Essay about Henry VIII

At the beginning of Henry VIII’s reign in 1509, there were over 800 monasteries in England, but by 1540 the majority of these ceased to exist and all that was left of most of them was a ruin. The monasteries were rich and powerful institutions which were loyal to the Pope. From 1536 to 1539, Henry VIII, and his advisor, Thomas Cromwell wanted to close down the monasteries. There were two real reasons why Henry VIII wanted to get rid of the monasteries, firstly because he wanted access to the wealth of the monastery and he wanted the treasures of the land owned by the Church. Secondly Henry VIII

Religion was a major part of English lifestyle at that period and many rules were put in place to maintain it. There were various aspects of the Church in England in the 16th century, Including: A barrier, called a rood screen which separated the people from the alter as only the Priest could access that area in Church, Bibles were written in Latin, which was not the spoken language of the English Christian

Born the second son of a royal family, Henry Tudor lived a very interesting life. His future was intended to be the head of the Roman Catholic Church and that fate ended with the death of his brother, Prince Arthur. Henry’s majestic life was full of sports, women, and faith. The young King acceded his father to the throne, married six women, and began the English Reformation when he broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and created his own religion.

Participants in the Pilgrimage of Grace had many concerns about this negative impact that the King’s actions were causing. In Documents 4, 5, and 11, the shared concern of participants was for the negative economic impact of the dissolution of monasteries, caused from King Henry VIII’s break from the church (since the Church did not allow him to have his marriage annulled). Document 4 is a source from a Marcher’s ballad; it expresses participant’s concerns of the economic impacts of losing monasteries during to the 3 or 4 lines of the ballad, stating “…robbed, spoiled and shorn of cattle and corn, houses and lands.” These lines signify concern of economic impact since due to King Henry’s actions, the monasteries which

         Henry V, written by William Shakespeare, is by far one of his more historically accurate plays. This play is the life of young King Henry V, who ascended to the throne after his father, Henry IV's death. These times were much different for England, as Henry V was a noble lord whom everyone loved, whereas angry factions haunted his father's reign. Shakespeare portrays a fairly accurate account of the historical Henry V, but certain parts are either inflated"deflated, or conflated to dramatize Henry V as a character suitable for a Renaissance audience.

Henry took a big step against the Catholic Church when he began the, “Dissolution of the Monasteries” in 1538. Henry had sent inspectors to watch the behavior of the monks and if the monasteries were being run as Henry wanted. Henry discovered that doing the complete opposite of what he wanted or

In conclusion, I believe that the break from Rome was not driven by Cromwell but by a variety of other factors, foremost of which was Henry’s desire for a male heir. Source 8 says “possibly the most significant event in the ‘Reformation’

     Both men had a common ability to see the goodness in other men as royal

A writer hired by Cromwell in the 16th century wrote about the need of order so that the better can rule the lesser and considered it “necessary” in an independent country (Doc 7). During this time in the protestant reformation, there was already much unrest and division in society. Cromwell felt the need to have order, with those higher up in status deciding what was good for the country, with no need for lesser contribution. Those opposed to the Pilgrimage of Grace were evident in their goal for their own success. This is evident in the Marchers’ Proclamation, that was delivered at several gatherings in northern England in the 16th century. It revealed that the commoner’s must lean on each other and their faith to fight against the thieves, for they saw the rulers of England as ignorant towards their needs (Doc 2). These two documents show great differences in point of view, for those with Cromwell believed that they would make just rulers over the society, where as the commoners thought that they were doing poorly to help their needs against the

Henry VIII married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, in a political marriage (much like most weddings of the time). When Catherine of Aragon had stillborn children as well as early infancy deaths to all of their children, except Mary, Henry VIII began to worry that he would not have a son to heir the thrown. He began to petition the court for an annulment, so that we could marry his mistress Ann of Boleyn. At first Catherine, was kept in the dark of Henry's plans, he was using the text of Leviticus to justify his annulment. In the book of Leviticus, it states that if a man takes his brother's wife they shall remain childless. Even though they had a healthy daughter, Mary, this

Oliver Cromwell is – and has always been – one of the most controversial characters in British and Irish history. There are few people in Great Britain and Ireland today who have not yet heard of Oliver Cromwell and either loathe him or see him as a hero. Yet, the world is not black and white and so is the truth about Cromwell. In order to understand his role in both countries as a whole, one has to look at the perspective of both nations, Cromwell’s beliefs and his motives.

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 reveals a deep and rich history of the animosity between the Protestant and Catholic sects of the Christian Church. The official tale tells of Catholic conspirators planning to kill King James I and a majority of Parliament in a statement against Protestantism. Though Robert Cecil caught Guy Fawkes in the cellar of the Parliament Building and many associated with the plot possessed good reason to attempt a mass killing against a predominantly Protestant government, large amounts of evidence suggest that Protestants likely framed the Catholics for an attempt on King James’ and a majority of Parliament’s lives. When considering the time period, England held a large monopoly on the sale of gunpowder, preventing the

Shakespeare’s ‘King Henry IV Part I’ centres on a core theme of the conflict between order and disorder. Such conflict is brought to light by the use of many vehicles, including Hal’s inner conflict, the country’s political and social conflict, the conflict between the court world and the tavern world, and the conflicting moral values of characters from each of these worlds. This juxtaposition of certain values exists on many levels, and so is both a strikingly present and an underlying theme throughout the play. Through characterization Shakespeare explores moral conflict, and passage three is a prime example of Falstaff’s enduring moral disorder. By this stage in the play Hal has

King Henry V, is one of the only successful monarchs in Shakespeare’s plays. He displays great strength and intelligence. King Henry V is capable of uniting all of his people in his St. Crispin’s Day speech as they prepare to go to battle. The troops were greatly outnumbered and believed they had no chance at winning. But King Henry makes them feel like they are part of something important, and by doing this he motivates them to fight their hardest.

I will be examining an image taken from the Book, Acts and Monuments, or better known as the Book of Martyrs. This book was written by John Foxe in 1563. Foxe was a devout protestant during a time where Catholicism was being revived By Queen Mary. This Image displays Thomas Cranmer. Cranmer was the Archbishop of Canterbury during King Henry’s regime and helped Henry annul his marriage with Catherine. Cranmer supported Royal Supremacy and was a huge reason for the creation of the Protestant Church during the Reformation. In his book, The Book of Martyrs, author John Foxe expresses his emotions for the protestant martyr Thomas Cranmer as he is being burned alive. Foxe was an English historian and author who used his skills to express his anger towards the suffering of Protestants under the Catholic Church. Foxe recorded the last moments of fellow Protestants who were executed under the rule of Mary. Cranmer was one of many martyrs that Foxe illustrated in his book. Foxe started working on his book in 1552 when Edward had power. After the death of Mary he met a publisher by the name of John Day where he started to publish Foxe’s work. His work didn’t make him rich, but he did become a celebrity for his literally skills. This book was attacked by Catholics and had many critics as well, which led Foxe to come out with several more editions of this version.