How Far Did Henry VIII’s Reign Go in Beginning a New Era in Tudor Kingship

How far did Henry VIII’s reign begin a new era in Tudor kingship? Henry the eighth and Henry the seventh were very different in many ways, their style of ruling and aims clearly had different intentions. Henry the seventh ruled quite safely and avoided war as much as possible whilst being extremely greedy and obsessive with money. Where as Henry the eighth was young and wanted to bring back the glory days and gain a strong reputation, willing to fight and go to war at all costs, whilst being ruthless in punishments. From the beginning of Henry the eighths reign changes began to take place and perhaps a whole new era.Some aspects did stay the same from Henry the sevenths rule though. One obvious continuity was that the Tudor bloodline had been passed along, keeping the same family ruling England. Which eliminated quite a lot of threat from keen opposition. Henry the eighth was young and healthy which was a promising thought at the time for the public. The position of men and wo men didn’t change either, women still had barely any rights and could night speak their thoughts or argue with men’s views. They were expected to do feminine activities and produce children who were possible heirs to the throne.As Henry the eighth needed to produce at least one heir, he decided to marry Catherine of Aragon, (a Spanish princess) after many years of weighing out other options. He used Catherine just like his father did to stabilise and secure a sturdy relationship with Spain and improving foreign relations. Another factor that was kept the same were the bonds and recognisances between the crown and the nobility, which threatened a fine to the aristocracy if they weren’t to remain loyal to the king and break his trust. These were very unpopular with the nobility, but controlled factions being formed, eliminating threat yet again.A common characteristic with both Henry the eighth and seventh was their irrational behaviour with money as they didnâ₠¬â„¢t control or use it very wisely. Henry the seventh splashed out on parties and extravagant entertainment, to uphold a wealthy reputation. When his son wanted to spend it on war and battles to gain back a strong and glorious reputation, when it wasn’t affordable. Although some aspects stayed similar or the same, the majority of the transition was consistent of change. Henry the eighth was young and feisty, seen as a fresh and slightly ulnerable new face to the thrown bringing out excitement from the public. His attitude was the opposite of Henry the sevenths, he wanted to bring back the glory days and looked up to role models such as, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, to gain back a strong reputation. Unlike his father, Henry became very ruthless and wasn’t afraid to sentence punishments and showed little mercy to those who betrayed his trust. One example of this was the execution of two of his father’s closest advisers, Richard Empson and Edmun d Dudley.They were arrested on fictitious charges of treason, even though little evidence existed. Henry wanted to show he wasn’t taking any prisoners and so he executed them a year later. They were involved in enforcing the bonds and recognisances so Henry soon became very popular with the nobility, as he’d killed two of the people they hated the most. Whilst also maybe giving them the impression that he is more persuadable and naive as he is so young. Henry began changing his advises and councillors to men he could relate to better, like Thomas Wolsey, a very colourful character of the Tudor court and a trusting adviser to Henry.Henry began to rely on his advisers more to do the paperwork side of things and allowed them more independence. Whilst he was extremely active, unlike his father, and participated in sports of all kinds. Some say he was slightly more manipulated and persuaded in his younger years by his advisers compared to his father. One example may be when he was convinced to sign a peace treaty in 1510 with Louis XIII (king of France), by William Warham and Richard Fox. Their reasons were that war or an invasion on France would be too expensive and fruitless, despite Henrys wishes he signed the treaty anyway.Despite this it wasn’t long before plans were made for an invasion; Henry was actively seeking war and action so he was to be viewed as a strong king and willing to fight for his country. Very much unlike his Father who was cautious and avoided war as much as possible. Henry also broke from the church in Rome, against his father’s views and beliefs. Over all I think the transition from Henry the seventh to Henry the eighth was mostly a new era. Although there were elements of persistence and continuity, the majority of Henry the eighths reign was consistence of change and he carried out a completely different attitude to what his father did.Henry the Seventh was greedy with his money, he wanted to be safe and cauti ous, avoiding war and confrontation as much as he could, whilst dealing mostly with paperwork. He was ruthless when absolutely necessary but never exceeded in gaining a strict reputation. He was very unpopular with the public and I believe they were ready for someone feisty and fresh to take over the thrown like Henry the eighth. Who was not at all wanting to hold back from war or confrontation, he constantly looked for opportunities to fight and to bring back ‘the glory days’.Not particularly interesting in doing any paperwork until his later years as he actively participated in sports in his youth. He was ruthless and showed no mercy when coming to deciding people’s fait and punishment. He was also much more popular than his father at the beginning oh his years and his reputation was of a handsome young man, who was quite impressionable. This clearly shows the extent as to how different both Father and son’s attitudes and style to kingship were and how t he new era began to evolve. Aimee Fenton-Fearn