The Last Days Of Henry VIII: Conspiracies, Treason And Heresy At The Court Of The Dying Tyrant (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
Right from the start I will say this is one of the best books about Henry VIII that I have ever read. I have always been interested in learning more about the famous King of England who had six wives and this book provided me with a wealth of information that I never knew before. This book focuses on the last few years of Henry VIII’s life, specifically from 1543 until Henry’s death. What I loved about this book is the detail that Hutchinson went into as he looked at all the different events that happened to Henry over the last four years of his life.I have always thought of Henry as quite a tyrant in his final years, an aging man who was grossly overweight, unable to participate in the lively sports of his younger years, losing his youth, his moods swinging back and forth wildly. Hutchinson also puts forward this image of Henry, but what he does is look at the different reasons why Henry turned into an overweight tyrant obsessed with his image and power.Hutchinson looks at Henry’s son, Prince Edward and how important this beloved son and future heir was to the King. Having only one son in a time where many children often did not live to adulthood must have been a very worrying thing for Henry. If anything happened to Edward, Henry would have no male heir to carry on the Tudor line. While Henry was a distant father Hutchinson showed the reader that Henry loved and treasured his son greatly.Next Hutchinson looks at Henry’s religious beliefs and although he was now the Supreme Head of the English Church he believed quite strongly in the Catholic practices and beliefs. Hutchinson talks about how those around Henry were very influential in coercing the King to different religious reforms. It seems as though those within the Privy chamber had a great influence on the aging King and whispered a great deal into his ear about their own personal beliefs and ideas for England. Hutchinson goes into some detail about all the people who were influential in Henry’s political and religious decisions. He speaks about their own personal motives and how they used their influence and friendliness with the King to try and gain many advantages for the reformist religion. Of course one cannot forget that in his final years Henry went to France looking for military glory. Hutchinson explores Henry’s passion for glory and how he nearly bankrupted England in an attempt to gain a great military reputation. All in all it really did not seem worth the expenses. Henry gained a town and claimed it as a great victory but the people of England were the ones that paid the price having to pay extra taxes and expenditures to fund Henry’s campaign.There is a lovely section where Hutchinson talks about Henry’s marriage to Katherine Parr and their relationship. It really does seem as though Katherine became something of a friend and nurse to Henry in his final years. She was a very intelligent woman and unfortunately some people at court thought she had overstepped her status as a woman and there was at one stage an investigation to see if she was a heretic. Henry in his ever changing mood swings authorised the arrest of Katherine, but went back on his decision once she came to him and humbly submitted herself to his will. From what Hutchinson wrote it does seem as though Henry did care about his last wife and saw her as a very good and loving friend. I thoroughly enjoyed the chapter that Hutchinson wrote about Henry’s decline in physical health. He talked a great deal about how Henry was very much invested in medicines and remedies to heal the body. The King made many medicines and concoctions which he believed would heal various illnesses and diseases. What alarmed me greatly was when Hutchinson talked about the regular enemas that Henry needed in his later life due to being extremely constipated! This of course was probably caused by his excessive over eating, and eating of foods such as meats which were not very good for the digestive system. This was another interesting (if perhaps a little gross) fact that I never knew before. Hutchinson also talked about the ulcer on Henry’s leg and how over time it grew worse and the pain increased in both legs making it very difficult for Henry to walk. By the end of his life Henry was grossly overweight, having difficulties walking, standing on his own and even at times breathing. Apparently his doctors tried to get him to eat healthier but clearly Henry did not heed this advice.Hutchinson’s proposes the idea that Henry suffered from Cushings Syndrome, which symptoms include gross obesity around the trunk and neck of the body. People with this syndrome also have rather fat faces, with fat deposits under their eyes; their skin can be fragile and thin and take some time for wounds to heal. Bones become weaker, blood pressure rises and they also may suffer from depression, anxiety, insomnia and mood swings. Certainly reading through these symptoms they do sound quite a lot like Henry VIII! Henry was well known for his massive bulk, his bouts of depression, his anxiety and mood swings – he was known to lash out at his courtiers and strike them in anger! Hutchinson does add that there cannot be any affirmative diagnoses because we have no way of testing for this disease five hundred years after Henry’s death. I am not completely sure I agree with Hutchinson’s theory – much of what he says does sound like Henry and his behaviour and physical appearance. But on the other hand, he could have simply been a man who had a great deal of pressure and responsibility upon his shoulders, a man who suffered many significant blows not only to his person but to his status, his manhood and his mental state. (Please read Suzannah Lipscombs book “1536 The Year that Changed Henry VIII” for more detail about the events that greatly impacted Henry’s personality). Henry VIII could simply have turned into a tyrant and with absolute, unquestioning power he had the ability to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted and no one dare question him for fear of their lives. I do not know if we can always lay the blame for his behaviour and actions on a medical illness. Nonetheless Hutchinson does put forward a very valuable and quite possible theory for Henry’s physical, mental and emotional state towards the end of his life.Hutchinson looks at Henry’s final days and hours, his death and the controversy surrounding his will. Apparently there may have been some additions to the King’s will after Henry was dead. The use of a dry stamp was issued during Henry’s final few years so that the King would not have to read and sign every single document. Members of his Privy chamber were authorized to use the stamp in his name and then record the usage and show this to the King which he would sign at the end of each month. It is proposed that perhaps the dry stamp was used to alter the will somewhat to give a little extra benefits and power to those members of the reformist faction at court. Henry’s funeral is also written about in great deal and as a reader I was able to create a detailed, and at times a rather chilling image of Henry’s great coffin and effigy moving through the streets to its final resting place at St George’s chapel where it was placed in a great vault next to Jane Seymour’s coffin. I also found it very interesting and informative that Hutchinson went into a some detail about what happened to all the major people who played a role in Henry VIII’s life during his final years. Giving a little information about what happened to Henry’s children, Katherine Parr and the members of his council gave the reader a nice conclusion to the life of Henry and what happened to everyone after the King had died and his son declared the next King of England. In the end I felt quite sad for dear Henry. Perhaps he was a tyrant; or maybe he was just a pawn in all the political and personal battling at court. Perhaps he was a victim of the many tragedies and personal blows he suffered throughout the years. Or maybe he was just a mean, overweight, power hungry man facing his death. Whatever the case, I felt as though Hutchinson provided such a wealth of detail and information that the reader was able to make up their own mind about Henry VIII and the type of man he was in his final years. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and believe it is one of the best I have ever read about Henry VIII. Hutchinson has an easy and personal writing style where I felt as though instead of reading an information heavy book with lots and lots of details, I was reading a novel about a powerful King and his final years of life. I was captivated from the start and would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in Henry VIII.
British scholar and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries Robert Hutchinson offers up an eminently readable look at the horrifying, grotesque atmosphere of the court of Henry VIII during the years following the execution of Thomas Cromwell (1540). The King who is probably the single most famous and often depicted monarch in English history had, by the 1540s, degenerated from an athletic, flamboyant king to a morbidly obese tyrant who struck terror into the hearts of even the most arrogant and jaded courtiers. During the final five years of his reign, the competent government that had operated effectively under such skilled managers as Wolsey and Cromwell, fell after their deaths into near bankruptcy with severe devaluation of coinage caused by rampant overspending on failed wars and internal corruption. Henry handed out rewards and murderous punishments as courtiers worked with nervous anticipation to establish their positions when the bloated, sick and increasingly unpredictable king should finally die. When he finally did die at age 55 in January 1547, Henry VIII was succeeded by his son, nine year old Edward VI and the winning factions claimed elaborate titles and rewards while others were dispatched to the Tower. During this time, the English Reformation hovered between extreme visions of reform and reaction with some of the most horrific tortures and burnings designed to "save the souls" of the people and their dying monarch. Many of the winners of this deadly sweepstakes of greed and religious fanaticism ended up beheaded or burned as the wheel of fortune continued to turn murderously through the reigns of Edward VI (1547-53) and Mary Tudor ("Bloody Mary" 1553-1558) to the accession of Elizabeth I in November 1558.This history book is anything but dry and uninteresting. Readers of Hillary Mantel's trilogy will certainly want to check this out. It casts clear and precise light on the fear and mismanagement that prevailed during the final years of Henry VIII. One doesn't generally think of Henry VIII as incompetent, but this book brings into clear focus how the physical and mental deterioration of an absolute monarch can create a massive governmental "train wreck" as underlings motivated by greed and fear scramble to rescue themselves.
What do You think about The Last Days Of Henry VIII: Conspiracies, Treason And Heresy At The Court Of The Dying Tyrant (2005)?
A fascinating book looking at the end of Henry VIII's reign, a period often overlooked in favour of the Anne Boleyn years and the issues of religion and divorce. Hutchinson explores the role of Katherine Parr which was not as straightforward as her merely caring for him in his last years. There were plots to get rid of her and she worked hard to bring his children together with him as a family. Henry remained in control almost to the very end of his illness, playing factions against each other as he had done throughout his reign. The details and questions aroused by his will are fascinating and Hutchinson explores the politics of the time without making it a dry and heavy-going book. A good edition to the literature of Tudor England and a very interesting read.
—Kari
This is a very well written and engrossing book about Henry VIII and his decline. It's strange though, while Hutchison keeps telling and to a degree showing the reader the trynnay and cruelty of Henry VIII, he also seems to be very much a fan. It is almost as if he is seperating Herny VIII from his actions.The attempt to get rid of Katherine Parr by the conseratives at court is an example of this, where it Hutchsinon argues that Henry VIII seemed to set up a test of his queen, or perhaps to teach her a lesson. At some point, Hutchison implies that it was to teach his minsters a lesson as well. He could have gone into slightly more depth here.Speaking of Katherine Parr, Hutchinson seems to be an admirer of her as well. In many ways, this excellent, short book, helps the reader prepare for the mercurical changes that occur under Edward and Mary, before the calm of Elizabeth.In particular, Hutchison examines the question of the will as well as the cause of death of Great Harry. He doesn't seem to take a stand, which is understandable, and really does examine the various arguements, even in some cases dismissing some.An engaging book.
—Chris
I have read a lot about Tudor England and the only thing I learned in this book was that Henry was much more of a tyrant that I had previously imagined. Centered in the years after the birth of his only son, Edward, the book looks at the cruelty of the monarch in a way that most books gloss over. The number of executions is really astonishing. How much of his cruelty was innate and how much was due to his failing health is explored but overall, this book doesn't add much to the current popular histories about the Tudor family. Many original sources are quoted and if you want to know how much money was spent and exactly who attended what event, this is the book for you. But it never fully engaged me and it seemed to be trudge than something truly interesting.
—Dana
