Henry VIII by Alison Weir Read Free Book Online Page A

gardener who gave him a drink of water, £1 to a priest who preached before him, a total of £4.17s.4d to divers poor people who brought him “capons, hens, books of wax and other trifles,” and £2 to a man who won a wager by eating a whole buck at one sitting. 24 Wherever he went, the poor waited for his charity, and he would patiently listen to their tales of woe. One William Kebet had lost his job and was “fallen in poverty and decay,” and Henry succoured him with £5 on one occasion and £4 on another. He donated £5 to another man “like to be lost,” £3.6s to a needy father of thirteen, and a further sum of money so that a poor woman could redeem her husband from debtor’s prison. He also gave funds to his jester “for his surgery when sick in London,” and to his groom, Thomas, “to relieve him in his sickness.” 25
    Henry VIII’s popularity did not wane with time, and it survived his reforms and his cruelties: his subjects generally revered him as a great king who had England’s interests at heart.

4
    â€œThis Magnificent, Excellent and Triumphant Court”
    The court was not just the palace where the King resided but also the people and the household that surrounded him. It was at the centre of affairs, and it revolved around the man who was the fount of all power, honours, and patronage.
    The fifteenth century had witnessed a steady decline in the court’s prestige; the weak Henry VI had failed to maintain “a worshipful and great household,” 1 and there was consequently less honour and status in being attached to the royal service.
    Henry’s successor, Edward IV, had visited the court of Burgundy, with which England enjoyed good trading and political links, and from about 1471 he modelled his court along Burgundian lines, as did other western European rulers. The unprecedented splendour of the great banquets and tournaments at the English court reflected the practice in Burgundy, where the cult of chivalry had enjoyed a revival. It was in imitation of the Toison d’Or, or the Golden Fleece, an order of knighthood founded by Duke Philip the Good in 1430, that Edward IV and his successors revived the Order of the Garter, with its chivalric association with St. George, England’s patron saint. Entertainments, sports, and etiquette at the English court all began to follow the highly refined Burgundian pattern, and the King became a lavish patron of the arts. All was designed to emphasise the authority and magnificence of the sovereign, and it brought about a resurgence of the importance of the court itself.
    This new perception of the court and the royal status heralded changes in the constitution of the royal household, which would be designed not just for the display of magnificence but also for the needs of monarchs who had an increasing desire for privacy.
    Although Henry VII had a reputation for parsimony, he understood the value of display: like Edward IV, he built fine palaces and spent vast sums on dazzling occasions and entertainments, and although he was no great patron of the arts like Edward IV or Henry VIII, his court was never dull. “He knew well how to maintain his royal majesty and all that appertains to kingship,” wrote Polydore Vergil.
    Henry VIII’s court was the most “magnificent, excellent and triumphant” 2 in English history. First and foremost the King’s house, it also became the political and cultural hub of the nation, a seat of government, a sophisticated arts centre, and a meeting place of scholars, all in a setting of unprecedented splendour. As the focus of society at large, the court set the fashion in every aspect of English life. It was also a military academy for the noble elite, who could be called upon to defend the realm at any time, and many of its pleasures had a martial content.
    At first, Burgundian influence prevailed at Henry’s court. Henry VII