1509

  5. Catherine exercised some influence over policy making in the first few years
• Re-establishing the nobility


  • The nobility had been largely frozen out of direct political influence by Henry VII
  • Henry's largely peaceable foreign policy had denied them their traditional outlet of the pursuit of military glory
  • Henry VIII shared the tastes and dominant military culture of the aristocracy
  • Largely the sons of the nobility who partnered Henry in the sports and revels which took up so much of his time and energy at the start of the reign
  • They accompanied Henry to war in northern France, or the Marquis of Dorset to south-west France or the Earl of Surrey to Scotland
  • The nobles did not in the end achieve the political domination they had hoped for because Henry chose to promote the interests of Thomas Wolsey
• Foreign policy


  1. Henry sought quickly to overthrow his father's foreign policy legacy

  2. The pursuit of military glory, which fitted in closely with his rehabilitation of the traditional nobility, led directly to war in France

  3. Vast amounts of money spent to achieve painfully small gains which had little or no strategic significance

  4. Bouts of aggression were mixed with occasional alliances with the French against Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, though Henry was never foolish enough to go to war with the powerful Charles V
• Henry's later aims


  • First five years had celebrated events e.g. marriage, coronation, victory over Scotland
  • Comprehensively destroyed his father's legacy through warfare and extravagance
  • Whilst some themes reoccurred e.g. pursuit of glory, need for a son, he was remarkably uninterested in the business of government except on an occasional and impulsive basis
  • Always gave priority to the pursuit of pleasure
• His reign had a lasting mark on English history
• Effects of Henry VIII's reign

  • The broadening use of statute law (Acts of Parliament) to achieve his political ends
  • The resulting growing importance of Parliament
  • The destruction of much traditional religion
  • The plundering of much of the Church's wealth
• The effects on the Church were almost completely a consequence of the break with Rome, a policy decision which would have seemed inconceivable in the first 20 years of his reign
• Henry VIII


  • Exhibited ruthlessness and cynicism
  • Demonstrated through his treatment of Empson and Dudley
  • His resort to execution for treason combined tyranny and insecurity in a way which completely overshadowed those positive qualities which witnesses such as More discerned in the king
• Impulsiveness demonstrated in the speed of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, seen later in his subsequent marriages to Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard