How Did Henry Viii Influence Rome

From the commencement of Henry VII’s reign, it was vital that Henry established his dynasty, by securing his position on the throne, and one interpretation shown in Source 2 is that Henry’s control over finance proved a great aid in not only gaining financial power, but in gaining political power. However some historians have come to refer to Henry as the ‘miserly’ king due to his expenditure, as shown in Source 1, which, when analysing this source can be viewed as an unrepresentative and unconvincing interpretation.
Firstly, Source 1 creates the image of Henry’s attitude towards finance being miserly, through both the picture and the provenance, with the idea of Henry VII building a lavish chapel. This is shown through the visual representation

Westminster Abbey symbolised permanence, having been in England even before William the Conqueror, therefore by making sure Henry VII was buried alongside Elizabeth of York here, he secured the Tudor dynasty, the status of Henry’s family, and, more importantly, the power of his heir, following his death. The Lady Chapel also contained symbolism in that despite Henry reigning in the Renaissance period, the architecture was that of a Gothic style therefore emulating a traditional style. This paired with the repeated emblematic stamp of the Tudor rose throughout the chapel, enabled Henry to continue the theme of permanence, whilst simultaneously emphasising the gap between the nobles and the King through the grandeur of the construction, shows that Henry’s attitude towards finance was with great care, only spending large sums of money in terms of priority, depending on the political power and security to his dynasty that he would gain, hence demonstrating how this source is

This is shown through Henry recognising the importance of finance in methods of gaining power through loyalty and outside the country, as stated above and in the use of bonds and recognisances to consolidate his dynasty. This is demonstrated additionally in Henry’s use of the Chamber System where Henry would personally check all the items of income received in the chamber and sign each one, and the position of Treasurer of the Chamber was held by two of the king’s most beloved servants; Sir Thomas Lovell and Sir John Heron. However there is one unconvincing phrase in the interpretation of Henry’s attitude towards money, that his reputation as a miser was a result of a ‘misunderstanding of his policies’ which doesn’t take into account the extortionate reputation of Empsen and Dudley through their exploitation, therefore not showing the full extent of Henry’s dedication to