(Cover image – Unknown Artist – The National Portrait Gallery)
Henry VIII’s probably one of the most recognisable monarchs in the whole world and yet he wasn’t meant to rule. He was never groomed to be King since that role would be fulfilled by his older brother Arthur, who did spend his short life preparing himself to succeed Henry VII. But Arthur died, Henry VII died too and suddenly, 17 year-old Henry was now King.
Now you may remember him as an overweight tyrant who changed wives more than briefs and broke it off with Catholic Rome, but it wasn’t like that at the very beginning. He immediately took Arthur’s widow as a wife, hoping to repeat his father’s story and get an heir quickly. He also took many mistresses nonetheless. Henry also started his lifelong frenemy relationship with the French but in the same breath he signed a pact with his father in law, Spanish King Ferdinand of Aragon, which would be a recurring thing that was meant to tarnish his credibility in the future when choosing allies.
An anti-French Holy League was created in October 1511 by Pope Julius II that brought Henry’s England into a joint attack with the Spanish to recover Aquitaine, though it ended up being a failure and straining the relationship with Ferdinand, who mostly used England for his own motivations. Henry got Emperor Maximilian to the group with the intention of fighting French King Louis XII and steal for himself the title of "Most Christian King of France” with an additional coronation from the Pope himself. Motivated by those grandiose goals, Henry began invading France with some early victories like the Battle of the Spurs (highly exaggerated by English propaganda) and the conquest of Thérouanne (for the Emperor) and Tournai.
By 1514 he was penniless and weary of the Spanish and Maximilian so he decided against doing another campaign. There was a new Pope in Rome, Leo X, who advocated for peace with France, and peace with France made Henry, which led to a lavish wedding on 9th October 1514 between Henry’s 18 year-old sister Mary and France's 52 year-old King Louis XII.
The year 1519 found Henry’s nephew, Charles V (by his wife Katherine of Aragon) as King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, and luckily for Mary, Louis had died in 1515, leaving his cousin Francis I on the throne. Europe had now three young and handsome rulers and Henry VIII’s competitive side began to show as Francis and Charles inherited the titles"Most Christian King” and “Most Catholic King” respectively while he remained without any. He did in fact have a rare papal honour that none of the other two kings had: the Golden Rose. He got it in 1512, 1521 and 1524. It was the replacement of the 8th century Golden Keys and it contained perfumes instead of bits from Saint Peter’s Chair. Getting the Golden Rose was a reward for being an obedient and magnificent Catholic. Still, it wasn’t forever nor hereditary and Henry was quite… stubborn.
In 1517 Martin Luther’s 95 Theses bashing the Papacy and Catholicism was published and good old Henry, who was a true Catholic (and wanted a fancy title like the ones given to Spanish and French rulers) took Thomas More under his arm and started to write a book in response. That book would come out in 1521, called Assertio Septem Sacramentorum, and it even had a copy translated into German so that Luther himself could understand how much Henry despised his heretic ways (funny, huh?). Henry VIII, above all else, was kind of a petty King.
He sent ambassadors to Rome to give the Pope a copy of the book, letting slide comments about how the great King of England had proved to be such a defender of the faith in such spiritually dark times and how willing he was to go above and beyond to protect the true faith of God. Leo X responded accordingly, granting him said title on 11th of October 1521 but with one big difference: Henry’s title of Defender of the Faith wouldn’t be hereditary as the ones conceded to Spain and France, probably to prevent both big rulers to get mad and create a conflict too difficult to manage. Unfortunately for Henry, the Pope passed away before the papal bull arrived in England. Luckily though (I know, what a rollercoaster) Leo X was succeeded by Adrian VI, who confirmed his title.
But now you may be wondering how come English monarchs still hold the title if it was Catholic and non hereditary. Well, I’ve got you covered, let me explain.
In 1546, a few months shy of his death and some years after his Rome debacle, the English Parliament passed an act bestowing the title Fidei Defensor - or Fidei Defensatrix for queens - upon their aging King Henry VIII. This time, it was forever and for any successor that might come after him. Obviously, the faith it references isn’t Catholicism but the Church of England that Henry himself started through Protestant reforms to be able to divorce Katherine of Aragon, marry Anne Boleyn and have an heir. It should be pointed out, though, that Henry remained a staunch Catholic till the very end, acting as a rebellious teenager fighting for freedom against the Papacy. Nonetheless, the title kept running through his descendants until our current days. It involves giving Royal Assent to ecclesiastical laws and approving the appointment of bishops and other senior clergy figures like cathedrals’ deans.
The late Queen Elizabeth II said about the Church of England that it “certainly provides an identity and spiritual dimension for its own many adherents” but it also “created an environment for other faith communities and indeed people of no faith to live freely”, which I’m not sure if Henry VIII would’ve agreed with.
But, to go back to the story, I find it quite laughable that Henry VIII went to such lengths to help the multiple Popes and Catholicism just to start a religious war against it all and use Luther’s teachings to get his way and create a new whole church and belief system. It’s very telling and shows how little did Henry cared about the means to achieve whatever he wanted. It’s almost ironic how the same title changed its meaning in less than 30 years. But Henry’s changeable mind and heart isn’t something we aren’t familiar with, am I right?
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