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Henry VIII

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  1. Introduction
  2.  
  3. Henry VIII bestrode his era with the kind of imposing confidence that he projected in his famous wide-legged posture immortalized in the portrait by Hans Holbein, and he has never left center stage since. Yet, as G. R. Elton once wrote, “because [Henry] so much succeeded in identifying his personality with his age, the problems of that age leave the king himself still the subject of debate” (Elton 1974, cited under Politics and Government, p. 100). Elton himself denuded Henry of any particular originality of vision, leaving all agency, at least in governmental matters, to his secretary, Thomas Cromwell. More-recent historians have brought Henry back to significance as a political operator—especially of Parliament—in his own right, while others have variously designated him as a hero or villain of the Protestant cause; a frivolous, if wily, incompetent; a flawed hero; a formidable if despotic agent of state; and the founder of the English imperium. Running through these estimations are the pivotal developments that marked his reign: for one, Henry was the ruler who instigated the momentous break with Roman Catholicism by establishing the new Church of England and officially introducing Protestantism into the country, even if he himself held to many important facets of the old faith. Equally important, he oversaw the consolidation of Tudor rule by strengthening the Crown, asserting control (for the most part) over the nobility and instigating legislative and administrative changes that led to a greater bureaucratization of government. Historians have benefited from a wealth of documentation covering these developments, even if they remain divided among themselves over interpretations yielded by the sources. Primary sources are abundant, even if the printed collections are somewhat aged at this point, and the historiography continues on, abundantly, not only with regards to the man, his wives, his government, and his reformation policies, but in popular culture, on television, and in film, which continue to drive audience hunger for knowing the man. The 500th anniversary of Henry’s accession to the throne in 2009 brought about a reassessment of his legacy, but as this article demonstrates, the need to tell the story of this complex and difficult figure displays no signs of abating.
  4.  
  5. Reference Works and Bibliographies
  6.  
  7. Students and scholars have benefited from a wealth of resources that offer a guide into the substantial primary and secondary sources accruing around Henry and his reign. Brepolis (Bibliography of British and Irish History) offers a searchable and constantly updated bibliography, though it is by subscription only. Read 1959 is one of the most comprehensive bibliographies and should still be consulted, though its sources extend only through the 1950s. Elton 1970 is dated but is useful for the overview it provides on the sources and the interpretation of them through the centuries. Levine 1968 is similarly dated, though it differs from Elton 1970 in providing a listing of sources. Fritze 1991 is a usable dictionary that offers easy reference to topics and individuals in Tudor England, with Kinney and Swain 2001 doing the same, though it extends to seven hundred individual entries. Finally, Matthew and Harrison 2004 should be consulted for individuals in Henry’s England, all of whom are given biographical treatment by leading scholars.
  8.  
  9. Bibliography of British and Irish History. Brepolis.
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  11. Previously the Royal Historical Society Bibliography of British and Irish History, this is a comprehensive and searchable online database of secondary sources related to British and Irish history, with an enormous offering of entries related to Henry VIII. Available online by subscription only.
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  13. Elton, G. R. Modern Historians on British History, 1485–1945: A Critical Bibliography, 1945–1969. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1970.
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  15. A survey of nearly four hundred years of British history by a leading scholar of Henrician England, this volume is particularly strong in discussing the existing primary sources and document collections, and it devotes a chapter to the 16th century and Henry.
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  17. Fritze, Ronald H., ed. Historical Dictionary of Tudor England, 1485–1603. New York: Greenwood, 1991.
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  19. A useful reference work on Tudor England, with entries that include individuals, institutions, laws, economics, social history, military issues, popular culture, and Irish and Scottish history. Includes a useful appendix of chronology and a bibliography with each entry and at the end.
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  21. Kinney, Arthur F., and David W. Swain, eds. Tudor England: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland, 2001.
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  23. Over seven hundred entries representing all facets of the Tudor world, with strong entries on the Henrician period. A handy appendix of bibliographic essays is also included.
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  25. Levine, Mortimer. Tudor England, 1485–1603. London: Cambridge University Press, 1968.
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  27. A listing of 2,360 sources that cover scholarship on the period up to 1968, including general surveys, constitutional and political history, military and naval history, economic history, and the arts and intellectual history. Usefully categorized and indexed.
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  29. Matthew, C. G., and Brian Harrison, eds. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 60 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
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  31. The beginning point for research on individuals in Tudor England, from the prominent to the most obscure. Available online and in print, this sixty-volume, recently revised work also contains illustrations and helpful bibliographic information from each contribution.
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  33. Read, Conyers. Bibliography of British History: Tudor Period, 1485–1603. 2d ed. Oxford: Clarendon, 1959.
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  35. An exhaustive bibliography, cross-referenced, and including local histories as well as Scotland and a huge range of other subject matter. Remains the best bibliography on the Tudor age, compiled and edited by one of its leading historians, though the sources extend only to the end of 1956.
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  37. Journals
  38.  
  39. Students and scholars of Henrician England benefit from a large selection of journals that have contributed important interdisciplinary studies on the subject. Past & Present and Historical Journal are excellent not only for their articles but in covering historiographical debates; for British history more generally. The English Historical Review is also a fine publication. The Journal of British Studies is more focused in its regular coverage of the period, while the Renaissance Quarterly is distinguished by its important inclusion of art, history, and literature. Scottish history is covered by the Scottish Historical Review; Ireland, by Irish Historical Studies. Reformation history is strong in the Sixteenth Century Journal. Finally the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society offers definitive essays by leading scholars, many of whom have contributed important pieces on Henry over the years.
  40.  
  41. English Historical Review. 1886–.
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  43. British and world history, including debates on early modern themes and annual summaries of the published literature.
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  45. Historical Journal. 1958–.
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  47. A leading journal, published by Cambridge University Press, with good review essays as well as studies by leading and emerging scholars.
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  49. Irish Historical Studies. 1938–.
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  51. Founded in 1938, IHS is the leading journal of Irish history, encompassing not only the early modern but all centuries of the country’s history. Its article titles can be accessed digitally through Irish History Online.
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  53. Journal of British Studies. 1961–.
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  55. Incorporating the former Albion, this journal draws in interdisciplinary essays that cover British culture and history from the Middle Ages into the early 21st century.
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  57. Past & Present. 1952–.
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  59. Published by Oxford University Press and covering some of the most important articles (including debates) on early modern England.
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  61. Renaissance Quarterly. 1948–.
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  63. The journal of the Renaissance Society of America, this journal is particularly strong on its interdisciplinary coverage, including history, literature, and art.
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  65. Scottish Historical Review. 1903–.
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  67. Published by Edinburgh University Press, this journal is foremost in its field for covering all aspects of Scottish history, including the Early Modern period.
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  69. Sixteenth Century Journal. 1969–.
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  71. Particularly strong on Reformation history, this journal will occasionally feature very good pieces on Tudor England, particularly in its interdisciplinary aspects.
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  73. Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. 1872–.
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  75. A classic journal, with some very important articles written by such early modern scholars as G. R. Elton.
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  77. Digital Sources
  78.  
  79. The digitization of early modern texts has resulted in an ever-growing bounty for researchers once dependent on microfilm or on-site visits. The one hindrance is that a few of these sites require substantial subscription fees, which many libraries cannot afford. For access to a huge range of texts in the Early Modern period, EEBO: Early English Books Online has become the standard research tool. Manuscripts digitized from the British Library’s Henry VIII: Man and Monarch collection can also be accessed (for a subscription), though other sites on the British Library website offer some valuable material. The University of Cambridge’s Scriptorium Project is free, and the National Archives website also contains many useful links, while Tudor England Primary Sources represents a less academic though still very worthwhile offering of primary sources. Project Gutenberg, the oldest digital library, also provides primary and secondary texts. For individual authors writing at the time of Henry, the Holinshed Project is an outstanding early-21st-century contribution, covering two editions of Holinshed’s Chronicles, while the Sutton 2005, though less equipped with interactivity and scholarly apparatus, offers the historian’s view of Henry’s reign. Finally, Cambridge and Stanford University’s collaboration in digitizing the works in Matthew Parker’s library at Parker Library on the Web is also valuable, particularly with regard to the Reformation.
  80.  
  81. British Literary Manuscripts Online, Medieval and Renaissance.
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  83. Part of Gale Digital Collections’ (commercially driven) British Library Manuscripts Online, this digital archive, by subscription only, contains some valuable material (letters, poems, chronicles) related to Henry’s reign.
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  85. EEBO: Early English Books Online.
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  87. The gold standard for researchers seeking access (albeit with a paid subscription) to early modern printed texts, presented here in their original editions as well as written transcriptions. The over 125,000 titles are culled from Pollard & Redgrave’s Short-Title Catalogue (1475–1640) and Wing’s Short-Title Catalogue (1641–1700) and their revised editions, as well as the Thomason Tracts (1640–1661). Contains much pertinent material on Henry, in areas such as history, theology, and literature.
  88. Find this resource:
  89. Hanson, Marilee. Tudor England Primary Sources.
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  91. A nonacademic but still valuable site for primary-source texts relating to Henry’s reign. Includes historical and literary documents.
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  93. Henry VIII: Man and Monarch. British Library.
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  95. A general introductory website, but one that contains some valuable documents, including Henry’s Psalter, and interactive web navigation through Henry’s marginalia.
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  97. Holinshed Project.
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  99. A magnificent digital resource making accessible Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland in a complete old-spelling annotated edition. The 1577 and 1587 editions are presented in parallel texts, and the site contains much scholarly apparatus, including essays and a comprehensive bibliography.
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  101. National Archives.
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  103. A number of valuable resources and texts may be found by navigating through the National Archives’ well-designed website. Wills and probate records covering Henry’s reign have been digitized, though not many. The digitization of records continues, however.
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  105. Parker Library on the Web.
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  107. A digital collaboration between the libraries of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and Stanford University, this interactive website offers 538 manuscripts and early printed works from the Parker Library, named for Matthew Parker (b. 1504–d. 1575), chaplain to Anne Boleyn and later Archbishop of Canterbury under Elizabeth. Important for the Reformation documents it contains.
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  109. Project Gutenberg.
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  111. Founded in 1971, this volunteer-directed site constitutes the oldest digital library and is still valuable, if a bit dated, for the accessibility if offers to older secondary- and primary-source texts.
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  113. Scriptorium: Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts Online.
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  115. Sponsored by the Department of English at the University of Cambridge, this site offers unrestricted public access to a collection of manuscript miscellanies and commonplace books in the period from 1450 to 1720.
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  117. Sutton, Dana F., ed. Polydore Vergil, Anglica Historia (1555 Version). Philological Museum, University of Birmingham. 2005.
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  119. A hypertext edition of Polydore Vergil’s influential history of England, including chapters on Henry VIII.
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  121. Digital State Papers
  122.  
  123. Scholars will benefit from consulting the official governmental documents available online. The Letters and Papers are available and contain council minutes, drafts of parliamentary bills, memoranda, private and official letters, reports, and instructions. The State Papers Foreign (State Papers Online—Part II, 1509–1603: State Papers Foreign) and Domestic (State Papers Online—Part I, The Tudors, Henry VIII to Elizabeth, 1509–1603: State Papers Domestic) are also available online, albeit for a fee, with scholars able to match calendar entries to facsimile documents.
  124.  
  125. Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.
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  127. This site encompasses the calendars, or summaries, of documents issued during Henry’s reign, printed in chronological order. Letters and papers encompassing foreign and domestic matters are covered and are based on the 1864 publications of the material. See also the useful online research guide to the Letters and Papers, issued by the National Archives.
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  129. State Papers Online—Part I, The Tudors, Henry VIII to Elizabeth, 1509–1603: State Papers Domestic.
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  131. An online, user-friendly and searchable archive that allows researchers—with a paid subscription— access to official records of secretaries of state, in the form of correspondence, reports, parliamentary drafts, and memoranda. This site covers domestic matters.
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  133. State Papers Online—Part II, 1509–1603: State Papers Foreign.
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  135. The second part of a four-part online archive covering the Tudors and Stuarts, this site comprises a collection of foreign state papers accumulated during the reign of Henry VIII and beyond. Paid subscription only.
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  137. General Overviews
  138.  
  139. Very good overviews of the Tudor period, including Henry’s reign, continue to be published, incorporating new approaches and scholarship, with Guy 1988 the most accomplished political history, and Brigden 2000 redressing traditional anglocentric approaches to include extensive material on Ireland. Rex 2002 is also an excellent synthesis encompassing old and new approaches, while Bindoff 1950 represents an older approach. Finally, Tittler and Jones 2004 provides a series of essays that cover Henry’s reign very comprehensively, while Hoskins 1976 presents a comprehensive economic and social overview of Henry’s reign in the decades before 1540.
  140.  
  141. Bindoff, S. T. Tudor England. Pelican History of England 5. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1950.
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  143. The classic but dated textbook of the Tudors, providing a well-written narrative account, with the last half devoted to Elizabeth.
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  145. Brigden, Susan. New Worlds, Lost Worlds: The Rule of the Tudors, 1485–1603. Pelican History of England 5. New York: Viking, 2000.
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  147. A well-presented narrative of the Tudor century, incorporating new approaches and particularly strong in its presentation of Ireland and the Atlantic world.
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  149. Guy, John. Tudor England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
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  151. Perhaps the best analytical narrative and overview of Tudor England, incorporating original research and conclusions. Above all a political history, the work concludes that the Tudor reigns, including Elizabeth’s, were in large part a success and certainly transformative of the English polity by the end of the century.
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  153. Hoskins, W. G. The Age of Plunder: King Henry’s England, 1500–1547. Social and Economic History of England. London: Longman, 1976.
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  155. A masterful economic and social history of the decades before 1540, emphasizing records that include tax assessments from the 1520s as well as later sources reflecting Henry’s pillage of churches and monasteries. Hoskins’s focus resides on economic as well as social structures both in an agrarian and urban context, as he concludes that Henry’s policies were a treasury-draining disaster for the country.
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  157. Rex, Richard. The Tudors. Stroud, UK: Tempus, 2002.
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  159. A short and readable introductory account of the Tudors, employing more-recent scholarship. The political as opposed to salacious life of Henry is emphasized, and includes Henry’s break with Rome as well as the popular response to it.
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  161. Tittler, Robert, and Norman Jones, eds. A Companion to Tudor Britain. Blackwell Companions to British History. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004.
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  163. Twenty-eight essays by leading scholars expert in their chosen areas, and covering all of the British Isles, using the most-recent historiographical approaches.
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  165. Biographies
  166.  
  167. Modern historians have been wildly divergent in their estimations of Henry, which only fuels further interpretations and treatments. Of course, many biographies of Henry reveal more about the proclivities of the biographers and their times than they do of the king. Froude 1908 approaches its subject from a Victorian and very protestant posture, depicting a king who had saved England from Rome and forged the beginnings of an empire. Pollard 1905 acknowledges that the business of state and the Reformation extracted a moral price but was worth that price in the long run. Smith 1971 is a valuable contribution, though its psychological perspectives also make it a product of its time. Meanwhile, Scarisbrick 1997 offers a damning judgment, wholly in opposition to Pollard 1905. More recently, and perhaps reflecting in part the current interest in political image and “branding,” is Graves 2003 and its portrait of Henry’s use of patronage to advance his power; Loades 2007 follows this tendency while including Ireland and the Continent in a more comprehensive manner. Starkey 2008 also emphasizes the cultural aspects of political rule. For more-introductory overviews, Wooding 2009 is a readable and capable beginning, with Wilson 2013 providing a short survey.
  168.  
  169. Froude, James Anthony. The Reign of Henry the Eighth. 3 vols. Everyman’s Library. London: J. M. Dent, 1908.
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  171. Working from a cache of unpublished documents relating to the reign of Henry, the great Victorian presents the king as a heroic upholder of the Protestant faith in England, with political necessity becoming moral imperative against the abuses of foreign domination. Still essential for students of Henry’s biographies, even if they should beware of the considerable bias at work.
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  173. Graves, Michael A. R. Henry VIII: A Study in Kingship. Profiles in Power. London: Pearson Longman, 2003.
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  175. A readable introductory study for students, focusing on Henry’s use of power through such channels as pageants, ceremony, peerage granting, patronage, diplomatic engagements, and naval building. Other topics such as faction and Parliament are also addressed.
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  177. Loades, David M. Henry VIII: Court, Church and Conflict. Kew, UK: National Archives, 2007.
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  179. An authoritative account by one of Tudor England’s leading historians, focusing on the king’s relations with his court, his subjects, the church, and Continental powers. In addition to the well-trodden subject of the king’s fashioned image, Loades probes other topics such as Henry’s approach toward war, rebellion, Ireland, and law enforcement.
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  181. Pollard, A. F. Henry VIII. 2d ed. London: Longmans, 1905.
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  183. Originally published in 1902; available as an e-book as of 2007 on Project Gutenberg (cited under Digital Sources). Considered the definitive biographical treatment of Henry until it was superseded by Scarisbrick 1997 (first published in 1967) sixty years later, this work should nevertheless be included as a classic in the pantheon of Henry studies, because it presents the king as a man of statecraft, responsible for the policy that initiated and led to England’s break from Rome.
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  185. Scarisbrick, J. J. Henry VIII. New ed. Yale English Monarchs. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997.
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  187. Originally written in 1967—and reflecting the scholarship of the 1950s and 1960s, though with a new introduction in the 1997 edition— this still-enduring political biography of Henry is particularly good on the divorce and break from Rome, the Royal Supremacy and the Henrician Reformation years, and foreign policy. Long considered definitive in its wealth of detail and its imaginative scope, this work is required reading for any student and scholar of the subject presenting the king as a formidable man of purpose.
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  189. Smith, Lacey Baldwin. Henry VIII: The Mask of Royalty. London: Jonathan Cape, 1971.
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  191. A well-written, psychologically oriented biography that seeks “to investigate the structure of the king’s mind . . . the needs and motives which formed his character and shaped his vision of royalty” (p. 25). The last years of Henry’s life are given particular emphasis.
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  193. Starkey, David. Henry: Virtuous Prince. London: HarperPress, 2008.
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  195. Starkey presents here the two sides of Henry: the young prince and king and the more difficult older ruler; the former is given extensive treatment for revealing little-known facts about the man and his development, even if his inner life remains elusive.
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  197. Wilson, Derek. A Brief History of Henry VIII: King, Reformer and Tyrant. London: Constable & Robinson, 2013.
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  199. A succinct early-21st-century survey of Henry that focuses on the king’s changeable character, and his interaction with the larger historical developments taking place around him. With good bibliography.
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  201. Wooding, Lucy E. C. Henry VIII. Routledge Historical Biographies. London: Routledge, 2009.
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  203. A good introduction to the life and times of Henry, offering a vivid picture (with illustrations) of the king, as well as a discussion of the various interpretations and mythifications through the centuries of this complex and paradoxical man. With a good annotated bibliography.
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  205. Primary Sources
  206.  
  207. An abundance of primary material exists on Henry and his reign, which reflects the emergence under him (and his father) of a modern, bureaucratic, and legalistic state. The late 19th and 20th centuries witnessed the heroic compilation of these documents into calendars and other collections, which students and scholars should consult as an entryway into early Tudor governance. In addition, Henry personally bequeathed his body of work in the form of letters and other writings, just as his contemporaries left behind their own accounts of the king and his time.
  208.  
  209. Historical Collections, Catalogues, and Anthologies
  210.  
  211. A number of excellent collections exist that anthologize or abridge important documents related to Henry, his reign, and the Reformation in England. Surtz and Murphy 1988 is a compilation of sources relating to the divorce, many of which are also included in Strype 1822 and Burnet 1857, in Nichols 1859 more generally, and, more recently, in Bray 1994. Hughes and Larkin 1964–1969 focuses on royal proclamations, while Elton 1982 covers documents related to constitutional and administrative developments. Finally, Starkey 1998 is a comprehensive guide to Henry’s possessions, which cumulatively reveal the impact of his lavish spending program, while Hayward, et al. 2012 emphasizes dress, tapestries, and textiles.
  212.  
  213. Bray, Gerald, ed. Documents of the English Reformation. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994.
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  215. Complete and unabridged texts of over fifty documents (thirty-five before 1559), covering the English church’s doctrine, constitution, governmental legislation, prefaces to Bible editions, and more. Ideal for use in the classroom and for general reference.
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  217. Burnet, Gilbert. The History of the Reformation of the Church of England. 2 vols. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1857.
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  219. Burnet first compiled his great history in 1679, which reflected his strong Protestant and Whiggish beliefs; but this collection is still essential for the original records and documents contained within it, covering Henry’s reign.
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  221. Elton, G. R., ed. The Tudor Constitution: Documents and Commentary. 2d ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
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  223. An essential resource of documents with commentary, valuably updated in the second edition in 1982. Divided under ten topics—including the Crown, council, financial administration, Parliament, local government, and the church—the work reflects Elton’s own positions on Tudor constitutional and administrative developments, though it remains a valuable source to begin any study of the subject.
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  225. Hayward, Maria, David Starkey, and Philip Ward, eds. The Inventory of Henry VIII. Vol. 2, Textiles and Dress. London: Harvey Miller, 2012.
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  227. A continuation of the Inventory Project, established in 1991, this volume focuses on Henry’s collection of textiles and tapestries, including tents and costumes used in court revelries, and an account of the king’s Great Wardrobe. Useful essays also cover other aspects of material culture during Henry’s reign.
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  229. Hughes, Paul L., and James F. Larkin, eds. Tudor Royal Proclamations. 3 vols. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1964–1969.
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  231. Focusing exclusively on the royal proclamation, defined by the editors as “a public ordinance issued by the King, in virtue of his royal prerogative, with the advice of his council, under the Great Seal and by royal writ” (p. xxiii), these volumes stand as a definitive source for students and scholars seeking a comprehensive, well-annotated, and chronologically presented series of proclamations issued during Henry’s reign.
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  233. Nichols, John Gough, ed. Narratives of the Days of the Reformation, chiefly from the Manuscripts of John Foxe the Martyrologist, with Two Contemporary Biographies of Archbishop Cranmer. Works of the Camden Society 77. London: Camden Society, 1859.
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  235. A compendious collection of documents, collected by the printer and antiquary, and relating to the Reformation in England, gathered in a volume still used by scholars.
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  237. Starkey, David, ed. The Inventory of King Henry VIII: Society of Antiquaries MS 129 and British Library MS Harley 1419. Vol. 1, The Transcript. London: Harvey Miller, 1998.
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  239. A detailed catalogue based on Starkey’s Inventory Project, consisting of 18,000 entries and covering Henry’s possessions upon his death, including Crown jewels, tapestries, gold and silver plate, musical instruments, ships, palaces, and other objects and building projects. Valuable for tracing the material culture surrounding the king, with useful introduction and index, and notes on the transcription. See also subsequent volumes from 2013 (Vol. 4, Decorative Arts and Everyday Objects) and 2015 (Vol. 3, Arms, Armour and Ordnance).
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  241. Strype, John. Ecclesiastical Memorials, Relating Chiefly to Religion, and the Reformation of It: And the Emergencies of the Church of England, under Henry VIII, King Edward VI and Queen Mary I. 3 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1822.
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  243. An exhaustive, multivolumed collection of original Reformation documents, historical and biographical in nature, from Henry’s reign through to the end of the 16th century, written and compiled by the great late-17th- and 18th-century clergyman.
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  245. Surtz, Edward, and Virginia Murphy, eds. The Divorce Tracts of Henry VIII. Angers, France: Moreana, 1988.
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  247. A gathering of documents relating to the king’s Great Matter, with twin Latin and English texts, a useful glossary, a biblical index, and scholarly commentary. The editors argue that their volume calls for a revision of interpretations relating to the divorce, with Henry taking a personal hand in the arguments presented while displaying a sincere scruple of conscience regarding the validity of his marriage.
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  249. Calendars and State Papers
  250.  
  251. Consisting of chronological lists of documents and manuscripts, calendars may be annotated or contain entire texts of some documents, alongside indexes. Calendars that cover Henry’s reign are numerous. For Italy, students should refer to Brown 1867–1873 for Venice and northern Italy, and, for Milan, Hinds 1912. Spain is covered by Bergenroth, et al. 1862–1954. Hamilton, et al. 1860–1912 is essential for all students and scholars of Tudor Ireland. For complete or abridged documents, Brewer 1862–1932 is standard in its use of the mass of state records culled from the Public Records Office and elsewhere, while Dasent 1890 contains acts issued by the Pricy Council.
  252.  
  253. Bergenroth, Gustave A., Pascual de Gayangos, Martin A. S. Hume, Royall Tyler, and Garrett Mattingly, eds. Calendar of Letters, Despatches, and State Papers Relating to the Negotiations between England and Spain, Preserved in the Archives at Simancas and Elsewhere. 15 vols. London: Longman & Roberts, 1862–1954.
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  255. Drawn from the letters of Spanish agents, ambassadors, and other officers stationed in England, these volumes are carefully transcribed and collated, covering essential matters of negotiation between Henry and the Spanish during essential years in their relations.
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  257. Brewer, John S., James Gairdner, and Robert H. Brodie, eds. Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII: Preserved in the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and Elsewhere in England. 21 vols. London: Longman, Green, Longman, & Roberts, 1862–1932.
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  259. The standard reference collection of documents pertaining to matters in Henry’s reign, particularly valuable for students and scholars seeking to understand relations with Scotland, France, Italy, and Spain. Contains previously unprinted matter—including patent rolls, signed bills, and privy seals— culled from the mass of papers in the Public Records Office, the British Museum, and other collections.
  260. Find this resource:
  261. Brown, Rawdon, ed. Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts Relating to English Affairs, Existing in the Archives and Collections of Venice, and in Other Libraries of Northern Italy. Vols. 2–5. London: Longman, 1867–1873.
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  263. Volumes 2 through 5 encompass the years under Henry, arranged chronologically and covering papers, letters, patent rolls, accounts, acts, and registers relating to England and Italy. Often annotated.
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  265. Dasent, John Roche, ed. Acts of the Privy Council of England, 1542–1631. Vol. 1. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1890.
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  267. An important source with regard to Henry’s reign covering documents related to the Reformation and other matters before the Privy Council, with instructive commentary. In addition to containing registers of the meetings of the Privy Council, these volumes detail the attendees and issues discussed.
  268. Find this resource:
  269. Hamilton, Hans Claude, Ernest G. Atkinson, and Robert P. Mahaffy, eds. Calendar of the State Papers Relating to Ireland, of the Reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth: Preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty’s Public Record Office. 11 vols. London: Longman, Green, Longman, & Roberts, 1860–1912.
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  271. An essential source for students of early modern Ireland, particularly after the destruction of documents in the wake of the 1922 Public Record Office fire in Dublin. Constituting the official archives of the secretaries of state from the reign of Henry through to 1782, these documents—primarily letters as well as reports, proposals, treatises, and working papers—are unique in revealing the correspondences between the king and his agents in Dublin Castle.
  272. Find this resource:
  273. Hinds, Allen B., ed. Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts, Existing in the Archives and Collections of Milan. Vol. 1. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1912.
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  275. A collection of Milanese (and general northern Italian) papers relating to English affairs, including papers of the Sforzas.
  276. Find this resource:
  277. Henry’s Works
  278.  
  279. Henry’s imprint did not extend simply to his writings and his songs, but also to his patronage of the arts and sponsorship of building projects. Byrne 1936 is a good collection of his letters, while Colvin 1975–1982 is a massive work that extends across all his building endeavors.
  280.  
  281. Byrne, Muriel St. Clare, ed. The Letters of King Henry VIII: A Selection, with a Few Other Documents. London: Cassell, 1936.
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  283. Extending to approximately 1,000 documents bearing Henry’s authorship, interspersed with very good commentary by the editor of the Lisle letters. Reprinted in 1968.
  284. Find this resource:
  285. Colvin, Howard, ed. The History of the King’s Works. Vols. 3–4, 1485–1660. 2 vols. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1975–1982.
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  287. A monumental work entailing the building activities of England’s monarchs, including castles, fortifications, hunting lodges, and other buildings of note. Henry emerges as an extravagant builder, leaving fifty buildings to his son (after inheriting about twelve from his father), most of which were already existent but on which he nevertheless left his impact.
  288. Find this resource:
  289. Primary-Source Chronicles
  290.  
  291. Henry’s contemporaries—or those who lived in the decades that followed—had much to say about the king, either directly or indirectly. But other writers provided a more critical perspective, particularly when it came to his policies. Chroniclers are useful in illuminating the context around the king, with Holinshed 1976 (originally published in 1542) describing the king’s festivities and other matters, and Hall 1809 providing a similar perspective (with a later edition being Hall 1904). Stow 1590 also provides a good reading of the times. Finally, Foxe 1563 does not provide a detailed biography of the king, though what it has to say (and not say) about the monarch and his religious policies is nevertheless revealing.
  292.  
  293. Foxe, John. Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perilous Dayes, Touching Matters of the Church. London: Iohn Day, 1563.
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  295. Foxe compiled his martyrology in the reign of Elizabeth, but his great work is valuable for the complex position he assumes in his narrative of Henry’s reign. The king never himself merits a biographical sketch in the Actes and Monuments, though Foxe did much to contribute images of the king that were influential to posterity. Foxe also includes valuable primary documents, including letters by Stephen Gardiner, whom he otherwise vilified.
  296. Find this resource:
  297. Hall, Edward. Chronicle. Edited by Henry Ellis. London: Johnson, 1809.
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  299. First published in 1542 as The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke (commonly known as Hall’s Chronicle), this narrative follows the conflict between the houses of Lancaster and York and continues (with the additions of Richard Grafton) through to the death of Henry VIII. The king is generally (and extensively) portrayed in a positive light, reflecting Hall’s own Protestantism and love for pageantry. Reprinted in 1965 (New York: AMS Press).
  300. Find this resource:
  301. Hall, Edward. Henry VIII. Edited by Charles Whibley. 2 vols. The Lives of the Kings. London: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1904.
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  303. An edition taken from Hall’s Chronicle, focusing solely on the king—presented favorably— with a florid introduction by Whibley. There is some question, however, as to whether this was entirely written by Hall. See George Philip Krapp’s “Henry VIII in Hall’s Chronicle,” in Modern Language Notes 31.3 (1916): 135–138.
  304. Find this resource:
  305. Holinshed, Raphael. Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Introduction by Vernon F. Stowe. New York: AMS, 1976.
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  307. A product not of Raphael Holinshed but a team of collaborators that included printers and publishers as well as contributors, this great work was first published in 1577 and later in 1587, telling the story of England, Scotland, and Ireland from the beginnings. The coverage of 16th-century England, augmented by other writers such as Edward Hall, includes such descriptions as the king’s festivities and other domestic matters.
  308. Find this resource:
  309. Stow, John. A Summarie of the Chronicles of England. London: Ralph Newbery, 1590.
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  311. First published in 1561, Stow’s Summarie was released in many popular editions and related the story of England from 1108 BCE, when London was first “built” as the “New Troy.” Nearly half the work, however, is devoted to Henry and the reigns of his children, particularly Elizabeth, though it nevertheless gives a good account of the king, his men, and his milieu.
  312. Find this resource:
  313. Contemporaries’ Accounts
  314.  
  315. A number of valuable document collections from Henry’s officials or relatives exist to enlighten the reader about the king and his policies. Muller 1933 provides a cache of letters from Stephen Gardiner, Henry’s conservative secretary and diplomat, while Mayer 2002 offers the letters of Reginald Pole, exiled during many years of Henry’s reign. Merriman 1902, meanwhile, offers documents from the hand of Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s other great secretary, and Sylvester and Harding 1962 chronicles the lives of Wolsey and Thomas More. Byrne 1981 provides the more informal view from a noteworthy relative of Henry’s. Finally, Dudley 1949 represents a text of early Tudor social and political philosophy, even if the author himself was executed by the young king. Poets such as John Skelton would praise the young Henry, though others would offer indirect critiques of the monarch.
  316.  
  317. Byrne, Muriel St. Clare, ed. The Lisle Letters. 6 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.
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  319. An enormous work annotating, transcribing, modernizing, and identifying approximately 2,000 letters written in the period of the early Tudors. The majority of the letters belong to the years from 1533 to 1540, during the tenure of Lord Deputy of Calais of Arthur Plantagenet (Viscount Lisle), Henry’s uncle.
  320. Find this resource:
  321. Dudley, Edmund. The Tree of Commonwealth. Edited by D. M. Brodie. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1949.
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  323. A lawyer trained in common law, a member of the king’s council during the reign of Henry VII, and the founder of an extremely important dynasty, Dudley fell out of favor upon Henry VIII’s accession due to financial improprieties and was executed for treason in 1510. The Tree of Commonwealth represents the political thought and values of the early Tudor period, advocating for social harmony and reformation as well as justice and spiritual concord across all ranks of society.
  324. Find this resource:
  325. Mayer, Thomas F., ed. The Correspondence of Reginald Pole. Vol. 1, A Calendar, 1518–1546: Beginnings to Legate of Viterbo. St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2002.
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  327. Covering the years up to 1546, this volume captures Pole engaging with his correspondents over matters such as the extent to which he should resist the policies and will of Henry, and other aspects that reflected his thinking toward the king.
  328. Find this resource:
  329. Merriman, Roger Bigelow, ed. Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1902.
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  331. A collection of letters, with valuable appendixes, though without texts that might have been drafted for the king. Most of the letters pertain to business matters as well as state papers, though Merriman fills in details of Cromwell’s ancestry, early life, and career even if he somewhat anachronistically treats the secretary as a patriot and statesman as well as a prime minister before his time. Reprinted as recently as 2006.
  332. Find this resource:
  333. Muller, J. A., ed. The Letters of Stephen Gardiner. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1933.
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  335. Most of the letters in this collection are devoted to Gardiner’s later years, but thirty-nine cover his tenure under Henry as principal secretary and nine for his three years as ambassador to France.
  336. Find this resource:
  337. Sylvester, Richard S., and Davis P. Harding, eds. Two Early Tudor Lives: The Life and Death of Cardinal Wolsey. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1962.
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  339. Contains accounts by William Roper on Thomas More and George Cavendish on Wolsey, including their relations with Henry. A readable edition with modernized spelling, for the student and scholar alike.
  340. Find this resource:
  341. Essay Collections
  342.  
  343. A number of excellent essay collections exist, capturing facets of the king and his policies. MacCulloch 1995 is one of the strongest contributions in its grasp of Henry’s policies, with Hoak 1995 offering the perspective from political culture. Baumann 1993 provides a more general overview, from primarily German scholars. Cross, et al. 1988 represents a wide-ranging sample of politically oriented essays by leading scholars and students of its dedicatee, Sir Geoffrey Elton. The 500th anniversary of Henry’s accession to the throne spurred on new reassessments of the king’s legacy through the centuries, with Rankin, et al. 2009 providing a fine interdisciplinary contribution, and Betteridge and Freeman 2012 being a more convoluted though still-valuable offering. Betteridge and Lipscomb 2013, meanwhile, examines the interplay of politics, court, and power, by a number of leading scholars in different fields. Finally, various aspects of Cardinal Wolsey’s career are explored by the essays in Gunn and Lindley 1991.
  344.  
  345. Baumann, Uwe, ed. Henry VIII in History, Historiography, and Literature. Frankfurt: P. Lang, 1993.
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  347. A wide-ranging collection of essays by primarily German scholars that treats the historical and literary aspects of Henry’s reign. Scottish-German relations, English and Scottish chronicles, Shakespeare’s Henry VIII, Coronation poetry, Henry’s songs and love letters, and his afterlife on film are some of the subjects treated.
  348. Find this resource:
  349. Betteridge, Thomas, and Thomas S. Freeman, eds. Henry VIII and History. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2012.
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  351. Another assessment of Henry’s legacy, beginning with his death and continuing through the 20th century. Essays range from the Henry in Hall’s Chronicle (see Hall 1809, cited under Primary-Source Chronicles) through to his afterlife on film.
  352. Find this resource:
  353. Betteridge, Thomas, and Suzannah Lipscomb, eds. Henry VIII and the Court: Art, Politics and Performance. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2013.
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  355. An excellent early-21st-century contribution by leading scholars on such topics as the king and his reformation (G. W. Bernard), the royal collection (Maria Hayward), the Field of Cloth of Gold (Glenn Richardson), Henry VIII and Holbein (Tatiana String), the king’s reception at Cambridge (Susan Wabuda), and Hampton Court, Cardinal Pole, and the king (Eamon Duffy).
  356. Find this resource:
  357. Cross, Claire, David Loades, and J. J. Scarisbrick, eds. Law and Government under the Tudors: Essays presented to Sir Geoffrey Elton, Regius Professor of Modern History the University of Cambridge, on the Occasion of His Retirement. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
  358. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511560491Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  359. An outstanding sampling of essays by leading scholars in the field, including John Guy on Wolsey, Susan Brigden on Thomas Cromwell, and Peter Roberts on English-Welsh relations. Particularly noteworthy is Peter Nicholson’s essay on the Act of Appeals, and the manuscript known as the Collectanea satis copiosa, written by Edward Foxe, which served as the documentary source for Henry’s claim to supreme headship of the church.
  360. Find this resource:
  361. Gunn, Steven J., and Phillip Lindley, eds. Cardinal Wolsey: Church, State and Art. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
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  363. Eleven contributions on the subject of the cardinal’s career as a statesman, churchman, and patron of the arts. The editors seek to understand Wolsey “in his own right” (pp. 2–3) and therefore redeem him somewhat from his unfortunate reputation, while exploring some lesser-known aspects of the cardinal, such as his patronage of the decorative arts.
  364. Find this resource:
  365. Hoak, Dale, ed. Tudor Political Culture. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
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  367. Twelve interdisciplinary essays that examine Tudor and Stuart high political culture, including substantial contributions relating to Henry’s reign on the subject of royal iconography, emergent notions of sovereignty, the role played by counsel at court, and family and kinship ties circulating around the figure of the king.
  368. Find this resource:
  369. MacCulloch, Diarmaid, ed. The Reign of Henry VIII: Politics, Policy and Piety. Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan, 1995.
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  371. Nine insightful essays that treat different facets of politics, government, and religion during Henry’s reign. Included in the contributions are Eric Ives’s piece on Henry’s political image, John Guy on Wolsey and Cromwell, Richard Hoyle on raising funds for war, David Potter on the king’s changing foreign policy, and MacCulloch on Henry’s attitudes toward religious authority.
  372. Find this resource:
  373. Rankin, Mark, Christopher Highley, and John N. King, eds. Henry VIII and His Afterlives: Literature, Politics, and Art. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
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  375. An outstanding collection of essays, published on the 500th anniversary of Henry’s accession to the throne, covering contemporaneous responses to his kingship, his literary and political afterlives, his presence in art and popular culture, and his legacy through history.
  376. Find this resource:
  377. Politics and Government
  378.  
  379. The political and administrative workings of Henry’s reign, particularly in the 1530s, have constituted a fraught topic for historians. G. R. Elton overturned the field in the mid-20th century in his argument that Henry’s middle reign constituted a “revolution” in government, with the king’s secretary, Thomas Cromwell, serving as the architect of its deep restructuring. The argument is best articulated in Elton 1953, while Elton 1974 provides a collection of various related essays and papers. Elton is answered in Coleman and Starkey 1986, while Fox and Guy 1986 also contains a critique, as do Gunn 1995a and Bernard 2000 with regard to the early Tudor kingship more generally. Lehmberg 1970 examines the early Tudor parliaments, and Gunn 1995b seeks to understand the structures that underlay early Tudor governance. Dietz 1964 analyzes Henry’s expenditures, providing a different perspective on the distinctiveness of the reign, while Cunich 1999 provides a valuable analysis of Henry’s spending in relation to the dissolution of the monasteries.
  380.  
  381. Bernard, G. W. Power and Politics in Tudor England. Aldershot, UK: Aldershot, 2000.
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  383. Eleven thought-provoking essays on the nature of Tudor governance, and the historiographic debates it elicited in the late 20th century. Bernard weighs in on such matters as the nobility and courtiers, who with some exceptions continued, importantly, to be allied with the Crown, faction at court.
  384. Find this resource:
  385. Coleman, Christopher, and David Starkey, eds. Revolution Reassessed: Revisions in the History of Tudor Government and Administration. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
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  387. A series of essays that radically challenge Elton’s various theses, arguing that the commonwealth vocabulary of political reform actually originated in the 15th century, household government continued in the 1530s, Cromwell did not create the Privy Council from nothing, practical politics and court factions remained powerful, and Parliament was much the same as it had been in earlier decades.
  388. Find this resource:
  389. Cunich, Peter. “Revolution and Crisis in English State Finance, 1534–47.” In Crises, Revolutions and Self-Sustained Growth: Essays in European Fiscal History, 1130–1830. Edited by W. Mark Ormrod, Margaret Bonney, and Richard Bonney, 110–137. Stamford, UK: Shaun Tyas, 1999.
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  391. A substantive fiscal history that examines the role of finance in Henry’s regime, particularly interesting for what it reveals about Henry’s spending with relation to the dissolution of the monasteries.
  392. Find this resource:
  393. Dietz, Frederick C. English Public Finance, 1485–1641. Vol. 1, English Government Finance, 1485–1558. 2d ed. London: Frank Cass, 1964.
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  395. An exploration of Tudor revenues and expenditures as well as other aspects of English governmental finance, with much attention paid to the extravagant outlays made during Henry VIII’s reign, which left the treasury strained in the wake of Henry VII’s more prudent rule.
  396. Find this resource:
  397. Elton, G. R. The Tudor Revolution in Government: Administrative Changes in the Reign of Henry VIII. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1953.
  398. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511561115Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  399. A seminal work, though revised and disputed by other historians in more-recent decades. Elton’s subject is Henry’s secretary, Thomas Cromwell, who—it is argued—modernized and depersonalized administrative government under Henry in the 1530s, undermining personal rule and Henry’s own agency in the process.
  400. Find this resource:
  401. Elton, G. R. Studies in Tudor and Stuart Politics and Government, 1485–1558. 4 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1974.
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  403. Elton’s views have been challenged since the late 20th century—particularly in his emphasis on Thomas Cromwell and the consolidation of bureaucratic government— though this collection of essays, together with his other works, merit consultation for their incisive treatment of Tudor politics and government, particularly in their administrative and constitutional aspects.
  404. Find this resource:
  405. Fox, Alistair G., and John A. Guy. Reassessing the Henrician Age: Humanism, Politics and Reform. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986.
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  407. A rich selection of essays by two leading scholars, focusing on humanism (Fox) and politics (Guy), with the latter offering up his critique of Elton’s thesis that Cromwell was the sole architect of the Royal Supremacy.
  408. Find this resource:
  409. Gunn, Steven J. Early Tudor Government, 1485–1558. British History in Perspective. New York: St Martin’s, 1995a.
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  411. A response to Elton’s Tudor Revolution in Government (Elton 1953), this significant work examines the reconceptualization of royal rule under Henry VII and Henry VIII, particularly in relation to exercising lordship, representing justice, controlling financial resources, and overseeing matters of church and state, social and economic policy, and questions of loyalty and treason among their subjects.
  412. Find this resource:
  413. Gunn, Steven J. “The Structures of Politics in Early Tudor England.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 5 (1995b): 59–90.
  414. DOI: 10.2307/3679328Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  415. An excellent overview by a leading Tudor political scholar, touching on the debates between proponents of factions and pressure groups in Henry’s government, and others who insist on a strong king dominating the policies of his reign. Gunn seeks to go beyond these debates by examining longer-term changes, or structures at work in Henry’s reign, which shaped the role of institutions, ministers, or kings.
  416. Find this resource:
  417. Lehmberg, Stanford E. The Reformation Parliament, 1529–1536. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1970.
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  419. An outstanding and still-relevant study of Parliament in the crucial years of 1529–1536, focusing on the Lords and Convocation of the Province of Canterbury as well as the Commons. The sessions that met in these years are given extensive treatment not only with regard to the Reformation but to administrative, legal, social, economic, and fiscal issues.
  420. Find this resource:
  421. Lehmberg, Stanford E. The Later Parliaments of Henry VIII, 1536–1547. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1977.
  422. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511896132Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  423. In a meticulous continuation of his earlier book, Lehmberg addresses the parliaments and myriad legislation passed in this later period, focusing on continued religious developments, the role of Cromwell, and other governmental matters brought before it.
  424. Find this resource:
  425. The King’s Men
  426.  
  427. Much of Henry’s renown can be attributed to the luminaries who circled in his orbit and influenced or affected him in turn. A few of them—notably, Thomas Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell—also fell afoul of him. Remaining close to him were Thomas Cranmer, his archbishop, given definitive treatment here in MacCulloch 1996; Gunn 1988 offers a detailed examination of Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, whose friendship with the king ensured his political survivability. Childs 2006 treats another courtier, the Earl of Surrey. From the other end of the ideological spectrum was his secretary, Stephen Gardiner, whose influence is explored in Redworth 1990, the first comprehensive biography since Muller 1926. Wolsey, meanwhile, is given more sympathetic—or demythologizing—treatment in Gwyn 1991. Perhaps most importantly, Thomas Cromwell elicits a portrait in Hutchinson 2007, though Elton’s works—as well as Hilary Mantel’s Tudor novels— also bring him to life. Less prominent though highly important was the lord treasurer, William Paulet, who receives a biographical treatment in Loades 2008; another (and more troublesome) Tudor minister, Lord Paget, receives a biography (Gammon 1973), while Slavin 1966 considers Sir Ralph Sadler, another ambitious servant.
  428.  
  429. Childs, Jessie. Henry VIII’s Last Victim: The Life and Times of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. New York: Thomas Dunne, 2006.
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  431. A courtier, aristocrat, soldier, poet, and naive if not foolish political operator and posthumous romantic figure, Henry Howard was the last individual to be executed by Henry, who suspected that Surrey planned to usurp the Crown upon his death and to bestow it on his own son. Childs treats Surrey with empathy, while detailing the sometimes vainglorious character of the man.
  432. Find this resource:
  433. Gammon, Samuel R. Statesman and Schemer: William, First Lord Paget, Tudor Minister. Hamden, CT: Archon, 1973.
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  435. A well-researched portrait of a “statesman and schemer,” a capable though not great minister who served Henry as well as Edward and Mary. Particularly valuable for the not-always-successful foreign policy that Paget helped shape and influence.
  436. Find this resource:
  437. Gunn, Steven J. Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, c. 1484–1545. New York: Basil Blackwell, 1988.
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  439. An impressive political biography of one of the king’s most enduring dukes, covering his career, his accumulation of estates and offices, his influence in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, and his loyalty to and lasting friendship with the king.
  440. Find this resource:
  441. Gwyn, Peter. The King’s Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Wolsey. London: Barrie & Jenkins, 1991.
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  443. A late-20th-century lengthy biography of Wolsey, addressing the myths that have surrounded and tainted his legacy, and the manner in which he served above all as the king’s man rather than the schemer of history.
  444. Find this resource:
  445. Hutchinson, Robert. Thomas Cromwell: The Rise and Fall of Henry VIII’s Most Notorious Minister. New York: Thomas Dunne, 2007.
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  447. A compelling portrait of Henry’s ruthless minister, from his youth and ascent to power to his position as Henry’s chief enabler, and concluding with his downfall.
  448. Find this resource:
  449. Loades, David M. The Life and Career of William Paulet (c. 1475–1572), Lord Treasurer and First Marquis of Winchester. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2008.
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  451. An admirable biographical treatment of a somewhat elusive court bureaucrat, displaying an excellent grasp of government spending and revenue overseen by the lord treasurer over the course of his long career.
  452. Find this resource:
  453. MacCulloch, Diarmaid. Thomas Cranmer: A Life. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996.
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  455. A massive and authoritative biography of Henry’s archbishop, combining scholarship with a vivid and personal portrait of the man. The later years under Edward and Mary are given extensive coverage, but Cranmer’s tenure under Henry is also definitively treated.
  456. Find this resource:
  457. Muller, James Arthur. Stephen Gardiner and the Tudor Reaction. New York: Macmillan, 1926.
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  459. An early and still-worthwhile biography of Gardiner, including his position regarding the divorce and the break with Rome, his international diplomacy, and his role at court in drafting the Act of Six Articles. Muller treats Gardiner sympathetically, not as “Wily Winchester” but as a sophisticated lawyer and politician. Republished in 1970 (New York: Octagon).
  460. Find this resource:
  461. Redworth, Glyn. In Defence of the Church Catholic: The Life of Stephen Gardiner. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990.
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  463. A more recent treatment of Gardiner (than in Muller 1926) and his central position of influence in the court of Henry and during the Reformation developments in England. His role in the fall of Cromwell and in the Prebendaries’ Plot against Cranmer, as well as his attempt to persuade others of their error and to remain obedient to lawful authority, all are treated in this valuable study.
  464. Find this resource:
  465. Slavin, Arthur J. Politics and Profit: A Study of Sir Ralph Sadler, 1507–1547. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1966.
  466. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  467. A useful portrait of a capable administrative servant, a figure who served Cromwell while also providing a link between the secretary and Henry. The first half of Sadler’s career is considered, particularly as it illuminates Henrician politics through the workings of an ambitious, if at times unscrupulous, “new man.” Reprinted as recently as 2008.
  468. Find this resource:
  469. The King’s Opponents
  470.  
  471. Like the “king’s men,” the “king’s opponents” often started out as royal allies before falling out of grace. Mayer 2000 treats Reginald Pole’s years under Henry; Dowling 1999, the life and death of the Catholic martyr John Fisher. Of all the biographies of Thomas More, Guy 1980 is perhaps the best and most focused treatment of his years under Henry. Daniell 2001, however, offers a biography of one of Henry’s greatest martyrs, William Tyndale, even if he provided one of the justifications for the king’s breaking with Rome.
  472.  
  473. Daniell, David. William Tyndale: A Biography. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001.
  474. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  475. A masterful biography of the biblical translator and Protestant martyr. Tyndale’s polemical works are also considered, as are his exile and his fraught relationship with the Henrician regime.
  476. Find this resource:
  477. Dowling, Maria. Fisher of Men: A Life of John Fisher, 1469–1535. New York: St. Martin’s, 1999.
  478. DOI: 10.1057/9780230509627Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  479. The bishop, cardinal, martyr, and saint is examined in this excellent and sympathetic biography, with particularly effective emphasis on his humanism and learning, as well as his trials and not-unwarranted persecution under Henry.
  480. Find this resource:
  481. Guy, John A. The Public Career of Thomas More. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1980.
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  483. A heavily researched study that focuses on the eighteen-month tenure as Lord Chancellor of Thomas More, and the political world he inhabited as Henry’s conflicted servant. More is presented as a tragic and selfless figure, and ultimately expendable to a determined king.
  484. Find this resource:
  485. Mayer, Thomas F. Reginald Pole: Prince and Prophet. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
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  487. The definitive work of Pole, emphasizing the cardinal’s rhetoric and written works and his role in the Catholic Reformation. The later years are emphasized, though Pole’s years during Henry’s reign, and his campaign against the king, merit extensive coverage.
  488. Find this resource:
  489. Political Culture and Faction
  490.  
  491. Elton’s interpretation of Tudor governance focused on institutions and administration, which was challenged by historians emphasizing a larger political environment influenced by social networks and cultural factors. Faction was central to this messier reality, with Ives 1986 providing a short overview, and Block 1993 exploring its influence on Reformation politics. Starkey 1985 offers a portrait of the Privy Chamber, while Mears 2003 emphasizes women, courtiers, and Continental players. Finally, Walker 1996 explores the implications of faction on the texts of Henry’s time. For other discussions of faction, see John Guy’s contributions to Reassessing the Henrician Age: Humanism, Politics and Reform (Fox and Guy 1986, cited under Politics and Government).
  492.  
  493. Block, Joseph S. Factional Politics and the English Reformation, 1520–1540. Royal Historical Society Studies in History 66. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1993.
  494. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  495. A narrative account of factional politics at court, particularly strong on the rise of Anne Boleyn in the late 1520s, and concluding with the fall of Cromwell. Block also attacks the revisionist stance, arguing for a deep anticlericalism at work.
  496. Find this resource:
  497. Ives, Eric W. Faction in Tudor England. 2d ed. Appreciations in History 6. London: Historical Association, 1986.
  498. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  499. A pamphlet, written in in response to J. E. Neale’s since-questioned interpretation of the 1590s, that examines the rival factions brought about by patronage, locality, and attentions sought by a personal monarch, and the implications these currents held for an understanding of politics in Tudor England.
  500. Find this resource:
  501. Mears, Natalie. “Courts, Courtiers and Culture in Tudor England.” Historical Journal 46.3 (2003): 703–722.
  502. DOI: 10.1017/S0018246X03003212Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  503. An excellent article that seeks to broaden the concept of political culture to include women and courtiers with connections to the broader political community, as well as to the larger European context. Elizabeth is emphasized, though Henry—and Elton—are given due consideration.
  504. Find this resource:
  505. Starkey, David. The Reign of Henry VIII: Personalities and Politics. London: George Philip, 1985.
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  507. An extensively illustrated and highly readable (though not footnoted) work that focuses on decisions made at the Privy Chamber, and the pervasive and active influence of such figures as Thomas Cromwell and Anne Boleyn. Henry is presented as a highly influenced albeit still-active figure at court and in matters of governance, despite the conspiracies that often raged around him.
  508. Find this resource:
  509. Walker, Greg. Persuasive Fictions: Faction, Faith, and Political Culture in the Reign of Henry VIII. Aldershot, UK: Scolar Press, 1996.
  510. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  511. A collection of essays that revise traditional understandings of factions at court, arguing that Henry stood above but also dominated the court, and that at the same time he could be persuaded through propagandistic means, or the “persuasive fictions” reflected in texts and objects of art.
  512. Find this resource:
  513. Rebellions and Popular Politics
  514.  
  515. Rebellions were of deep concern to the Tudors, for whom obedience remained a central and driving principle in their governorship, as James 1970 demonstrates. Henry was himself faced with an uprising in Ireland, as is captured in Bradshaw 1977. Fletcher and MacCulloch 2015 provides a more general overview of rebellions across the Tudor period, while Griffiths, et al. 1996 analyzes the manner in which individuals experienced authority in the period. Meanwhile, Bernard 1986 discusses the protest that Henry encountered when he tried to raise a tax for war against France; Gunn 1989 reexamines the 1536 Lincolnshire revolt, particularly against the claims of James 1970. For early-21st-century treatments that incorporate new interpretative frameworks, Wood 2002 provides a model for the exploration of popular politics in the localities, and Shagan 2003 offers an examination of the negotiations with authority conducted by ordinary people.
  516.  
  517. Bernard, G. W. War, Taxation, and Rebellion in Early Tudor England: Henry VIII, Wolsey, and the Amicable Grant of 1525. New York: St. Martin’s, 1986.
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  519. A short but useful volume that examines the tax (known as the Amicable Grant) that was raised to finance war against France in 1525. The tax was met with protest, resistance, and local disturbances, however, leading to its failure and demonstrating “Tudor government at its most ambitious and its least effective” (p. 1).
  520. Find this resource:
  521. Bradshaw, Brendan. “Cromwellian Reform and the Origins of the Kildare Rebellion, 1533–34.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th ser. 27 (1977): 69–93.
  522. DOI: 10.2307/3679188Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  523. A very good study by one of the leading scholars of early modern Ireland, covering one of the most important rebellions during Henry’s reign.
  524. Find this resource:
  525. Fletcher, Anthony, and Diarmaid MacCulloch. Tudor Rebellions. 6th ed. London: Routledge, 2015.
  526. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  527. Now in its sixth edition, this important work extends across the Tudor century, though substantial attention is given to the Lincolnshire Rising and the Pilgrimage of Grace, as well as earlier resistances to issues such as taxation.
  528. Find this resource:
  529. Griffiths, Paul, Adam Fox, and Steve Hindle, eds. The Experience of Authority in Early Modern England. Themes in Focus. New York: St. Martin’s, 1996.
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  531. A series of enlightening essays centered on the subject of authority and the experience or reception of it in early modern England. Most pieces are devoted to the period after Henry, though others include his reign.
  532. Find this resource:
  533. Gunn, Steven J. “Peers, Commons and Gentry in the Lincolnshire Revolt of 1536.” Past & Present 123 (1989): 52–79.
  534. DOI: 10.1093/past/123.1.52Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  535. A reexamination of the Lincolnshire revolt (and an engagement with the arguments in James 1970), particularly as it illuminates larger questions of disorder in early modern England. Depositions from the revolt are carefully analyzed, particularly as they illuminate larger questions with regard to political developments at the center of court and government and in the localities.
  536. Find this resource:
  537. James, Mervyn E. “Obedience and Dissent in Tudor England: The Lincolnshire Rebellion 1536.” Past & Present 48 (1970): 3–78.
  538. DOI: 10.1093/past/48.1.3Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  539. James presents the Lincolnshire revolt as an expression of united opposition against royal policy on the part of regional forces, with the gentry joining in with the clergy and lower orders even if they did so in a more cloaked manner and ultimately submitted to authority.
  540. Find this resource:
  541. Shagan, Ethan H. Popular Politics and the English Reformation. Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
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  543. An examination of the ways in which ordinary people negotiated with state power, particularly in the wake of the Reformation. Included are chapters on debates over the Royal Supremacy, the Holy Maid of Kent and opposition in the early Reformation, the Pilgrimage of Grace, popular politics and anticlericalism, and the dissolution of the Abbey of Hailes.
  544. Find this resource:
  545. Wood, Andy. Riot, Rebellion and Popular Politics in Early Modern England. Social History in Perspective. New York: Palgrave, 2002.
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  547. Incorporating the “new” social history emphasizing popular politics and the local perspective, this excellent study encompasses the 16th and 17th centuries, though riots, rebellions, and nonviolent conspiracies also include Henry’s reign.
  548. Find this resource:
  549. The Reformation
  550.  
  551. The “King’s Great Matter,” in which Henry sought a divorce from Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn, ushered in the tumultuous events that would lead to England’s break with Rome. Historians, however, diverge on how this played itself out at court and the Privy Council, in Parliament and among the clergy, with nobles and factions, and finally throughout the larger populace. Bernard 2005 forcefully argues that the king was the instigator in bringing about religious policy, while Moreau 1984 explores the conforming and resisting men around Henry. Ryrie 2003 investigates evangelicals and their own navigations of power; Marshall and Ryrie 2002 comprises a collection of essays that attempt to correct the imbalance of Duffy 2005 (first published in 1992), which argues for the continuation of a popular Catholic piety, despite the injunctions from above. The question of religious proclivities and identities is also explored in Marshall 2006. The situation in the dioceses is captured in Bowker 1981, while Chibi 2003 more broadly examines the bishops across the realm. Brigden 1989 offers a good assessment of the Reformation as it played itself out in Tudor London, and among the people. Finally, Rex 2006 provides the best succinct summary of this complex story.
  552.  
  553. Bernard, G. W. The King’s Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005.
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  555. Offering an important analytical narrative, Bernard contentiously takes on previous scholarship to argue for the king’s centrality in controlling all aspects of religious policy in England over and against his counselors and factions. A monumental work, and necessary for all students of the subject to consult.
  556. Find this resource:
  557. Bowker, Margaret. The Henrician Reformation: The Diocese of Lincoln under John Longland, 1521–1547. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
  558. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  559. A detailed exploration of the career of Bishop Longland, and the fate of his diocese before and after Henry’s Reformation. The fate of Lincoln’s monasteries, religious life, and clergy all are given extensive treatment.
  560. Find this resource:
  561. Brigden, Susan. London and the Reformation. Oxford: Clarendon, 1989.
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  563. Encompassing the decades from the 1520s to the end of Mary’s reign, this important and panoramic book also offers a portrait of London during Henry’s years, extending from high politics to popular pieties, as well as from national to urban politics. Brigden’s discussion of London’s Lollards, as well as Cromwell’s manipulation of municipal politics, is particularly enlightening.
  564. Find this resource:
  565. Chibi, Andrew Allan. Henry VIII’s Bishops: Diplomats, Administrators, Scholars and Shepherds. Cambridge, UK: James Clarke, 2003.
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  567. An investigation of the individual bishops who comprised Henry’s episcopate, with emphasis on their skills, talents, and educational backgrounds. The bishops emerge in a favorable light, as conscientious servants of the king and deserving of their positions.
  568. Find this resource:
  569. Duffy, Eamon. The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, 1400–1580. 2d ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005.
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  571. A seminal work, first published in 1992, that rewrote Reformation history in England by arguing for the persistence of a vibrant and popular Catholic piety over the course of the century. The book is pertinent here for the manner in which it spends considerable time on Catholic life and liturgical practice from 1400 to approximately 1500, before moving on to explore the manner in which such beliefs remained despite the changes imposed from above.
  572. Find this resource:
  573. Marshall, Peter. Religious Identities in Henry VIII’s England. St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2006.
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  575. A collection of essays by one of the leading scholars of religion in early modern England, offering, in his words, “a contribution towards making sense of the processes of religious identity-formation under way in England during the second half of the reign of Henry VIII” (p. vi). Evangelicals, Henrician reforms, and Catholics under Henry are three of the headings under which essays are organized.
  576. Find this resource:
  577. Marshall, Peter, and Alec Ryrie, eds. The Beginnings of English Protestantism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
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  579. Nine essays by leading historians who attempt to redress the imbalance brought on by revisionists who have neglected the processes by which English Protestantism was embraced by a powerful minority of the population and was not simply a state act imposed from above. Topics include evangelism and conversion, sympathizers and opportunists who embraced reform, the impact of the Reformation on husbands and wives, and the importance of printers and Protestantism.
  580. Find this resource:
  581. Moreau, Jean-Pierre. Rome ou l’Angleterre? Les réactions politiques des catholiques anglais au moment du schisme (1529–1553). Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1984.
  582. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  583. Rejecting the view that the Reformation was simply imposed on the people by a self-interested king, Moreau argues for a more nuanced picture of those individuals—Stephen Gardiner most of all—who conformed on the Episcopal bench. The “active” and “passive” resistances of Catholics such as Thomas More, John Fisher, and Reginald Pole are also discussed.
  584. Find this resource:
  585. Rex, Richard. Henry VIII and the English Reformation. 2d ed. British History in Perspective. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
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  587. A concise yet scholarly account of religious policy under Henry, focusing on the king’s divorce, the Royal Supremacy, Henry’s attack on traditional religion, and his attempt to form a new religious culture. The second edition provides an excellent and critical historiographical engagement with the revisionist school that argued for the persistence of popular Catholicism throughout Henry’s reign up until Elizabeth.
  588. Find this resource:
  589. Ryrie, Alec. The Gospel and Henry VIII: Evangelicals in the Early English Reformation. Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
  590. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511496028Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  591. A significant contribution to the historiography of the English Reformation, focusing on evangelical Protestants in the wake of the Act of the Six Articles (1539), which established the Henrician “orthodoxy” (p. 38) at the same time that it paved the way for their eventual assumption of power in the Reformation under Edward.
  592. Find this resource:
  593. Dissolution of the Monasteries
  594.  
  595. Over the course of the years from 1536 to 1540, Henry appropriated 800 monasteries, abbeys, nunneries, and friaries, housing approximately 10,000 men and women of the Catholic church; the results of the sales allowed him to stock his treasury, but it also led to deep transformations in the social, economic, and religious structures of society. Gasquet 1889 presents a voice of outrage against these suppressions, while Youings 1971 is a classic study with useful documentation. Cook 1966, meanwhile, contains a good sampling of letters to Cromwell relating to the suppressions. For Ireland—which also fell victim to the dissolutions—Bradshaw 1974 is the classic source.
  596.  
  597. Bradshaw, Brendan. The Dissolution of the Religious Orders in Ireland under Henry VIII. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1974.
  598. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  599. Reconstructing the story of the dissolution of Ireland’s monastic houses under Henry, Bradshaw utilizes unpublished sources and undertakes scrupulous research in his examination of its relation to larger political, economic, and social conditions in the 1530s and 1540s.
  600. Find this resource:
  601. Cook, George Henry. Letters to Cromwell and Others on the Suppression of the Monasteries. New York: Hilary House, 1966.
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  603. A reprint of correspondence to Cromwell on the matter of the monasteries, with 99 of the 168 letters culled from Thomas Wright’s older edition titled Three Chapters of Letters Relating to the Suppression of Monasteries (London: Camden Society, 1843).
  604. Find this resource:
  605. Gasquet, Francis Aidan. Henry VIII and the English Monasteries. 2 vols. London: John Hodges, 1889.
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  607. Using the letters and papers of the Public Records Office, as well as other primary texts and papers, this heavily partisan, Catholic work is useful even if it was heavily criticized by G. R. Elton and G. G. Coulton. See, however, David Knowles’s “Cardinal Gasquet as an Historian,” in The Historian and Character (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1963), pp. 240–263.
  608. Find this resource:
  609. Youings, Joyce A. The Dissolution of the Monasteries. Historical Problems—Studies and Documents 14. London: Allen and Unwin, 1971.
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  611. A still-valuable, succinct account, with forty documents, of the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry, with helpful suggestions to sources such as those relating to the Court of Augmentations. Youings argues that the process was gradual, with Cromwell driven by a genuine desire to restore discipline to houses that had become corrupt.
  612. Find this resource:
  613. Pilgrimage of Grace
  614.  
  615. Henry’s break with the Catholic Church inspired the 1536 rebellion in the North that came to be known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, but other interrelated factors—primarily economic, political, and social—also drove the discontent. Dodds and Dodds 1915 is a classic two-volume study, still worthy after a century; Davies 1968 offers a mid-20th-century reassessment. More recently, Bush 1996 explores the armies that made up the rebel forces, and Hoyle 2001 studies these armies’ larger political motivations.
  616.  
  617. Bush, Michael. The Pilgrimage of Grace: A Study of the Rebel Armies of October 1536. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996.
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  619. An in-depth study that revises the classic work of the Dodds sisters, examining the origins, leadership, and afterlife of the events that rocked the North in 1536. Particularly good on the armies that composed the rebel forces, divided into regions and serving as the subject of separate chapters.
  620. Find this resource:
  621. Davies, C. S. L. “The Pilgrimage of Grace Reconsidered.” Past & Present 41 (1968): 54–76.
  622. DOI: 10.1093/past/41.1.54Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  623. An older though still-useful study of the Pilgrimage to Grace, attempting to investigate and question assumptions behind the various interrelated factors that led to the rebellion and persisted throughout it.
  624. Find this resource:
  625. Dodds, Madeleine Hope, and Ruth Dodds. The Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536–1537 and the Exeter Conspiracy, 1538. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1915.
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  627. A pioneering two-volume work treating its subject in great detail, from the political, economic, and religious discontent that drove the rebels from Yorkshire to the mixed motives of the leaders, and the skill by which Henry dealt with the revolt, as well as the Exeter Conspiracy of the following year. Republished as recently as 2007 (Whitefish, MT: Kessinger).
  628. Find this resource:
  629. Hoyle, R. W. The Pilgrimage of Grace and the Politics of the 1530s. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
  630. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208747.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  631. A more recent narrative contribution relating to the Pilgrimage of Grace, addressing the vexed issue of the uprising’s character and motivations. Hoyle argues for the popular nature of the 1536 rebellion and is particularly good in analyzing the social dynamic that drove northern society, as well as the beginnings and aftermath of the revolt.
  632. Find this resource:
  633. Foreign Policy
  634.  
  635. Foreign policy in the 16th century, as scholars have pointed out, was distinctly in the purview of the king’s prerogative; not only did this place Henry in charge of foreign dealings—though he had counsel—but so were diplomatic and bellicose relations between countries often a matter of dynastic politics. Henry’s greatest Continental enemy was France, which was largely dominated by the king’s French rival, Francis I. But Henry’s ambition to control Scotland—an ally of France—was also of great concern, as was Ireland, particularly in the wake of the break with Rome. Henry (unsuccessfully) laid claim to the Scottish kingship after the death of James V and simply designated himself, with the consent of the Irish parliament,” King of Ireland” in 1541. The consequences in foreign affairs would be profound, for all countries. But relations with the other great Renaissance king, Charles V, are also complex and marked by alliances and hostilities.
  636.  
  637. The King’s Foreign Counterparts
  638.  
  639. Henry represented one among a great triumvirate of what has been called the “New Monarchy”—a new style of kingship that witnessed the creation of standing armies, a less powerful nobility giving way to the Crown, and more stable and centralized governments. A lavish self-promotion, expressed in clothing, building and military projects, and portraiture, was part of the new Crown identity as well. Baumgartner 1996 covers the French king who reigned during Henry’s early years, but it is Knecht 1996 that best covers Henry’s great rival, Francis I. Maltby 2002 provides a short, student-friendly overview of Charles V—nephew of Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon—while Tracy 2002 offers a more detailed and in-depth view of Charles V’s military endeavors and empire. Finally, Richardson 2002 contributes a comparative study of all three kings.
  640.  
  641. Baumgartner, Frederic J. Louis XII. New York: St. Martin’s, 1996.
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  643. Superseded by his son Francis, who became Henry’s enduring and flamboyant rival upon his succession in 1515, Louis XII is dealt with sympathetically in this political biography, which provides an informative examination of the relations between him and Henry in the early years of the English king’s reign, and Louis’s marriage to Henry’s sister Mary.
  644. Find this resource:
  645. Knecht, R. J. Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
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  647. The definitive biography of the French king, revised from the 1982 original edition. Knecht’s wide-ranging work encompasses politics, diplomacy, art, and patronage as they pivoted around the figure of Francis, who is given sympathetic treatment by Knecht. Diplomatic and personal relations between Francis and Henry also receive substantive analysis, in addition to military developments and momentous events such as the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520).
  648. Find this resource:
  649. Maltby, William S. The Reign of Charles V. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
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  651. A very concise though fairly comprehensive survey of Charles V as king and overlord of a vast global empire. The financing, management, and administration of the empire are given special attention, as is the struggle with the Ottomans and the Protestant threat from Germany. Includes a useful final chapter on Charles V’s historiographic afterlife.
  652. Find this resource:
  653. Richardson, Glenn. Renaissance Monarchy: The Reigns of Henry VIII, Francis I and Charles V. Reconstructions in Early Modern History. London: Arnold, 2002.
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  655. Concentrating on government, patronage, and warfare, as well as image self-promotion and the shared values of princely honor and courage, Richardson provides a comparative introductory overview of the three great Renaissance kings. A very useful exploration of the three kings’ historiographical legacy is also included in this volume, intended primarily for students.
  656. Find this resource:
  657. Tracy, James D. Emperor Charles V, Impresario of War: Campaign Strategy, International Finance, and Domestic Politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
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  659. Concentrating on the financial planning and costs that underlay Charles’s imperial policies over the vast regions he controlled, this study also explores the nature of his war campaigns and armies, and Charles’s success in attaining stability in his empire as a result of his careful leadership.
  660. Find this resource:
  661. Wars with France
  662.  
  663. Henry fought three wars with France, which remained his greatest enemy despite periodic truces and moments of negotiation. Gunn 1987 captures the causes and course of these wars, while Richardson 2013 explores the episode of the Field of Cloth of Gold, and Potter 2011 delves into the last (somewhat overlooked) war, late in Henry’s reign. Gunn 1987 explores all three wars.
  664.  
  665. Gunn, Steven J. “The French Wars of Henry VIII.” In The Origins of War in Early Modern Europe. Edited by Jeremy Black, 28–47. Edinburgh: John Donald, 1987.
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  667. A good overview by a leading Tudor scholar on the subject of Henry’s fraught wars with France, placing them within a larger political and military context.
  668. Find this resource:
  669. Potter, David. Henry VIII and Francis I: The Final Conflict, 1540–1547. History of Warfare 66. Boston: Brill, 2011.
  670. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004204317.i-562Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  671. Written by one of the leading authorities of early modern French warfare, this study examines the overlooked final war between France and England at the end of Henry’s and Francis I’s reigns. The dual English-French perspective is especially informative, as is the Anglo-French war’s larger international context and the long-term damaging effects of the conflict on England.
  672. Find this resource:
  673. Richardson, Glenn. The Field of Cloth of Gold. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013.
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  675. An accessible account, the first in four decades, of the great meeting between Henry and Francis I in 1520. Richardson attempts to reclaim its importance from scholars who have traditionally considered it simple pageantry, arguing that the event “gave physical expression . . . to genuine hopes of peace” (p. 2) between the ancient enemies.
  676. Find this resource:
  677. The Kingdom of Ireland
  678.  
  679. Ireland under the Tudors has been the subject of increasing interest on the part of historians, and indeed, the country mattered very much to the Tudors. Most of the violence that underlay Tudor colonizing efforts escalated under Elizabeth, but Henry began the process, with Parliament declaring him King of Ireland in 1541, having already sought the submission of Ireland’s nobles and the suppression of its monasteries. Ellis 1998 provides an administrative and political history of attempts to bring Ireland into the Tudor fold, with Ellis 1995 focusing particularly on the border regions in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Moody, et al. 1976 offers some useful contributions to Ireland during the reign of Henry, while Maginn 2007 treats the surrender and regrant process from a more recent perspective. Carey 2002 personalizes matters of governance and colonialism by focusing on the life and career of Gerald Fitzgerald, the eleventh Earl of Kildare.
  680.  
  681. Bradshaw, Brendan, and John Morrill, eds. The British Problem, c. 1534–1707: State Formation in the Atlantic Archipelago. Problems in Focus. New York: St. Martin’s, 1996.
  682. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  683. Arguing for the integrated treatment of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England, this collection of essays offers important contributions that cover Henry’s reign (and later) by such historians as Bradshaw, Hiram Morgan, Ciaran Brady, and Morrill.
  684. Find this resource:
  685. Canny, Nicholas. From Reformation to Restoration: Ireland, 1534–1660. Helicon History of Ireland. Dublin, Ireland: Helicon, 1987.
  686. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  687. A still-valuable study that explores the critical period of Ireland’s incorporation into the Tudor system, focusing mostly on Elizabeth and after but laying the groundwork with Henry.
  688. Find this resource:
  689. Carey, Vincent P. Surviving the Tudors: The “Wizard” Earl of Kildare and English Rule in Ireland, 1537–1586. Dublin, Ireland: Four Courts, 2002.
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  691. A fine study of Gerald Fitzgerald, the eleventh Earl of Kildare, whose great house was destroyed by Henry after the rebellion of Silken Thomas in 1534–1536. Carey’s book focuses on Fitzgerald’s subsequent efforts to recover his ancestral inheritance while navigating a role for himself within the Pale, and as a middleman attempting to serve Crown policy while maintaining his Catholic identity and family position.
  692. Find this resource:
  693. Ellis, Steven G. Tudor Frontiers and Noble Power: The Making of the British State. Oxford: Clarendon, 1995.
  694. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201335.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  695. A study of the Tudor borderlands and political relations among England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The administration of the borders—including the borders between the English Pale and the rest of Ireland, and the western march in northern England—is given prominence, particularly in light of the problems those regions presented to Henry VIII as well as the other Tudors.
  696. Find this resource:
  697. Ellis, Steven G. Ireland in the Age of the Tudors, 1447–1603: English Expansion and the End of Gaelic Rule. 2d ed. Longman History of Ireland. London and New York: Longman, 1998.
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  699. A narrative of Tudor involvement in Ireland, revised and expanded from an earlier volume. Ellis leans heavily on administrative history, focusing primarily on the colonial community and Anglo-Irish relations rather than on Gaelic Ireland, Henry’s reign is addressed in the claim of the title of king, the attempts to impose the Reformation program, the dissolution of the monasteries in Ireland, and the handling of the rebellion of Silken Thomas.
  700. Find this resource:
  701. Maginn, Christopher. “‘Surrender and Regrant’ in the Historiography of Sixteenth-Century Ireland.” Sixteenth Century Journal 38.4 (2007): 955–974.
  702. DOI: 10.2307/20478623Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  703. A good assessment of Henry’s policy of “surrender and regrant,” in which dozens of Gaelic and Old English nobles were asked to surrender their lands to the king in return for those lands being returned to them as freeholds. This “conciliatory” policy of integrating the Irish into the Tudor system elicited a number of interpretations, which Maginn explores.
  704. Find this resource:
  705. Moody, Theodore W., Francis X. Martin, and Francis J. Byrne. A New History of Ireland. Vol. 3, Early Modern Ireland, 1534–1691. Oxford: Clarendon, 1976.
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  707. Part of an ambitious multivolumed project, this collection of studies examines the case of early modern Ireland, with some very important contributions related to transformations under the Tudors, and developments during and in the wake of Henry. Republished as recently as 2009 (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
  708. Find this resource:
  709. The Kingdom of Scotland
  710.  
  711. Like Ireland but also vastly different, the kingdom to the north also caused England some serious difficulty, particularly in its rival kingship and systems of government and in its alliances with France. Donaldson 1965 explores the reigns of James V through James VII, including early relations with Henry, while Wormald 1981 offers an examination of Scotland in the 16th century, but with references to relations with England. Head 1982, meanwhile, reassesses Scottish policy toward England, while Mason 2004 evaluates the events that led up to and through the reign of Elizabeth with regard to the idea of union and the fashioning of a united Britain. For a more comprehensive narrative treatment of the “rough wooings,” or military engagements between Scotland and England in the 1540s, Merriman 2000 provides one of the most detailed studies, accounting for the role of France as well.
  712.  
  713. Donaldson, Gordon. Scotland: James V to James VII. Edinburgh History of Scotland 3. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1965.
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  715. An important contribution that extends across the 16th and 17th centuries, important here for its tracing of Anglo-Scottish relations through the reign of Henry and James IV and after. Republished as recently as 1994 (Edinburgh: Mercat).
  716. Find this resource:
  717. Goodwin, George. Fatal Rivalry: Flodden, 1513; Henry VIII, James IV and the Battle for Renaissance Britain. New York: W. W. Norton, 2013.
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  719. An excellent early-21st-century account of one of Scotland’s greatest military defeats, and the vicious rivalry between Henry and James IV that spurred it on. Goodwin’s treatment of the lavish and antagonistic Renaissance courts is particularly effective, as is his narrative of the battle and its devastating aftermath.
  720. Find this resource:
  721. Head, David M. “Henry VIII’s Scottish Policy: A Reassessment.” Scottish Historical Review 61.171 (1982): 1–24.
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  723. Head argues that Henry, contrary to advancing an incoherent policy toward his northern kingdom, actually sought to preserve an Anglo-Scottish peace in order to pursue his interests elsewhere. Dynastic claims and demands for overlordship were only part of this strategy.
  724. Find this resource:
  725. Mason, Roger A. “Scotland, Elizabethan England and the Idea of Britain.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th ser. 14 (2004): 279–293.
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  727. Though Mason focuses primarily on the reign of Elizabeth, this well-written essay nevertheless serves as a valuable addition to studies regarding the idea of Anglo-Scottish dynastic union, with a good exploration of the two kingdoms’ relations during the reigns of Henry and James IV and V. Henry’s “aggressive pursuit of his objectives” (p. 283) only intensified with the death of James V and accession to the throne of Mary, thus strengthening Scottish resistance to union.
  728. Find this resource:
  729. Merriman, Marcus. The Rough Wooings: Mary Queen of Scots, 1542–1551. East Linton, UK: Tuckwell, 2000.
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  731. A narrative study of Scottish political culture, dynasticism, and foreign relations among Scotland, England, and France, particularly during the phase of the “rough wooing,” or Henry’s military campaigns in the northern kingdom. Merriman emphasizes what he believes to be those wars’ ultimate futility, given England’s inadequate military supplies, finances, and inability to meet Scottish resistance, particularly among the nobility.
  732. Find this resource:
  733. Wormald, Jenny. Court, Kirk and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625. New History of Scotland 4. London: Arnold, 1981.
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  735. An outstanding study of Scotland’s developing and complex political structures over the course of the 16th century. Though focused primarily on Scotland’s internal history, the country to the south is addressed as well.
  736. Find this resource:
  737. Military Enterprises
  738.  
  739. A number of excellent studies exist on the subject of Henry’s muscular military policy, meant to aggrandize England and exert itself against its Continental enemies. Hammer 2003 explores the background to the author’s main topic of Elizabeth, by providing an analysis of English warfare beginning in Henry’s final decade. Richardson 2002 provides an inventory of the arms and armor amassed over the course of his reign, while Raymond 2007 investigates the armies he sponsored. James Raymond also examines the place of Henry’s militarization within a larger European context, as does Fissel 2001 in a longer history. Gunn, et al. 2007 also contextualizes Henry’s military policies, but with regard to state building and in a wider international context. Oppenheim 1896 is the classic work on Henry’s navy, with Loades 1992 providing a more recent estimation of the vast and transformative administrative effort placed on such an enterprise, and Moorhouse 2005 embarking on a more popular account. Phillips 1999 also explores Henry’s military, in this case as it engaged against Scotland in a wider international context, while Childs 2014 offers an overview of Henry’s key ship and symbol of Tudor maritime development, the Mary Rose.
  740.  
  741. Childs, David. The Warship Mary Rose: The Life and Times of King Henry VIII’s Flagship. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth, 2014.
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  743. A nicely illustrated and well-written account of Henry’s famous warship, which sank during a 1545 engagement with France and was raised in 1982. One of the better treatments of the ship and its archaeological identity, this volume also explores the numerous artifacts that were preserved in the ship, and what they revealed about military innovations of the time. Originally published in 2007 (London: Chatham).
  744. Find this resource:
  745. Fissel, Mark Charles. English Warfare 1511–1642. Warfare and History. London: Routledge, 2001.
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  747. Raising objections to the “early modern military revolution” thesis, this work nevertheless traces the transformations that marked warfare in England up to 1642. Analyses of siege warfare and the development of a distinctly English method of warfare are particularly valuable.
  748. Find this resource:
  749. Gunn, Steven, David Grummitt, and Hans Cools. War, State, and Society in England and the Netherlands, 1477–1559. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
  750. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207503.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  751. A collection of essays that offer a comparative study of warfare and the development of the state, particularly in England and the Burgundian lands. The financing and organizing of war during Henry’s reign, particularly as they affected bureaucratic state building, is given particular emphasis, especially as they relate to the same processes undertaken on the Continent.
  752. Find this resource:
  753. Hammer, Paul E. J. Elizabeth’s Wars: War, Government, and Society in Tudor England, 1544–1604. New York and London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
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  755. Though Hammer focuses on Elizabeth, this volume provides invaluable analysis of all aspects of English warfare extending back to Henry’s final military engagements with Scotland and France. Henry, according to Hammer, embarked on war for primarily dynastic reasons, though in the process he left the military—and treasury—in a dissipated state, despite the financial rewards he had received from such sources as the dissolution of the monasteries.
  756. Find this resource:
  757. Loades, David. The Tudor Navy: An Administrative, Political, and Military History. Studies in Naval History. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1992.
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  759. The first single-volume, comprehensive study of the navy since Oppenheim’s classic work (Oppenheim 1896), this wide-ranging evaluation tends to focus primarily on Elizabeth’s reign, though Henry’s massive shipbuilding projects and his three wars with France—which advanced naval administration considerably—merit extensive treatment.
  760. Find this resource:
  761. Moorhouse, Geoffrey. Great Harry’s Navy: How Henry VIII Gave England Sea Power. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005.
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  763. Inheriting five ships upon his accession to the throne, Henry would leave more than fifty vessels to his son and lay the foundation for what would become the Royal Navy. This popular book tells that story while also providing a larger contextualization about the foreign conflicts and political developments that gave rise to such a construction project.
  764. Find this resource:
  765. Oppenheim, Michael. A History of the Administration of the Royal Navy and Merchant Shipping in Relation to the Navy. Vol. 1, From MDIX to MDCLX. London and New York: John Lane, 1896.
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  767. Expending considerable time on the development and administrative history of the royal navy under Henry, this classic work examines Henry’s guiding hand in developing a lasting naval presence as a policy against Continental rivals. Reprinted as recently as 1970.
  768. Find this resource:
  769. Phillips, Gervase. The Anglo-Scots Wars, 1513–1550: A Military History. Warfare in History. Rochester, NY: Boydell, 1999.
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  771. Phillips’s work is perhaps the best study of the Anglo-Scottish conflicts of the early Tudor period, particularly as he places those wars in the larger context of early modern warfare and delineates Henry’s attempts to modernize his land forces. He also provides an exhaustive and detailed account of the military engagements that took place between the Battle of Flodden (1513) and the “rough wooing” in mid-century.
  772. Find this resource:
  773. Raymond, James. Henry VIII’s Military Revolution: The Armies of Sixteenth-Century Britain and Europe. International Library of Historical Studies 43. London: Tauris Academic, 2007.
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  775. Raymond emphasizes the place of Henry’s military program in the wider context of the European military revolution, with valuable new insights regarding army professionalization and new technology and artillery.
  776. Find this resource:
  777. Richardson, Thom. The Armour and Arms of Henry VIII. Leeds, UK: Royal Armouries, 2002.
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  779. A survey of the armors and weapons of Henry VIII from the Royal Armouries and other collections. The objects are significant for what they reveal about England’s interventions in Europe, as well as English innovations and patronage in the technologies of war.
  780. Find this resource:
  781. Family Relations
  782.  
  783. Henry’s marriages have generated the most attention in the popular imagination, but his relationship with his family—his father and mother, his siblings, and children—reveals as much about his character. Chrimes 1973 provides a still-valuable study of Henry VII, though Penn 2011 represents a more recent and popular offering. Okerlund 2009 directs its attention to Henry VII’s wife, Elizabeth of York, and her own role in shaping the court in which young Henry, her son, was raised. It was Arthur, Henry’s older brother, who was destined for the throne until his life was cut short by illness; the essays in Gunn and Monckton 2009 offer the best early-21st-century treatment of the Prince of Wales’ life and death. Henry’s sisters were also prominent if historically elusive actors over the course of his reign: Buchanan 1985 studies the life of Margaret, who married James IV of Scotland, followed by two more members of the Scottish nobility, with complications ensuing. Both sisters are comparatively studied, meanwhile, in Perry 2000. Henry’s own children, and the course of their upbringing with (or without) him, are explored in Guy 2013; John Guy also acknowledges—as did Henry—the illegitimate son he sired, Henry Fitzroy, who is treated in Murphy 2001. Since the late 20th century, Mary Tudor, Henry’s first legitimate child, has been rehabilitated from her unfortunate reputation; with regard to her relations with her father, Loades 2003 provides a good example of this revisionist approach, while Whitelock 2010 offers an even more modern account, focusing more than Loades 2003 on the early years. Loach 1999 is the best biography of Edward VI since the mid-1990s, its political and religious examinations balanced by detail on the influence of Henry on Edward. For Elizabeth, see “Elizabeth I” in Oxford Bibliographies; pertinent here, with regard to Elizabeth and her father, is Loades 2003, which delves into Elizabeth’s complex relationship with her father.
  784.  
  785. Buchanan, Patricia Hill. Margaret Tudor: Queen of Scots. Edinburgh and London: Scottish Academic Press, 1985.
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  787. The sister of Henry VIII, Margaret Tudor (b. 1489–d. 1541) was married three times, served as a regent for her son—the future king of Scotland—and navigated the tricky waters of Anglo-Scottish allegiances. This sometimes problematic biography presents her life and career, though the portrait that emerges is of an inconstant ruler, often made so by necessity or marriage.
  788. Find this resource:
  789. Chrimes, S. B. Henry VII. English Monarchs. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973.
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  791. The still-standard biography of the first Tudor monarch, a king who did not innovate so much as build on “existing foundations” as an “eclectic adopter and adapter” (p. 319). Some glimpses into Henry VII’s private life, including the mourning of his firstborn son, Arthur, are also described, just as his management of the treasury—later squandered by his other son, Henry—is detailed at length.
  792. Find this resource:
  793. Gunn, Steven J., and Linda Monckton, eds. Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales: Life, Death and Commemoration. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell and Brewer, 2009.
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  795. An excellent collection of essays centered on the private and public life of the “forgotten prince,” Henry’s older brother, who died in 1502. The preparation of Arthur for kingship, as well as his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, are examined, in addition to substantial explorations of his funeral and memorializations.
  796. Find this resource:
  797. Guy, John. The Children of Henry VIII. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
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  799. A relatively short but very readable account of Henry’s four “official” offspring (including Henry Fitzroy, the king’s acknowledged bastard son), particularly interesting for the manner in which it relates the childhood experiences of the king’s children and their often-fraught and distrustful relations with each other.
  800. Find this resource:
  801. Loach, Jennifer. Edward VI. Edited by George Bernard and Penry Williams. Yale English Monarchs. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999.
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  803. A late-20th-century interpretation of the young king and his reign, this study focuses on the political and religious developments of his reign (and his regents Somerset and Northumberland), though some attention is paid to his upbringing, and the influence of his father, manifested in a love of ceremonial display and intellectual pursuits.
  804. Find this resource:
  805. Loades, David. Elizabeth I. London and New York: Hambledon & London, 2003.
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  807. As with numerous other biographies, this portrait of the queen focuses on the reign, though it is important here for its details regarding young Elizabeth’s connections with her mother, Anne Boleyn, and her relations with her father and siblings.
  808. Find this resource:
  809. Murphy, Beverley A. Bastard Prince: Henry VIII’s Lost Son. Stroud, UK: Sutton, 2001.
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  811. Born to Henry and his mistress Elizabeth Blunt in 1519, Henry Fitzroy (later named the first Duke of Richmond and Somerset) was the king’s only acknowledged bastard son, though there were others. This is a popular study, though effective in describing the life of the boy, who died aged seventeen, and the unsuccessful attempts to crown him as heir.
  812. Find this resource:
  813. Okerlund, Arlene Naylor. Elizabeth of York. Queenship and Power. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
  814. DOI: 10.1057/9780230100657Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  815. A much-needed biography of Henry VIII’s mother, and her role in legitimizing the new Tudor dynasty, even if she found herself subservient to her mother-in-law, Margaret Beaufort. A careful examination of contemporaneous documents is combined with gender analysis of this elusive queen and the world over which she presided.
  816. Find this resource:
  817. Penn, Thomas. Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011.
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  819. A popular rather than scholarly work—though acknowledging current scholarship on the subject—this hefty volume nevertheless provides a comprehensive treatment of the first Tudor king, who is presented as subject to avarice, paranoia, and Machiavellian scheming.
  820. Find this resource:
  821. Perry, Maria. The Sisters of Henry VIII: The Tumultuous Lives of Margaret of Scotland and Mary of France. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo, 2000.
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  823. A uneven though detailed comparative biography of Henry’s two sisters, illuminating dynastic politics (including marital politics) and Tudor court life.
  824. Find this resource:
  825. Whitelock, Anna. Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard, Queen. New York: Random House, 2010.
  826. DOI: 10.1057/9780230111950Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  827. A very good and sympathetic reassessment of Mary Tudor, with pertinent material on her early life, her relationship with Henry, her education and upbringing at court, and her disinheritance and life after the declaration of bastardy. For a balanced political biography that focuses on her reign, see David Loades’s Mary Tudor: A Life (Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, 1989).
  828. Find this resource:
  829. The Six Wives of Henry VIII
  830.  
  831. The soap opera that encompasses Henry’s six marriages and his treatment of the first five wives has accounted for much of his historical legacy, at least in the popular consciousness. But a few of the women—notably, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, and Katherine Parr—were important to his reign and have merited much-deserved biographical treatments in their own right. Fraser 1992 provides a popular account of all the wives, while Loades 2000 probes into the political context behind the marriages; Starkey 2003 is also oriented toward a popular audience, as the author also argues in favor of the queens’ influence. For individual biographies, Mattingly 1960 was one of the first portraits to argue for Catherine of Aragon’s agency in politics and at court, with Tremlett 2010 providing a more recent approach. Ives 2005 remains an unsurpassed portrait of Anne Boleyn, while Warnicke 1989 revises Eric Ives’s views with new if controversial perspectives. Bernard 2010, however, attempts to demolish these understandings of Anne with (historically grounded) claims of his own, while Bordo 2013 provides an overview of her popular reception and afterlife. Finally, James 1999 offers an excellent biography of Katherine Parr, Henry’s last queen.
  832.  
  833. Bernard, G. W. Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010.
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  835. A sometimes cantankerous treatment of other historians’ views of Anne Boleyn, this work seeks to revise—not without controversy—understandings of Henry’s second wife. Among Bernard’s more noteworthy claims is that Anne was not an evangelical who influenced the Protestantism of the English Church, and that some of the charges of adultery against her might have been plausible. Nevertheless, her substantial role in the annulment is maintained.
  836. Find this resource:
  837. Bordo, Susan. The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England’s Most Notorious Queen. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
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  839. Primarily an exploration of Anne’s afterlife, this study examines biographies, polemical works, novels, and films in order to understand the many guises (whore, evangelical, martyr, feminist) that the queen assumed in the public imagination, in her lifetime and after her death.
  840. Find this resource:
  841. Fraser, Antonia. The Six Wives of Henry VIII. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1992.
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  843. A popular and vividly written collective biography of Henry’s wives, with illustrations. Fraser seeks to counter popular misconceptions and stereotypes of the wives, redeeming each for posterity.
  844. Find this resource:
  845. Ives, Eric. The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn: “The Most Happy.” Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2005.
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  847. A classic and even-handed biography of the misunderstood queen, emphasizing her education and training at the courts of Margaret of Austria and Queen Claude of France as well as her role in the factional intrigues that led to the decline in power of Thomas Wolsey, her subsequent marriage to Henry, and her ultimate downfall. Ives is particularly good at demythologizing the queen and addressing her legacy over the centuries.
  848. Find this resource:
  849. James, Susan E. Kateryn Parr: The Making of a Queen. Women and Gender in Early Modern England, 1500–1750. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1999.
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  851. The only wife who managed to survive Henry’s capricious ways, Kateryn Parr has received much scholarly attention since the late 20th century for her piety, educational influence, and learnedness. This biography stands as one of the most well-researched and comprehensive treatments of the king’s last queen, particularly good on placing her within her family network as well as her substantial presence in royal and political affairs.
  852. Find this resource:
  853. Loades, David. Henry VIII and His Queens. Stroud, UK: Sutton, 2000.
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  855. A narrative of the lives of Henry’s wives, particularly the political realities that underlay the marriages.
  856. Find this resource:
  857. Mattingly, Garrett. Catherine of Aragon. New York: Vintage, 1960.
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  859. A justifiably praised biography of Henry’s Spanish queen, portraying her as a forceful presence and one who served an important function in the political and cultural life of Henry’s early reign. Mattingly perhaps exaggerates her importance to English history, though his treatment of the divorce is particularly insightful.
  860. Find this resource:
  861. Starkey, David. Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.
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  863. An accessible book (with no bibliography and few footnotes) intended for a popular audience, and one that attempts to revise understandings of Henry’s queens by asserting their importance and influence in foreign policy, religious developments, and politics. Anne Boleyn, however, is presented as the most important queen with regard to the role she played in Henry’s life and governance.
  864. Find this resource:
  865. Tremlett, Giles. Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen. London: Faber & Faber, 2010.
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  867. A good and accessible treatment of Catherine, utilizing fresh material and placing her in the context of early-21st-century interpretations of the Reformation in England. Catherine is portrayed as taking an active role in executive government, first as the Spanish ambassador to England, through to her role in waging war on Scotland, and finally regarding her resistance to the divorce.
  868. Find this resource:
  869. Warnicke, Retha M. The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
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  871. A revision of Eric Ives’s biographical interpretation, this work places Anne in her family context while attributing gender rather than faction as the leading cause of her downfall. Warnicke’s claims—for example, that Anne was the victim of a witch hunt rather than a political struggle—have merited some controversy among historians, however.
  872. Find this resource:
  873. Culture and the Royal Court
  874.  
  875. Court culture was a highly charged political matter for Henry, who innovated the royal and courtly projections of power so distinct to Renaissance monarchies, and the Tudors particularly. Thurley 2003 offers an excellent overview of the building of Hampton Court Palace, while Starkey 1991 looks at Henry’s palace at Greenwich. String 2008 examines the varied ways in which Henry utilized visual media at court, with Campbell 2007 and Hayward 2007 focusing on the tapestries and on dress, respectively. Sicca and Waldman 2012 is a collection of essays that explore the interconnections between Italian sculptors and painters and the patronage of Henry and members of his court, particularly as they made themselves felt at the palace of Nonesuch. Stevens 1979 explores music and song at Henry’s court, with Fallows 2014 offering music composed by Henry and others in the early years of his court.
  876.  
  877. Campbell, Thomas C. Henry VIII and the Art of Majesty: Tapestries at the Tudor Court. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007.
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  879. An analysis, with critical commentary, of Henry’s extensive collection of inherited, acquired, and commissioned tapestries and their use in various contexts, including pageants and festivities. For Campbell, Henry’s tapestries were central in conveying images of kingship throughout his reign, and as such were the most important mode of visual projection available to him.
  880. Find this resource:
  881. Fallows, David, ed. The Henry VIII Book (British Library, Add. MS 31922): Facsimile. DIAMM Facsimiles 4. Oxford: DIAMM Publications, 2014.
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  883. Thirty-three compositions by Henry are collected in this facsimile manuscript edition, alongside other selections of music that involved the king. Includes a very useful introduction by Fallows that describes and contextualizes the music and provides the contextual background in which they were written.
  884. Find this resource:
  885. Hayward, Maria, ed. Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII. Leeds, UK: Maney, 2007.
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  887. The first (and unsurpassed) study of Tudor court dress, reconstructing the wardrobes of Henry, his wives and children, and their servants. Extensive documentation and inventories as well as accounts of cost outlays are made in this invaluable study of the importance dress played in conveying royal power.
  888. Find this resource:
  889. Sicca, Cinzia Maria, and Louis A. Waldman, eds. The Anglo-Florentine Renaissance: Art for the Early Tudors. Studies in British Art 22. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
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  891. A lavishly illustrated collection of essays that explore Henry and his court’s patronage of Florentine sculptors and painters, reflecting an ambition to project a new worldliness and legitimacy on the international stage. Henry’s palace of Nonesuch is the particular focus of this volume, which emphasizes the connections between Italy and England in the pursuit of a new kind of politics.
  892. Find this resource:
  893. Starkey, David, ed. Henry VIII: A European Court in England. London: Collins & Brown, 1991.
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  895. A exhibit catalogue detailing Henry’s palace at Greenwich and evoking the lavishness and splendor of his court and patronage in a place that hosted important events—births, christenings, marriages—over the course of his reign.
  896. Find this resource:
  897. Stevens, John E. Music and Poetry in the Early Tudor Court. 2d ed. Cambridge Studies in Music. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
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  899. This study, based on three manuscript song books that contain all that is known of early Tudor song, extends further to explore music and poetry, music at court, early Tudor lyric, the courtly lyric, the impact of the Reformation, professional musicians, and other topics. With useful appendixes. Reprinted as recently as 2009.
  900. Find this resource:
  901. String, Tatiana C. Art and Communication in the Reign of Henry VIII. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2008.
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  903. An excellent study of the manner in which visual projections conveyed meaning to the king’s subjects, focusing on murals (including the Whitehall mural), portraits, prints, and other royally commissioned works.
  904. Find this resource:
  905. Thurley, Simon. Hampton Court: A Social and Architectural History. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003.
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  907. An impressive history of Hampton Court from its very beginnings in the 14th century, important here for the attention paid to the extensive building activities undertaken during Henry’s reign.
  908. Find this resource:
  909. Iconography and Royal Processions
  910.  
  911. The pioneering work of Roy Strong in the 1960s contributed immensely to studies of the Tudor use of culture and iconography as a means by which to project authority and power in an age lacking modern mechanisms of enforcement. Anglo 1997 explores spectacle and pageantry, and King 1989 studies Tudor iconography, including in Henry’s reign. Loach 1994 evaluates the meaning of power in royal ceremonials, as does Strong 1995. Anglo 1992 also probes Tudor images, while Brooke and Crombie 2003 and Strong 1967 focus on Holbein more specifically. Finally, Foister 2004 offers an account of Holbein the Younger, and the importance of his role in the visual iconography of Tudor kingship and power.
  912.  
  913. Anglo, Sydney. Images of Tudor Kingship. London: Seaby, 1992.
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  915. A well-written examination of royal image making, seeking in part to debunk overdetermined readings of its symbolism and its presumed wide dissemination among the populace. Later Tudor monarchies are treated, though Henry is given some consideration even as he—and his successors—did not, for Anglo, pursue any specific strategy for advancing a monarchical cult.
  916. Find this resource:
  917. Anglo, Sydney. Spectacle, Pageantry, and Early Tudor Policy. 2d ed. Oxford-Warburg Studies. Oxford: Clarendon, 1997.
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  919. A renowned (though criticized) series of articles on early Tudor progresses, marriage processions, and royal entries, with particularly interesting essays on the Field of Cloth of Gold, Charles V’s visit to England in 1522, and Thomas Wolsey’s use of such events for his own aggrandizement. The relationship of these ceremonials to foreign and domestic policies is emphasized.
  920. Find this resource:
  921. Brooke, Xanthe, and David Crombie. Henry VIII Revealed: Holbein’s Portrait and Its Legacy. London: Paul Holberton, 2003.
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  923. Centered on a full-sized portrait of the king (then just recently restored) as well as five additional painted sources inspired or painted by Holbein, this well-illustrated exhibition catalogue provides in-depth analysis of English visual culture and power as well as changing interpretations of Henry’s image in his time and after.
  924. Find this resource:
  925. Foister, Susan. Holbein and England. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004.
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  927. A groundbreaking study of Holbein the Younger’s presence and influence in England from 1526 to 1528 and 1532 to 1543. A survey is also given of other foreign-born artistic presences in England during Henry’s age, and their impact on visual culture as well as the fashioning of a Renaissance king in Henry.
  928. Find this resource:
  929. King, John N. Tudor Royal Iconography: Literature and Art in an Age of Religious Crisis. Princeton Essays on the Arts. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989.
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  931. An important work that examines the symbolisms embedded in Tudor royal iconography, with explorations of Henry’s court portraits and use of religious imagery, as well as his emphasis on the sword of royal authority and other motifs.
  932. Find this resource:
  933. Loach, Jennifer. “The Function of Ceremonial in the Reign of Henry VIII.” Past & Present 142 (1994): 43–68.
  934. DOI: 10.1093/past/142.1.43Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  935. A study of English court pageantry that attempts to correct previous misinterpretations by arguing that they served above all to “bind together the ruler and his most important subjects” (p. 44); namely, the nobility and clergy. The previously overlooked coronation and funeral of Henry are the focus of this valuable essay.
  936. Find this resource:
  937. Strong, Roy. Holbein and Henry VIII. Studies in British Art. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967.
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  939. A classic work that focuses more than Foister 2004 on Holbein’s specific relationship with Henry’s patronage, and his construction of the Whitehall mural (destroyed by fire in 1698), which contributed in a larger sense to the development of Tudor visual propaganda.
  940. Find this resource:
  941. Strong, Roy. The Tudor and Stuart Monarchy: Pageantry, Painting, Iconography. Vol. 1, Tudor. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1995.
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  943. Written by the foremost art historian of Tudor-Stuart England, this work consists of articles that center on the cultural context of Tudor political monarchy. Strong extends into other reigns, though Henry is treated in a number of essays.
  944. Find this resource:
  945. Literature
  946.  
  947. The literary artifacts of Henry’s reign have not received the kind of praise or attention given to those of his daughter Elizabeth, but studies since the late 20th century have nevertheless abounded, redeeming the age on its own terms and offering innovative readings of texts influenced by the king. Carley 2004 provides a good inventory of Henry’s library. Fox 1989 is a fine introduction to the literature of the early Tudors, and Herman 1994 provides an excellent reassessment over the course of its contributors’ essays. King 1982 is a classic work, though it focuses more on Edward’s reign, while Lerer 1997 probes the messages and meanings behind courtly literature in Henry’s time. Walker 2005 studies the role of humanists who found themselves writing under the somewhat oppressive eye of their king. Finally, Walker 1988 provides a fine study of John Skelton, while Brigden 2012 offers a monumental biography and literary examination of one of the age’s greatest poets, Thomas Wyatt; Wyatt’s poetry is also examined in Rossiter 2014, but specifically through the lens of his diplomatic sojourns. Kewes, et al. 2013 provides another early-21st-century contribution of many essays, in this case relating to the Chronicles of Raphael Holinshed.
  948.  
  949. Brigden, Susan. Thomas Wyatt: The Heart’s Forest. London: Faber & Faber, 2012.
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  951. A huge and definitive biography of the great if slippery courtier-poet, with close textual readings of the poems as well as a larger historical contextualization of Wyatt’s life and times. Particularly noteworthy is the attention paid to Wyatt’s dramatic diplomatic career, as well as to the political and literary world of the 1530s.
  952. Find this resource:
  953. Carley, James P. The Books of King Henry VIII and His Wives. London: British Library, 2004.
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  955. A revealing inventory of the king’s books and their eventual formation into the royal library. While not a particularly dedicated collector of books, Henry nevertheless left a substantial bibliophilic trail across libraries in Greenwich, Hampton Court, and Whitehall, which Carley then traces to printed sources in the British Library. With introduction and indexes.
  956. Find this resource:
  957. Fox, Alistair. Politics and Literature in the Reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989.
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  959. A good introduction of the major writers in Henry’s reign, including John Skelton, Thomas More, and Thomas Wyatt, as well as more-obscure wordsmiths. Fox argues that their work was inseparable from politics and patronage, though other influences such as humanism are given consideration.
  960. Find this resource:
  961. Herman, Peter C., ed. Rethinking the Henrician Era: Essays on Early Tudor Texts and Contexts. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994.
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  963. A useful collection that recovers the particular distinction of literature in the Henrician age, with Wyatt meriting the most coverage alongside other essays relating to dance at court, imagery of the king, the role of women in More’s Utopia, and Skelton’s anti-Wolsey satires.
  964. Find this resource:
  965. Kewes, Paulina, Ian W. Archer, and Felicity Heal, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Holinshed’s Chronicles. Oxford Handbooks. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
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  967. An huge and outstanding collection of essays by leading scholars who offer literary, historical, and religious perspectives to various facets of Holinshed’s great work. Early-21st-century interpretations and revisions are brought to bear on the Chronicles, in a highly useful, standard reference work both for students and scholars.
  968. Find this resource:
  969. King, John N. English Reformation Literature: The Tudor Origins of the Protestant Tradition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982.
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  971. Seeking to recover the neglected topic of literature during the early Tudor age, this important book focuses primarily on Edward’s reign, though writers such as the Earl of Surrey and Wyatt are treated as well.
  972. Find this resource:
  973. Lerer, Seth. Courtly Letters in the Age of Henry VIII: Literary Culture and the Arts of Deceit. Cambridge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture 18. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
  974. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511582004Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  975. A worthy study of courtly poetry and the manner in which courtly poets modeled themselves on the character of Pandarus in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde: erotic, secretive, counseling. Texts by Stephen Hawes, Skelton, Wyatt, and Anne Boleyn are given close readings.
  976. Find this resource:
  977. Rossiter, William T. Wyatt Abroad: Tudor Diplomacy and the Translation of Power. Studies in Renaissance Literature 32. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell & Brewer, 2014.
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  979. An exploration of Wyatt’s dual roles as poet and diplomat, and the manner in which they influenced each other, with analyses of poems written during and influenced by Wyatt’s ambassadorial residencies in France, Italy, and elsewhere.
  980. Find this resource:
  981. Walker, Greg. John Skelton and the Politics of the 1520s. Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
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  983. An archivally based study of the king’s great poet and orator, specifically focusing on Skelton’s opaque (and then open) satiric 1521–1522 attacks against Wolsey, who then offered him patronage.
  984. Find this resource:
  985. Walker, Greg. Writing under Tyranny: English Literature and the Henrician Reformation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
  986. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283330.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  987. Presenting Henry as a self-interested tyrant, Walker explores the works of humanists who attempted to modify their king’s excesses as a call of counsel and duty. Forced by their circumstances to work in alternative styles—satire, the lyric, the biblical paraphrase—the result, Walker writes, was a “revolution in English literary culture” of the 1530s and 1540s” (p. 417).
  988. Find this resource:
  989. Shakespeare’s Henry VIII
  990.  
  991. Written in 1613, in possible collaboration with John Fletcher, Henry VIII combined history and the tragicomic romance to tell the story of the royal court in the late 15th and 16th centuries. The following is but a sample of the works relating to the play, with Felperin 1966 exploring the play’s use of myth, and Rankin 2011 the role of Henry in the context of the Jacobean court. Finally, Rackin 1990 places the play in the contexts of other chronicles, while McJannet 1988 provides a useful bibliography (up to 1988) of studies related to the play.
  992.  
  993. Felperin, Howard. “Shakespeare’s Henry VIII: History as Myth.” In Special Issue: Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama. Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900 6.2 (1966): 225–246.
  994. DOI: 10.2307/449634Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  995. Attempts to treat the then-critical neglect or dismissal of Shakespeare’s final play by arguing that Shakespeare uses the work to ask “that we revive our conventional notions of historical truth, even of mimetic truth itself” (p. 227).
  996. Find this resource:
  997. McJannet, Linda, comp. Henry VIII: An Annotated Bibliography. Garland Shakespeare Bibliographies 15. London: Garland, 1988.
  998. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  999. A comprehensive overview of the scholarly works written on Shakespeare’s play prior to 1988.
  1000. Find this resource:
  1001. Rackin, Phyllis. Stages of History: Shakespeare’s English Chronicles. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1990.
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  1003. A well-informed work on Shakespeare’s history plays, which constitute “generic hybrids” (p. 222), reflecting “the progress of Renaissance historiography . . . towards an increasingly self-conscious and skeptical attitudes, not only toward its subject but also toward the very process of its historical production” (p. 61). Shakespeare’s Henry VIII is given effective treatment in this analysis.
  1004. Find this resource:
  1005. Rankin, Mark. “Henry VIII, Shakespeare, and the Jacobean Royal Court.” Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900 51.2 (2011): 349–366.
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  1007. A excellent article that explores the early Stuart appropriations of Henry VIII by playwrights such as Shakespeare, particularly as it fashions completing narratives of the Henrician Reformation that serve present interests.
  1008. Find this resource:
  1009. In Popular Culture
  1010.  
  1011. The representation of Henry in popular culture began in his own times, in ballads and other forms of expression. He—and his wives—have also served as the inspiration for novelists, though no study has explored this lively genre. The following works largely treat his presence in the cinema, with Walker 2003 providing an excellent analysis of The Private Lives of Henry VIII (1933), and Doran and Freeman 2008 exploring cinematic representations of Henry as well as his Tudor and Stuart successors. Betteridge 2009 is a short essay that provides a more encompassing range of popular sources.
  1012.  
  1013. Betteridge, Thomas. “Henry VIII and Popular Culture.” In Henry VIII and His Afterlives: Literature, Politics, and Art. Edited by Mark Rankin, Christopher Highley, and John N. King, 208–222. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
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  1015. A very good essay on Henry’s afterlife in popular histories, film, and other representations.
  1016. Find this resource:
  1017. Doran, Susan, and Thomas S. Freeman, eds. Tudors and Stuarts on Film: Historical Perspectives. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
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  1019. Offering contributions by historians—though not film scholars— this collection of essays contains some worthwhile essays on such films as A Man for All Seasons and Anne of a Thousand Days, though most pieces are devoted to coverage of Elizabeth.
  1020. Find this resource:
  1021. Walker, Greg. The Private Life of Henry VIII. British Film Guide 8. London: Taurus, 2003.
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  1023. An excellent analysis of the British film The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933): how it came to be filmed, Charles Laughton’s performance, its comedic sensibility, and its modern frames of reference.
  1024. Find this resource:
  1025. Reputation and Afterlife
  1026.  
  1027. Biographies and studies of Henry often address the issue of the king’s legacy and importance, but the following are more-recent explorations of his historical significance, memory, and afterlife. Hoak 2009 examines his legacy through different facets of his reign, while Marshall 2009 provides a survey of historians’ view of him in modernity.
  1028.  
  1029. Hoak, Dale. “The Legacy of Henry VIII.” In Henry VIII and His Afterlives: Literature, Politics, and Art. Edited by Mark Rankin, Christopher Highley, and John N. King, 53–72. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
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  1031. A study of Henry’s legacy through the prism of modernity, magnificence—specifically, his understanding of the use of royal magnificence—and his character.
  1032. Find this resource:
  1033. Marshall, Peter. “Henry VIII and the Modern Historians: The Making of a Twentieth-Century Reputation.” In Henry VIII and His Afterlives: Literature, Politics, and Art. Edited by Mark Rankin, Christopher Highley, and John N. King, 246–265. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
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  1035. An excellent and entertaining overview of modern historians and their take on Henry, beginning with J. A. Froude, continuing through A. F. Pollard and G. R. Elton, and assessing the state of historical scholarship on Henry today.
  1036. Find this resource:
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