Henry Viii Religion

"A blot of blood and grease on the history of England." Discuss this view of Henry VIII from Charles Dickens.

Noelia Miceli – Night Shift

As well as many other authors, Charles Dickens’ opinion about the reign of Henry VIII was negative. Even though some of them remarked the accomplishments of Henry in matters of religion, enforcement of the law, and the management of the Parliament, for Dickens, Henry “was a most intolerable ruffian, a disgrace to human nature”. He thoroughly supported his view, giving special attention to the topic of religion, the treatment that his people received from him, his wives, and, in lesser degree, his foreign policy.

For Charles Dickens, one of the worst characteristics of Henry’s reign was his posture on religion.

Thomas Wolsey sought to centralize the power of the King and make the crown stronger. His most remarkable achievement was in Courts. Wolsey believed that rich and poor should be judge in the same way, and that the royal courts respected. He “enforced the law and made it effective” . As regards of Parliament, Dickens considers it as bad as Henry VIII, because they allowed the King to do what he wished. A series of important acts were passed between 1529 and 1536 that would define the future of England. They covered a broad range of subjects related to Church, for example: the regulation of the fees charges by the church, the subordination of the clergy to the King, regulations against the powers of the Pope in England, and the construction of a new framework for the new Church of England. In consequence, it is not wrong to affirm that the only achievement of Henry VIII was his ability to control the

For him, Queen Catherine (1509-1533) was unfortunate. The Spanish Queen was discarded without a second thought when Henry fell in love with a younger lady. Anne Boleyn (1533-1536) was accused of crimes that she did not commit and beheaded. He expresses the fact that Henry fall in love with Anne when she was a lady in service of Catherine, and she was discarded for a lady in her service. The next wife was Jane Seymour (1536-1537), who Henry married the following day of Anne execution. She gave him a male heir he wished and died shortly after. Dickens was sure that Jane would have been executed if she had not died of fever after giving birth. Then he married Anne of Cleves (1540), who was a protestant German princess. Thomas Cromwell arranged the marriage, and that was his downfall. Henry did not like her, and said that she was “a Flanders mare”. Henry executed Cromwell and divorced Anne. In Dickens words, Henry “soon divorced Anne of Cleves after making her the subject of much brutal talk, on pretence that she had been previously betrothed to someone else — which would never do for one of his dignity — and married Catherine.” Catherine Howard (1540-1541) was the next wife. After a year of marriage, she was charged with adultery and beheaded. His last wife, Catherine Parr (1543-1547) outlived him, even though, for Charles Dickens, she nearly was executed because she was