There have been plenty of books, fiction and non-fiction about the wives of Henry VIII, but in Henry VIII: The Heart and the Crown the author Alison Weir has chosen to write from the perspective of King Henry himself. He’s usually portrayed as a monster, certainly a nightmare of a husband, but he didn’t have his troubles to seek. The first thing any monarch wants is ‘an heir and a spare’ and in the Tudor court girls just didn’t count. There’s no doubt that the pressure to keep the Tudor dynasty going weighed heavily on Henry for his entire adult life, as can be seen in this book. I lost count of the number of miscarriages that his wives (and he) suffered, but I think it was at least 15 deadly sorrows and disappointments – lost futures – all of them. No wonder he thought that his god was against him.
I really enjoyed this book which I have no doubt was well-researched. If you’ve already read some of the many books about Henry’s court then you would have realised how much he allowed himself to be manipulated by the various factions within his court, despite having apparently been warned about that likelihood by his own father before he died. No doubt Henry was happy to agree with his dukes if the end result suited him, then he could blame them for the outcome, such as the execution of Cromwell, and other people he had regarded as friends. That helped salve his conscience.
This was a time of huge changes within England which tend to be ascribed to Henry’s need to get rid of his first wife Katherine, however I suspect that all those religious changes would have taken place anyway, but maybe just a bit later. Henry needed the vast amount of money that the Roman Catholic church generated (through selling indulgences and such) and sent to Rome, instead of it being kept within England. The Roman church at that time was mired in chaos and scandals and with Martin Luther doing his thing in Europe, there was change in the air.
As ever though what strikes me most is what a tiny fish pond that Tudor court was, with just a handful of families who were all related to each other being at the top of the pile. It might help explain all those miscarriages!
I’m grateful to the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book in digital form via Netgalley.
I’m a bit previous with this review as the book isn’t due out until May the 9th, 2023.
I want to read how Alison Weir takes a male voice through the book. Looking forward to reading it.
Jo,
It seemed a bit strange at the beginning but either I got used to the writing or she got better at getting inside Henry.
I own a couple of her books although am not sure how many I have actually read. This sounds very appealing! Although far from blind to Henry’s flaws, I fell in love with this period as a child watching The Six Wives of Henry VIII starring Keith Mitchell, I think, with my mother who also loved that timeframe.
Constance,
I remember the Keith Michell Henry fondly too, the costumes were great as well. I suppose that if you are a completist you would want to read all of her six wives books but it isn’t really necessary. I’ve only read a few of them, she writes fiction as well as non-fiction and I think I prefer her non-fiction books, but she seems to do a lot of research for all of her books anyway.
I’m reading this now, although I’m not very far into it yet. It makes an interesting change to hear from Henry himself rather than his wives!
Helen,
I always felt some sympathy for him, but it must have been terrifying being close to him at court and never feeling completely safe!