Henry VIII is known today for being a brutal and violent Tudor King who even ordered the
executions of two of his own wives.
He’s most famous for his 6 wives, but initially when Henry was married to his first wife Catherine
of Aragon he seemed genuinely happy.
He was driven to divorce or annul Catherine by his desire to have a male heir and a son,
but there was one incident in his life that it’s believed turned him into a tyrant.
There is no disputing that when Henry VIII died, he was loved by his country who mourned
him greatly, but there was a point in his life where he almost was killed, and after
this he became the violent ruler he is remembered for.
But what is the story behind the accident that almost killed him?
Henry VIII became a tyrannical beast of a monarch it’s believed because he had a drastic
personality change because of an infamous jousting accident that almost killed him.
Henry was known for being a sporty and generous ruler when he first came onto the throne,
and was particularly noted for being a keen tennis player and an athletic monarch.
He was known for also being handsome and tall, but after his accident things changed drastically
and he became vicious, paranoid and his relationships changed greatly, including with his closest
friends.
On the 24th January 1536 at Greenwich Palace a tournament was being held, and Henry VIII
was the star attraction having a joust.
Whilst he was on the tiltyard he was thrown from his horse against his opponent and the
horse which was heavily armoured then fell ontop of the Tudor King.
The effects of this was that Henry was knocked out cold and left unconscious for two hours,
and many thought he had been killed.
But he did manage to come around, and it’s believed that this accident may have caused
Anne Boleyn to miscarry a child that was a boy, due to the stress caused by her husbands
health.
He did manage to recover from this, but it aggravated a serious leg issue which he had
for the rest of his life, and some historian’s believed that the accident caused a brain
injury which would never have been detected during the Tudor times.
Still today we are learning about the effects of concussions and accidents resulting in
someone hitting their head, and how dangerous they can be without the property treatment.
Before the accident whilst the ing was in his 20s, he was 6 feet 1 inches tall, and
his waist was around 32 inches.
As he struggled with his mobility and legs caused by the accident, his waist measurement
grew to around 52 inches, and his chest measurement went from 39 inches to 53 inches, and it’s
believed that in his final moments he weighed around 28 stone.
Henry’s former excellent health had abandoned him, and it was remarked by an ambassador
at court what he used to be like.
It was said, ‘His majesty is the most handsomest potentate I have ever set eyes on.
Above the usual height with extremely fine calf to his leg and a round face so very beautiful
it would become a pretty woman.’
The King had suffered with ill health in his life but he seemingly overcame everything
in his path, including smallpox and even malaria.
He also had previous jousting injuries, but the sores on his leg which began at the age
of 36 caused by varicose ulcers and left him to be less mobile and this never healed.
His first accident on the tiltyard occurred in 1524 and he failed to lower the visor of
his helmet as his opponent in the joust, and as his opponent hit him with his lance he
smashed into Henry VIII’s right eye, and he suffered with migraines afterwards because
of this.
But his fall at Greenwich Palace in 1536 left him unable to speak, and as mentioned Anne
Boleyn was told that the King would possibly die and this caused great stress on her.
It was believed the miscarried baby was a male, and just say this child would have been
born then it’s very possible that Anne Boleyn would never have been executed.
The reason she was executed and framed for adultery, incest and treason ultimately was
the King’s frustration with her miscarrying children.
If this son had been born, Henry would never have looked towards Jane Seymour and Anne’s
life may have been saved.
It was Henry’s personality shift also that condemned Anne Boleyn to death.
Following his jousting accident many ambassadors became fearful of Henry and a number began
to speak negatively about him, and some began to treat carefully around the King.
Today it’s considered that Henry VIII may have sustained damaged to the frontal lobe
of the brain in his accident, and even 5 minutes of unconsciousness today is considered a major
trauma.
But the Tudor Monarch lost consciousness for around 2 hours, which was incredibly shocking.
It’s likely that the combination of the effects of his accident and also the problems
with his legs lead to his health deteriorating greatly and his weight gain to be rapid and
quick.
Also in the following years he ordered large amounts of executions, and seemed to lurch
from disaster to disaster in his love life, with his marriage to fourth wife Anne of Cleves
being a farce that cost him millions, and also his fifth marriage to Catherine Howard
ending in accusations of adultery and in beheading at the Tower of London.
The jousting accident it’s believed also caused Henry VIII’s mood swings, and his
personality shifted greatly.
It was his obesity also that quickened his death at the age of 55, with the King passing
away on the 28th January 1547 at the Palace of Whitehall.
His tomb was planned to have been large and have been used for Cardinal Wolsey, but instead
he was interred inside of St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle next to Jane Seymour.
One quote that sums up the King’s tumultuous attitude towards his wives and much of his
life, it says, ‘What is extraordinary is that Henry was usually a very good husband.
And he liked women—that's why he married so many of them!
He was very tender to them, we know that he addressed them as "sweetheart."
He was a good lover, he was very generous: the wives were given huge settlements of land
and jewels—they were loaded with jewels.
He was immensely considerate when they were pregnant.
But, once he had fallen out of love... he just cut them off.
He just withdrew.
He abandoned them.
They didn't even know he'd left them.’
But Henry VIII is known today for being the reckless and brutal ruler who oversaw a period
of time in which 70,000 people were executed inside of his Kingdom.
Some of his closest friends including Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More incurred the wrath
of the King eventually, and he would turn on many of his closest friends and advisors
eventually.
The King had a very vicious side and many of those who encountered this would never
live to tell their side of the story, with acts of attainder sentencing people to death
without any trial at all.
But it’s the jousting accident that is attributed to his great shift in personality and outlook
on life, and it’s believed this was the main factor behind his dark side especially
in the final years of his reign.
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