Lesson 1: Setting the Tudor Stage.
Henry before Kingship.
This segment aims to provide students with an understanding of the socio-economic and family environment that helped shape Henry VIII’s character.
Very little in the early years of the father of Henry VIII predicted his greater destiny lay as the first King of a new Royal dynasty. Very little except a very determined mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, who placed all her hopes in him, and the strong backing of his father’s family. But, after years of uncertainty and exile, this man, standing taller than the average Welsh man, sat on England’s throne.
Henry VII gained the English crown in one of the most ancient ways imaginable: battling it out with the man who already bore the status of King, taking up the crown after that man’s bloody death.
It would be interesting to know what Elizabeth of York felt about marriage to her Lancastrian cousin. Considering that she came from a line of tough women and grew up at court watching her mother never shy away from welding power behind the throne, Elizabeth is a surprisingly meek ‘English’ Queen.
But I am always suspicious of 'meek' women, and wonder if this ‘face’ she represented to the world hid what in fact was her true power. I think it possible that Elizabeth may have had enough of the bloodshed marring her life's early years, and decided to do all that she could to provide a proper ‘helpmeet’ for her husband – so peace could have a chance to take root again in English soil. If this indeed was her magnate, Elizabeth was very successful in achieving it. By the time of her death, in childbirth at thirty-eight, the kingdom was well on its way leaving ‘The Wars of the Roses’ where it belonged: in the reaches of English history.
Of course, Henry VIII's father had a lot to do with his country’s greater stability. Religious, superstitious, with an enjoyment of pageantry and music, Henry VII was not the complete miser painted by some history books. Rather, this man had the imagination to create the symbol of the Tudor double rose.(1) Nevertheless, he was a cautious man who well deserved Bacon’s later praise of “a wonder for wise men.”(2)
Henry VII's great strength of character, intellect and instinct for survival steered a course that ensured his dynasty kept hold of England’s crown, not hesitating to scythe down his rivals, even with little just cause.
The third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York was the future King of England, Henry VIII, born at Greenwich Palace on 28 June 1491. Near the sea, Greenwich Palace was a favourite Palace of the Tudor royals; much later, Henry VIII’s own two daughters would be born there too.
Whilst Arthur, as the heir to the throne, grew up in his own establishment, Henry grew up at Eltham Palace with his older sister Margaret and his younger sister Mary. At one stage, this establishment also included Edmund, the children’s baby brother, but death soon severed Edmund from their lives before the age of three. Next Arthur died at just fifteen, leaving Henry, then eleven-years-old, as his father's only legitimate male heir.
There is a line of belief that Henry VII planned a religious life for his second son,[3] remembering full well the recent history of the War of Roses, when royal brother fought against royal brother. By placing his second heir in a religious order Henry VII probably hoped that Arthur would gain a brother's support rather than hindrance.
It is clear that Henry loved his mother. Just after his ascension to the throne as a barely eighteen-year-old youth, he responded to the news of the death of the Duke Philip of Burgundy by saying that
never, since the death of my dearest mother, hath there come to me more hateful intelligence...It seemed to tear open again the wound to which time had brought insensibility’. [4]
How did Henry VIII feel about about his father? Henry’s feelings towards this parent were seemingly more complex. At the demise of Henry VII, there was no outpouring of grief from his only son. Rather - it seemed a time of celebration, when the son tossed away the shackles of strict control and began his spending spree. But if Henry the son didn’t love his father, he did greatly respect him, and I believe he also feared him.
It has always intrigued me why Henry VII kept his son so close to him in the final years of his life. One person close to the court commented that the supervision was more in line to that of a princess than a prince.
(1) Morris; The Tudors; G.B.; 1977; page 56
(2) Ditto, page 53
(3) Alison Weir, Henry VIII, King and court, page 4
(4) Alison Weir, ditto, page 4
References:
Alison Weir, Henry VIII, King and court
Robert Lacey, Henry VIII
In Henry VIII, the King and the
Court - a wonderfully researched book - Alison Weir brings alive Henry VIII in all his glory and his magnificent court, not fearing a bit of controversy along the way. This is a must read for people interested in the period.
Questions:
How would you explain Henry VIII’s ‘low profile’ behaviour during the months he was under his father’s iron fist control?
Why do you think Henry VII believed all this close supervision necessary?
How do you see Elizabeth of York and her relationship with Henry VII?
