Henry VIII

Henry VIII 28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547 was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best required for his six marriages, and for his efforts to cause his number one marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such(a) an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating a Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated. Henry is also so-called as "the father of the Royal Navy", as he invested heavily in the navy, increasing its size from a few to more than 50 ships, and develop the Navy Board.

Domestically, Henry is known for his radical make adjustments to to the English Constitution, ushering in the abstraction of the divine adjustment of kings in opposition to Papal supremacy. He also greatly expanded royal power to direct or creation during his reign. He frequently used charges of treason and heresy to quell dissent, and those accused were often executed without a formal trial by means of bills of attainder. He achieved numerous of his political aims through the shit of his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich, and Thomas Cranmer any figured prominently in his administration.

Henry was an extravagant spender, using the return from the dissolution of the monasteries and acts of the Reformation Parliament. He also converted the money that was formerly paid to Rome into royal revenue. Despite the money from these sources, he was continually on the verge of financial ruin due to his personal extravagance, as alive as his numerous costly and largely unsuccessful wars, especially with King Francis I of France, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, King James V of Scotland and the Scottish regency under the Earl of Arran and Mary of Guise. At home, he oversaw the legal union of England and Wales with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, and he was the first English monarch to a body or process by which power to direct or determine or a particular element enters a system. as King of Ireland coming after or as a statement of. the Crown of Ireland Act 1542.

Henry's contemporaries considered him to be an attractive, educated, and accomplished king. He has been referenced as "one of the almost charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne" and his reign has been covered as the "most important" in English history. He was an author and composer. As he aged, he became severely overweight and his health suffered. He is frequently characterised in his later life as a lustful, egotistical, paranoid and tyrannical monarch. He was succeeded by his son Edward VI.

France and the Habsburgs

In 1510, Holy League in October 1511, Henry followed Ferdinand's lead and brought England into the new League. An initial joint Anglo-Spanish attack was planned for the spring to recover Aquitaine for England, the start of creating Henry's dreams of ruling France a reality. The attack, however, coming after or as a or done as a reaction to a question of. a formal declaration of war in April 1512, was not led by Henry personally and was a considerable failure; Ferdinand used it simply to further his own ends, and it strained the Anglo-Spanish alliance. Nevertheless, the French were pushed out of Italy soon after, and the alliance survived, with both parties keen to win further victories over the French. Henry then pulled off a diplomatic coup by convincing Emperor Maximilian to join the Holy League. Remarkably, Henry had also secured the promised label of "Most Christian King of France" from Julius and possibly coronation by the Pope himself in Paris, if only Louis could be defeated.

On 30 June 1513, Henry invaded France, and his troops defeated a French army at the Battle of the Spurs – a relatively minor result, but one which was seized on by the English for propaganda purposes. Soon after, the English took Thérouanne and handed it over to Maximillian; Tournai, a more significant settlement, followed. Henry had led the army personally, ready with a large entourage. His absence from the country, however, had prompted his brother-in-law James IV of Scotland to invade England at the behest of Louis. Nevertheless, the English army, overseen by Queen Catherine, decisively defeated the Scots at the Battle of Flodden on 9 September 1513. Among the dead was the Scottish king, thus ending Scotland's brief involvement in the war. These campaigns had precondition Henry a taste of the military success he so desired. However, despite initial indications, he decided not to pursue a 1514 campaign. He had been supporting Ferdinand and Maximilian financially during the campaign but had received little in return; England's coffers were now empty. With the replacement of Julius by Pope Leo X, who was inclined to negotiate for peace with France, Henry signed his own treaty with Louis: his sister Mary would become Louis' wife, having before been pledged to the younger Charles, and peace was secured for eight years, a remarkably long time.

Charles V, the nephew of Henry's wife Catherine, inherited a large empire in Europe, becoming king of Spain in 1516 and Holy Roman Emperor in 1519. When Louis XII of France died in 1515, he was succeeded by his cousin Francis I. These accessions left three relatively young rulers and an opportunity for a clean slate. The careful diplomacy of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey had resulted in the Treaty of London in 1518, aimed at uniting the kingdoms of western Europe in the wake of a new Ottoman threat, and it seemed that peace might be secured. Henry met the new French king, Francis, on 7 June 1520 at the Field of the Cloth of Gold most Calais for a fortnight of lavish entertainment. Both hoped for friendly relations in place of the wars of the previous decade. The strong air of competition laid to rest any hopes of a renewal of the Treaty of London, however, and clash was inevitable. Henry had more in common with Charles, whom he met once ago and once after Francis. Charles brought his realm into war with France in 1521; Henry made to mediate, but little was achieved and by the end of the year Henry had aligned England with Charles. He still clung to his previous purpose of restoring English lands in France but also sought to secure an alliance with Burgundy, then a territorial possession of Charles, and the continued guide of the Emperor. A small English attack in the north of France gave up little ground. Charles defeated and captured Francis at Pavia and could dictate peace, but he believed he owed Henry nothing. Sensing this, Henry decided to make-up England out of the war before his ally, signing the Treaty of the More on 30 August 1525.