Henry VIII: Statesman or Tyrant?
Queens and Kings of History
•
15m
On Midsummer's Day in 1509 a 17 year old was crowned king of England. He would go on to transform his realm over almost four decades on the throne. He would revolutionise its religion, reforge its politics and its relations with neighbouring countries, and establish a royal navy. But, by the time he died in 1547, the athletic boy whose cloth and hair was spun with gold had become an obese, temperamental monster. His reputation was that of a brute whose hands were soaked with the blood of the executions he ordered – among them, two of his six wives. The bloody twists and turns of Henry’s career - the marriages, murder and upheavals have captivated people ever since. His critics and defenders have fought to blacken or celebrate his memory. So who was Henry VIII? Man or monster, statesman or tyrant?
Up Next in Queens and Kings of History
-
Becoming Anne Boleyn
March 2022 marks the 500th anniversary since Anne Boleyn made her debut at the court of King Henry VIII.
Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb investigates the story of Anne’s remarkable upbringing in England, the Netherlands and France before she arrived at the heart of Tudor England. For all Anne Boleyn’s...
-
The Princes in the Tower: The Mystery...
Wars of the Roses historian Matt Lewis visits the Tower of London to talk through one of the building’s greatest mysteries: the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower. He talks through the possibility that the two young boys were not murdered on King Richard III's orders, but in fact survived ...
-
Eleanor of Aquitaine: England's Royal...
Eleanor of Aquitaine is at least as responsible for the vast empire of the Plantagenets as her more celebrated husband, Henry II. Sara Cockerill has written a wonderful biography of Eleanor, placing her back at the centre of English medieval history where she belongs. Sara and Dan discuss her lon...
