Henry VIII |
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 | Henry VIII was
born 28 June 1491 at Greenwich palace. An intelligent child, given a
good academic education, he was also musical. Although the legend that
he wrote the song Greensleeves is false, he did compose music
and play the harpsichord and lute. Henry also wrote poetry...
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Henry was physically athletic, fond of jousting and hunting. In 1520, aged twenty-nine and growing stout, Henry (at least according to French sources) lost a wrestling match with Francis I, King of France (three years his junior,) but most people were impressed by his handsome appearance even when older. | ||
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Henry became heir apparent to the throne at the age of nearly eleven on the death of his elder brother Arthur (1502.) The utter peacefulness of his accession, though not yet eighteen, showed how far Henry VII had brought England from the disorder of the Wars of the Roses. |
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English Coats of arms - Pollard, Stafford, Throckmorton. |
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Britain in 1509
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The size and power of England's nobility had been reduced by Henry VII. At his son's accession there was one duke (Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham), one marquess (Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset); nine earls; and thirty-one viscounts and barons. A typical nobleman had an income of about £750 p.a. from land. | ||
| The roughly 9,000 gentry families had incomes of anything from about £10 to £400 p.a., largely drawn from land ownership. Knights and esquires were entitled to display a coat of arms, and all gentlemen were called "Master/ Mr." | ||
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Another important landowner was the Church. Its two archbishops, nineteen bishops and c. 600 religious houses (about 12,000 monks and nuns) had a total income of about £250,000 p.a. | ||
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also a major landholder. The Tudors had inherited the lands of the
Houses of York and Lancaster (including much land in the Welsh
borders) and Henry VII had assiduously exacted every penny from them.
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James IV (the son of James III and Margaret of Denmark) had formally acceded to the throne of Scotland in 1488 - over his father's dead body at the Battle of Sauchieburn. James IV was aged only fifteen and Scottish factional struggles meant that he had little real power until 1495.
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Henry VIII was titular ruler (Lord) of Ireland, but only in the Pale (the immediate vicinity of Dublin) and a few other areas was English power a reality. Even here control was shaky until Henry VII sent Sir Edward Poynings in 1494-95, with a small army to enforce royal rights over the Irish Parliament. | ||
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In most of
Ireland, Gaelic tribal chieftains held sway. The only effective control was exercised by the powerful
family of Fitzgerald, who acted as quasi-autonomous provincial
governors for the crown.
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The most powerful rival of the Fitzgeralds was the family of Butler,
Earls of Ormond. However, a succession dispute following the death of
Thomas (7th Earl) in 1515 weakened Butler power until re-established by "Black"
Tom Butler, (10th Earl, 1532-1614.)
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Early years of Henry VIII
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Henry VII had increased revenues, husbanded his resources, and avoided foreign adventures. From the outset of his reign, Henry VIII was a complete contrast. |
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His father's unpopular debt-collectors, Edmund Dudley and
Richard Empson were arrested, thrown in the Tower and executed (June 1509 and
October 1510 respectively.) |
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In June 1509, Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon who had been kicking her heels in England since the death of Arthur. Henry and Catherine required a papal dispensation, for the Church's law forbade a widow's marriage to her deceased husband's brother. |
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Henry's marriage to Catherine consolidated the alliance with Spain and heightened the rivalry with England's traditional enemy - France. In 1494, the French army (strengthened with infantry composed of Swiss mercenaries) had invaded Italy. The initial French success in conquering Naples had alarmed Milan, Venice, the Pope and Spain sufficiently for them to ally against the French threat. |
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England joined the alliance, and in June 1512 the Marquess of Dorset
was sent with 10,000 troops to Spain to assist the Spanish in an
attack on France. In fact, Ferdinand simply used the English troops to
screen his flank while he invaded the independent kingdom of Navarre. Those English troops who had not died of dysentery returned home with nothing accomplished. |
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Henry decided to retrieve England's reputation personally. In June 1513, Henry sailed for Calais and besieged the town of Thérouanne. The French force sent to relieve the town was routed at the Battle of the Spurs (so called because of eagerness with which the French cavalry spurred their horses to retreat.) Henry also captured Tournai - an important and wealthy city in the North of France. |
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The victories in France brought no permanent benefits. Deserted by his allies, Henry VIII was forced to conclude peace with France in 1514 and return Tournai in 1518. |
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The Peace treaty of 1514 arranged the marriage of Henry's younger sister Mary (born 1496) to Louis XII (born 1462). The marriage supposedly killed him, and proved so distasteful to Mary that when it seemed her brother was arranging another diplomatic marriage (to Charles Hapsburg), she precipitately married Charles Brandon (who became 1st Duke of Suffolk.) The marriage was made without Henry VIII's permission, to a social inferior, who was already married (a papal annulment of the previous marriage was obtained.) |
The Battle of Flodden |
| A far more significant victory was achieved by
the reserve army left in England and commanded by Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey;
this was at the
Battle of Flodden (9 September 1513.) James IV of Scotland had allied with France and hoped to invade England while its main army was occupied in France. The Scottish army crossed the Border in late August, and took Norham Castle. Surrey hastily organized raw recruits into some sort of order at Alnwick. |
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| The Scots army took up position on Branxton Ridge, while the English approached from the north to occupy Pipers Hill. Both armies' artillery exchanged fire. Part of the Scottish army responded by attacking the weak right wing of the English army, and many of the other Scottish troops soon followed. The Scots seemed to be gaining the upper hand, but a brigade of English soldiers under Sir Edward Stanley marched to the rear flank of the Scottish army and launched an unexpected attack. When the surprised Highlanders broke, the Scots' position collapsed. |
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| The English archers contributed significantly, and the English eight-foot halberd proved more effective at close-quarter fighting than the longer Scottish pike. King James and many noblemen as well as large numbers of Scottish troops were killed in the ensuing slaughter. |
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The death at Flodden of the king himself, along with twelve earls, fourteen lesser lords and thousands of common soldiers destroyed Scottish military power at least in the short-term. The accession of James V (aged seventeen months) brought a new period of factional feuding that crippled Scotland politically until his coming of age in 1528. |
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Thomas Howard was rewarded
by the restoration of his father's title of Duke of Norfolk (revoked when he was
attainted after the battle of Bosworth.)
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