Question

After reading the textbook account of the life and career of the Tudor King Henry VIII of England, explain why his subjects did not rise up in revolt against him.

Answer 1

King Henry VIII of England(b.1491-d.1547) was an English king and a Tudor Monarch who reigned from 1509 to 1547 until his death while in throne.Henry has been infamoulsy known for his six marriages, countless executions and most notably his frantic attempt to annull the marriage with Catherine of Aragon which subsequently impelled the Great "English Reformation" marked by a blatant separation between the church/any spiritual matter and the papal authority. Under reformation,the monarchical perception was centred on the absolute consolidation of religious authority to the king and minimal interference from the papal ministry which controlled most of the religious and socio-economic regime thus far.This notion of absolute monarchical authority became popular during Henry's reign as the "Divine Right of Kings".

Henry's rule was explicitly characterized by absolute concentration of monarchical power where almost all possible aspects of governnance had been regulated under the royal authority.These commonly encompassed diplomatic affairs and disputes, economic issues,issuance and management of coinage,issuance of royal pardons and dissolution of parliament ay time according to the free will of the king.Papal interventions or any democratic procedures in governance were strictly condemned and suppressed consequently.Any concievable attempt/s of dissent were brutally curshed by immediate executions which included the beheading of two of Henry's wives and several of his ministers in Parliament.

The forcible separation between the monarch and papacy further entrenched when henery formally proclaimed himself as the chief head of the Church of England approved by a parliamentary law drafted under Henry's compulsion.It completely snatched away all religious and political authority from the hands of the pope leading towards a new rule of order under Henry's jurisdiction.The monarchical power expanded untramelled along with Henry's wealth and control over the administration.With an aim to eradicate all concievable forms of revolt or dissent from all parts of the country he closed all the english monastries(confiscated their assets and transferred to his coffers) and churches that were traditionally loyal to the papacy and relentless persecution of the opposers persisted until the movement completely enfeebled and died down". The opposition to Henry's unjustified reforms and policies also came from some his close associates such as his close friends and ministers who were eventually executed under harsh treason laws.It included one of his closest friend and advisor, Thomas More.During late 1530s and early 40s, Henry executed the Pole and Courtenay familes for conspiring against and under the apprehension of potentially loosing the royal throne.

Towards the end of 1530s, Thomas Cromwell, prominent lawyer,statesman and chief minister to Henry played a defining role in the English Reformation. He was one of the strongest and vehement advocate of the reformation process and contributed immensely to the monarchical efforts to completely dismantle papal intervention into any religious or political affairs.He instrumented king Henry's annulment with Queen Catherine with the hope of arranging king's failed marriage with Anne of Cleves.However, he failed to obtain the approval of the pope. The parliament later granted this right to the king himself as he was already self-proclaimed as the supereme authority of the Church of England replacing the former pope.This was a major move towards a comprehensive consolidation of the reformation all across the country and the fear of indiscriminate execution and harsh treason laws restricted further oppositions.However, Thomas Cromwell was subsequently executed by Henry in 1540 which was attributed to king's failed marriage issue.This was marked as the most criticized time under Henry's reign characterized by countless executions either due to opposition to reformation process, fear of dethronement or simply personal insanity.According to 16th century historian John Stowe, approximately 70,000 people had been exuecuted during his reign which is subject to some contention.

King Henry's reign has been arguably identified as one of the worst, notorious,self-obsessive and controvertial era in the history of English Monarchy. It is undoubtedly characterized by absolute self-governance, autocratic policies, absolute intolerance towards any kind of royal or public dissent and the most controvertial English Reformation. The royal treatments towards churches, religious people and general civilians engendered extreme terror which eventually prevented a large scale organized revolt which initiated sporadically against some his self-adjudged religious and political mandates.Unlike most of the successful organized movements in history, the dissent against King Henry VIII never consolidated at a comprehensive scale due to relentless royal persecution and executions, lack of any organizing and leadership force and as claimed by few, lack of any strong ideological motivation that would unite the dissenters towards a common purpose.