King Henry VIII Of England

Indeed.

Also, fatness in those days indicated power.

Victoria was a bit chunky too, for the lack of better phrase.

Originally posted by lil bitchiness
Indeed.

Also, fatness in those days indicated power.

Victoria was a bit chunky too, for the lack of better phrase.

Power and money were and still are to some point nearly synonymous.

Originally posted by lil bitchiness
Indeed.

Also, fatness in those days indicated power.

Victoria was a bit chunky too, for the lack of better phrase.

Obesity was considered a sign of prosperity and wealth...The common folk were dead poor and skinny to the bone.........And probably didn't have curtains either.......lol.......at least not long ones...

For a major world power at the time to come out and refuse the influence of Rome on the world? Pretty positive.

Originally posted by Capt_Fantastic
For a major world power at the time to come out and refuse the influence of Rome on the world? Pretty positive.

Originally posted by Janus Marius
Power and money were and still are to some point nearly synonymous.

Originally posted by debbiejo
Well I guess he gave all his wives syphilis then and as we all know syphilis will eventually destroy your brain and cause "Crazy like" behaviors....I think I had also read that Hitler had it, but not sure.

From what I have read about Henry, he was quite a catch in his younger days, and yes quite fit. It's interesting how the story continues on to his daughter Elizabeth with Mary (bloody Mary) for the thrown because of no male heir. Quite fascinating though sad story....Cause eventually Elizabeth had Mary executed, though I had read that she did have remorse over it, but still it had to be done in the name of the thrown.

not to change the subject, I enjoyed reading all of your posts. I don't know if Hitler had Syphilis, But he did have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)

Originally posted by Fatal Smoke
I beleive that's called Dislexia. 😛

Revolutionary is a more appropriate term.

Don't forget all the fat meant HUGE child bearing hips!

but just because they had fatty hips, doesnt always mean the bone structure was wide set 😛....my friend Jill was Chunky but the doctors said her bone structure was to small to pass a child, she needed to have the baby cut out.

I cant remember...which king was it that ran around nude and left his power to his horse?

Henry broke from Roman Catholicism for many reasons:

-presure for protestant thinking advisors

-the belief that his marriage to Catherine was sinful as she was his brother's widow obsevered in its 'childlessness' or lack of male heir see some chpter in the old test, I don't remember which atm

-the inability to have the divorce granted by the Pope due to him being held hostage by Charles V of HRE and conveniently nephew of Catherine

He also didn't break fully with Rome after the divorce had occured only with time, public support, lots of parlimentary bills, the economic drive, an increase in attitudes against the Pope and RCC, an increase in indipendant thinking etc did the ref actually occur. Henry died believing to be catholic, he didn't really do much different to RCC but had bibles in English.

Quite a successful king in a way, greedy and worried about his dynasty but he should have been, there was plently of competition for the throne on his death from opposing households...

sorry for the lecture but...

also, Elizabeth I executed her cousin Mary Queen of Scots(MQS), not her sister. Mary i of England died of stomach cancer, Elizabeth inherrited the throne as the closest relative. MQS was usurped by her infant son in Scotland(James VI), well by his advisors/regents as the people wanted a protestant ruler. MQS being Catholic was a threat to Elizabeth and therefore locked up, after plots to free her and attempts to name her Queen of England, she was exectued to remove the catholic threat from England.

Hope that makes sense and hasn't bored you completely 🙂

Henry seemed to be just like Hitler in some ways. he really must not like women or even gave them a chance.

Originally posted by cking
Henry seemed to be just like Hitler in some ways. he really must not like women or even gave them a chance.

Well he was King, most likely the women stood up to him which upset him, may be. 🙄

well he had his picks.

Originally posted by cking
well he had his picks.

Too true, fussy s*d he was. 🙄

I don´t like Henry VIII... and I didn´t know there was an history forum.

One thing that I get fed up with today is the constant dramas on Henry VIII and Elisabeth the first, come on there is more to British history than them two.

yeah I know it seems like they view those two as the only history.

Henry VIII and Elisabeth the first are not what I called great reading in British history, in fact they are boring.

most of his stories are boring.bored

It's divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.

And his first wife wasn't named Catalina, but Catherine.

You need to set the reign of Henry VIII in the history of the times.

England had been under civil war for around half a century - the Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster & York. Henry VII - the VIII's dad - had basically usurped the throne at the Battle of Bosworth from Richard III (not a wholly nice guy himself). Henry VII then spent his reign securing the throne through his two sons - importantly two heirs - Arthur & Henry. Arthur died before his father, so Henry became the VIII. The need to secure the throne was the 'hangover' from the Wars of the Roses that affected the entire Tudor dynasty.

Catherine of Aragon couldn't give Henry a male heir - they had been married for quite a long time - and as such, Henry NEEDED an heir, or the dynasty would fail - just like his father - and as such he HAD to get rid of Catherine for the sake of the Tudor line (this is his point of view, not mine!).

He tried many, many ways but the Pope would not divorce them. In the end a man named Thomas Cromwell (distant ancestor of Oliver) came up with the idea of using Parliament to do it - a 'legal' divorce. To do this, the Church in England had to Break with Rome and Henry became the Head of Church and State - known as Caesaropapism. Parliament then authorised the divorce in Henry's name and Henry was obviously excommunicated.

Nevertheless, Henry was NOT a Protestant. He had, earlier in life, gained the title Defender of the Faith from the Pope and died a devout Catholic. What I believe happened is that he felt he had to make a choice - his country over his faith - and he chose his country. He worried that England would be plunged back into chaotic civil war if the succession was not secured. The reason the Church of England became Protestant was that Thomas Cromwell and the Archbishop of Canturbury, THomas Cranmer, amongst others, used the Break to their own ends.

So, eventually, he married various women and used his new power to get rid of those he didn't like. He wasn't purely a womaniser - he may have stayed married to the one woman who DID give him a son, but she died in Childbirth. His other marriages were purely political, especially Anne of Cleves who he married for alliance reasons having only seen a portrait of her. When she arrived she was so pig ugly Henry divorced her without consumating the marriage!

The succession was not properly secured, however, as the whole Catholic/Protestant tooing and frowing of the Sixteenth Century shows. However, this is not to say Henry VIII was a failure or an idiot. He was manipulated by his advisors to their own ends, yes, but he was very much a 'one trick pony' - securing the succession after the Wars of the Roses.