Those six wives? the first five he crushed to death.
Henry VIII has been described as the original host of “Queen for a Day”.
OK, google it, one of the first TV giveaway shows, ancient history. But still a good joke JMHO.
Or check out the 1971 PBS production of “The Six Wives of Henry VII”.
This is my favorite period in history as well as my love for the Tudors and all their drama.
I often wonder if he didn’t suffer from diabetes (of course the reopening the wound didn’t help, but unmanaged, diabetes can cause severe mood swings and confusion.
They have to tell us he would be classified as excessively obese?? Duh!!
Interestingly, Henry VIII was probably one of the best educated and brightest monarchs in British history. His daughter (Elizabeth I) is considered by some historians to have been extremely bright. (They often overuse the word “genius”).
All the same, I am still a “House of York” person and resent the hatchet job that the Tudor propagandists did on Richard III. Josephine Tey (”The Daughter of Time”) and Sharon Kay Penman (”The Sunne in Splendor”) have writen some interesting (fictional) books on that subject.
Let me see now: 20 stones = 280 pounds.
He was 6’1”.
Yes, I would say he was quite round.
Yet, to see his early armor he was quite a strapping fellow. The diabetes angle is interesting.
ping
This isn’t new at all. Thirty years ago I read an old book with both photos and commentary about this same armor.
I guess Henry mush have been eating too many Twinkies and drinking too much Coke during his life.
Otherwise I can’t imagine why he would have been that heavy.
Otherwise I can't imagine why he would have been that heavy.
I’m several inches bigger around than he was in both the chest and waist. I have no trouble guarding VIPs, celebrities, billionaires and other worthies. Yes, I have diabetes, but so do many thin people. I won’t win any Olympic sprint championships, but then again, I don’t have to.
The real villain of the piece is the illegimate usurper Henry, the Earl of Richmond, and so-called Henry VII. Descended via by-blows of John of Gaunt and the House of Lancaster, he had the motives to send the Princes in the Tower to their fate, not their uncle. Titulus Regius and Edward IV’s precontract effectively nullified their claims to the throne.
Vivat Eboracum! Loyaulte me Lie!
(That all being said, the armor of Henry VIII, particularly that prepared for the Field of the Cloth of Gold as well as the harness depicted, was the summit of the medieval armorer’s art from a functional standpoint.)
As king, Henry likely didn't get very much exercise at all except for the occasional activities he liked to participate in. Also as king, he was likely to have had whatever he wanted (in the way of food and drink) brought to him. In other words, Henry didn't work out on a regular basis and he didn't pay attention to his caloric intake. This lack of regular exercise and reckless disregard of the dietary guidelines governing good health was a bad combination for Henry.
I wonder how history would have turned out differently if Henry had use of a stairmaster and a weight room and had a nutritional guru at his side, advising him on the proper proportions of food and drink.
The fact is that many of us today are living like King Henry. Hopefully without the open sores and rotten teeth.
Well, it’s hard to have armor “taken in.”