WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Okay, let's play a word association game. If 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:05.480 I say Henry VIII, what is the very first image 00:00:05.480 --> 00:00:08.160 that pops into your head? It's the Holbein portrait. 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:10.980 It has to be. Exactly. That stance. Hands on 00:00:10.980 --> 00:00:14.500 his hips, legs wide apart, massive padded shoulders. 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:16.980 He looks like a linebacker in velvet. Right. 00:00:17.219 --> 00:00:19.879 And usually, in the popular imagination, he's 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:22.600 holding a giant turkey leg. Which we should probably 00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:24.960 clarify right off the bat. He is never actually 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:27.000 holding in any contemporary painting. That's 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:29.519 a complete invention. Really? Never. Never is 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:32.380 a total invention of, you know, later caricatures 00:00:32.380 --> 00:00:35.259 in Hollywood movies. Yeah. But it sticks because 00:00:35.259 --> 00:00:37.359 it fits the vibe, doesn't it? The glutton, the 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:40.299 excess. Right. The obese, tyrannical glutton 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:42.700 who treated marriage like a sport. And then, 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:44.240 of course, there's the rhyme. We all learn it 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:46.880 in school. Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, 00:00:46.899 --> 00:00:49.039 beheaded, survived. It's catchy. It's memorable. 00:00:49.530 --> 00:00:52.189 It is, but it feels like we've reduced one of 00:00:52.189 --> 00:00:54.770 the most consequential figures in European history 00:00:54.770 --> 00:00:58.390 to, well, a cartoon villain and a nursery rhyme. 00:00:58.509 --> 00:01:02.789 And that is exactly why we're doing this deep 00:01:02.789 --> 00:01:06.760 dive today. Because that caricature, it isn't 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:09.519 just incomplete, it's actively misleading. It 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:12.459 blinds us to the actual tragedy and, dare I say, 00:01:12.579 --> 00:01:14.719 the brilliance of the man. That's a strong word, 00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:17.719 brilliance. I think it applies. Because the Henry 00:01:17.719 --> 00:01:21.480 who died in 1547, that immobile, paranoid wreck, 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:24.329 was not the Henry who took the throne. Not even 00:01:24.329 --> 00:01:26.569 close. That was the biggest hook for me when 00:01:26.569 --> 00:01:28.129 I was going through the source material you sent 00:01:28.129 --> 00:01:31.790 over. The contrast is just, it's jarring. You 00:01:31.790 --> 00:01:34.209 have this young, athletic, intellectual golden 00:01:34.209 --> 00:01:35.930 prince, and then 40 years later you have the 00:01:35.930 --> 00:01:38.590 tyrant. And the journey between those two points 00:01:38.590 --> 00:01:40.390 isn't just about getting fat and chopping off 00:01:40.390 --> 00:01:43.010 heads. It's about a man who fundamentally broke 00:01:43.010 --> 00:01:45.709 the mold of the English monarchy. It is. So today 00:01:45.709 --> 00:01:48.290 we are going to move beyond the divorced, beheaded, 00:01:48.349 --> 00:01:50.890 died rhyme. We're drawing from historical records, 00:01:51.049 --> 00:01:53.909 biographical details, and some really fascinating 00:01:53.909 --> 00:01:56.750 medical analysis to understand the why. Why the 00:01:56.750 --> 00:01:59.230 obsession with an heir? Why break the entire 00:01:59.230 --> 00:02:01.469 religious structure of the country? And the big 00:02:01.469 --> 00:02:04.010 question, was he always a monster or was he made 00:02:04.010 --> 00:02:06.379 into one? So let's unpack this. And I think we 00:02:06.379 --> 00:02:09.000 have to start way, way back. Because the most 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:11.099 surprising thing for me was learning that Henry 00:02:11.099 --> 00:02:13.219 VIII wasn't even supposed to be the main character 00:02:13.219 --> 00:02:15.460 in this story. That's absolutely right. He was 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:18.139 the spare. Born in 1491 at Greenwich Palace, 00:02:18.419 --> 00:02:21.240 he was the second son of Henry VII. The spare 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:23.699 to the heir. The heir was his older brother, 00:02:23.819 --> 00:02:26.860 Arthur. And in the logic of royal families, especially 00:02:26.860 --> 00:02:29.599 a new dynasty like the Tudors, who are still 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:32.259 feeling a bit insecure, the heir gets everything. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:35.099 Arthur was sent off to Wales to learn governance, 00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:38.280 to sit on councils, to learn the exacting art 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:40.680 of kingship. He was being groomed for the job 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:44.460 from day one. And the spare. What was Henry's 00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:46.740 path supposed to be? The spare gets a backup 00:02:46.740 --> 00:02:49.439 plan. Usually for a second son, that meant a 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:51.659 high -ranking career in the church. There is 00:02:51.659 --> 00:02:53.759 a very real alternate timeline where we could 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:55.819 have had Henry VIII, Archbishop of Canterbury. 00:02:55.900 --> 00:02:57.879 Can you imagine the theological debates would 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:01.990 have been... To say the least. But because he 00:03:01.990 --> 00:03:04.770 was the spare, his upbringing was radically different. 00:03:05.050 --> 00:03:07.370 While Arthur was out in the real world, Henry 00:03:07.370 --> 00:03:11.389 was kept at home, strictly supervised. Very sheltered, 00:03:11.389 --> 00:03:15.490 primarily by his mother, Elizabeth of York, and 00:03:15.490 --> 00:03:17.870 his grandmother, the formidable Margaret Beaufort. 00:03:18.289 --> 00:03:20.849 He wasn't paraded in public. He wasn't given 00:03:20.849 --> 00:03:23.509 his own household to run. He was kept in a gilded 00:03:23.509 --> 00:03:25.610 cage. So he's kept away from the public eye, 00:03:25.650 --> 00:03:28.310 but he's not uneducated. Far from it. This is 00:03:28.310 --> 00:03:31.129 where we really have to dismantle that mindless 00:03:31.129 --> 00:03:33.969 thug myth. Henry was a genuine intellectual. 00:03:34.370 --> 00:03:35.930 Because he was being prepped for the church. 00:03:36.129 --> 00:03:39.509 Exactly. His education was top tier. He was fluent 00:03:39.509 --> 00:03:41.810 in Latin and French, and he spoke some Italian. 00:03:42.430 --> 00:03:44.909 He was friends with the great humanist thinkers 00:03:44.909 --> 00:03:48.129 of the day, like Erasmus and Thomas More. He 00:03:48.129 --> 00:03:50.189 wasn't just literate. He was a scholar. He wrote 00:03:50.189 --> 00:03:52.729 theological treatises. And the music. I feel 00:03:52.729 --> 00:03:54.569 like people kind of know he was musical, but 00:03:54.569 --> 00:03:56.530 I didn't realize the extent of it until I read 00:03:56.530 --> 00:03:59.069 through these notes. He played the lute, the 00:03:59.069 --> 00:04:02.110 organ, the virginals. And he composed. Pastime 00:04:02.110 --> 00:04:04.189 with Good Company is his most famous work. You 00:04:04.189 --> 00:04:06.449 can still listen to it today. And it was a genuine 00:04:06.449 --> 00:04:09.229 hit at the Tudor court. What's it about? It's 00:04:09.229 --> 00:04:11.530 a song about hunting, dancing, and keeping good 00:04:11.530 --> 00:04:15.050 company. It's basically his manifesto for life 00:04:15.050 --> 00:04:17.490 as a young man. It's full of energy and joy. 00:04:17.850 --> 00:04:20.449 But... And I hate to be the bearer of bad news 00:04:20.449 --> 00:04:23.069 for our listeners who love a good romantic legend. 00:04:23.689 --> 00:04:26.370 We have to issue a correction on Greensleeves. 00:04:26.509 --> 00:04:29.110 I know. I know. It breaks people's hearts. Everyone 00:04:29.110 --> 00:04:30.990 thinks he wrote Greensleeves for Anne Boleyn 00:04:30.990 --> 00:04:34.509 to woo her. It's a great story. But not true. 00:04:34.689 --> 00:04:37.610 But not true. Music historians are quite clear 00:04:37.610 --> 00:04:40.490 on this. The style of composition in Greensleeves 00:04:40.490 --> 00:04:43.269 is Italian, and that specific style didn't actually 00:04:43.269 --> 00:04:45.649 reach England until well after Henry had died. 00:04:45.870 --> 00:04:49.060 So definitely not him. Okay, so. He didn't write 00:04:49.060 --> 00:04:52.600 Greensleeves, but he's smart, he's musical, and 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:55.939 physically. The sources say he was beast. He 00:04:55.939 --> 00:04:58.920 was over six feet tall, which was enormous for 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:01.199 the time average height was much, much shorter. 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:04.259 He was a powerhouse athlete. He excelled at jousting, 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:06.779 which requires immense core strength and horse 00:05:06.779 --> 00:05:09.019 riding skill. It's like being a Formula One driver 00:05:09.019 --> 00:05:11.420 and a linebacker at the same time. Good analogy. 00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:14.560 He loved hunting, and he was obsessed with real 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:16.420 tennis. Which is different from the tennis we 00:05:16.420 --> 00:05:18.480 watch at Wimbledon, right? Very different. It's 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:20.439 played indoors, you play off the walls, it's 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:23.439 incredibly strategic and fast -paced. It's called 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:25.379 the Sport of Kings for a reason, so you have 00:05:25.379 --> 00:05:27.399 this complete package. Okay, so this is the young 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:30.720 Henry, and then everything changes. The turning 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:33.399 point. His brother Arthur dies suddenly at age 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:37.220 15 in 1502, and Henry is thrust into the role 00:05:37.220 --> 00:05:40.060 of Prince of Wales at age 10. The spare becomes 00:05:40.060 --> 00:05:42.519 the heir. And he wasn't trained for it. He wasn't, 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:44.560 not in the practical sense. And when he finally 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:48.129 takes the throne at age 17... England isn't getting 00:05:48.129 --> 00:05:50.930 a tyrant. They are getting a superhero. It must 00:05:50.930 --> 00:05:53.209 have felt like a massive relief. His father, 00:05:53.350 --> 00:05:57.509 Henry VII, was this miserly, dour accountant 00:05:57.509 --> 00:05:59.829 king who checked the ledgers every night. He 00:05:59.829 --> 00:06:01.949 was respected but not loved. He pulled the country 00:06:01.949 --> 00:06:04.290 out of debt. But he did it by being incredibly 00:06:04.290 --> 00:06:06.709 severe and unpopular. And then here comes this 00:06:06.709 --> 00:06:10.180 17 -year -old. handsome, athletic superstar who 00:06:10.180 --> 00:06:12.779 just wants to throw parties and jousts. It was 00:06:12.779 --> 00:06:16.199 a chaotic release of energy. The court went from 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:18.779 a library to a fraternity house almost overnight. 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:21.920 And the first thing the superstar does is make 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:25.259 a very romantic, very specific choice. He marries 00:06:25.259 --> 00:06:28.120 his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. This 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:30.100 is one of those relationships that gets completely 00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:33.399 overshadowed by how it ended. But looking at 00:06:33.399 --> 00:06:35.740 the early years, the sources say their marriage 00:06:35.740 --> 00:06:38.850 was actually... unusually good. It was a love 00:06:38.850 --> 00:06:41.129 match. You have to remember, Catherine was the 00:06:41.129 --> 00:06:43.310 daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. 00:06:43.509 --> 00:06:47.250 She was royalty to her core, arguably more royal 00:06:47.250 --> 00:06:49.470 than Henry himself at that point. So marrying 00:06:49.470 --> 00:06:52.220 her was a huge political win. A massive coup 00:06:52.220 --> 00:06:54.959 for England. But it required a special permission, 00:06:55.180 --> 00:06:57.720 a papal dispensation. Because technically under 00:06:57.720 --> 00:06:59.800 church law, marrying your brother's wife was 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:01.920 a no -no. Right. It was considered affinity, 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:04.839 too close a relation. Leviticus in the Bible 00:07:04.839 --> 00:07:07.660 forbids it. But Catherine swore her marriage 00:07:07.660 --> 00:07:09.699 to Arthur was never consummated, so the pope 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:11.939 granted the dispensation, saying, we'll make 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:13.879 an exception. And you should keep that piece 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:15.519 of paper in mind because it becomes the most 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:17.759 important document in English history later on. 00:07:17.980 --> 00:07:20.980 It really does. So in 1509, they are crowned 00:07:20.980 --> 00:07:24.899 together. Lavish ceremony. They are young, beautiful, 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:28.319 and in love. Catherine wrote to her father that 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:30.699 their time was spent in continuous festival. 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:33.019 It sounds like a fairy tale. It was. But then 00:07:33.019 --> 00:07:35.500 the tragedy starts creeping in. And it is relentless. 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:37.439 If you look at the timeline of their reproductive 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:40.439 history, it's just... It's heartbreaking. It's 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:43.360 a litany of stillbirths and infant deaths, one 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:45.680 after another. So tough to read about. Exactly. 00:07:45.899 --> 00:07:48.459 They did have a son, Henry, Duke of Cornwall, 00:07:48.579 --> 00:07:51.120 born on New Year's Day, 1511. You can imagine 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:53.100 the relief. There were massive celebrations, 00:07:53.459 --> 00:07:55.779 a tournament at Westminster. Finally, the heir. 00:07:55.939 --> 00:07:59.399 And the baby lived only 52 days. That is absolutely 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:01.360 devastating. And out of all those pregnancies, 00:08:01.379 --> 00:08:04.839 only one child survives infancy. A girl. Mary. 00:08:05.019 --> 00:08:07.500 Just Mary. And while Henry loved Mary, he doted 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:09.620 on her when she was young. A daughter was not 00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:12.699 what he needed. Why not? I mean, why was a female 00:08:12.699 --> 00:08:15.259 ruler so unthinkable? You have to understand 00:08:15.259 --> 00:08:17.540 the political context. The Tudor dynasty was 00:08:17.540 --> 00:08:19.920 brand new. Henry's father had taken the throne 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:22.300 by conquest, ending the Wars of the Roses. Which 00:08:22.300 --> 00:08:25.379 were decades of civil war. Decades. And it was 00:08:25.379 --> 00:08:28.180 all caused by a disputed succession. The last 00:08:28.180 --> 00:08:30.079 time England had tried to have a ruling queen, 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:33.120 Matilda, it led to a brutal civil war called 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:36.230 the Anarchy. So Henry's fear of not having a 00:08:36.230 --> 00:08:38.690 son isn't just vanity or sexism. It's a fear 00:08:38.690 --> 00:08:40.509 of the country falling back into a bloodbath. 00:08:40.710 --> 00:08:43.250 Precisely. He believed that without a clear, 00:08:43.389 --> 00:08:46.909 undeniable male heir, England would burn. But 00:08:46.909 --> 00:08:49.169 in those early years, before the panic fully 00:08:49.169 --> 00:08:51.730 set in, he distracted himself with something 00:08:51.730 --> 00:08:54.710 else. War. He wanted to be the warrior king, 00:08:54.909 --> 00:08:58.039 like his hero, Henry V. at Agincourt. He was 00:08:58.039 --> 00:09:00.340 obsessed with the idea of reclaiming English 00:09:00.340 --> 00:09:03.500 lands in France. He leads campaigns, he dumps 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:06.139 money into invasions, he wins the Battle of the 00:09:06.139 --> 00:09:08.899 Spurs, which frankly was a minor skirmish where 00:09:08.899 --> 00:09:11.059 the French cavalry ran away so fast they used 00:09:11.059 --> 00:09:13.440 their spurs more than their swords. But the PR 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:15.899 machine back home spun it as a glorious triumph. 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:18.360 Oh, absolutely. But here's a detail I love, which 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:19.899 really highlights the dynamic between him and 00:09:19.899 --> 00:09:22.100 Catherine. While Henry is off playing soldier 00:09:22.100 --> 00:09:24.620 in France, the Scots decide to invade England. 00:09:24.779 --> 00:09:26.980 Classic move. Wait for the king to leave, then 00:09:26.980 --> 00:09:29.899 attack. And Henry isn't there to save the day. 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:33.960 So who organizes the defense of the realm? Queen 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:37.139 Catherine. That is so badass. She oversaw the 00:09:37.139 --> 00:09:39.480 English forces that crushed the Scots at the 00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:42.080 Battle of Flodden. It was a decisive victory. 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:44.639 The king of Scotland himself was killed on the 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:46.679 battlefield. So she wasn't just a passive queen. 00:09:47.049 --> 00:09:50.450 Not at all. Catherine actually sent Henry the 00:09:50.450 --> 00:09:53.250 bloodied coat of the Scottish king as a souvenir 00:09:53.250 --> 00:09:55.970 while he was partying in France. It really highlights 00:09:55.970 --> 00:09:58.029 that she was a formidable partner. She wasn't 00:09:58.029 --> 00:10:00.389 just sitting at home doing needlepoint. And amidst 00:10:00.389 --> 00:10:02.590 all this partying and warring, we see the rise 00:10:02.590 --> 00:10:05.070 of the man who would essentially run the country 00:10:05.070 --> 00:10:08.009 for Henry for years. Thomas Wolsey. Tell us about 00:10:08.009 --> 00:10:10.480 him. Wolsey is crucial to the first half of the 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:12.620 reign. He was the Lord Chancellor, a cardinal, 00:10:12.700 --> 00:10:16.820 and the son of a butcher from Ipswich who rose 00:10:16.820 --> 00:10:19.080 to become the most powerful man in England. Oh. 00:10:19.299 --> 00:10:21.740 Essentially, by doing the homework Henry didn't 00:10:21.740 --> 00:10:24.200 want to do. The boring details of government. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:27.679 Exactly. Henry wanted the glory, the jousts, 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:29.940 the music. Wolsey handled the administration, 00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:33.519 the taxes, the legal system. And the peak of 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:35.659 this era of spectacle has to be the field of 00:10:35.659 --> 00:10:38.759 the cloth of gold in 1520. The name alone just 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:40.940 screams excess. It sounds like the Coachella 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:43.460 of the 16th century. It was a diplomatic summit 00:10:43.460 --> 00:10:45.399 with France, the first of France. But really, 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:48.139 it was a massive ego contest. They built temporary 00:10:48.139 --> 00:10:50.679 palaces. There are fountains glowing with red 00:10:50.679 --> 00:10:54.279 wine. Red wine fountains. For three weeks. Henry 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:57.220 brought thousands of courtiers. They covered 00:10:57.220 --> 00:11:00.139 the temporary tents in so much gold cloth, hence 00:11:00.139 --> 00:11:02.480 the name. It was designed to show off English 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:04.940 wealth and power. Did it achieve anything politically? 00:11:05.299 --> 00:11:07.279 Almost nothing. They were at war again shortly 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:09.679 after. It's pure spectacle. But it marks the 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:11.519 end of the golden days, because as we hit the 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:14.860 mid -1520s, the mood shifts. We enter the era 00:11:14.860 --> 00:11:18.590 of the great matter. The pivot. By the mid -1520s, 00:11:18.590 --> 00:11:20.929 Catherine is in her 40s. It is becoming biologically 00:11:20.929 --> 00:11:23.110 obvious that she's not going to provide a male 00:11:23.110 --> 00:11:26.809 heir, and Henry is terrified. The panic sets 00:11:26.809 --> 00:11:29.429 in, and into this atmosphere of anxiety walks 00:11:29.429 --> 00:11:31.929 Anne Boleyn. Anne is fascinating because she 00:11:31.929 --> 00:11:34.750 changed the rules of the game. Her sister, Mary 00:11:34.750 --> 00:11:37.690 Boleyn, had already been Henry's mistress, so 00:11:37.690 --> 00:11:40.090 the path was there for her. But Anne refused. 00:11:40.330 --> 00:11:43.009 She refused to be just the side piece. Exactly. 00:11:43.009 --> 00:11:45.889 She essentially said, I'm not going to be your 00:11:45.889 --> 00:11:49.309 mistress. It's queen or nothing. And that refusal 00:11:49.309 --> 00:11:52.590 drove him crazy. He becomes obsessed. We have 00:11:52.590 --> 00:11:54.409 the love letters he wrote to her. They're desperate. 00:11:54.649 --> 00:11:57.029 He is totally captivated by this intelligent, 00:11:57.289 --> 00:11:59.830 fiery, ambitious woman. But he can't just divorce 00:11:59.830 --> 00:12:02.100 Catherine. The Catholic Church doesn't do divorce. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:04.980 So Henry finds a theological loophole. He goes 00:12:04.980 --> 00:12:07.220 back to the Bible, specifically Leviticus 20 00:12:07.220 --> 00:12:10.120 .21. It says that if a man takes his brother's 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:12.580 wife, it is an unclean thing and they shall be 00:12:12.580 --> 00:12:15.100 childless. Wait, so he convinces himself that 00:12:15.100 --> 00:12:17.039 God is punishing him for that first marriage, 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:19.519 that all the stillbirths and dead babies are 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:22.259 a sign. He truly believed his marriage was blighted 00:12:22.259 --> 00:12:24.620 in the eyes of God. He argued that the Pope never 00:12:24.620 --> 00:12:26.759 had the authority to grant that dispensation 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:29.820 back in 1509 because the Pope cannot overrule 00:12:29.820 --> 00:12:32.080 the... Bible. It seems incredibly convenient, 00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:34.919 though. Oh, look, God is punishing me. And the 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:37.139 only solution just happens to be marrying this 00:12:37.139 --> 00:12:39.779 25 year old woman I'm obsessed with. Convenient, 00:12:39.779 --> 00:12:42.860 yes. But Henry had a remarkable capacity for 00:12:42.860 --> 00:12:45.600 aligning God's will with his own desires. He 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:48.019 convinced himself he was living in sin and that 00:12:48.019 --> 00:12:50.720 this was a matter for his eternal soul. So what's 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:52.539 the problem? He just needs an annulment, not 00:12:52.539 --> 00:12:55.159 a divorce. The problem was the pope, Clement 00:12:55.159 --> 00:12:58.000 VII, couldn't give it to him. Why not? If the 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:00.000 king of England asked for a favor, usually the 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:03.179 pope grants it, right? Politics. At this exact 00:13:03.179 --> 00:13:05.960 moment, Rome had been sacked by the troops of 00:13:05.960 --> 00:13:09.029 the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. The Pope was 00:13:09.029 --> 00:13:11.950 effectively a prisoner of Charles V. And Charles 00:13:11.950 --> 00:13:14.169 V happened to be? Catherine of Aragon's nephew. 00:13:14.570 --> 00:13:17.309 Oh, wow. So the Pope is thinking, if I grant 00:13:17.309 --> 00:13:19.549 this annulment and disgrace the emperor's aunt, 00:13:19.730 --> 00:13:22.029 the emperor might literally kill me. Precisely. 00:13:22.029 --> 00:13:25.789 So the Pope stalls. He delays. He sends legates 00:13:25.789 --> 00:13:28.409 to hold trials that go nowhere. This drags on 00:13:28.409 --> 00:13:31.049 for years. And this failure is what cost Wolsey 00:13:31.049 --> 00:13:34.450 his life. Yes. He promised Henry he could deliver 00:13:34.450 --> 00:13:36.389 the divorce, and when he couldn't, he fell from 00:13:36.389 --> 00:13:39.620 grace. Hard. He was arrested for treason and 00:13:39.620 --> 00:13:42.600 died while awaiting trial. A broken man. And 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:44.279 this is where the history of England takes a 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:47.440 sharp left turn. If the Pope won't say yes, Henry 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:49.700 decides he doesn't need the Pope. Enter Thomas 00:13:49.700 --> 00:13:52.240 Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer. They are the architects 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:54.639 of the break with Rome. They come up with a radical 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:58.159 idea. England is an empire. What does that mean 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:01.059 in this context? It means it is sovereign and 00:14:01.059 --> 00:14:03.820 answers to no foreign power, not even the Pope 00:14:03.820 --> 00:14:06.759 in Rome. The king is the final authority in all 00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:10.240 matters, spiritual and temporal. The Act of Supremacy 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:13.779 in 1534. Henry declares himself the supreme head 00:14:13.779 --> 00:14:15.700 of the Church of England. This is the moment 00:14:15.700 --> 00:14:18.159 England shifts. It wasn't a reformation of doctrine 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:20.460 at this stage. Henry still considered himself 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:22.919 a good Catholic in terms of belief. It was purely 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:25.279 about authority. He changed the religion of the 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:27.679 entire country just to facilitate a marriage. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:30.110 That is exactly what he did. So he gets what 00:14:30.110 --> 00:14:32.769 he wants. He marries Anne. Catherine is cast 00:14:32.769 --> 00:14:35.750 aside to die in loneliness. But the Anne Boleyn 00:14:35.750 --> 00:14:38.190 years aren't exactly the fairy tale he expected, 00:14:38.409 --> 00:14:40.909 are they? Far from it. The pressure on Anne was 00:14:40.909 --> 00:14:43.049 immense. She had promised him a son, and when 00:14:43.049 --> 00:14:46.789 she gives birth, it's a girl. Elizabeth. The 00:14:46.789 --> 00:14:49.649 future Elizabeth I, which is deeply ironic considering 00:14:49.649 --> 00:14:51.570 she becomes the greatest monarch of the dynasty, 00:14:51.769 --> 00:14:53.389 but for Henry it must have been a punch in the 00:14:53.389 --> 00:14:55.659 gut. It was a bitter blow. And their relationship 00:14:55.659 --> 00:14:58.580 turned volatile very quickly. Anne was independent. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.360 She had a temper. She was opinionated. She debated 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:04.179 him. Henry didn't like that in a wife. He wanted 00:15:04.179 --> 00:15:06.899 submissiveness. And Anne was fire. And then we 00:15:06.899 --> 00:15:10.500 get to 1536. I feel like if you're making a movie 00:15:10.500 --> 00:15:13.600 of Henry's life, 1536 is the climax. The sources 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:15.980 call it the Anne's Horribilis, the horrible year. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:18.019 It is the absolute turning point. Everything 00:15:18.019 --> 00:15:21.279 changes in 1536. It starts in January. Catherine 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:23.399 of Aragon dies. And Henry and Anne celebrate 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:26.269 it. They were yellow, which some say was the 00:15:26.269 --> 00:15:28.370 Spanish color for mourning, but mostly it was 00:15:28.370 --> 00:15:30.889 seen as celebration. But then tragedy strikes 00:15:30.889 --> 00:15:33.870 Henry directly. The jousting accident. Let's 00:15:33.870 --> 00:15:35.830 deep dive into this because the research suggests 00:15:35.830 --> 00:15:38.629 this might explain a lot about the tyrant Henry. 00:15:38.769 --> 00:15:41.990 Yes. Henry was jousting, still doing it at age 00:15:41.990 --> 00:15:44.669 44, which is incredible, and he was thrown from 00:15:44.669 --> 00:15:48.289 his horse. But it wasn't just a fall. The horse, 00:15:48.409 --> 00:15:50.940 which was also fully armored, fell on top of 00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:53.399 him. That is thousands of pounds of crushing 00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:55.879 weight. He was unconscious for two hours. His 00:15:55.879 --> 00:15:58.799 courtiers thought he was dead. The news reached 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:01.100 a pregnant Anne Boleyn, and the shock may have 00:16:01.100 --> 00:16:03.220 contributed to what happened next. And what's 00:16:03.220 --> 00:16:05.340 the modern medical theory here? Modern medical 00:16:05.340 --> 00:16:07.740 experts speculate that he likely suffered a severe 00:16:07.740 --> 00:16:10.919 traumatic brain injury, a TBI, specifically to 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:12.659 the frontal lobe. And the frontal lobe controls? 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:16.460 Impulse control, emotional regulation, personality. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:19.580 Before this accident, Henry could be cruel, but 00:16:19.580 --> 00:16:22.259 he was generally rational and calculative. After 00:16:22.259 --> 00:16:24.799 this, the paranoia, the mood swings, the explosive 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:27.500 rage, it all ramps up. He becomes a different 00:16:27.500 --> 00:16:29.299 person. And physically, this is the end of the 00:16:29.299 --> 00:16:32.019 athlete, right? Completely. He had a leg wound 00:16:32.019 --> 00:16:34.159 from a previous accident that had always bothered 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:37.559 him, but this new fall reopened it. It ulcerated. 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:40.440 It never healed. It caused him chronic, agonizing 00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:43.139 pain for the rest of his life. So he can't exercise 00:16:43.139 --> 00:16:45.360 anymore. But he keeps eating like an athlete. 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.000 And that's where the weight gain begins. So he's 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:51.000 in pain. He's possibly brain damaged. And then 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:54.500 tragedy strikes Anne. On the very day of Catherine 00:16:54.500 --> 00:16:57.279 of Aragon's funeral, Anne Boleyn miscarries. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:00.419 And it was a male child. Harry sees this as a 00:17:00.419 --> 00:17:02.830 sign, doesn't he? He sees it as divine judgment. 00:17:03.090 --> 00:17:05.609 He decides that this marriage is also cursed. 00:17:05.789 --> 00:17:07.869 He thinks, I made all these changes, I broke 00:17:07.869 --> 00:17:10.089 the church, and God is still denying me a son. 00:17:10.130 --> 00:17:12.230 It must be the woman. And once Henry decides 00:17:12.230 --> 00:17:14.730 you are the problem, you are in mortal danger. 00:17:14.990 --> 00:17:17.910 Thomas Cromwell, who had been Anne's ally, sees 00:17:17.910 --> 00:17:20.130 the wind changing and engineers her destruction. 00:17:20.809 --> 00:17:22.670 He needs to get her out of the way. The charges 00:17:22.670 --> 00:17:25.369 against her were insane. Completely fabricated. 00:17:25.529 --> 00:17:28.349 Adultery with five men, including the court musician 00:17:28.349 --> 00:17:30.849 Mark Smeaton, and most horrifically incest with 00:17:30.849 --> 00:17:33.269 her own brother, George Boleyn. Is there any 00:17:33.269 --> 00:17:35.130 historical evidence to support these charges? 00:17:35.589 --> 00:17:38.490 Absolutely none. Historians are almost unanimous 00:17:38.490 --> 00:17:40.630 that she was innocent. It was a setup to get 00:17:40.630 --> 00:17:42.289 her out of the way so Henry could marry again. 00:17:42.549 --> 00:17:45.049 And it worked? The legal machinery moved with 00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:48.650 terrifying speed. She was executed in May 1536. 00:17:49.609 --> 00:17:51.910 beheaded by a swordsman brought from France as 00:17:51.910 --> 00:17:54.990 a final small mercy. And to show just how over 00:17:54.990 --> 00:17:57.549 it Henry was, he marries wife number three, Jane 00:17:57.549 --> 00:18:01.150 Seymour, ten days later. Ten days. That is cold. 00:18:01.410 --> 00:18:03.890 Jane was the anti -Anne. She was submissive, 00:18:03.890 --> 00:18:07.549 quiet, plain. Her motto was bound to obey and 00:18:07.549 --> 00:18:10.589 serve. She was exactly what the battered, paranoid 00:18:10.589 --> 00:18:13.309 Henry thought he wanted. And crucially, she gave 00:18:13.309 --> 00:18:15.289 him the one thing he wanted host in the world. 00:18:15.450 --> 00:18:19.210 A son. Edward VI is born in 1537. Finally, the 00:18:19.210 --> 00:18:21.509 dynasty is secure. But the tragedy continues, 00:18:21.829 --> 00:18:24.390 doesn't it? Jane contracts an infection -likely 00:18:24.390 --> 00:18:26.630 peripheral fever from the birth and dies shortly 00:18:26.630 --> 00:18:29.230 after. So Henry is devastated. Genuinely. He 00:18:29.230 --> 00:18:31.609 always referred to her as his true wife. Probably 00:18:31.609 --> 00:18:33.390 because she died before he had time to turn on 00:18:33.390 --> 00:18:35.789 her. That is a very cynical but likely accurate 00:18:35.789 --> 00:18:38.829 assessment. She remains the perfect wife because 00:18:38.829 --> 00:18:41.190 she is frozen in time as the mother of the heir. 00:18:41.609 --> 00:18:44.109 He commanded that he be buried next to her, and 00:18:44.109 --> 00:18:46.529 he was. So now he has the heir. He's a widower. 00:18:46.890 --> 00:18:49.650 And Cromwell, ever the schemer, decides it's 00:18:49.650 --> 00:18:51.750 time for a political alliance. We need to talk 00:18:51.750 --> 00:18:54.230 about Anne of Cleves. Ah, the Flanders mare. 00:18:54.869 --> 00:18:57.789 This is a classic case of early modern catfishing. 00:18:58.410 --> 00:19:00.990 Cromwell wanted an alliance with the German Protestants 00:19:00.990 --> 00:19:03.569 to protect England against Catholic France and 00:19:03.569 --> 00:19:06.369 Spain. He suggests Anne of Cleves. And he sends 00:19:06.369 --> 00:19:08.769 the artist Hans Holbein to paint her. Holbein, 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:11.569 the best portraitist of the age. And he paints 00:19:11.569 --> 00:19:13.890 a very flattering portrait. Henry swipes right, 00:19:14.089 --> 00:19:16.549 basically. Basically. He agrees to the marriage 00:19:16.549 --> 00:19:18.750 sight unseen. But then she shows up in person. 00:19:18.990 --> 00:19:21.470 And Henry's repulse, he famously said, I like 00:19:21.470 --> 00:19:24.109 her not. He complained about her evil smells 00:19:24.109 --> 00:19:26.130 and claimed she wasn't a virgin because of the 00:19:26.130 --> 00:19:29.150 looseness of her breasts. He's such a charmer. 00:19:29.269 --> 00:19:31.410 Yeah. Just a delightful man to be married to. 00:19:31.529 --> 00:19:34.269 It was humiliating for her. But the marriage 00:19:34.269 --> 00:19:37.009 was never consummated. And this is where Anne 00:19:37.009 --> 00:19:39.009 of Cleves proves she might be the smartest of 00:19:39.009 --> 00:19:42.309 the six wives. How so? When Henry wanted out, 00:19:42.349 --> 00:19:44.410 she didn't fight. She didn't claim it was a valid 00:19:44.410 --> 00:19:47.750 marriage. She acquiesced immediately. She effectively 00:19:47.750 --> 00:19:50.450 said, whatever your majesty wants, I'm happy 00:19:50.450 --> 00:19:52.609 to be your sister instead. And what did she get 00:19:52.609 --> 00:19:55.309 for playing along? She got the best severance 00:19:55.309 --> 00:19:57.839 package in history. She was given the title of 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:00.559 the king's beloved sister, given palaces, including 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:04.180 Hever Castle, the Boleyn's old family home, and 00:20:04.180 --> 00:20:06.519 lived a very comfortable, independent life in 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:08.640 England. She outlived all the other wives, didn't 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:11.720 she? And, Henry, she kept her head and her fortune. 00:20:11.859 --> 00:20:14.500 A very smart woman. But someone had to take the 00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:17.839 fall for the failed match. And that was Cromwell, 00:20:18.019 --> 00:20:20.559 the man who had orchestrated the break with Rome, 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:23.930 the dissolution of the monasteries. He was blamed 00:20:23.930 --> 00:20:26.869 for the Cleves disaster and executed in 1540. 00:20:27.049 --> 00:20:30.430 Did Henry regret that? It seems he did. He actually 00:20:30.430 --> 00:20:32.950 regretted it later, accusing his council of tricking 00:20:32.950 --> 00:20:34.769 him into killing his most competent servant. 00:20:35.069 --> 00:20:37.269 But by then it was too late. So now we're in 00:20:37.269 --> 00:20:40.990 the 1540s. Henry's getting old, fat, and sick. 00:20:41.500 --> 00:20:44.220 And what does a man in a midlife crisis do? He 00:20:44.220 --> 00:20:46.880 marries a teenager. Catherine Howard. She was 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:48.880 the first cousin of Anne Boleyn. She was roughly 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:52.519 17. He was nearly 50. He called her his rose 00:20:52.519 --> 00:20:54.960 without a thorn. He was completely infatuated. 00:20:55.059 --> 00:20:58.059 Totally. Showering her with jewelry and gifts. 00:20:58.279 --> 00:21:00.900 He deluded himself into thinking this vibrant 00:21:00.900 --> 00:21:03.740 young woman actually loved him. This aging, obese 00:21:03.740 --> 00:21:06.799 man with a festering leg wound. But unlike Anne 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:09.299 Boleyn, who was falsely accused, Catherine Howard 00:21:09.299 --> 00:21:11.380 actually was having affairs, right? It seems 00:21:11.380 --> 00:21:14.059 so. She was young, reckless, and married to a 00:21:14.059 --> 00:21:17.339 decaying, smelling old man. She had a past relationship 00:21:17.339 --> 00:21:20.119 with a man named Francis Dieramim and a current 00:21:20.119 --> 00:21:22.940 infatuation with a courtier named Thomas Culpepper. 00:21:23.059 --> 00:21:25.200 They were meeting in secret. And when Henry found 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:28.160 out... It broke him. Archbishop Cranmer left 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:30.680 a note for Henry in his pew at church detailing 00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:32.900 the accusations because he was too scared to 00:21:32.900 --> 00:21:35.259 say it to his face. I don't blame him. At first, 00:21:35.259 --> 00:21:37.000 Henry refused to believe it. He threatened to 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:39.420 kill anyone lying about her. But when the evidence 00:21:39.420 --> 00:21:41.619 came out, the sources say he broke down... crying, 00:21:41.660 --> 00:21:44.740 and then the rage took over. She was executed 00:21:44.740 --> 00:21:50.019 in 1542. Two queens beheaded. It's just staggering. 00:21:50.259 --> 00:21:52.460 Which brings us to the survivor, Catherine Parr. 00:21:52.910 --> 00:21:55.130 She sounds like a saint. She was a wealthy widow, 00:21:55.329 --> 00:21:58.210 very intelligent, and a committed religious reformer. 00:21:58.269 --> 00:22:01.089 She essentially became his nurse in those final 00:22:01.089 --> 00:22:03.609 years, a companion. But her biggest contribution 00:22:03.609 --> 00:22:06.630 was what? Reconciling the family. She brought 00:22:06.630 --> 00:22:09.190 the children back together. She convinced Henry 00:22:09.190 --> 00:22:12.069 to pass the Third Succession Act, which restored 00:22:12.069 --> 00:22:14.430 his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to the line 00:22:14.430 --> 00:22:17.990 of succession. That is huge. Without her, we 00:22:17.990 --> 00:22:20.130 might not have had Queen Elizabeth I. Exactly. 00:22:20.190 --> 00:22:22.950 She stabilized the domestic situation while Henry 00:22:22.950 --> 00:22:25.490 physically fell apart. Let's talk about that 00:22:25.490 --> 00:22:28.549 decay. The source mentions a 54 -inch waist. 00:22:28.849 --> 00:22:31.289 He was enormous. He had to be moved with mechanical 00:22:31.289 --> 00:22:34.009 devices, hoists, and chairs because his legs 00:22:34.009 --> 00:22:36.029 couldn't support his weight. He was covered in 00:22:36.029 --> 00:22:38.890 pus -filled boils. The smell from his leg ulcer 00:22:38.890 --> 00:22:41.450 was apparently terrible. Courtiers claimed you 00:22:41.450 --> 00:22:43.799 could smell him coming three rooms away. And 00:22:43.799 --> 00:22:45.420 there's a medical theory mentioned in the notes 00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:47.900 called McLeod syndrome. I want to touch on this 00:22:47.900 --> 00:22:50.440 because it offers a biological explanation for 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:53.000 all the chaos. Yes, it's a fascinating theory. 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:56.359 McLeod syndrome is a very rare genetic disorder 00:22:56.359 --> 00:22:59.619 related to the Cal blood group. The theory is 00:22:59.619 --> 00:23:02.700 that Henry was Cal positive. And what does that 00:23:02.700 --> 00:23:05.420 mean for pregnancies? If a father is Kel -positive 00:23:05.420 --> 00:23:08.099 and the mother is Kel -negative, the first pregnancy 00:23:08.099 --> 00:23:10.220 is usually fine because the mother hasn't developed 00:23:10.220 --> 00:23:13.359 antibodies yet. But for subsequent pregnancies, 00:23:13.559 --> 00:23:16.039 the mother's immune system attacks the Kel -positive 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:19.460 fetus, causing late -term miscarriages or stillbirths. 00:23:19.539 --> 00:23:21.579 That fits the pattern of his wife's reproductive 00:23:21.579 --> 00:23:25.059 histories perfectly. Catherine of Aragon had 00:23:25.059 --> 00:23:28.119 one healthy child first, then disaster. Anne 00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:30.880 Boleyn had Elizabeth first, then miscarriages. 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:34.589 It fits perfectly. And here's the kicker. McLeod 00:23:34.589 --> 00:23:37.549 syndrome can also cause cognitive decline, paranoia, 00:23:37.569 --> 00:23:40.089 and muscle weakness in later life. It's speculative, 00:23:40.190 --> 00:23:42.869 of course. We can't DNA test him. But it reframes 00:23:42.869 --> 00:23:44.910 the narrative. It changes everything. He wasn't 00:23:44.910 --> 00:23:47.230 cursed by God. He was fighting his own biology. 00:23:47.529 --> 00:23:49.890 Possibly. It turns the villain into a much more 00:23:49.890 --> 00:23:52.309 tragic figure. But while his body is ruining 00:23:52.309 --> 00:23:54.549 itself, he's also ruining the country's finances. 00:23:55.069 --> 00:23:58.069 Completely. He inherited a fortune from his father. 00:23:58.519 --> 00:24:01.160 one of the richest treasuries in europe he died 00:24:01.160 --> 00:24:04.019 leaving england nearly bankrupt where did all 00:24:04.019 --> 00:24:07.259 the money go palaces he owned over 50 he was 00:24:07.259 --> 00:24:10.779 a shopaholic on a grand scale he had 2 000 tapestries 00:24:10.779 --> 00:24:14.660 but the biggest drain was war and he found a 00:24:14.660 --> 00:24:17.730 massive source of cash to fund them the church 00:24:17.730 --> 00:24:20.269 the dissolution of the monasteries this was cromwell's 00:24:20.269 --> 00:24:23.809 project in the late 1530s they did a survey called 00:24:23.809 --> 00:24:26.549 the valor ecclesiasticus to find out how much 00:24:26.549 --> 00:24:29.509 the church owned it turned out they owned about 00:24:29.509 --> 00:24:31.950 a quarter of the land in england so henry just 00:24:31.950 --> 00:24:34.809 took it he seized it closed the abbeys kicked 00:24:34.809 --> 00:24:36.950 out the monks and nuns melted down the lead from 00:24:36.950 --> 00:24:39.190 the roofs took the gold plate and sold the land 00:24:39.190 --> 00:24:41.970 it was cultural vandalism on a massive scale 00:24:41.970 --> 00:24:45.210 libraries were destroyed art was lost forever 00:24:45.210 --> 00:24:49.200 ostensibly to crush idolatry, but really to fund 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:52.319 the wars. And to buy loyalty. This is key. If 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:54.799 you sell the church lands to the nobility and 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:57.059 the gentry, those people now have a vested interest 00:24:57.059 --> 00:24:59.359 in the Reformation succeeding. They don't want 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:00.920 the monks coming back because they'd have to 00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:03.039 give the land back. It baked the Reformation 00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:05.680 into the economy. But the common people weren't 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:07.980 happy. The monasteries were their hospitals, 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:11.869 their schools, their food banks. No. This led 00:25:11.869 --> 00:25:15.750 to the pilgrimage of grace in 1536. It was a 00:25:15.750 --> 00:25:18.609 massive uprising in the north of England, tens 00:25:18.609 --> 00:25:20.970 of thousands of people marching to defend the 00:25:20.970 --> 00:25:23.690 old religion. It was the biggest threat to Henry's 00:25:23.690 --> 00:25:25.930 entire reign. And how did he handle it? With 00:25:25.930 --> 00:25:28.630 characteristic duplicity. He couldn't defeat 00:25:28.630 --> 00:25:31.210 them militarily. They were too strong. So he 00:25:31.210 --> 00:25:33.769 promised them pardons. He promised to hold a 00:25:33.769 --> 00:25:35.990 parliament in York to hear their grievances. 00:25:36.210 --> 00:25:39.009 And they believed him. They did. The rebels dispersed, 00:25:39.250 --> 00:25:41.630 thinking they had won. And once they were gone, 00:25:41.750 --> 00:25:43.869 Henry rounded up the leaders and executed every 00:25:43.869 --> 00:25:46.890 last one of them. It was brutal betrayal. But 00:25:46.890 --> 00:25:48.809 we should give credit where it's due. There is 00:25:48.809 --> 00:25:51.269 one area where his spending actually paid off 00:25:51.269 --> 00:25:55.049 for the future. The Navy. Yes. Henry VIII is 00:25:55.049 --> 00:25:57.789 often called the father of the Royal Navy. When 00:25:57.789 --> 00:26:00.049 he came to the throne, England had about seven 00:26:00.049 --> 00:26:02.750 significant warships. He built it up to over 00:26:02.750 --> 00:26:05.230 50. And he changed the technology, didn't he? 00:26:05.309 --> 00:26:08.369 He shifted the paradigm. Before Henry, sea battles 00:26:08.369 --> 00:26:10.569 were just land battles on floating platforms. 00:26:10.930 --> 00:26:13.730 You rammed the other ship. boarded it, and fought 00:26:13.730 --> 00:26:16.809 hand -to -hand. Henry put heavy guns on the ships. 00:26:16.970 --> 00:26:18.930 He wanted to sink the enemy from a distance. 00:26:19.269 --> 00:26:22.009 The birth of modern naval warfare. In many ways, 00:26:22.049 --> 00:26:24.750 yes. The Mary Rose is the famous example, though 00:26:24.750 --> 00:26:27.250 sadly she sank because she was top -heavy with 00:26:27.250 --> 00:26:29.190 all those new guns. He also built those forts 00:26:29.190 --> 00:26:31.589 along the coast. The device forts. If you go 00:26:31.589 --> 00:26:33.990 to the south coast of England today, Deal, Walmer, 00:26:34.089 --> 00:26:36.710 you can still see them. They are squat, rounded 00:26:36.710 --> 00:26:39.589 forts designed to deflect cannon fire. And the 00:26:39.589 --> 00:26:42.500 irony, they were built with stones. scavenged 00:26:42.500 --> 00:26:45.099 from the destroyed monasteries. A literal recycling 00:26:45.099 --> 00:26:47.559 of the old religion to defend the new kingdom. 00:26:47.700 --> 00:26:50.140 Exactly. So we have the navy, which is a win, 00:26:50.339 --> 00:26:53.019 but his foreign policy in his later years seems 00:26:53.019 --> 00:26:55.660 to be a series of expensive flops. Flop is a 00:26:55.660 --> 00:26:58.680 kind word for it. Look at Scotland in the 1540s. 00:26:58.700 --> 00:27:00.880 He tried to force a marriage between his son 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:03.859 Edward and the infant Mary, Queen of Scots. They're 00:27:03.859 --> 00:27:06.200 rough wooing. A terrible name for a terrible 00:27:06.200 --> 00:27:09.670 policy. He sent armies to burn Edinburgh and 00:27:09.670 --> 00:27:12.289 the borders. The idea was to bully the Scots 00:27:12.289 --> 00:27:14.769 into the Union. Instead, it just made them hate 00:27:14.769 --> 00:27:17.009 the English and drove them closer to their allies 00:27:17.009 --> 00:27:19.470 in France. It achieved nothing but death and 00:27:19.470 --> 00:27:22.430 cost. And then there's Boulogne, his last hurrah. 00:27:22.650 --> 00:27:26.450 His final pointless invasion of France. In 1544, 00:27:26.690 --> 00:27:30.009 he's sick, he's obese, but he leads an army personally 00:27:30.009 --> 00:27:33.150 to capture the city of Boulogne. It costs 650 00:27:33.150 --> 00:27:36.299 ,000 pounds in astronomical sum. And what did 00:27:36.299 --> 00:27:38.859 England get for it? They held it for a few years 00:27:38.859 --> 00:27:40.740 and eventually it was sold back to France for 00:27:40.740 --> 00:27:43.059 a fraction of the cost. It was a vanity project 00:27:43.059 --> 00:27:45.420 that almost bankrupted the nation. And to pay 00:27:45.420 --> 00:27:47.039 for all this, he did something called the Great 00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:50.119 Debasement. This was economic vandalism. He literally 00:27:50.119 --> 00:27:52.240 lowered the amount of silver in the coins. He 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:54.259 mixed in cheaper copper. The coins would wear 00:27:54.259 --> 00:27:55.960 down and the copper would show through on the 00:27:55.960 --> 00:27:58.460 king's nose on the portrait. People started calling 00:27:58.460 --> 00:28:00.779 him Old Copper Nose. That's quite an insult. 00:28:01.019 --> 00:28:03.319 It caused massive inflation and economic instability 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:06.039 that took decades to fix. So we're at the end, 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:10.680 January 1547. The tyrant is dying. He dies at 00:28:10.680 --> 00:28:13.720 the Palace of Whitehall. And his will is this 00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:15.799 desperate attempt to control the future from 00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:18.319 beyond the grave. He sets up a regency council 00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:21.660 because his heir is just a child. Edward VI takes 00:28:21.660 --> 00:28:24.500 the throne. Edward is only nine years old. And 00:28:24.500 --> 00:28:27.240 the irony of Henry's life, the ultimate punchline 00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:30.500 is in the succession. How so? He spent his entire 00:28:30.500 --> 00:28:32.720 life, broke the church, killed wives, executed 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:35.420 friends, and ruined the economy, all to get a 00:28:35.420 --> 00:28:38.799 male heir. Edward rules for only six years and 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:41.799 dies young. And who takes over? The daughters? 00:28:41.980 --> 00:28:44.900 Mary Morris and Elizabeth I. The two daughters 00:28:44.900 --> 00:28:47.579 he neglected, delegitimized, and cast aside. 00:28:47.799 --> 00:28:50.099 They become two of the most famous queens in 00:28:50.099 --> 00:28:53.160 history. Mary briefly returns England to Catholicism. 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:55.240 And then Elizabeth, the daughter of the great 00:28:55.240 --> 00:28:57.680 whore Anne Boleyn, presides over the golden age 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:00.200 of England. It's the ultimate cosmic joke on 00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:02.700 Henry. He destroyed everything for a son who 00:29:02.700 --> 00:29:04.660 was a historical footnote, while the daughter 00:29:04.660 --> 00:29:07.019 he rejected became the legend. It really is the 00:29:07.019 --> 00:29:09.599 ultimate failure of his grand plan. So what does 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:11.859 this all mean? When we look back at Henry VIII, 00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:14.019 beyond the rhyme, beyond the turkey light we 00:29:14.019 --> 00:29:16.440 now know isn't there, what does it take away? 00:29:16.759 --> 00:29:19.599 I think he was a man of deep, deep contradictions. 00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:22.440 He was a man of high culture and low brutality. 00:29:22.740 --> 00:29:25.079 He broke the mold of Europe to get what he wanted. 00:29:25.259 --> 00:29:27.980 He changed England's religion, its government, 00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:30.599 and its position in the world forever. But he 00:29:30.599 --> 00:29:33.200 was driven by fear. Fear of a disputed succession. 00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:36.519 And that fear, combined with absolute power and 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:39.779 perhaps biological decline, turned the golden 00:29:39.779 --> 00:29:42.720 prince into the tyrant. It makes you wonder. 00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:45.279 And this is my provocative thought to end on. 00:29:46.539 --> 00:29:50.900 If that horse hadn't fallen on him in 1536, if 00:29:50.900 --> 00:29:52.799 he hadn't suffered that brain injury and that 00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:56.079 chronic pain, would we be telling a different 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:58.019 story? Would he have remained the golden prince? 00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:00.420 Or was the tyranny always lurking beneath the 00:30:00.420 --> 00:30:02.059 surface, just waiting for the right trigger? 00:30:02.299 --> 00:30:04.839 That is the great what -if of Tudor history. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:07.880 One misstep by a horse and the course of a nation 00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:10.079 changed forever. Thanks for listening to this 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:11.720 deep dive. We'll catch you on the next one.