Character & Aims Henry VIII

Character & Aims Henry VIII

1. Character of Henry VIII

   • no experience with government or public affairs
   • accession was welcomed as a breath of fresh air after the stultifying and rather sinister atmosphere associated with the influence of Empson and Dudley in the last years of his fathers reign
   • had a dislike for the business of government and found the reading of state papers tedious
   • Henry relied upon the work of a chief minister who shaped the structures of government to meet his own needs
     • first was Thomas Wolsey who was particularly adept at using Star Chambe
     • second was Thomas Cromwell who developed his role as principal secretary

2. Legacy of Henry VII

   • Henry had essentially a fourfold legacy from his father
     • Money – it is believed that he was left around £300,000
     • Unpopular mechanisms for extracting money
     • A peaceful foreign policy
     • A conciliar form of government – decisions were made through a council.
   • Each of these would disappear during the first few years of Henry VIII’s reign.
     • The money Henry inherited would vanish towards paying for an aggressive foreign policy towards France
     • The conciliar form of government disappeared and instead was replaced with Wolsey
     • The Council Learned was abolished in 1510
     • Empson and Dudley were arrested and executed

3. Aims of Henry VIII's government

   • Henry's early aims
     • Re-establishing the nobility
       • Henry VII had largely frozen the nobility out of direct political influence
         • Few of them had spent much time at court
         • Henry’s largely peaceful foreign policy meant that he had denied them their traditional outlet of the pursuit of military glory
           • Henry re-established this tradition by following many nobles into battle in France or Scotland
       • The Execution of Buckingham 1521
         • Henry’s treatment of the Duke of Buckingham is indicative of his ruthlessness towards the nobility early in his reign
         • reasons for the proceedings against Buckingham remain obscure, yet nevertheless he was found guilty and executed
     • Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon
       • anxious to conclude the plan of marriage as quickly as possible
       • married on 11th June 1509
       • initially successful on a personal level
         • , Catherine also exercised some influence over policy-making in the first few year
       • Henry would later repent the rapidity of this marriage to a woman over five years older than him, especially once it was clear she could never present him with the healthy male hei
     • Foreign Policy
       • quickly sought to overthrow his father’s foreign policy legacy. This led to war with France
       • Bouts of aggression were mixed with occasional alliances with the French against Spain and the Holy Roman Empire
     • In addition to dismantling the less popular aspects of his father’s legacy, Henry also had a number of other clear aims
       • to establish his status amongst e 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 later aims
     • Henry had an infamously inconsistent approach to his government
     • his reign would leave a lasting mark on England
       • The broadening of the use of statute law to achieve political ends (Acts of Parliament),
       • growing importance of Parliament,
       • destruction of raditional religion.
     • exhibited ruthlessness and criticism. This was a trait present throughout his reign
     • demonstrated impulsiveness in the speed of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, or the execution of Cromwell