Posted on 01/28/2018 9:43:51 AM PST by beaversmom
1
Henry VIII was slim and athletic for most of his life
At six feet two inches tall, Henry VIII stood head and shoulders above most of his court. He had an athletic physique and excelled at sports, regularly showing off his prowess in the jousting arena.
Having inherited the good looks of his grandfather, Edward IV, in 1515 Henry was described as “the handsomest potentate I have ever set eyes on…” and later an “Adonis”, “with an extremely fine calf to his leg, his complexion very fair…and a round face so very beautiful, that it would become a pretty woman”.
All this changed in 1536 when the king – then in his mid-forties – suffered a serious wound to his leg while jousting. This never properly healed, and instead turned ulcerous, which left Henry increasingly incapacitated.
Four years later, the king’s waist had grown from a trim 32 inches to an enormous 52 inches. By the time of his death, he had to be winched onto his horse. It is this image of the corpulent Henry VIII that has obscured the impressive figure that he cut for most of his life.
2
Henry VIII was a tidy eater
Despite the popular image of Henry VIII throwing a chicken leg over his shoulder as he devoured one of his many feasts, he was in fact a fastidious eater. Only on special occasions, such as a visit from a foreign dignitary, did he stage banquets.
Most of the time, Henry preferred to dine in his private apartments. He would take care to wash his hands before, during and after each meal, and would follow a strict order of ceremony.
Seated beneath a canopy and surrounded by senior court officers, he was served on bended knee and presented with several different dishes to choose from at each course.
3
Henry was a bit of a prude
England’s most-married monarch has a reputation as a ladies’ man – for obvious reasons. As well as his six wives, he kept several mistresses and fathered at least one child by them.
But the evidence suggests that, behind closed doors, he was no lothario. When he finally persuaded Anne Boleyn to become his mistress in body as well as in name, he was shocked by the sexual knowledge that she seemed to possess, and later confided that he believed she had been no virgin.
When she failed to give him a son, he plumped for the innocent and unsullied Jane Seymour instead.
4
Henry’s chief minister liked to party
Although often represented as a ruthless henchman, Thomas Cromwell was in fact one of the most fun-loving members of the court. His parties were legendary, and he would spend lavish sums on entertaining his guests – he once paid a tailor £4,000 to make an elaborate costume that he could wear in a masque to amuse the king.
Cromwell also kept a cage of canary birds at his house, as well as an animal described as a “strange beast”, which he gave to the king as a present.
5
Henry VIII sent more men and women to their deaths than any other monarch
During the later years of Henry’s reign, as he grew ever more paranoid and bad-tempered, the Tower of London was crowded with the terrified subjects who had been imprisoned at his orders.
One of the most brutal executions was that of the aged Margaret de la Pole, Countess of Salisbury. The 67-year-old countess was woken early on the morning of 27 May 1541 and told to prepare for death.
Although initially composed, when Margaret was told to place her head on the block, her self-control deserted her and she tried to escape. Her captors were forced to pinion her to the block, where the amateur executioner hacked at the poor woman’s head and neck, eventually severing them after the eleventh blow.
Please go on (and on) dear NP. We all need more kulcha out here in the barren hinterlands west of the Hudson, and your team is just the ticket.
I have to disagree with you on that. If that was their intent, they failed miserably as it to me looked and felt more like an interpretation of history as seen through a director who makes soft porno movies or MTV videos and has not read anything of the historical period.
There was plenty of soft porn and hard porn IMHO. That one scene of a male servant wh@cking off King Henry was gratuitous and yucky, totally unnecessary in my opinion. The producers/directors didn’t’ even try to make the actor playing Henry look like the real Henry—what was that about? And some of the costumes for Anne Boleyn were just silly, like Bob Mackie had recycled some of his outfits from “Dynasty” LMAO.
This is very true! It annoys me how the American Catholic church has gotten rid of things like Evensong, etc. Even very Catholic parishes that have the Latin Mass don’t keep the ancient rituals and services. Grrrr! A sense of beauty is so important to religion. I’m currently listening to lectures on comparative religion. I started with Hinduism because of their brilliant sense of beauty and color.
I’m not usually a fan of Pryce having seen him ruin My Fair Lady and hump a Cadillac in Miss Saigon but he’s really excellent in Wolf Hall.
Take it up with the Irish, dearest NP. The pale of settlement has specific meaning in Irish history regarding Dublin and the mountains beyond, that even has religious connotation that I thought rather ironic given the circumstance. Oh well, blast away. It’s amusing.
SAINT JOHN THE DIVINE is an ANGLICAN cathedral in Manhattan and used to do true Anglican services, with a full on Anglican boys choir ( the private school for the boys was attached to the church, though I don't know if it is still what it once was.
SAINT CHRYSTOSOM, in Chicago, is a full on ANGLICAN HIGH CHURCH, though a smaller version and still is doing the whole HIGH CHURCH bit.
I'm sure that there are others, though struggling, in America.
I'm extremely familiar with both the Anglican and Episcopalian religions/services and you don't know what you're talking about.
And FWIW...there used to be a HIGH CHURCH, true to the Wesleys, Methodist/Episcopal church/service in America too. That is now gone; sadly.
Now we’re talking. MORE CAPS!!!!
That movie was vile, not as FACTUAL as you claim, and worthless.
There are tenets and there are tenants, which do you mean by the way? Or are you reverting to Old English? Just curious.
Ye gods and little fishes; the Brits are now as bloody stupid as many Americans are. :-(
That phrase is exactly what I said it is. :-)
LOL...but just keep on reveling in your own stupidity and ridiculing me over facts that, not all that long ago, EVERYONE used to know.
Henry the VIII last name was IamIam.
Point out any error on my part pertaining to Henry VIII if you would be so kind, dearest NP.
Yes, the American churches, of every denomination, have sadly, dumbed down their services and thrown the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, to get more rear ends in the pews. But the opposite has happened...more and more people are just not going now.
What I posted is the fact of that phrased and IF the Irish are THAT dumb, t'ain't my fault nor problem.
And FWITW...I had a Great Aunt, by marriage, who was born in Ireland and SHE know what that phrase meant and where it came from.
Blow it out your ear.
Typo and since all you can do is pick nits, post snarks and uneducated claptrap, you should stop digging.
Now now, you’re acculturating the rubes, remember.
I’ll just assume you misspelled tenants, then.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.