How Henry has been assessed by historians through the ages, and the controversies of his reign. And assessments of the man himself.
The famous Holbein mural was designed to greet courtiers at Whitehall palace, and make it quite clear that you were in the presence of power. It was destroyed by fire – all that survives from Holbein is the preparation drawing, which is in the National Portrait Gallery, and well worth a visit. But there are many copies. There he stands in all his glory; magnificently dressed in clothes that cost more than entire villages would earn in a year. A big man, Legs thrust confidently apart, small piggy eyes staring out at you balefully. The painting was made in 1537 when Henry was in his forties, and probably already getting pretty tubby and having problems with an ulcerous leg. But this is propaganda; Henry had learned well from his father, that a king must project his power and magnificence. Holbein created the picture to be seen a few inches above your head, so that the impact would be even stronger, the projection of power, confidence, authority, command. This was Henry as he wanted to be seen, and this is the picture actually that best represents how most people at the time would have seen or imagined him.
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Some views of Henry VIII
Contemporaries generally regarded him with awe and adulation. Especially when he came to the throne as a young man, this comment by a foreign ambassador to his court was typical of how bowled over everyone was.
“a most invincible King, whose acquirements and qualities are so many and excellent that I consider him to excel all who ever wore a crown”
The Earl of Surrey was not so positive. Though of course since he was about to be executed he was understandably miffed.
“I saw a royal throne whereas that Justice should have sit instead of whom I saw with fierce a cruel mood where wrong was sat, that bloody beast, that drunk the guiltless blood”
Historians of the past
Sellar and Yeatman speak with the most authority in ‘1066 and All That‘:
Henry VIII was a strong king with a very strong sense of humour and VIII wives, memorable among whom were Katherine the Arrogant, Anne of Cloves, Lady Jane Austin and Anne Hathaway. His beard was, however, red.
One of the strongest things that Henry VIII did was about the monasteries. It was pointed out to him that no one in the monasteries was married, as the monks all thought it was still the Middle Ages. So Henry, who, of course, considered marrying a Good Thing, told Cromwell to pass a very strong act saying that the Middle Ages were over and the monasteries were all to be dissolved.
The whig view, whatever the view of Henry personally, was of a king who led his people out of medieval darkness towards their destiny as a leading nation of the world. For historians like SR Gardiner and J A Froude, he was a hero. They emphasised that Henry helped England escape the religious wars that tore parts of the continent apart; they claimed a deep connection between king and people, that has Henry VIII representing the public will.
The view of Henry as a man was far from universally positive though, even by those who essentially celebrated his impact. R W Dixon wrote:
a man of force without grandeur: of great ability, but not of lofty intellect: punctilious yet unscrupulous: centred in himself: greedy and profuse: cunning rather than sagacious: of fearful passion and intolerable pride, but destitute of ambition in the nobler sense of the word: a character of degraded magnificence.
At the start of the 20th century, A F Pollard was Henry’s great proponent, describing him as a man of courage whose reforms took England down a path to democracy and a greater role in the world.
G E Elton famously transformed the history of Henry’s reign in the 1950’s with his ‘Tudor Revolution in Government’, putting Henry’s ministers centre stage, especially with his thesis that it was Thomas Cromwell in particular who knowingly dragged English government from medieval to the modern times. The thesis has been a matter of fierce debate for over 50 years, though most no longer view Cromwell and quite as all seeing and knowing as Elton argued.
Since then, much of Henry’s reign, character and achievements have been transformed. The Reformation, once seen largely (though far from exclusively) as a positive part of the development of England’s national character, has become seen in an almost universally negative light. J J Scarisbrick’s Henry VIII, originally written in 1968, is often still quoted as the best biography. Scarisbrook acknowledged Henry’s confidence and talent for display; he “wore regality with a splendid conviction’ but essentially saw him as easily led, and emphasized the negative:
“rarely, if ever, has the unawareness and irresponsibility of a king proved more costly of the material benefit of his people”
John Guy concurred with that describing Henry as “a second-rate mind with what looks suspiciously like an inferiority complex”. E W Ives is similarly negative; “Henry VIII’s monumental selfishness was disguised by highly effective propaganda”. David Starkey is a bit more positive:
‘…he had many of the qualities of a born leader. He was intelligent; his memory was good and his eye for detail sharp. He was a shrewd judge of men and had a flair for self protection and propaganda. Moreover, he was both ruthless and selfish, while his staggering self-righteousness made him proof against doubts and the dark nights of the soul’
Henry VIII clearly had one indisputable talent; to fascinate and spark argument and debate across the centuries.