King Henry VIII - despot or cultural icon? - April 22 09

he was only fat at the end of his life kinda like elvis

King Henry VIII is an icon, but for various reasons. One, because he reformed the church of England in 1534 and destroyed all traces of Roman Catholic power in England, which was good because back then, the Catholic Church of Rome was more like an Empire than a religious community. On the other hand, he is an icon of evil for his execution of many hundreds of people for no reason, such as Anne Boleyn and St. Thomas More.

Henry would disagree with you; he had very definite reasons for executing More and Anne Boleyn...but consider this: he executed Thomas More for opposing his wanting to marry Anne, whom he then had executed on trumped-up charges of adultery because she failed to give him a male heir! Funny how his reasoning could do a complete 360 degree turn!

I probably should have phrased that differently. I know Henry's reasons for executing More and Boleyn, but I should have referred to the hundreds ofpeople he killed after putting down the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1538. After he killed all of the rebels, he decided to "cause dreadful execution upon a good number of citizens ... so that they may be a fearful spectacle for others hereafter." I guess you could argue there's a method there, but it doesn't justify it.

No, you're right there; it was after those outrages that some of his subjects started comparing him to "The Mouldwarp" of Merlin's prophecy, a tyrant who would bring ruin to the land.

the reason His Majesty had Sir Thomas More executed was because he was going behind the King's back and telling the common folk to keep supporting the disolved marriage to Catherine..and the reason Anne Boleyn was executed she committed adultery with over a 100 men..and it was believed that Elizabeth wasn't the King's natural daughter.

You're right about More, but More was doing a far more noble thing than your words suggest. As for Anne Boleyn, the charges against her are largely suspected to be bogus. Most of them certainly were. Both Mary and Elizabeth were in fact Henry's natural children, yet both were tossed aside and labelled as illegitimate when Henry was finished with their respective mothers.

zzzzz

Where can I write to contac Mr Starkey?

most ppl are at that age