One of the most brutal Kings in history was Henry VIII who would during his reign as the
King of England during the Tudor period execute even two of his own wives.
He was a King who caused chaos throughout the 1500s, and he would change religion to
a point where many religious people and pious monks were dragged to execution scaffolds
accused of disagreeing with the King.
Henry would also grow throughout his later years to a huge size, as he would become the
Supreme Head of the Church of England.
It was a very turbulent time across the nation, but in the King’s final years he was a shadow
of his former self but he was incredibly dangerous and many people up until the day he died feared
his wrath.
But the King’s death was painful and it was a day that cast a shadow over England.
Join us today as we look at the horrific death of King Henry VIII.
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As the King got older, Henry VIII became obsessed to the point where he had a waist measurement
of 54 inches, and he would be moved around by mechanical devices and pulley systems.
These would help hoist the king in and out of bed each day, and his health was terrible.
He had pus filled boils on his body and also had gout, and his mobility led to him growing
even larger as he would not walk and move much, but would continue to consume a huge
amount of food.
The King in his early years was a fit and healthy bachelor, and he was considered a
fine specimen of what a king should be, but his obesity and also a jousting accident he
suffered in 1536 made his final years very difficult.
His wound that he had sustained was difficult to treat, and it would fester and become ulcerous
to the point where the king found it difficult to move.
Many historians also note that after this jousting accident, that Henry VIII would suffer
from mood swings and it’s believed that he had a suffered a brain injury in this as
he was knocked out for hours.
But this could have impacted his rashness and decision making.
But all the King’s health issues led towards his death.
On the 28th January 1547, the man who was considered an incredibly healthy prince died
a grotesque and old King inside of Whitehall Palace.
On the day before his death, the King saw his confessor and he was given Holy Communion.
His death was imminent, but the doctors were in two minds whether to tell the King about
his impending demise, as they were worried that he would accused them of treason.
But Sir Anthony Denny was the brave one who spoke out, and he would tell the King that
‘in mans judgement he was not like to live,’ and he warned the king to remember his sins
as ‘becometh every Christian man to do.’
The King said that he believed in God with all his might, and that he believed Christ
would ‘pardon me all my sins, though they were greater than can be.’
With this its believed that the King reflected on what he had done throughout his life, as
he would oversee and order the execution of two of his wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine
Howard as they would lose their heads within the Tower of London.
His sins would also incorporate the executions of around 70,000 people in his own kingdom.
But his close friends confidants and bishops would also incur the King’s wrath, but his
final demand included summoning Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer to his side.
The King demanded Cranmer to be there in his final moments, but around midnight on the
28th January, Cranmer was summoned to the King’s bedside and he then arrived when
the King could not speak.
It was said of the King’s final moments that, ‘“At the end there was no master
and servant, no prince and churchman; just a priest preparing a departing soul for eternity.
Cranmer begged Henry to give a sign that he trusted Christ for salvation and, in response,
he felt the grip on his hand tighten slightly.
It was an evangelical departure: no anointing; no reading of Latin prayers; just a simple
acknowledgment of the all-sufficient atoning work of Christ.
Cranmer would have been glad of that.”
At around 2am the King died and he left this world.
The exact cause of the King’s death is not known, but it was possibly a pulmonary embolism
or other heart related issues caused by his size.
Following his death, the King’s body stayed inside of his bedchamber and there was mass
panic as to what to do.
The servants were not told of his death and they were told to keep bringing food to the
King’s bedchamber and lodgings, but on the 31st January Lord Chancellor Writohesley would
announce the death of the King to Parliament.
He did this whilst he was in tears, and he said ‘before the lord of the Kings majesty’s
privy council and their was declared to them by my lord chancellor and other the death
of the King’s majesty, Henry the 8th our sovereign lord, which deceased to almighty
God on Friday last, being the 28th of January, and straightly charging them to keep the King’s
peace and to look to the safeguard of the King’s majesties chamber of London and so
they departed.’
Wriothesley would also then state that, ‘The same day in the afternoon the King’s majesty
Edward VI came to the Tower of London and rode in Aldgate and so along the wall by the
Crossed Friars to the Tower Hill and he entered at the Red Bulwark, where Sir John Gage, Constable
of the Tower received his majesty on horseback.
Out late sovereign King Henry 8th declared by his will under his great seal, his dearly
beloved son and heir out sovereign lord now Edward the sixth to succeed to the crown imperial.
Sir Edward Seymour to be lord protector and governor of the King’s majesty and the realm
of England until the King’s majesty comes to his lawful age of 18 years.’
Over the next few days the King’s body was embalmed and it was then encased in lead inside
of the coffin and in the presence chamber at Whitehall the King’s remains lay in state.
They were then moved to the chapel, but there were bells ringing across the nation for the
King.
On thew 14th February the King’s body was taken on its final journey from Whitehall
to Windsor Castle where it was buried inside of St Georges’ Chapel.
It was said that, ‘The vast coffin, covered with palls of blue velvet and cloth of gold,
lay on a chariot drawn by black-caparisoned horses, who drew it along roads that had been
swept and even widened for the occasion.
On top of the coffin was a wax effigy of the King, carved by Nicholas Bellin and clad in
crimson velvet trimmed with miniver; on its head was a crown atop ‘a night cap of black
satin, set full of precious stones.’
It wore jeweled bracelets and velvet gloves adorned with rings.”
The King’s cortege rested at Syon Abbey where there were rumours that his remains
exploded and may have been picked at by dogs.
But when it got to Windsor, it took 16 Yeomen of the Guard to carry the heavy coffin into
the church and then lower it into the vault in the choir of St Georges’ Chapel.
He was laid to rest alongside Jane Seymour, his tragic third wife who died in Hampton
Court Palace following giving birth to the Kings heir and son Edward VI.Following the
funeral sermon, the officers of the King’s household broke their staves of office and
threw them into the vault following the coffin.
There were plans to bury the King in a huge renaissance tomb, but work on this would stop
and it was never completed for Henry VIII.
Henry VIII was the brutal and barbaric King who would have 6 wives, and his crazy and
riotous lifestyle at times would cause huge problems across the country.
He would carry out some of the most serious and shocking policies and changes to the country,
and still today these are felt around the nation.
But his reign would be one in which the executioner’s axe continued to fall weekly, and people were
executed in the most sadistic ways being burned alive or by being hanged, drawn and quartered.
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