Henry VII had not been well for almost a decade, and the death of his wife, Elizabeth, with whom he had a very close and dear relationhip, in 1503 during childbirth, had been a great blow to him. In 1509 he knew he was dying and had moved from London to Richmond in Surrey to prepare for his death. Late in the evening of Saturday, 21 April, he died, promising God in his final prayer that, if he lived, he would commit to a "true reformation of all those that were offiers and ministers of his laws" . Whether this was just another self-comforting but empty gesture of a fearful dying man or a reflection that he finally recognized the rapacious injustice of his reign we will never know.
His death, though witnessed by fourteen persons in his private chamber, was kept a secret for two days. At least two reasons laid behind this need. First, it allowed those in power to realign themselves to best advance their own interest i the new reign and, especially, to sideline two of the death king's favourite counsellors who died all his dirty work, Richard Epsom and Edmund Dudley (both would be executed in the following year on the creative but dubious charge of "constructive treason" against the new king). Second, the dead king's dynasty, though now assured of an heir to the throne, was never as legitimate as impressions had it. Henry VII's quarter of a century reign had been marked by repeated attempts at usurpations. The delay in the public announcement of the death gave those in power time to secure the kingdom for a smooth transition into his succession.
The Prince of Wales was crowned King Henry VIII Midsummer Day, 24 June, four days short of his eighteenth birthday, making him an adult and ready to rule in his own behalf. To make that point even more obvious, he made sure he had made good the treaty signed back in 1503 (see 1503 - Arthur marries Catherine of Aragon) and married Catherine of Aragon two weeks previously so that she too may be crowned with him.
Tall (Henry VIII was just over six feet), good-looking, and with a reasonably good head on his shoulders, he exuded the hopes for a new age. Thomas More called him the glory of the era. And so began one of the most infamous and colourful, even if not heart-warming, stories in history.
Click here for a quick summary of Henry VIII's reign.
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