Henry VIII by Alison Weir Read Free Book Online

averse to intrigue, but he was not so suggestible as to let them utterly usurp his prerogative. He never forgot that his was the ultimate authority.
    Many historians have claimed that Henry grew more ruthless and bloodthirsty only as he got older, yet in 1510 he coolly executed his father’s hated ministers, Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley, in the interests of political expediency, and similarly eliminated the Earl of Suffolk in 1513. John Stow claimed that during his reign he executed seventy thousand people, although this is certainly a gross exaggeration. It proves, however, that Henry had gained a reputation for cruelty by the end of his life, and it is true that he did not scruple to remove—often by savage means—those who opposed him.
    Henry had an eye for detail. “He wants to have his feet in a thousand shoes,” commented a Milanese envoy. 17 Little escaped his scrutiny. His encyclopaedic knowledge was an advantage when it came to briefing ambassadors or intervening in disputes, and he made sure he was kept up-to-date on events. When told by French envoys that ten thousand Swiss troops had been killed at the Battle of Marignano in 1515, the King replied that that was remarkable, since only ten thousand soldiers had fought in the battle. 18
    Henry had international ambitions, and he was determined to play a prominent role in Europe. He was “rich, ferocious and greedy for glory,” 19 desiring nothing more than to display his knightly skills at the head of an army and win honour and renown for himself by reopening the Hundred Years War and winning back the lands his predecessors had lost in France, lands Henry believed to be his by right. “The new King is magnificent, liberal, and a great enemy of the French,” commented a Venetian ambassador in 1509. 20 At this time, Ferdinand of Aragon was Henry’s ally, but time would prove Ferdinand untrustworthy.
    Henry’s hatred of the French festered. In 1510, learning that his councillors had written in his name to Louis XII offering friendship and peace, he shouted: “Who wrote this letter? I ask peace of the King of France, who dare not look me in the face, still less make war on me?” Then he stormed out of the room and proceeded to insult the French ambassador by inviting him to watch a tournament but making sure he had nowhere to sit. Eventually a cushion was provided, and the envoy had to watch the King displaying his martial prowess. 21
    Henry was a focus for the growing nationalism of his people, and he enjoyed an instinctive rapport with many of his subjects. “Love for the King is universal with all who see him, as His Highness does not seem a person of this world but one descended from Heaven,” observed a Venetian. 22 In 1513, another Italian wrote, “He is very popular with his own people, and indeed with all, for his qualities.” 23 Henry’s hearty charm and affability won him golden opinions, although he was never referred to as Bluff King Hal in his lifetime, only later. Erasmus found him to be “more of a companion than a king.”
    Henry revelled in his popularity; he was a consummate showman who understood the value of being accessible to his subjects, and who made sure, in his early years, that he had a highly visible profile. The public were allowed into his palaces to watch tournaments, processions, or the great court entertainments, and it was not unheard of for Henry to go into London in disguise to mingle among them. And of course a large number of his subjects saw him when he went on progress.
    Many of those subjects brought the King gifts in the expectation of a reward; indeed, such largesse, or tipping, was expected of a monarch. Lots of the offerings were humble, such as herbs, green peas, or live foxes, and many were foodstuffs, such as orange pies, fruit, pheasants, salmon, or baked lampreys, which were known to be one of his favourite foods. The King gave 6d to a