A holiday that’s been enshrined in law for centuries. ibid.
In the Tudor era December 26 wasn’t yet known as Boxing Day, it was the Feast of St Steven. ibid.
A third of the Tudor population lived in poverty. ibid.
Some people refer to him as Henry VIII’s pet dog. Thomas Cromwell was much more than that. Realising that the King faced serious threats from Catholics both at home and abroad he created a formidable web of informants, spies and double agents that gathered information across the land warning him of impending plots and treason. What he started was the foundation of a new secret service. History’s Ultimate Spies s1e1, Yesterday 2017
Asserting Henry’s new authority over the people of England and get everyone – clergy, nobility and commoners alike – to submit to the new religion or die. ibid.
He oversaw the dissolution of more than 800 monasteries. ibid.
Henry VIII probably the best known English king in history … ‘He centralised power in the county.’ Private Lives of the Monarchs s1e5: Henry VIII, Sky 2017
‘He was monumentally self-obsessed and destructive.’ ibid.
He was the most prolific builder of the Tudor period. ibid.
His extra-marital liaisons were kept under wraps. ibid.
Henry Fitzroy was the only illegitimate child that Henry openly acknowledged. ibid.
In an act of sacrilege Henry [VIII] incubated a new kind of greed which knew no limits and which eventually infected the rest of the world … Henry invented a new kind of statecraft based on greed. The Treason Trilogy II: The Crucible of Terror
How will history judge Donald Trump? Perhaps one leader from our own past could offer a clue: ‘He was a man who became egotistical and ruthless and frankly a tyrant.’ Henry VIII & Trump: History Repeating? Professor Suzannah Lipscombe, Channel 5 2020
It may sound far-fetched, but set the lives of Henry VIII and Donald Trump side by side, and the King’s story sheds surprising new light on the Donalds. ibid.
‘The thing that unites both Henry and Donald Trump is power, and what power does to a man.’ ibid. historian
Ever since he took office, those trying to make sense of Trump have seen echoes of a regal style of rule. ibid.
Both were second sons who lost elder brothers, both inherited and spent vast fortunes, both were Germaphobes, and both married mistresses and regretted it … When his brother Arthur died, it fell to Henry to follow in the footsteps of their domineering father. ibid.
‘It was the divorce of the century. A Manhattan fairytale had turned to dust.’ ibid.
Steve Bannon had masterminded Trump’s election campaign. But even he wasn’t indispensable. When he was cast out of the inner circle, he compared his fate to that of Thomas Cromwell in Henry’s court. ibid.
You might think you know everything there is to know about Henry VIII. You’ll know he married six times and had two of his wives executed. But the truth about our most famous king is much more complex and far more compelling. Henry VIII: Rise of a Tyrant aka Henry VIII: Man, Monarch, Monster, Channel 5 2020
‘He jousts, he rides, he sings – what more could you want from this perfect prince?’ ibid. Lauren Johnson
Henry VIII is born on 28 June 1491 but he is never meant to be King in the first place. He is the spare heir living in the shadow of his older brother King Arthur. ibid.
‘Henry later in life has this urge to prove himself all the time, to show that he can be a success, even at his most successful, and there’s something that must relate there to his childhood.’ ibid. Dr John Guy, Cambridge University
The second son Henry is ignored by his father and instead raised by his loving mother in the protective female world of Eltham Palace. ibid.
Everything changes for Henry when he becomes next in line for the throne. He is now brought up directly by his controlling father after years of being sidelined. ibid.
‘When Henry VII dies there is essentially a court coup. His death is kept a secret for the best part of two days while in the background they decide how to bring on this new regime with a splash.’ ibid. John Guy
Henry issues a ground-breaking piece of legislation: a general pardon. This extraordinary document sees Henry explicitly criticise his father’s reign. ibid.
But Henry’s happiness is short-lived. His newborn son dies at just seven weeks old. ibid.
To bolster his authority, he enlists the talents of a cardinal who has rapidly risen through the ranks at court. ibid.
Henry’s weakness for flattery and manipulation allows Cardinal Wolsey to rise to the highest echelons of court. But in a few short years Henry will turn on his close friend and adviser with a vengeance. ibid.
Henry VIII is worrying over the future of the Tudor dynasty. He still doesn’t have a male heir and he’s surrounded by potential rivals to the throne. ibid.
But with such a debouched entourage, Henry’s palaces turn into houses of pleasure. ibid.
Henry banishes Cardinal Wolsey for his failure to secure a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Once the King’s most powerful subject, Wolsey, is stripped of his post as Lord Chancellor and his property seized. ibid.
To unravel a murky world of power, plots and petrifying ambition. Henry VIII: Bloodlust & the Boleyns, Channel 5 2010
He is becoming increasingly anxious about the future of his dynasty. He has banished Catherine from court and he is embroiled with an attempt to divorce her and marry his long-term mistress Anne Boleyn. ibid.
His old friend Thomas More – Henry locks him in the Tower of London because More refuses to endorse his religious reforms. ibid.
A freak accident is about to alter the future of his kingdom and the fate of his second wife. ibid.
Beneath the royal clothing is a king who is far more vulnerable than he looks. ibid.
The once carefree prince has become a paranoid king suspicious of everyone around. He has divorced his first wife, executed his second, and his third wife had died after the birth of his only son. Now he is alone. Henry VIII: Endgame, Channel 5 2020
Recent research suggests he suffers from a rare condition that affects his mental health. ibid.
His painful leg ulcer has transformed the highly active king into a man who even struggles to walk without assistance. ibid.
A religious uprising in the north of England known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. ibid.
Despite five failed marriages, Henry only has one legitimate son. So he embarks on his sixth marriage. ibid.
Despite plunging England into bankruptcy, Henry’s military ambitions do have some benefits. ibid.
It’s the early hours of the 19th May 1536: four days ago Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, was tried here at the Tower of London and found guilty of adultery, incest and even worse, treason against her husband Henry VIII. (Tracy Borman, The Fall of Anne Boleyn, Channel 5 2020
2 a.m. Friday 19th May 1536: It’s the dead of night; nearly all of London is asleep. But not quite everyone … Unsurprisingly, in the Queen’s apartments where Anne is spending her final moments, everyone is awake. ibid.
At Hampton Court in the fifteenth century nothing could protect the King from himself. Henry VIII was famously celebrated for his skill at hunting and jousting in royal palaces like Hampton Court. Secrets of the Royal Palaces s1e5, Channel 5 2021
Henry spent more money on palaces than any other monarch before or since. David Dimbleby, Seven Ages of Britain III: Age of Power, BBC 2010
During the early years of his reign, England and France were at war. ibid.
Henry VIII is virtually an industry in his own right. Dominic Sandbrook: Let Us Entertain You II: In With the Old, BBC 2015
Henry VIII has been on the throne for seventeen years. The Boleyns are one of many ambitious families jostling for power at the Tudor court. Led by Thomas Boleyn this is a dynasty on the make. The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family II, BBC 2021
‘I think we can sense that Henry is the one that falls in love first, he is attracted, but Anne does what all Boleyns do and makes use of good opportunity.’ ibid. historian
To help to end his marriage, Henry turns to Wolsey, the most senior churchman in England. ibid.
The deposing of Wolsey is the Boleyn family’s greatest victory so far. ibid.
George and Anne think the absolute power enjoyed by the pope should be challenged. The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family III
The family are seen as dangerous iconoclasts, prepared to smash a thousand years of religious tradition to get what they want. ibid.