Was Henry Viii A Tyrant Or A Good Historical Figure?

Henry VIII is one of the most famous monarch in English history. He is, of course, well-known mostly because he created the Anglican Church – which he invented mainly in order to be able to divorce his first wife. This reason behind the Church’s creation, however, can serve as a proper hint as to what kind of husband and person this king was, leading to a debate: is king Henry VIII a good or a bad historical figure? While I believe it is possible he may have been a decent, even good king, my opinion is that he was a terrible person and a tyrant, so he should definitely not be seen as a good historical figure.
It seems wise for me to start with the obvious, what most people learn as early as in high school: Henry VIII was an awful husband. Indeed, during his lifetime, this king
was married to six different women - and he divorced or executed four of them .
Henry’s first marriage was a political one so it is not too surprising that it did not work out. When he ascended to the throne, Henry decided to follow his council’s suggestion and marry Catherine of Aragon, the widow of his brother – who was supposed to become king before his unexpected and premature death . Catherine was five years older than Henry and, once she had turned 41 years old and had only given him a daughter, Henry started worrying about what would happen to England if he did not have a legitimate male heir (he did have, at this point, one bastard son with one of his mistresses) . He was also in love with a young lady, Anne Boleyn - the younger sister of one of his past mistresses - who would not sleep with him if he did not make her queen . After he had tried – and failed – to get an annulment for his marriage with Catherine, Henry stayed patient However, a marriage between him and Boleyn became a necessity when, after eventually giving in and having sex with him, Anne got pregnant with the king’s baby . Ultimately, his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was legally annulled , but it must not be forgotten that king Henry VIII had multiple affairs during this marriage – some of them resulting in pregnancies, which demonstrates a lack of respect toward his wife – and women, in general.
Thus, Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn started.
It quickly encountered an obstacle, however, when Anne delivered a daughter, Elizabeth Tudor, in September 1533 . After the miscarriage of a son in 1536, Henry decided to bring his wife to court, charging her with multiple counts of adultery, including incest with her own brother . Anne ended up losing the trial and was beheaded . While it was common in those years, the idea of executing someone for infidelity today seems otherworldly and unacceptable. To make king Henry VIII look even worse, many people believe that he had his second wife killed only because she could not give him a male heir either, and that he simply made up the accusations against her .
Eleven days after Anne’s execution, Henry got married to a lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour – for whom he had started showing interest in before even bringing Boleyn to court . Seymour died shortly after the birth of her and the king’s son, Edward . Evidence points to the fact that the king treated his third wife fairly, but the wedding happening so quickly after his second’s wife execution shows how insensitive Henry was and how his only priority was to have a son, which he finally got with
her.
The king’s fourth marriage was to Anne of Cleves and was another one that was entirely political , which, once again, led to an annulment as he felt no attraction toward his new wife – he would never be intimate with her . Anne of Cleves was arguably the most fortunate of Henry’s wives as she was treated kindly by him after their marriage’s annulment and even outlived him, but, apparently, had she not agreed to ending the marriage, her life would have been threatened as well .
Henry VIII then hastily got married again (less than twenty days after his previous marriage), to Catherine Howard . This woman had a history of having affairs, however, and did not stop after becoming queen, which led to her getting executed . Once again, this was quite common in the 1500s, but it can still be used to argue king Henry’s heartlessness. He then married his sixth wife, Catherine Parr, to whom he would be married until his death .
While all these facts about the kind of husband king Henry VIII was could be enough to realize that he was not a good person, he also showed personal flaws in his duties as political leader.
For example, while his father, king Henry VII, avoided war at all costs, Henry VIII decided to invade France for seemingly no reason other than to make England a military threat like in older days , costing the lives of many people for arguably invalid reasons.
Moreover, in his efforts to “break up” with Rome and the papacy so he would be allowed to divorce Catherine of Aragon, Henry had his subjects take an oath accepting him as the head of Church and, when the subjects would refuse to take the oath, he would have them executed .
Henry also saw himself as more of a warrior than a king, and could not even bother to attend to the day-to-day operations of the government and had his chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey , as well as Thomas Cromwell take care of it, showing laziness and disinterest to what was happening in his country, which should be considered inacceptable for a king.
In conclusion, I must reiterate that king Henry VIII was a heartless, terrible person for many reasons such as his lack of responsibility in his duties as a king, his unnecessary desire for war, and, most importantly, the awful way he treated his wives. For these reasons, I believe that he should be seen as a bad historical figure.