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Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him
Henry VIII is best known in history for his tempestuous marriages and the fates of his six wives. However, as acclaimed historian Tracy Borman makes clear in her illuminating new chronicle of Henry’s life, his reign and reputation were hugely influenced by the men who surrounded and interacted with him as companions and confidants, servants and ministers, and occasionally as rivals—many of whom have been underplayed in previous biographies.
These relationships offer a fresh, often surprising perspective on the legendary king, revealing the contradictions in his beliefs, behavior, and character in a nuanced light. They show him capable of fierce but seldom abiding loyalty, of raising men up only to destroy them later. He loved to be attended by boisterous young men, the likes of his intimate friend Charles Brandon, who shared his passion for sport, but could also be diverted by men of intellect, culture, and wit, as his longstanding interplay with Cardinal Wolsey and his reluctant abandonment of Thomas More attest. Eager to escape the shadow of his father, Henry VII, he was often trusting and easily led by male attendants and advisors early in his reign (his coronation was just shy of his 18th birthday in 1509); in time, though, he matured into a profoundly suspicious and paranoid king whose ruthlessness would be ever more apparent, as Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk and uncle to two of Henry’s wives, discovered to his great discomfort, and as Eustace Chapuys, the ambassador of Charles V of Spain, often reported.
Recounting the great Tudor’s life and signal moments through the lens of his male relationships, Tracy Borman’s new biography reveals Henry’s personality in all its multi-faceted, contradictory glory, and sheds fresh light on his reign for anyone fascinated by the Tudor era and its legacy.
746 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2018
322 people are currently reading
3466 people want to read
About the author
Tracy Borman
28 books882 followersTracy Borman, PhD, FRHistS, FSA is a historian and author from Scothern, United Kingdom. She is most widely known as the author of Elizabeth's Women.
Borman was born and brought up in the village of Scothern, England near Lincoln. She was educated at Scothern Primary School (now Ellison Boulters School), William Farr School, Welton, and Yarborough School, Lincoln. She taught history at the University of Hull, where she was awarded a Ph.D in 1997. Elizabeth's Women was serialized and became a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week in September 2009. Tracy Borman appeared on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, also in September 2009
Borman was born and brought up in the village of Scothern, England near Lincoln. She was educated at Scothern Primary School (now Ellison Boulters School), William Farr School, Welton, and Yarborough School, Lincoln. She taught history at the University of Hull, where she was awarded a Ph.D in 1997. Elizabeth's Women was serialized and became a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week in September 2009. Tracy Borman appeared on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, also in September 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
November 17, 2018
I requested this book for at least three reasons. The first one was that I enjoy Tracy Borman's ways of presenting history and having read some of her books, I am still a fan of hers. The second reason was my interest in the Tudor period and the need to extend my (not scholarly) knowledge. Full satisfaction after reading this book. And, last but not least, I thought that reading more about the men who stood behind Henry VIII, and not just the king himself, might be an insightful. I honestly admit that I was absolutely right to request this particular book. It reads very, very well, and is a source of information which is often ommitted for different reasons in biographies of this famous Tudor monarch. The book concentrates on men who surrounded the king and who had influence on him in various ways, not only political. I definitely recommend this non-fiction to anyone interested in monarch were influenced .......
*Many thanks to Tracy Borman, Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for provong me with ARC in exchange for my honest review.*
*Many thanks to Tracy Borman, Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for provong me with ARC in exchange for my honest review.*
November 26, 2018
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Thanx you Grove Atlantic for sending me this eARC through NetGalley. It is a solid biographical study of the men who served Henry the VIII. Most books about this period focus on his six wives or Henry the VIII. The author has done an impressive amount of research, quoting extensively from primary sources, letters, diaries, official records, etc.
Henry the VIII was obsessed with producing a male heir to carry on his reign. His father had ended a civil war and Henry the VIII worried that there would be another civil war without a male heir.
A personal note: I just returned from a UK visit and toured Castle Howard, in the Howard family for more than 500 years. It is now owned by The National Trust. The last Howard turned it over to the Trust with the proviso that he continue to live there. He died recently, but used to give tours while he was alive. Castle Howard was a stately mansion and not a Castle. Actual castles in the UK have the town name first, as in Caernarfon Castle. Katherine Howard was one of Henry the VIII's wives.
Interestingly, many of the men who served Henry the VIII were named Thomas-- Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer, and Thomas Howard.
One complaint: Chapter 2 has 57 footnotes, but only two and a half are listed in the footnote section.
Thanx you Grove Atlantic for sending me this eARC through NetGalley. It is a solid biographical study of the men who served Henry the VIII. Most books about this period focus on his six wives or Henry the VIII. The author has done an impressive amount of research, quoting extensively from primary sources, letters, diaries, official records, etc.
Henry the VIII was obsessed with producing a male heir to carry on his reign. His father had ended a civil war and Henry the VIII worried that there would be another civil war without a male heir.
A personal note: I just returned from a UK visit and toured Castle Howard, in the Howard family for more than 500 years. It is now owned by The National Trust. The last Howard turned it over to the Trust with the proviso that he continue to live there. He died recently, but used to give tours while he was alive. Castle Howard was a stately mansion and not a Castle. Actual castles in the UK have the town name first, as in Caernarfon Castle. Katherine Howard was one of Henry the VIII's wives.
Interestingly, many of the men who served Henry the VIII were named Thomas-- Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer, and Thomas Howard.
One complaint: Chapter 2 has 57 footnotes, but only two and a half are listed in the footnote section.
December 17, 2020
The life of Henry VIII concerning his court, wives, and politics is widely known and is certainly no secret. However, Henry was surrounded by ambitious men in both his political and personal spheres which are somewhat lesser discussed. How did these men and their personalities shape Henry’s own? Tracy Borman explores this question in, “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him”.
“Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” curtails a traditional recap biography and focuses more on the interactions between Henry and key figures such as Thomas Wosley, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer, and Charles Brandon alongside such noteworthy names as Will Somers (Henry’s court fool) and Sir Nicholas Carew (to name some examples covered in the text). Borman’s presentation is a cocktail mix of chronological biography infusing an almost mini-bio of each figure as they respectively enter Henry’s life.
This is where the key issue with “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” arises: the text doesn’t meet Borman’s thesis and attempt to portray the effect these relationships had on Henry that makes sense being we don’t have a diary or psyche breakdown of Henry’s mind. This, however, means that the text is basically a biography of each figure and the political and/or personal events/connections to Henry. Despite the theme of the text not being met; the angle is still unique focusing more on the masculine relationships rather than just politics, wives, or the overall reign of Henry VIII.
Elaborating on this note, it is clear beyond measure that Borman is well-educated on the subject and has conducted massive amounts of research. Even those readers familiar with the subject will encounter information either not expressed at all in other texts or simply not explored making for an intriguing reading. That being said, Borman has the habit of including speculative statements, including opinions as fact without backing arguments, and repeating facts. Occasionally, “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” must be taken with a grain of salt.
Borman’s writing style meshes together an academic style with a smooth narrative educating readers while ensuring a storytelling arc that engages and excites. This doesn’t mean that “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” doesn’t have a slow pace at times with a repetitive density: it does. Overall, though, the text is strong enough to be readable and encourage page-turning. Notably affecting the flow of “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” are the consistently long chapters offering insufficient breaks for material to soak in and being heavily clumsy with over-saturated, run-on content. This mars readability and dampers the text.
The progression of “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” brings an advancement to the meeting of the thesis at hand. Although Borman still fails to truly portray how the discussed figures affected Henry; she does offer a unique view of the webs between the men themselves and therefore shows hidden behind-the-scenes happenings surrounding such events as the King’s “Great Matter” and the Reformation. In this way, readers do get a rare glimpse into the King and are able to self-decide how these men contributed to his actions and personality and of what consequence each entailed.
Although Borman had the habit in her previous works to quote Shakespeare as though he was a historian; she luckily only does this once in “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him”. Borman does, however, constantly refer to Henry VIII’s weight and boasts him as ‘gigantic’ and ‘huge’. We get it: Henry was obese in the later years of his reign. It is not necessary, though, to continuously mention such a superficial note in this context.
The ending of “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” feels somewhat rushed and incomplete resulting in a conclusion that is less than memorable and doesn’t fully encompass the entire text.
Borman includes a section of full-color photo plates, bibliography (with an adequate amount of primary sources) and notes (although hardly annotated).
Borman’s “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” doesn’t fully meet the aim of her thesis yet it is notably interesting, unique, and get stronger throughout the course of its progression. There are some facts and revealing material that is new even to those familiar with the topic and despite its flaws; “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” is suggested for all readers interested in Henry VIII and the Tudor period.
“Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” curtails a traditional recap biography and focuses more on the interactions between Henry and key figures such as Thomas Wosley, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer, and Charles Brandon alongside such noteworthy names as Will Somers (Henry’s court fool) and Sir Nicholas Carew (to name some examples covered in the text). Borman’s presentation is a cocktail mix of chronological biography infusing an almost mini-bio of each figure as they respectively enter Henry’s life.
This is where the key issue with “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” arises: the text doesn’t meet Borman’s thesis and attempt to portray the effect these relationships had on Henry that makes sense being we don’t have a diary or psyche breakdown of Henry’s mind. This, however, means that the text is basically a biography of each figure and the political and/or personal events/connections to Henry. Despite the theme of the text not being met; the angle is still unique focusing more on the masculine relationships rather than just politics, wives, or the overall reign of Henry VIII.
Elaborating on this note, it is clear beyond measure that Borman is well-educated on the subject and has conducted massive amounts of research. Even those readers familiar with the subject will encounter information either not expressed at all in other texts or simply not explored making for an intriguing reading. That being said, Borman has the habit of including speculative statements, including opinions as fact without backing arguments, and repeating facts. Occasionally, “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” must be taken with a grain of salt.
Borman’s writing style meshes together an academic style with a smooth narrative educating readers while ensuring a storytelling arc that engages and excites. This doesn’t mean that “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” doesn’t have a slow pace at times with a repetitive density: it does. Overall, though, the text is strong enough to be readable and encourage page-turning. Notably affecting the flow of “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” are the consistently long chapters offering insufficient breaks for material to soak in and being heavily clumsy with over-saturated, run-on content. This mars readability and dampers the text.
The progression of “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” brings an advancement to the meeting of the thesis at hand. Although Borman still fails to truly portray how the discussed figures affected Henry; she does offer a unique view of the webs between the men themselves and therefore shows hidden behind-the-scenes happenings surrounding such events as the King’s “Great Matter” and the Reformation. In this way, readers do get a rare glimpse into the King and are able to self-decide how these men contributed to his actions and personality and of what consequence each entailed.
Although Borman had the habit in her previous works to quote Shakespeare as though he was a historian; she luckily only does this once in “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him”. Borman does, however, constantly refer to Henry VIII’s weight and boasts him as ‘gigantic’ and ‘huge’. We get it: Henry was obese in the later years of his reign. It is not necessary, though, to continuously mention such a superficial note in this context.
The ending of “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” feels somewhat rushed and incomplete resulting in a conclusion that is less than memorable and doesn’t fully encompass the entire text.
Borman includes a section of full-color photo plates, bibliography (with an adequate amount of primary sources) and notes (although hardly annotated).
Borman’s “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” doesn’t fully meet the aim of her thesis yet it is notably interesting, unique, and get stronger throughout the course of its progression. There are some facts and revealing material that is new even to those familiar with the topic and despite its flaws; “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” is suggested for all readers interested in Henry VIII and the Tudor period.
February 14, 2019
My first thought when I think about King Henry VIII is this:
Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced Beheaded, Survived.
It's almost automatic to think of Henry in terms of his disastrous marriages....and the effect those dramas had on English history, religion, and the monarchy.
Tracy Borman wants to redirect the focus from the women in Henry's life to the men -- his father, his older brother who died, his advisors, councilors, friends, frenemies, servants -- all the men surrounding Henry from childhood, helping form his character and behavior. From Hans Holbein, the court painter who created the portraits we still see today, to the powerful Dukes of Buckingham and Norfolk, all the way down the court pecking order to Will Somer the Court Fool...Henry was surrounded by men all his life from his birth to his death at 55. And those men had a profound effect on Henry, his decisions, his personality....and his cruelty.
I enjoyed this book! I read it slowly over a two week period, letting the history and information soak into my brain. I came to this conclusion...if Henry VIII was truly fickle, paranoid, vain, obsessed with a male heir, cruel and horribly misguided at times....who made him that way? The men who surrounded him -- giving advice, scrounging for power and favor, practicing deceit to influence Henry's decisions, always watching, always waiting, always wanting.... No wonder Henry was paranoid. No wonder he was obsessed with leaving an heir to the throne. No wonder he turned on faithful advisors, friends, and nobility when it pleased him to have them executed. The treatment of Henry's wives was brought about not only by Henry's obsessions and fickle nature, but also by the advisors that surrounded him. They whispered the lies. They arranged the trials. They pushed their daughters in front of him. They gave Henry what they told him he wanted. They created the king who has a high spot on the list of worst monarchs in history. So while Henry VIII is responsible for his own behavior (as are we all), the men around him that helped mold him are also partially (maybe even mostly) to blame.
Awesome book! I thoroughly enjoyed this look at Henry VIII, the men in his life and court, and how they molded the king.
This book is non-fiction and contains a lot of names, dates, historical facts, etc. Great for those who love reading about the Tudors....not so great for those who don't enjoy non-fiction or pure history. Those who enjoyed Borman's earlier book -- The Private Lives of the Tudors -- will also enjoy this book. I enjoy Borman's writing style. She presents the facts in an interesting way. I never feel like I'm reading a stuffy textbook. Great information -- I loved it!
**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Grove Atlantic. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. No advisors or spouses were beheaded in the writing of this review.)
Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced Beheaded, Survived.
It's almost automatic to think of Henry in terms of his disastrous marriages....and the effect those dramas had on English history, religion, and the monarchy.
Tracy Borman wants to redirect the focus from the women in Henry's life to the men -- his father, his older brother who died, his advisors, councilors, friends, frenemies, servants -- all the men surrounding Henry from childhood, helping form his character and behavior. From Hans Holbein, the court painter who created the portraits we still see today, to the powerful Dukes of Buckingham and Norfolk, all the way down the court pecking order to Will Somer the Court Fool...Henry was surrounded by men all his life from his birth to his death at 55. And those men had a profound effect on Henry, his decisions, his personality....and his cruelty.
I enjoyed this book! I read it slowly over a two week period, letting the history and information soak into my brain. I came to this conclusion...if Henry VIII was truly fickle, paranoid, vain, obsessed with a male heir, cruel and horribly misguided at times....who made him that way? The men who surrounded him -- giving advice, scrounging for power and favor, practicing deceit to influence Henry's decisions, always watching, always waiting, always wanting.... No wonder Henry was paranoid. No wonder he was obsessed with leaving an heir to the throne. No wonder he turned on faithful advisors, friends, and nobility when it pleased him to have them executed. The treatment of Henry's wives was brought about not only by Henry's obsessions and fickle nature, but also by the advisors that surrounded him. They whispered the lies. They arranged the trials. They pushed their daughters in front of him. They gave Henry what they told him he wanted. They created the king who has a high spot on the list of worst monarchs in history. So while Henry VIII is responsible for his own behavior (as are we all), the men around him that helped mold him are also partially (maybe even mostly) to blame.
Awesome book! I thoroughly enjoyed this look at Henry VIII, the men in his life and court, and how they molded the king.
This book is non-fiction and contains a lot of names, dates, historical facts, etc. Great for those who love reading about the Tudors....not so great for those who don't enjoy non-fiction or pure history. Those who enjoyed Borman's earlier book -- The Private Lives of the Tudors -- will also enjoy this book. I enjoy Borman's writing style. She presents the facts in an interesting way. I never feel like I'm reading a stuffy textbook. Great information -- I loved it!
**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Grove Atlantic. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. No advisors or spouses were beheaded in the writing of this review.)
January 13, 2024
Oh look! I own two copies of this book too! Geez
February 23, 2019
I have to confess I love Borman's writing just not a particular fan of some of her research or her point of views on certain people within the Tudor sphere.I'm giving points though for her topic of focusing on just the men who influenced Henry VIII rather than focusing on the much written about and discussed wives.This was basically a very long,detailed who's who of the Tudor court.Not only rehashing old favorites such as Charles Brandon,Thomas Moore and Thomas Cromwell but going deeper into the court to find the stories of William Blount,William Fitzwilliam,Hans Holbien,Henry Guilford,Ralph Sadler,Thomas Heneage and many other lesser know men.Following them on their many years of service to the king or in some cases their brief service.But as much as I did enjoy this some research was just off to me.With every Boleyn insult with no source note I found myself rolling my eyes.Not to mention her thoughts on Katherine Howard.Using sources such as eighteenth century librarians or Elizabethan courtiers who had never even been to Henry VIII's court has its drawbacks,I suppose.Nevertheless,very much enjoyed this and it is my favorite book of hers to date.
November 19, 2018
Much to the ire of Tudorphiles everywhere - I did not find this especially enlightening. And like Oliver Twist - I wanted more and was left wanting.
January 9, 2019
Rating: 3 stars
Tracy Borman’s most recent entry into the history of the Tudors, “Henry VIII and the men who made him: The secret history behind the Tudor throne” is a good solid work of non-fiction. It joins her previous book about the Tudor dynasty, “Elizabeth's Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen” and it does a serviceable job of painting the picture of Henry’s court and the myriads of men surrounding him throughout his life. Unfortunately for me, it paints the picture in fits and starts. Due to how it is structured, I often had a hard time keeping track of all the significant players in Henry’s court.
The book is told in chronological order from the beginning to the end (and a bit beyond) of Henry’s life. It focuses on how Henry used to his men in often impetuous and petulant ways. He was nothing if not mercurial. There is no better illustration of this than by seeing the multiple times those close counselors and nobility swung rapidly from boon companions and confidants, to traitors on trumped up charges where the best outcome that could be hoped for was a swift death by beheading.
I have read quite a bit about all the Tudors, so I am familiar with Henry’s story. This book did shed new light on how capricious Henry could be, and suggests some of the reasons why that was. While the book did provide good information, it was a bit long. At times I found it either tedious or hard to follow. I’m not sure what suggestion I’d make to help organize it a different that would have enlightened me in a more entertaining way. Currently, it’s just a bit too fragmented for my reading taste. I think it’s suited to a reader with a fairly good knowledge of Tudor history. The casual reader might soon be daunted or discouraged by all the details.
‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Grove Atlantic; and the author, Tracy Borman; for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Tracy Borman’s most recent entry into the history of the Tudors, “Henry VIII and the men who made him: The secret history behind the Tudor throne” is a good solid work of non-fiction. It joins her previous book about the Tudor dynasty, “Elizabeth's Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen” and it does a serviceable job of painting the picture of Henry’s court and the myriads of men surrounding him throughout his life. Unfortunately for me, it paints the picture in fits and starts. Due to how it is structured, I often had a hard time keeping track of all the significant players in Henry’s court.
The book is told in chronological order from the beginning to the end (and a bit beyond) of Henry’s life. It focuses on how Henry used to his men in often impetuous and petulant ways. He was nothing if not mercurial. There is no better illustration of this than by seeing the multiple times those close counselors and nobility swung rapidly from boon companions and confidants, to traitors on trumped up charges where the best outcome that could be hoped for was a swift death by beheading.
I have read quite a bit about all the Tudors, so I am familiar with Henry’s story. This book did shed new light on how capricious Henry could be, and suggests some of the reasons why that was. While the book did provide good information, it was a bit long. At times I found it either tedious or hard to follow. I’m not sure what suggestion I’d make to help organize it a different that would have enlightened me in a more entertaining way. Currently, it’s just a bit too fragmented for my reading taste. I think it’s suited to a reader with a fairly good knowledge of Tudor history. The casual reader might soon be daunted or discouraged by all the details.
‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Grove Atlantic; and the author, Tracy Borman; for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
March 22, 2026
★★★★☆ (4.1/5)
Listened to this as an audiobook. After finishing Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall in late January, I was curious to see the real history behind the people and events she made feel so believable. Having also listened to Thomas Penn’s The Winter King earlier, this felt like a natural next step, moving from the more restrained and bureaucratic reign of Henry VII into the far more dramatic and volatile reign of his son. This book shows Henry VIII not as an isolated giant, but as the centre of a competitive court culture that depended wholly on his approval. The narrative still follows Henry’s life chronologically, though the focus is not just on him or scandal surrounding his six marriages, but on the men whose fortunes rose and fell in his service. It is through them that his character is best understood.
Compared to Penn, the contrast in Borman's approach is clear from the start. Penn is careful and rarely decides on one explanation of events. If there are several conflicting sources or different interpretations, he mentions them all and explains the context surrounding them. The reader is left to decide what seems most likely. Borman, on the other hand, sticks to the version she finds most convincing and usually ignores the others. She also interprets events depending on how the people behave before or after they happen, despite the lack of any direct evidence about the event itself. That gives the book momentum and a more confident voice, but not always a careful one. Early examples are Borman’s claim that Henry VII seriously considered marrying Catherine of Aragon after the death of his wife, something that was always more court gossip than diplomatic reality, and her later description of growing tension and resentment between the old king and his son, future Henry VIII. If anything, contemporary sources mostly mention the great affection Henry VII had for his heir. Here Borman mostly relies on how the adult Henry VIII later spoke about his late father.
Henry’s style of rule was very different from his father’s. While Henry VII controlled everything closely, Henry preferred to delegate. For the better part of his reign he governed through the use of a dominant minister while he spent his time on what he enjoyed most: hunting, feasting, tournaments and chivalric display. Both Wolsey and Cromwell rose from relatively humble backgrounds, served the king with extraordinary ability and loyalty for years, and both fell quickly once they misjudged him. Wolsey failed to understand how far Henry was willing to go to marry Anne Boleyn, or that it was her he wanted rather than any other suitable match. The result was the cardinal’s fall and England’s ultimate split with the Roman Catholic Church. Cromwell made a similar mistake years later. He approached the king’s marriage with Anne of Cleves as a question of useful alliance with another Protestant power, and failed to see how much importance Henry placed on his bride’s physical appearance and personal chemistry. Both Wolsey and Cromwell thought like seasoned politicians first, weighing possibilities, political advantage and long term benefit. Henry, on the other hand, reacted as a man, a deeply insecure one at that, concerned more with his own image and the need to prove himself through a queen he could proudly present to the masses and a son who would secure his line. Despite their similarities, there is one notable difference between the two ministers. Wolsey was treated almost as a partner during the long years of his service, being the king’s close friend and confidant. Cromwell, for all his power and usefulness, always remained a servant first. By that point in his reign Henry was more directly involved and less willing to let anyone stand beside him. After Cromwell’s fall, he never again allowed a single minister to amass a similar level of influence.
The great nobles of the realm expected to dominate government by right of birth, but were never truly allowed to do so. They looked at the promotion of men of more humble birth or those who gained influence through their closeness to the king with resentment and envy. This competition between factions was something Henry quietly encouraged in order to keep both the nobles and the men he had raised in check. Despite trying to distance himself from his father’s suspicion of the old nobility at the start of his reign, Henry mostly limited them to ceremonial or martial roles, while being especially careful that potential Plantagenet claimants did not get any share of real power. They were always looked at with suspicion, and destroyed at the first sign of disloyalty. As years without fathering a legitimate male heir went by, the more insecure Henry became about the questions of blood and inheritance. Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, one of the closest relatives with Plantagenet blood, consulted prophecies that spoke about his future kingship and was also heard saying that he should act as regent for Princess Mary in the event of Henry’s death. He was promptly arrested and executed. Even the mention of the possibility of the king’s death was considered treason. Two decades later, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, repeated the same mistake, putting himself and his father forward as the best candidates for Prince Edward’s regency, again linking their claim to old lineage and long loyal service. At this time the king was old, extremely obese and seriously ill, but it did not matter. Surrey paid for it with his life. His father, Duke of Norfolk, was arrested alongside him, compromised by association and by his own weakened position at court, as the uncle of two disgraced and executed wives of Henry, both of whom supposedly cuckolded him. He was also sentenced to death, only spared because the king died before him. In Henry’s court, noble birth could bring favour, but it did not guarantee power, and could just as easily represent danger.
In the privy chamber, Henry showed a very different side. These were men he liked spending time with, his companions both in sport and daily life. Men like Henry Guildford, William Compton or Anthony Denny rose not through birth or administrative ability, but through friendship and trustworthiness, and were in return rewarded with offices, wealth and influence that went beyond their formal roles. Henry put so much trust in them that when sent on diplomatic or governance missions they were treated as extensions of his own voice. Even Wolsey felt threatened by their influence and the time they spent in the king's company. Several times he tried to limit it, either by reducing their numbers or by introducing older and more serious men, personally loyal to him, arguing that younger men distracted the king from becoming the great prince he was destined to be. Henry would sometimes accept this and send them away for a time, but eventually they would be called back and things would soon be as they were before. Henry could be far more forgiving toward these men than he was toward others. He paid off personal debts, as in the case of Henry Norris, and overlooked failures that would have ended other careers, as was the case with Francis Bryan. After behaving inappropriately toward King Francis of France during a diplomatic mission and gambling so heavily that he had to be rescued by his fellow diplomat Thomas Wyatt, Bryan still managed to return to the king's favour. Yet that protection had its limits. When circumstances required it, even those closest to Henry could be sacrificed, as seen in the fall of Henry Norris, Francis Weston and a few others, after accusations were made of their involvement with the queen, Anne Boleyn. It did not matter that the accused men professed innocence to the very end, or that one of them was not even present when the supposed events took place. Henry had grown tired of Anne and used this as a convenient excuse to get rid of her, even at the expense of the men loyal to him.
Charles Brandon was one of the few men who stayed close to Henry from his youth to the end of his life. His father had been killed by Richard III while fighting for Henry VII at Bosworth, and Brandon grew up at court. For the young Henry, he was what a man should be: skilled at arms, fond of drinking and womanising. They shared the same chivalric values, and Henry clearly admired him. Once Henry became king, they took part in jousts together, presenting themselves as a pair, and later campaigned together in France. During the campaign that ended with the capture of Tournai, Brandon distinguished himself by leading a daring assault that breached one of the city’s gates. This was exactly the kind of action Henry admired. Shortly after, he raised him from captain of his household guard to Duke of Suffolk, making him one of the highest ranking men in the realm. Their closeness was tested only when Brandon secretly married Henry's sister Mary without asking permission, after he was asked to escort her back from France following the death of her husband, French king Louis XII. For many at court, this was an act of open treason, and even the death penalty was not out of the question. Henry was furious, but Wolsey managed to calm him down and in the end he imposed a heavy fine upon the couple, to be paid in yearly instalments over the next decade. They were no longer close as they were in youth, and from then on they more often faced each other in tournaments than rode together. At times Brandon stood further from the centre of favour, whether by his own choice or because the king’s mood had changed. Even so, he remained one of the most powerful men in the kingdom, loyal to the end. He died only eighteen months before Henry. The king arranged for him to be buried at Windsor, in the same place as Jane Seymour, the wife who had finally given him the son he wanted. Henry later chose to be buried there as well, beside the two of them. Borman suggests that this may have had as much to do with Brandon, his lifelong companion in arms, as with Jane herself.
For all his intelligence, Henry's vanity made him surprisingly easy to manipulate. Wolsey understood that better than anyone. He did not just present the king with problems that needed to be solved, but also with several ready solutions, framed to make the end result look like Henry’s own choice, although Wolsey presented them in a way to make his own preference sound more acceptable to the king. Henry felt he was the one deciding on the policy, but all the ground had already been prepared for him. It is no surprise that Wolsey was called the second king of England by Erasmus. The same pattern appears even more clearly in Henry's personal life. Whenever he became infatuated with a woman, clear judgement gave way to strong desire, and he would do anything to have her. That usually meant chasing her relentlessly and showering the men related to her with favour and honours. This did not go unnoticed. Nobles learned how to use it to press their advantage, bringing daughters and sisters to court, and instructing them to encourage the king’s attention. William Carey rose in favour while the king pursued his wife, Mary Boleyn. Both Boleyns and Howards advanced as Henry fell in love with Anne. The Howards managed to repeat the same with Catherine Howard, although with equally unfortunate results. The Seymour brothers repeated the pattern with their sister Jane. Initial refusal worked well because Henry often lost interest quickly once his desires were satisfied. The thrill of the chase was what made it appealing. That made the tactic reliable, and it was successfully used more than once. When Henry turned against someone, or decided they had failed him, he was just as ready to accept whatever accusation was put in front of him. Evidence of treason did not need to be strong, only useful. That too was something others learned to exploit to remove their rivals. We only need to go as far as to mention how ready he was to rid himself of Wolsey, Cromwell or any of his wives once they had disappointed him or otherwise outlived their usefulness.
Another revealing feature of Henry’s character is his constant need to compare himself with other men. His rivalry with French king Francis is the most famous example. The Venetian ambassador Giustinian recorded how Henry repeatedly asked about Francis’s height and physical features, even opening his own doublet to show his thigh and bragging about the size of his calves. Whenever Francis sponsored the building of something magnificent, Henry had to match it but on a grander scale. However, he could not match Francis in having Leonardo da Vinci at his court or the Mona Lisa hanging in his receiving room. Another source of insecurity was that Francis already had several healthy male heirs, something that Henry clearly lacked. Their rivalry reached an awkward moment at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, when Henry challenged Francis to a wrestling match and was defeated almost immediately. He reacted in a similar way to the mention of his father. When Giustinian praised Henry VII’s dealings with Venice, Henry angrily responded that he had done far more for the Republic than his father ever had. This awkward conversation happened after the Venetian ambassador congratulated Henry on the birth of his daughter Mary. The remark was meant to lighten the mood, as Henry had been in a surprisingly bad temper throughout the meeting. Henry VII had secured the dynasty with two sons within the first years of his reign, while Henry, after almost a decade, still had not produced a living one. When obese and ill Henry learned that his sixth wife, Catherine Parr, had been in love with the young and athletic Thomas Seymour before marrying him, he had him removed from court. On his deathbed, he forbade his inclusion on his son's regency council even though he was Edward's uncle.
In the first decades of his reign he wanted to be seen as a chivalric prince, a man who could rival the best of his age both physically and intellectually. As a consequence of his riding accident in 1536, he could not remain physically active as he was in his younger days, and he grew increasingly fat. This change in physical appearance affected him mentally. He became more irritable, more suspicious, and far more demanding. Where earlier he could leave much of the daily government to Wolsey or Cromwell, he now involved himself more directly, but not in a stable or constructive way. He dominated his councillors through intimidation, publicly humiliating them, calling them knaves and villains, at times even using physical force, as was known in Cromwell’s case. Decisions became less predictable. He would reverse positions, play factions against each other, and keep everyone off balance just to remind them that he was the one holding ultimate power. After Cromwell’s fall, Henry never found someone capable of managing government like that, so he was finally forced to rule himself, and the result felt less like strong kingship and more like open tyranny.
When Wolsey died, his vast wealth, properties and even his lavish tomb were taken over by the king. Cardinal College in Oxford, his foundation, was refounded as King Henry VIII’s College before finally becoming Christ Church. Henry Courtenay, the king's cousin and childhood companion, was one of the few nobles ever allowed close personal access, at one point even given rooms within the king’s own household so he could come and go as he liked. He was even raised to the rank of marquis, a rare honour in England. Yet when he fell from favour, he fell completely. Compromised in the Exeter Conspiracy in 1538, again without clear evidence, Courtenay was executed, his estates confiscated, and his family left ruined. His young son was dispossessed and left without any income. While in favour, Henry could be generous, rewarding men with offices, wealth and easy access. But once that favour was lost, often suddenly, the same man could be discarded without a second thought. That person would not be mentioned by the king any more, as if he had forgotten they ever lived. The only clear exception comes with Cromwell, where Henry later complained that he had been misled into destroying his most able and loyal servant, while deflecting the blame onto others.
This book gave me a stronger appreciation of Henry as a ruler than I initially expected. Not because it made him more likeable, far from it, but because it made him more consistent. For all his flaws of character, this was not incompetence. Henry consistently identified and elevated capable men and knew how to use them. His court did not function in spite of him, but because he remained the central force holding it together. Once he died, the system he dominated began to break apart almost immediately. Edward Seymour and John Dudley turned the regency into a struggle for dominance, and the nobles Henry spent decades controlling revealed just how destructive they could be once he was gone. That leaves the final question unanswered: did Henry’s forceful style of rulership create the instability that followed his death, or did it actually stop it from appearing earlier as it likely would under a weaker ruler? The answer is probably both. Henry may have helped create the conditions for later instability, but he also seems to have contained it while he lived. His reign held the realm together for almost four decades through sheer force of personality, intimidation, and by the constant reminder to everyone around him who was in charge.
Listened to this as an audiobook. After finishing Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall in late January, I was curious to see the real history behind the people and events she made feel so believable. Having also listened to Thomas Penn’s The Winter King earlier, this felt like a natural next step, moving from the more restrained and bureaucratic reign of Henry VII into the far more dramatic and volatile reign of his son. This book shows Henry VIII not as an isolated giant, but as the centre of a competitive court culture that depended wholly on his approval. The narrative still follows Henry’s life chronologically, though the focus is not just on him or scandal surrounding his six marriages, but on the men whose fortunes rose and fell in his service. It is through them that his character is best understood.
Compared to Penn, the contrast in Borman's approach is clear from the start. Penn is careful and rarely decides on one explanation of events. If there are several conflicting sources or different interpretations, he mentions them all and explains the context surrounding them. The reader is left to decide what seems most likely. Borman, on the other hand, sticks to the version she finds most convincing and usually ignores the others. She also interprets events depending on how the people behave before or after they happen, despite the lack of any direct evidence about the event itself. That gives the book momentum and a more confident voice, but not always a careful one. Early examples are Borman’s claim that Henry VII seriously considered marrying Catherine of Aragon after the death of his wife, something that was always more court gossip than diplomatic reality, and her later description of growing tension and resentment between the old king and his son, future Henry VIII. If anything, contemporary sources mostly mention the great affection Henry VII had for his heir. Here Borman mostly relies on how the adult Henry VIII later spoke about his late father.
Henry’s style of rule was very different from his father’s. While Henry VII controlled everything closely, Henry preferred to delegate. For the better part of his reign he governed through the use of a dominant minister while he spent his time on what he enjoyed most: hunting, feasting, tournaments and chivalric display. Both Wolsey and Cromwell rose from relatively humble backgrounds, served the king with extraordinary ability and loyalty for years, and both fell quickly once they misjudged him. Wolsey failed to understand how far Henry was willing to go to marry Anne Boleyn, or that it was her he wanted rather than any other suitable match. The result was the cardinal’s fall and England’s ultimate split with the Roman Catholic Church. Cromwell made a similar mistake years later. He approached the king’s marriage with Anne of Cleves as a question of useful alliance with another Protestant power, and failed to see how much importance Henry placed on his bride’s physical appearance and personal chemistry. Both Wolsey and Cromwell thought like seasoned politicians first, weighing possibilities, political advantage and long term benefit. Henry, on the other hand, reacted as a man, a deeply insecure one at that, concerned more with his own image and the need to prove himself through a queen he could proudly present to the masses and a son who would secure his line. Despite their similarities, there is one notable difference between the two ministers. Wolsey was treated almost as a partner during the long years of his service, being the king’s close friend and confidant. Cromwell, for all his power and usefulness, always remained a servant first. By that point in his reign Henry was more directly involved and less willing to let anyone stand beside him. After Cromwell’s fall, he never again allowed a single minister to amass a similar level of influence.
The great nobles of the realm expected to dominate government by right of birth, but were never truly allowed to do so. They looked at the promotion of men of more humble birth or those who gained influence through their closeness to the king with resentment and envy. This competition between factions was something Henry quietly encouraged in order to keep both the nobles and the men he had raised in check. Despite trying to distance himself from his father’s suspicion of the old nobility at the start of his reign, Henry mostly limited them to ceremonial or martial roles, while being especially careful that potential Plantagenet claimants did not get any share of real power. They were always looked at with suspicion, and destroyed at the first sign of disloyalty. As years without fathering a legitimate male heir went by, the more insecure Henry became about the questions of blood and inheritance. Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, one of the closest relatives with Plantagenet blood, consulted prophecies that spoke about his future kingship and was also heard saying that he should act as regent for Princess Mary in the event of Henry’s death. He was promptly arrested and executed. Even the mention of the possibility of the king’s death was considered treason. Two decades later, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, repeated the same mistake, putting himself and his father forward as the best candidates for Prince Edward’s regency, again linking their claim to old lineage and long loyal service. At this time the king was old, extremely obese and seriously ill, but it did not matter. Surrey paid for it with his life. His father, Duke of Norfolk, was arrested alongside him, compromised by association and by his own weakened position at court, as the uncle of two disgraced and executed wives of Henry, both of whom supposedly cuckolded him. He was also sentenced to death, only spared because the king died before him. In Henry’s court, noble birth could bring favour, but it did not guarantee power, and could just as easily represent danger.
In the privy chamber, Henry showed a very different side. These were men he liked spending time with, his companions both in sport and daily life. Men like Henry Guildford, William Compton or Anthony Denny rose not through birth or administrative ability, but through friendship and trustworthiness, and were in return rewarded with offices, wealth and influence that went beyond their formal roles. Henry put so much trust in them that when sent on diplomatic or governance missions they were treated as extensions of his own voice. Even Wolsey felt threatened by their influence and the time they spent in the king's company. Several times he tried to limit it, either by reducing their numbers or by introducing older and more serious men, personally loyal to him, arguing that younger men distracted the king from becoming the great prince he was destined to be. Henry would sometimes accept this and send them away for a time, but eventually they would be called back and things would soon be as they were before. Henry could be far more forgiving toward these men than he was toward others. He paid off personal debts, as in the case of Henry Norris, and overlooked failures that would have ended other careers, as was the case with Francis Bryan. After behaving inappropriately toward King Francis of France during a diplomatic mission and gambling so heavily that he had to be rescued by his fellow diplomat Thomas Wyatt, Bryan still managed to return to the king's favour. Yet that protection had its limits. When circumstances required it, even those closest to Henry could be sacrificed, as seen in the fall of Henry Norris, Francis Weston and a few others, after accusations were made of their involvement with the queen, Anne Boleyn. It did not matter that the accused men professed innocence to the very end, or that one of them was not even present when the supposed events took place. Henry had grown tired of Anne and used this as a convenient excuse to get rid of her, even at the expense of the men loyal to him.
Charles Brandon was one of the few men who stayed close to Henry from his youth to the end of his life. His father had been killed by Richard III while fighting for Henry VII at Bosworth, and Brandon grew up at court. For the young Henry, he was what a man should be: skilled at arms, fond of drinking and womanising. They shared the same chivalric values, and Henry clearly admired him. Once Henry became king, they took part in jousts together, presenting themselves as a pair, and later campaigned together in France. During the campaign that ended with the capture of Tournai, Brandon distinguished himself by leading a daring assault that breached one of the city’s gates. This was exactly the kind of action Henry admired. Shortly after, he raised him from captain of his household guard to Duke of Suffolk, making him one of the highest ranking men in the realm. Their closeness was tested only when Brandon secretly married Henry's sister Mary without asking permission, after he was asked to escort her back from France following the death of her husband, French king Louis XII. For many at court, this was an act of open treason, and even the death penalty was not out of the question. Henry was furious, but Wolsey managed to calm him down and in the end he imposed a heavy fine upon the couple, to be paid in yearly instalments over the next decade. They were no longer close as they were in youth, and from then on they more often faced each other in tournaments than rode together. At times Brandon stood further from the centre of favour, whether by his own choice or because the king’s mood had changed. Even so, he remained one of the most powerful men in the kingdom, loyal to the end. He died only eighteen months before Henry. The king arranged for him to be buried at Windsor, in the same place as Jane Seymour, the wife who had finally given him the son he wanted. Henry later chose to be buried there as well, beside the two of them. Borman suggests that this may have had as much to do with Brandon, his lifelong companion in arms, as with Jane herself.
For all his intelligence, Henry's vanity made him surprisingly easy to manipulate. Wolsey understood that better than anyone. He did not just present the king with problems that needed to be solved, but also with several ready solutions, framed to make the end result look like Henry’s own choice, although Wolsey presented them in a way to make his own preference sound more acceptable to the king. Henry felt he was the one deciding on the policy, but all the ground had already been prepared for him. It is no surprise that Wolsey was called the second king of England by Erasmus. The same pattern appears even more clearly in Henry's personal life. Whenever he became infatuated with a woman, clear judgement gave way to strong desire, and he would do anything to have her. That usually meant chasing her relentlessly and showering the men related to her with favour and honours. This did not go unnoticed. Nobles learned how to use it to press their advantage, bringing daughters and sisters to court, and instructing them to encourage the king’s attention. William Carey rose in favour while the king pursued his wife, Mary Boleyn. Both Boleyns and Howards advanced as Henry fell in love with Anne. The Howards managed to repeat the same with Catherine Howard, although with equally unfortunate results. The Seymour brothers repeated the pattern with their sister Jane. Initial refusal worked well because Henry often lost interest quickly once his desires were satisfied. The thrill of the chase was what made it appealing. That made the tactic reliable, and it was successfully used more than once. When Henry turned against someone, or decided they had failed him, he was just as ready to accept whatever accusation was put in front of him. Evidence of treason did not need to be strong, only useful. That too was something others learned to exploit to remove their rivals. We only need to go as far as to mention how ready he was to rid himself of Wolsey, Cromwell or any of his wives once they had disappointed him or otherwise outlived their usefulness.
Another revealing feature of Henry’s character is his constant need to compare himself with other men. His rivalry with French king Francis is the most famous example. The Venetian ambassador Giustinian recorded how Henry repeatedly asked about Francis’s height and physical features, even opening his own doublet to show his thigh and bragging about the size of his calves. Whenever Francis sponsored the building of something magnificent, Henry had to match it but on a grander scale. However, he could not match Francis in having Leonardo da Vinci at his court or the Mona Lisa hanging in his receiving room. Another source of insecurity was that Francis already had several healthy male heirs, something that Henry clearly lacked. Their rivalry reached an awkward moment at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, when Henry challenged Francis to a wrestling match and was defeated almost immediately. He reacted in a similar way to the mention of his father. When Giustinian praised Henry VII’s dealings with Venice, Henry angrily responded that he had done far more for the Republic than his father ever had. This awkward conversation happened after the Venetian ambassador congratulated Henry on the birth of his daughter Mary. The remark was meant to lighten the mood, as Henry had been in a surprisingly bad temper throughout the meeting. Henry VII had secured the dynasty with two sons within the first years of his reign, while Henry, after almost a decade, still had not produced a living one. When obese and ill Henry learned that his sixth wife, Catherine Parr, had been in love with the young and athletic Thomas Seymour before marrying him, he had him removed from court. On his deathbed, he forbade his inclusion on his son's regency council even though he was Edward's uncle.
In the first decades of his reign he wanted to be seen as a chivalric prince, a man who could rival the best of his age both physically and intellectually. As a consequence of his riding accident in 1536, he could not remain physically active as he was in his younger days, and he grew increasingly fat. This change in physical appearance affected him mentally. He became more irritable, more suspicious, and far more demanding. Where earlier he could leave much of the daily government to Wolsey or Cromwell, he now involved himself more directly, but not in a stable or constructive way. He dominated his councillors through intimidation, publicly humiliating them, calling them knaves and villains, at times even using physical force, as was known in Cromwell’s case. Decisions became less predictable. He would reverse positions, play factions against each other, and keep everyone off balance just to remind them that he was the one holding ultimate power. After Cromwell’s fall, Henry never found someone capable of managing government like that, so he was finally forced to rule himself, and the result felt less like strong kingship and more like open tyranny.
When Wolsey died, his vast wealth, properties and even his lavish tomb were taken over by the king. Cardinal College in Oxford, his foundation, was refounded as King Henry VIII’s College before finally becoming Christ Church. Henry Courtenay, the king's cousin and childhood companion, was one of the few nobles ever allowed close personal access, at one point even given rooms within the king’s own household so he could come and go as he liked. He was even raised to the rank of marquis, a rare honour in England. Yet when he fell from favour, he fell completely. Compromised in the Exeter Conspiracy in 1538, again without clear evidence, Courtenay was executed, his estates confiscated, and his family left ruined. His young son was dispossessed and left without any income. While in favour, Henry could be generous, rewarding men with offices, wealth and easy access. But once that favour was lost, often suddenly, the same man could be discarded without a second thought. That person would not be mentioned by the king any more, as if he had forgotten they ever lived. The only clear exception comes with Cromwell, where Henry later complained that he had been misled into destroying his most able and loyal servant, while deflecting the blame onto others.
This book gave me a stronger appreciation of Henry as a ruler than I initially expected. Not because it made him more likeable, far from it, but because it made him more consistent. For all his flaws of character, this was not incompetence. Henry consistently identified and elevated capable men and knew how to use them. His court did not function in spite of him, but because he remained the central force holding it together. Once he died, the system he dominated began to break apart almost immediately. Edward Seymour and John Dudley turned the regency into a struggle for dominance, and the nobles Henry spent decades controlling revealed just how destructive they could be once he was gone. That leaves the final question unanswered: did Henry’s forceful style of rulership create the instability that followed his death, or did it actually stop it from appearing earlier as it likely would under a weaker ruler? The answer is probably both. Henry may have helped create the conditions for later instability, but he also seems to have contained it while he lived. His reign held the realm together for almost four decades through sheer force of personality, intimidation, and by the constant reminder to everyone around him who was in charge.
September 9, 2020
“Most gracious Prince, I cry for mercy, mercy, mercy.”
While I typically prefer books about Henry VIII’s poor wives, I can’t resist a biography by Tracy Borman. This is an incredibly thorough yet accessible look at Henry and his “minions,” most of whom were named Thomas. There are literally so many Thomases that I can’t remember them all, but the main players are Wolsey, Cromwell, Cranmer, and Wriothesley. Somewhat on the sidelines you’ve got Thomas Wyatt, Thomas Boleyn, Thomas Seymour, Thomas Heneage, and somewhat out of sync, Charles Brandon.
The book starts with Henry VII and chronicles the death of Prince Arthur, causing young Henry VIII to shoulder the burden of the Tudor Dynasty, a transition which pitted him directly against his father, who we see was perhaps not the most loving parental figure. Borman asserts that this need to “do better than” Henry VII is what drove some of Henry VIII’s mania around his male progeny.
Henry surrounded himself with men who would help him achieve greatness, but at various points we see that he felt he vested too much power in one person (Wolsey), trusted that his counselors would have his best interests at heart rather than their own (Cromwell), and at the end of his life realized that he had led the realm into chaos and stoked the infighting of courtiers who no longer knew how to manage his changeable nature, but all wanted to gain his favor.
I certainly would have been executed if I were a 16th century advisor to Henry VIII. Borman shows that it’s a delicate dance that few managed to survive, either due to Henry’s own fickle beliefs, or the lies and campaigns of other nobles looking toward advancement. Definitely give this a read if you’re a fan of Tudor history and looking to learn more about court politics.
See more of my reviews: Blog // Instagram
While I typically prefer books about Henry VIII’s poor wives, I can’t resist a biography by Tracy Borman. This is an incredibly thorough yet accessible look at Henry and his “minions,” most of whom were named Thomas. There are literally so many Thomases that I can’t remember them all, but the main players are Wolsey, Cromwell, Cranmer, and Wriothesley. Somewhat on the sidelines you’ve got Thomas Wyatt, Thomas Boleyn, Thomas Seymour, Thomas Heneage, and somewhat out of sync, Charles Brandon.
The book starts with Henry VII and chronicles the death of Prince Arthur, causing young Henry VIII to shoulder the burden of the Tudor Dynasty, a transition which pitted him directly against his father, who we see was perhaps not the most loving parental figure. Borman asserts that this need to “do better than” Henry VII is what drove some of Henry VIII’s mania around his male progeny.
Henry surrounded himself with men who would help him achieve greatness, but at various points we see that he felt he vested too much power in one person (Wolsey), trusted that his counselors would have his best interests at heart rather than their own (Cromwell), and at the end of his life realized that he had led the realm into chaos and stoked the infighting of courtiers who no longer knew how to manage his changeable nature, but all wanted to gain his favor.
I certainly would have been executed if I were a 16th century advisor to Henry VIII. Borman shows that it’s a delicate dance that few managed to survive, either due to Henry’s own fickle beliefs, or the lies and campaigns of other nobles looking toward advancement. Definitely give this a read if you’re a fan of Tudor history and looking to learn more about court politics.
See more of my reviews: Blog // Instagram
June 14, 2019
An exhaustive study of the men in Henry VIII's life. From the not so warm relationship with his father to his tutors as a young boy and man, Borman sniffs out every possible influence on Henry's life. Illuminating at times, overly detailed at others, this is an interesting angle into England's most brutal king. I can't imagine the hours this must have taken to research.
March 3, 2024
Very informative. I got a sense of Henry VIII character and learned a bit more about Edward VI, his son.
August 6, 2018
5 stars
I read the Kindle edition.
“You shall, in your counsel-giving unto his grace, ever tell him what he ought to do…For if (a) Lion knew his own strength, hard were it for any man to rule him.” – Sir Thomas More
This is a wonderful history of the men who surrounded King Henry VIII. Born both high and low, these men surely shaped the king’s reign through their influence with him. They were advisors, courtiers, friends, servants – and even his rivals.
While most often remembered for his split with Roman Catholicism and his six wives, it was these men who perhaps had more influence on Henry than his wives. The Duke of Suffolk Charles Brandon was probably Henry’s closest friend and sometimes advisor. The scheming and ambitious Cardinal Wolsey whose drive to wealth and control of his king overrode his good sense and essentially drove him to ruin, Sir Francis Bryan who was another friend and confident of the king, Sir Thomas More…Thomas Cromwell…The poet Thomas Wyatt , Hans Holbein the painter who immortalized Henry in his famous painting, Thomas Boleyn, Francis I who was the King of France, Charles V of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire who Henry ultimately didn’t trust but forged on and off again alliances with Charles and many, many others.
Ambassador to King Charles V Eustace Chapuys was very intelligent and a keen observer of human nature. His frequent writings and reports back to Spain were insightful and often noted the changeable nature of the king.
Cardinal Wolsey took an immediate and intense dislike of Sir Thomas More for his closeness to the king. It’s no wonder that after Wolsey’s fall, More’s name appeared at the top of the list of forty-four charges against the Cardinal. Most of the charges were outlandish and clearly made up, but the drive by his detractors had gained momentum and there was no turning back. It is believed that Wolsey’s failure to gain an annulment or divorce from Queen Catherine was his final downfall. Henry wanted to marry Anne Boleyn. Wolsey was long-time trusted advisor to Henry, but he overstepped his bounds one time too many.
Thomas Cromwell was a protégé of Wolsey’s and carried many messages between Wolsey and the king during Wolsey’s exile. Wolsey also believed that being a Cardinal protected him against a charge of treason. He was sadly mistaken. Henry could and would do anything he desired to do.
His wives also had a great influence on Henry’s demeanor. As time passed he grew more fractious, mercurial and vindictive. Some of this must have been down to his wives’ influence and their perceived “wrongs” against Henry.
Henry was passionate about sports of all kinds: hunting, tennis, dancing, shooting and especially jousting and so on. He was also drawn to intelligent, educated men such as Sir Thomas More and Desiderates Erasmus. He was easily manipulated as Cardinal Wolsey was to discover and very changeable. In his later years he became more paranoid and suspicious of his ministers and confidants. He would profess undying affection one moment and utterly destroy them the next, sometime even having them beheaded – as he did to so many people. He was also a raging hypochondriac.
Upon Wolsey’s fall from grace, Thomas Cromwell came to the king’s notice. He was not formally educated, but he was intelligent and quick to learn. He was more intelligent and articulate than most of the nobles at the court even though he was a lowly son of a blacksmith and bar owner.
Cardinal Wolsey died of dysentery on his way to (probably) the Tower of London. While some believed that he committed suicide, this has largely been disproved. The Cardinal was known to be very ill on his journey southward.
Thomas Cromwell, Cardinal Wolsey’s protégé, quickly ascended a rise to power as the king’s newest counselor and confident. Cromwell had reasons of his own to promote the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine and to make Henry the richest King in Europe. He secretly desired a break with Roman Catholic Church as he was a protestant. Cromwell was witty and humorous, and spoke the bald truth, even to his detractors. These were qualities that the king appreciated.
While Archbishop Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell did much to further their Protestant agenda, Sir Thomas More, as now the Lord Chancellor, was horrified. He was firmly opposed to King Henry’s move to annul his marriage to Catherine and any break with Rome. His sympathies clearly lied with Catherine. When the clergy of England formally announced the Submission to the King in religious affairs, More resigned his office as Lord Chancellor. He promised never to speak publicly of King Henry’s “Great Matter” or speak openly of his criticism of the upcoming break with Rome. But More did not keep silent.
When Thomas Cromwell ran afoul of Queen Anne, he was put on dangerous ground with the King in spite of garnering him millions (in today’s money), of pounds to add to his treasury. When Henry’s displeasure with Queen Anne became obvious Cromwell then schemed to get rid of Anne and install Jane Seymour as the new Queen. He knew he must be careful, however, for Anne was both astute and vindictive. He carefully constructed a plan whereby he could have Anne accused of adultery. Her love of flirting with men in her chambers was well known, for she did not surround herself with ladies, but preferred the company of men. Thus Cromwell was not only the architect of Anne’s marriage to King Henry, he was also the planner of her ultimate downfall.
Within ten days of her death, King Henry was betrothed to Jane Seymour. She was to give Henry his much longed-for son. Henry was overjoyed and named him Edward. Jane, sadly, was to die only a few days following the birth of Edward.
The Pilgrimage of Grace caused another serious threat against Cromwell. Started by those staunch Catholics who lived in the North of England against what they saw as the unfair dismantling of their monasteries and abbeys. They mostly directed their ire against Cromwell and his councilors; this also was to affect the king mightily.
Henry’s fourth wife was Ann of Cleves. He disliked her from the start and claimed he only married her to assure him an alliance with Cleves against the new treaty signed by the Emperor Charles V and Francis I of France. For his part in the marriage, Cromwell was arrested and sent to the Tower. He demanded that Cromwell, from prison, find a reason to annul the marriage. A reason was found. Ann was content to live in England as Henry’s “sister” from that time until her death.
At first Henry did not mourn Cromwell’s death, but later he came to realize that Cromwell ran his offices so smoothly and efficiently that Henry didn’t even realize how much he relied on him. He then missed him.
Henry’s fifth wife was Katherine Howard. She was very young and she failed to disclose her former love relationships to Henry. But worse was the fact that Henry was now getting to be elderly by 1500’s standards, and he by this time was also obese and his leg pained him almost all of the time. Katherine started up a love affair with Thomas Culpeper, a young man who was of questionable virtue. He raped a young woman in the village, but Henry pardoned him. He was controlling and mean and perhaps Katherine, once ensnared, couldn’t see a way out of the relationship. For whatever reason, she was soon found out and suffered the ultimate punishment, along with her lovers.
Henry’s sixth wife was Catherine Parr. She was about thirty when they married and since one doesn’t refuse the King, had to marry him in spite of the fact that she was in love with Thomas Seymour, the late Queen Jane’s brother. Catherine was to outlive Henry. She did much to bring the family together – Mary, Elizabeth and Edward and they more often came to court. Stephen Gardiner who was then a Bishop and a staunch Catholic contrived to have Queen Catherine arrested on charges of treason because of her Protestant beliefs. However, his plan backfired when Henry put his foot down and told Gardiner to get lost.
After Henry’s death on January 28, 1547, there was a great deal of fighting over the Protectorate of his son, Edward, then aged just nine. Also, the arguments over the interpretation of Henry’s will went on and on. Edward Seymour grabbed the opportunity to name himself Lord Protector and shut out everyone else. However, he was to get his. Some amendments were made to Henry’s will following his death of which Henry would not have approved.
This was a period in time that I would not like to live. Or if I did, I would want to remain as far from the court as possible. It was filled with backbiting and treachery. The level of scheming and fabrications created by those closest to Henry were astounding. There was no one be they high or low who escaped Henry’s wrath and mercurial temperament – save his good friends Charles Brandon and Thomas Wyatt.
This is a very well-written told tale of the men who were closest to King Henry VIII. It is very well researched and thought out. I am in awe of Ms. Borman’s attention to detail and the patience with which she pens her books. I have read many of her books, and have very much liked them all. I tip my hat to the author and will read any more of her future writings.
I want to thank NetGalley and Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press for forwarding to me a copy of this most interesting and well-written book for me to read, enjoy and review.
I read the Kindle edition.
“You shall, in your counsel-giving unto his grace, ever tell him what he ought to do…For if (a) Lion knew his own strength, hard were it for any man to rule him.” – Sir Thomas More
This is a wonderful history of the men who surrounded King Henry VIII. Born both high and low, these men surely shaped the king’s reign through their influence with him. They were advisors, courtiers, friends, servants – and even his rivals.
While most often remembered for his split with Roman Catholicism and his six wives, it was these men who perhaps had more influence on Henry than his wives. The Duke of Suffolk Charles Brandon was probably Henry’s closest friend and sometimes advisor. The scheming and ambitious Cardinal Wolsey whose drive to wealth and control of his king overrode his good sense and essentially drove him to ruin, Sir Francis Bryan who was another friend and confident of the king, Sir Thomas More…Thomas Cromwell…The poet Thomas Wyatt , Hans Holbein the painter who immortalized Henry in his famous painting, Thomas Boleyn, Francis I who was the King of France, Charles V of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire who Henry ultimately didn’t trust but forged on and off again alliances with Charles and many, many others.
Ambassador to King Charles V Eustace Chapuys was very intelligent and a keen observer of human nature. His frequent writings and reports back to Spain were insightful and often noted the changeable nature of the king.
Cardinal Wolsey took an immediate and intense dislike of Sir Thomas More for his closeness to the king. It’s no wonder that after Wolsey’s fall, More’s name appeared at the top of the list of forty-four charges against the Cardinal. Most of the charges were outlandish and clearly made up, but the drive by his detractors had gained momentum and there was no turning back. It is believed that Wolsey’s failure to gain an annulment or divorce from Queen Catherine was his final downfall. Henry wanted to marry Anne Boleyn. Wolsey was long-time trusted advisor to Henry, but he overstepped his bounds one time too many.
Thomas Cromwell was a protégé of Wolsey’s and carried many messages between Wolsey and the king during Wolsey’s exile. Wolsey also believed that being a Cardinal protected him against a charge of treason. He was sadly mistaken. Henry could and would do anything he desired to do.
His wives also had a great influence on Henry’s demeanor. As time passed he grew more fractious, mercurial and vindictive. Some of this must have been down to his wives’ influence and their perceived “wrongs” against Henry.
Henry was passionate about sports of all kinds: hunting, tennis, dancing, shooting and especially jousting and so on. He was also drawn to intelligent, educated men such as Sir Thomas More and Desiderates Erasmus. He was easily manipulated as Cardinal Wolsey was to discover and very changeable. In his later years he became more paranoid and suspicious of his ministers and confidants. He would profess undying affection one moment and utterly destroy them the next, sometime even having them beheaded – as he did to so many people. He was also a raging hypochondriac.
Upon Wolsey’s fall from grace, Thomas Cromwell came to the king’s notice. He was not formally educated, but he was intelligent and quick to learn. He was more intelligent and articulate than most of the nobles at the court even though he was a lowly son of a blacksmith and bar owner.
Cardinal Wolsey died of dysentery on his way to (probably) the Tower of London. While some believed that he committed suicide, this has largely been disproved. The Cardinal was known to be very ill on his journey southward.
Thomas Cromwell, Cardinal Wolsey’s protégé, quickly ascended a rise to power as the king’s newest counselor and confident. Cromwell had reasons of his own to promote the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine and to make Henry the richest King in Europe. He secretly desired a break with Roman Catholic Church as he was a protestant. Cromwell was witty and humorous, and spoke the bald truth, even to his detractors. These were qualities that the king appreciated.
While Archbishop Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell did much to further their Protestant agenda, Sir Thomas More, as now the Lord Chancellor, was horrified. He was firmly opposed to King Henry’s move to annul his marriage to Catherine and any break with Rome. His sympathies clearly lied with Catherine. When the clergy of England formally announced the Submission to the King in religious affairs, More resigned his office as Lord Chancellor. He promised never to speak publicly of King Henry’s “Great Matter” or speak openly of his criticism of the upcoming break with Rome. But More did not keep silent.
When Thomas Cromwell ran afoul of Queen Anne, he was put on dangerous ground with the King in spite of garnering him millions (in today’s money), of pounds to add to his treasury. When Henry’s displeasure with Queen Anne became obvious Cromwell then schemed to get rid of Anne and install Jane Seymour as the new Queen. He knew he must be careful, however, for Anne was both astute and vindictive. He carefully constructed a plan whereby he could have Anne accused of adultery. Her love of flirting with men in her chambers was well known, for she did not surround herself with ladies, but preferred the company of men. Thus Cromwell was not only the architect of Anne’s marriage to King Henry, he was also the planner of her ultimate downfall.
Within ten days of her death, King Henry was betrothed to Jane Seymour. She was to give Henry his much longed-for son. Henry was overjoyed and named him Edward. Jane, sadly, was to die only a few days following the birth of Edward.
The Pilgrimage of Grace caused another serious threat against Cromwell. Started by those staunch Catholics who lived in the North of England against what they saw as the unfair dismantling of their monasteries and abbeys. They mostly directed their ire against Cromwell and his councilors; this also was to affect the king mightily.
Henry’s fourth wife was Ann of Cleves. He disliked her from the start and claimed he only married her to assure him an alliance with Cleves against the new treaty signed by the Emperor Charles V and Francis I of France. For his part in the marriage, Cromwell was arrested and sent to the Tower. He demanded that Cromwell, from prison, find a reason to annul the marriage. A reason was found. Ann was content to live in England as Henry’s “sister” from that time until her death.
At first Henry did not mourn Cromwell’s death, but later he came to realize that Cromwell ran his offices so smoothly and efficiently that Henry didn’t even realize how much he relied on him. He then missed him.
Henry’s fifth wife was Katherine Howard. She was very young and she failed to disclose her former love relationships to Henry. But worse was the fact that Henry was now getting to be elderly by 1500’s standards, and he by this time was also obese and his leg pained him almost all of the time. Katherine started up a love affair with Thomas Culpeper, a young man who was of questionable virtue. He raped a young woman in the village, but Henry pardoned him. He was controlling and mean and perhaps Katherine, once ensnared, couldn’t see a way out of the relationship. For whatever reason, she was soon found out and suffered the ultimate punishment, along with her lovers.
Henry’s sixth wife was Catherine Parr. She was about thirty when they married and since one doesn’t refuse the King, had to marry him in spite of the fact that she was in love with Thomas Seymour, the late Queen Jane’s brother. Catherine was to outlive Henry. She did much to bring the family together – Mary, Elizabeth and Edward and they more often came to court. Stephen Gardiner who was then a Bishop and a staunch Catholic contrived to have Queen Catherine arrested on charges of treason because of her Protestant beliefs. However, his plan backfired when Henry put his foot down and told Gardiner to get lost.
After Henry’s death on January 28, 1547, there was a great deal of fighting over the Protectorate of his son, Edward, then aged just nine. Also, the arguments over the interpretation of Henry’s will went on and on. Edward Seymour grabbed the opportunity to name himself Lord Protector and shut out everyone else. However, he was to get his. Some amendments were made to Henry’s will following his death of which Henry would not have approved.
This was a period in time that I would not like to live. Or if I did, I would want to remain as far from the court as possible. It was filled with backbiting and treachery. The level of scheming and fabrications created by those closest to Henry were astounding. There was no one be they high or low who escaped Henry’s wrath and mercurial temperament – save his good friends Charles Brandon and Thomas Wyatt.
This is a very well-written told tale of the men who were closest to King Henry VIII. It is very well researched and thought out. I am in awe of Ms. Borman’s attention to detail and the patience with which she pens her books. I have read many of her books, and have very much liked them all. I tip my hat to the author and will read any more of her future writings.
I want to thank NetGalley and Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press for forwarding to me a copy of this most interesting and well-written book for me to read, enjoy and review.
December 30, 2021
A phenomenal breadth of men and their impact upon history and Henry VIII.
This was more an incredibly detailed summary than a deep dive into one man or one aspect of Henry’s reign. Immensely enjoyable and rich in detail, looking at a different angle than that of Henry or his many wives - Tracy also looked at more men than Cromwell and Wolsey.
This was more an incredibly detailed summary than a deep dive into one man or one aspect of Henry’s reign. Immensely enjoyable and rich in detail, looking at a different angle than that of Henry or his many wives - Tracy also looked at more men than Cromwell and Wolsey.
July 1, 2023
I’m over Henry VIII. Seriously I haven’t read anything new or original about him in ages. I always appreciate the author’s vigorous research, but the books always seem to teach me what I already know. I spend more time comparing one Henry book with another, which is not fair to the authors/historians. Some just tell the stories better I guess. I’m to the point where I just find him disgusting. There are so many other subjects of the Tudor era I recommend that maybe is ime we look elsewhere for our news.
June 12, 2023
A good look at the life of Henry VIII with less of the usual emphasis on his wives.
January 15, 2021
Good approach to the subject, and written well. Interesting
April 18, 2022
A biography of Henry VIII, with a particular focus on all his male advisors, friends, enemies, clerics and more. It's an extraordinary large number, and they come and go during his tempestuous life. A few survive the contact, but a great many of his erstwhile favorites stumbled along the way and died for their failures, particularly as Henry aged and became more paranoid. Everyone knows about his six wives and their respective ends, but the body count of his male acquaintances is perhaps even more impressive. The old saying, "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown" needs to be amended in Henry's case to "Uneasy lies the head that serves the crown"; indeed, one wonders why any sane courtier would have remained in his employ longer than it took to save up enough to retire and light out for the hinterlands. The book is interesting, particularly as to Wolsey and Cromwell, but the avalanche of names, obscure titles, and English honorifics was too much for this uninitiated reader to sort out. If you're seeking a straightforward biography of Henry, there must be ones easier to read.
Did not finish
February 8, 2019Could not stick with this one. There was no clear outline, and there was a ton of rambling. I thought at one point, ok, let’s talk Wolsey, but after a few pages of good material, the author moved onto another subject. I couldn’t tell if the goal was to describe the men in Henry’s life chronologically or to describe one man at a time. Either way, it was painful reading although I am very much a Tudor fangirl.
January 13, 2019
The blurb was very promising, but the book did not meet all my expectations. It was a pleasant read, it’s the Tudors after all, but I had hoped for a more comprehensive work.
The focus is indeed on the men surrounding Henry, an approach that I found very intriguing. Though interesting, informative and obviously well-researched, I disliked the author's at times too subjective, strongly expressed or oversimplified conclusions.
I prefer more historical background information and nuance in a biography as well as a better clarification of the sources used, with their bias and the agenda of the narrator always clearly kept in mind. The author often quotes from the Spanish Chronicle, which I didn’t much care for since it is considered a rather unreliable source, feeling more like a gossip mag at times. Occasionally, she used sweeping statements herself, without giving a source or the reasoning behind her conclusion.
I also feel that the author made far too light of Henry VIII’s religious scruples and his genuine and legitimate concern regarding the importance of an heir for his dynasty and the benefits of a peaceful succession to the nation itself. I don’t mean to imply that he was a stand-up guy, but perspective and nuance are so crucial for any historical research. Well-known aspects of Henry’s life like his being conferred the title of Defender of the Faith for writing his Defense of the Seven Sacraments, his genuine grand passion & love for Anne Boleyn, the reformation of the Church of England etc. are only touched upon in the briefest manner, or even made light of.
The women are understandably relegated to the background in this book on Henry and “the men who made him”, the author didn’t stop at shifting focus in this way, however, but went a bit too far the other way, diminishing their actual importance in Henry’s life and their worth as people in their own right. She treats Henry’s wives almost like mere puppets on a string being moved about by the men in their lives and doesn’t give them enough credit for their many qualities like piety, loyalty, intelligence, courage, political acumen and resourcefulness, to name a few.
The e-book didn’t have any pictures in it, which really should go hand in hand with a biography. A pity.
The focus is indeed on the men surrounding Henry, an approach that I found very intriguing. Though interesting, informative and obviously well-researched, I disliked the author's at times too subjective, strongly expressed or oversimplified conclusions.
I prefer more historical background information and nuance in a biography as well as a better clarification of the sources used, with their bias and the agenda of the narrator always clearly kept in mind. The author often quotes from the Spanish Chronicle, which I didn’t much care for since it is considered a rather unreliable source, feeling more like a gossip mag at times. Occasionally, she used sweeping statements herself, without giving a source or the reasoning behind her conclusion.
I also feel that the author made far too light of Henry VIII’s religious scruples and his genuine and legitimate concern regarding the importance of an heir for his dynasty and the benefits of a peaceful succession to the nation itself. I don’t mean to imply that he was a stand-up guy, but perspective and nuance are so crucial for any historical research. Well-known aspects of Henry’s life like his being conferred the title of Defender of the Faith for writing his Defense of the Seven Sacraments, his genuine grand passion & love for Anne Boleyn, the reformation of the Church of England etc. are only touched upon in the briefest manner, or even made light of.
The women are understandably relegated to the background in this book on Henry and “the men who made him”, the author didn’t stop at shifting focus in this way, however, but went a bit too far the other way, diminishing their actual importance in Henry’s life and their worth as people in their own right. She treats Henry’s wives almost like mere puppets on a string being moved about by the men in their lives and doesn’t give them enough credit for their many qualities like piety, loyalty, intelligence, courage, political acumen and resourcefulness, to name a few.
The e-book didn’t have any pictures in it, which really should go hand in hand with a biography. A pity.
June 13, 2020
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
This book: "I have therefore focused the narrative upon those men who wielded the greatest influence upon Henry's life, or who illustrate different aspects of his character and reign."
Me: "That sounds like a good decision!"
This book: "... I will however throw all the names of every man Henry ever employed of even just talked to at you!"
Me: "Wait, what?"
This book: ":D"
See, if you asked me whom the most important male people in Henry VII's life were, I'd have said: Henry VII, Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Charles Brandon, Thomas Cromwell and Edward IV.
I'm pleased to know that this book mostly agrees, but also ads people like Hand Hohlbein (whom I honestly should have thought of), Thomas Cranmer (same), Will Somers, Norfolk and several others to the mix... but the focus was clearly on three of those:
Henry VII (who was actually portrayed as not a tyrant for most of his life for once), Wolsey and Cromwell (both of which I felt the author liked a great deal, while a dislike for Thomas more seemed to seep through). A predictable choice, but a very understandable one.
BUT while the main focus was on these men - and Henry VIII of course - I thought the author felt like she still had to cram everything she researched into this book. It was never enough to just mention a person's function like: "and then he talked to his servants about..." and go on with the actually point that was tried to me made. Every man needed to be named and have a sentence or two to himself no matter how unrelevant to the chapter/topic it was. It's a bit of a pity because when there wasn't a list of names for me to go cross eyed over, it was an engaging read. Stick those things into the notes in the end in my opinion!
I also thought it would have been better to either leave out some claims that have been brought into doubt or are simply speculation - oddly enough mostly regarding the women, namely Anne Boleyn being a sort of harpy, Jane Parker being jealous of her sister in law and hating her husband and Anne of Cleves physical appearance/smell or go into them further to explain them better (For example how Hohlbein never suffering for drawing that beautiful portrait of Anne of Cleves could mean that it was a pretty accurate portrayal and Henry just went the "She's ugly!" route out of hurt pride).
We all appreciate Chapuys, the "weathervane of the Tudor court" (loved that description) for all the tea he spilled in his letters/reports, but we also know he was biased.
The book illustrated well how dangerous Henry VIII's court became even for people he professed to love and how scary he could be especially in his latter years. I knew that he had many people who served him executed and not "just" two wives and Cromwell, but I honestly didn't know HOW MANY there were. Why people always schemed for more power all day every day when they had already a considerable amount of it is simply beyond me after reading this book. (Anne of Cleves remains the ultimate winner)
This book: "I have therefore focused the narrative upon those men who wielded the greatest influence upon Henry's life, or who illustrate different aspects of his character and reign."
Me: "That sounds like a good decision!"
This book: "... I will however throw all the names of every man Henry ever employed of even just talked to at you!"
Me: "Wait, what?"
This book: ":D"
See, if you asked me whom the most important male people in Henry VII's life were, I'd have said: Henry VII, Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Charles Brandon, Thomas Cromwell and Edward IV.
I'm pleased to know that this book mostly agrees, but also ads people like Hand Hohlbein (whom I honestly should have thought of), Thomas Cranmer (same), Will Somers, Norfolk and several others to the mix... but the focus was clearly on three of those:
Henry VII (who was actually portrayed as not a tyrant for most of his life for once), Wolsey and Cromwell (both of which I felt the author liked a great deal, while a dislike for Thomas more seemed to seep through). A predictable choice, but a very understandable one.
BUT while the main focus was on these men - and Henry VIII of course - I thought the author felt like she still had to cram everything she researched into this book. It was never enough to just mention a person's function like: "and then he talked to his servants about..." and go on with the actually point that was tried to me made. Every man needed to be named and have a sentence or two to himself no matter how unrelevant to the chapter/topic it was. It's a bit of a pity because when there wasn't a list of names for me to go cross eyed over, it was an engaging read. Stick those things into the notes in the end in my opinion!
I also thought it would have been better to either leave out some claims that have been brought into doubt or are simply speculation - oddly enough mostly regarding the women, namely Anne Boleyn being a sort of harpy, Jane Parker being jealous of her sister in law and hating her husband and Anne of Cleves physical appearance/smell or go into them further to explain them better (For example how Hohlbein never suffering for drawing that beautiful portrait of Anne of Cleves could mean that it was a pretty accurate portrayal and Henry just went the "She's ugly!" route out of hurt pride).
We all appreciate Chapuys, the "weathervane of the Tudor court" (loved that description) for all the tea he spilled in his letters/reports, but we also know he was biased.
The book illustrated well how dangerous Henry VIII's court became even for people he professed to love and how scary he could be especially in his latter years. I knew that he had many people who served him executed and not "just" two wives and Cromwell, but I honestly didn't know HOW MANY there were. Why people always schemed for more power all day every day when they had already a considerable amount of it is simply beyond me after reading this book. (Anne of Cleves remains the ultimate winner)
January 8, 2019
Over the last few years I have come to rely on Tracy Borman’s books about Tudor England. She is an excellent historian, and has a clear-eyed and fresh approach to this well-traveled subject. In this book we do not spend the majority of our time on Henry’s wives, interesting though they are, nor on his split with Rome, momentous as that was. This book is a look at the men with whom Henry surrounded himself, men great and small, and their influence on the king.
Henry was not meant to be king, as the second son he was the spare of the “heir and a spare.” He became king after his brother Arthur’s death, upon the death of their father. He was only eighteen, and who knows how this affected his personality? Borman makes the case that it is hard to grapple with Henry as he was so changeable over the course of his life, and she is very persuasive.
Notwithstanding his marriages, I have always thought of Henry VIII as, in that old-fashioned phrase, a man’s man. Although much-married, Henry was surrounded by men after he left the nursery, and had them as his friends and mentors. These men ranged from the high-born to the low, and from those in positions of grandeur and power to those of lower estate. The interesting biographies of many of these men, drawn from a number of sources, are fascinating, and for many of them would be even without their connection to the king.
I am glad to say that this book is as readable as Borman’s other writings. Without in any way compromising her solid scholarship, “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” is never dry nor dull which is another mark in her favor. All in all, for anyone interested in Henry, or one of the major figures covered therein, or for anyone interested in the period in general, this is an excellent work to add to one’s interest, and is highly recommended.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
Henry was not meant to be king, as the second son he was the spare of the “heir and a spare.” He became king after his brother Arthur’s death, upon the death of their father. He was only eighteen, and who knows how this affected his personality? Borman makes the case that it is hard to grapple with Henry as he was so changeable over the course of his life, and she is very persuasive.
Notwithstanding his marriages, I have always thought of Henry VIII as, in that old-fashioned phrase, a man’s man. Although much-married, Henry was surrounded by men after he left the nursery, and had them as his friends and mentors. These men ranged from the high-born to the low, and from those in positions of grandeur and power to those of lower estate. The interesting biographies of many of these men, drawn from a number of sources, are fascinating, and for many of them would be even without their connection to the king.
I am glad to say that this book is as readable as Borman’s other writings. Without in any way compromising her solid scholarship, “Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him” is never dry nor dull which is another mark in her favor. All in all, for anyone interested in Henry, or one of the major figures covered therein, or for anyone interested in the period in general, this is an excellent work to add to one’s interest, and is highly recommended.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
January 11, 2025
Tracy Borman's Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him offers a unique premise. Rather than focusing on Henry’s larger-than-life personality and his many marriages, Borman shifts the spotlight to the advisors, confidants, and rivals who influenced his decisions, shaped his reign and his larger-than-life personality.
Figures like Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, and Thomas Cromwell the dynamic players in the often-dangerous political climate. The rise and fall of men as powerful as these and as vital to Henry as his fool, Will Somers, and Court painter, Hans Holbein, were fully aware of Henry’s volatile nature and shifting priorities (comrades became execution victims). The men serving Henry did not always juggle their political ambition and personal loyalty successfully in this era of domestic and international change.
This reviewer appreciated Borman’s accessible writing style and was very pleased to see more academic rigor and bibliographic citations than in some more recent titles. Unfortunately, she still conveys information as fact with no support (see below) and she bit off a tad too much. Perhaps she could have highlighted the men who served Henry the longest, or even during a set time period of his reign and delved into their histories deeper. It seemed a bit too detailed over some areas (a lot of descriptions of Henry, his ‘Great Matter,’ and the role of Chapuys the Spanish Ambassador) and vague in others—to the point of it seemed as if men’s names and actions were inserted in a page just to be sure to cover them. Also, we saw Henry’s huge personality (his charm, his cruelty) and its effect on the relationships around him, but not always how the men made him.
Just two examples of speculation with no support:
Do we know that Henry “was painfully aware of how far he was from achieving the vision of kingship that he had confidently embraced at the beginning of his reign” p 177
On page 195 Borman says that “Wolsey was quietly working against the annulment”. Where is the proof? What did he do besides “firmly believe” that Henry staying with Catherine was the best option?
Figures like Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, and Thomas Cromwell the dynamic players in the often-dangerous political climate. The rise and fall of men as powerful as these and as vital to Henry as his fool, Will Somers, and Court painter, Hans Holbein, were fully aware of Henry’s volatile nature and shifting priorities (comrades became execution victims). The men serving Henry did not always juggle their political ambition and personal loyalty successfully in this era of domestic and international change.
This reviewer appreciated Borman’s accessible writing style and was very pleased to see more academic rigor and bibliographic citations than in some more recent titles. Unfortunately, she still conveys information as fact with no support (see below) and she bit off a tad too much. Perhaps she could have highlighted the men who served Henry the longest, or even during a set time period of his reign and delved into their histories deeper. It seemed a bit too detailed over some areas (a lot of descriptions of Henry, his ‘Great Matter,’ and the role of Chapuys the Spanish Ambassador) and vague in others—to the point of it seemed as if men’s names and actions were inserted in a page just to be sure to cover them. Also, we saw Henry’s huge personality (his charm, his cruelty) and its effect on the relationships around him, but not always how the men made him.
Just two examples of speculation with no support:
Do we know that Henry “was painfully aware of how far he was from achieving the vision of kingship that he had confidently embraced at the beginning of his reign” p 177
On page 195 Borman says that “Wolsey was quietly working against the annulment”. Where is the proof? What did he do besides “firmly believe” that Henry staying with Catherine was the best option?
February 28, 2019
3.5 stars
I've always known a fair amount about the women of Henry VIII's life, the Queens who in their own ways helped shape him into the monster he became. But until now I didn't know very much about the men, who probably did more to shape Henry. They jousted, feasted, swayed and convinced him. Back stabbing, conniving and loyal only to themselves for the most part they helped shape Henry into the tyrant he became in his later years
This book only really covers the main players, because to include all the men would make the story many thousands of pages long, and dilute the message. Some of them such as Cromwell, Wolsey and Cranmer I knew about already but others I didn't know about at all
This book was fascinating because it really shed a light on how mercurial Henry could be. One second a companion would be close to his heart and his boon companion the next they would find themselves in the Tower on trumped up charges hoping for a swift death by beheading. I did find it a bit confusing in places, and a bit fragmentary which is why it has received only 3 stars from me
I've always known a fair amount about the women of Henry VIII's life, the Queens who in their own ways helped shape him into the monster he became. But until now I didn't know very much about the men, who probably did more to shape Henry. They jousted, feasted, swayed and convinced him. Back stabbing, conniving and loyal only to themselves for the most part they helped shape Henry into the tyrant he became in his later years
This book only really covers the main players, because to include all the men would make the story many thousands of pages long, and dilute the message. Some of them such as Cromwell, Wolsey and Cranmer I knew about already but others I didn't know about at all
This book was fascinating because it really shed a light on how mercurial Henry could be. One second a companion would be close to his heart and his boon companion the next they would find themselves in the Tower on trumped up charges hoping for a swift death by beheading. I did find it a bit confusing in places, and a bit fragmentary which is why it has received only 3 stars from me
November 8, 2018
It is hard to find new history books on Henry VIII that explore any new instances in his life. What this book does different is focus on his male relationships and those that were exploited for power and those that suffered from them with their lives. I am ceaselessly fascinated by the Tudor reign and this book does a great job of exploring the relationships between the men such as Wosley, Cromwell and Cranmer and the mercurial king. I have done quite a bit of reading about the Tudors so am familiar with most of the players so since the mass quantity of names and title didn’t trip me up, I found this thoroughly enjoyable. I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
October 29, 2022
Henry VIII is well identified for his uncontrolled marriages and the fates of his six wives. His rule and status were hugely influenced by his friends, ministers, and even occasional enemies. Studying these relations, the author offers a new viewpoint on this king, revealing surprising contradictions in his beliefs and behavior. Henry was capable of fierce but seldom abiding loyalty, of raising men up only to destroy them later. He loved to be attended by energetic young men like his friend Charles Brandon, who shared his passion for sport. But the king could also be diverted by men of intellect, culture, and humor, as his long lasting relation with Cardinal Wolsey and his hesitant desertion of Thomas More show. Eager to break away from the likes of his father, Henry was easily led by male mentors early in his reign. He developed into a overpowering, distrustful and cold-bloodied king. I found this to be an enchanting read.
February 21, 2020
Great read, and highly enjoyable! I am not the biggest Henry VIII fan, but this book was fun and well done. It was a hard book to put down!
We see Henry VIII as never before - through the male relationships that he had in his life. Most of the time we are focused on the six wives - not the friendships and political acquaintances that would have shaped the young king and molded him as he grew older.
Worth a read!
We see Henry VIII as never before - through the male relationships that he had in his life. Most of the time we are focused on the six wives - not the friendships and political acquaintances that would have shaped the young king and molded him as he grew older.
Worth a read!
January 30, 2019
Quality writing, not a bombardment of dates, and contains the subtle kind of courtly humour that cracks me up (you know, the kind of humour that you have to imagine or read too much into). Endorsed by Alison Weir who’s a leading Tudor historian, I look forward to reading more of Borman’s work. Especially The Private Lives of Tudors.
July 16, 2019
I have read many books on Henry VIII -- all very good, but Ms. Borman's book is exceptional in that she was able to bring new light on Henry VIII through the men that surrounded him. It is the best depiction of how the court function through these men.
For those like myself that are fascinated by Henry VIII and his world I highly recommend this book -- every page was fascinating!
For those like myself that are fascinated by Henry VIII and his world I highly recommend this book -- every page was fascinating!
June 16, 2019
Well researched, well written book about a king who for most people is a one dimensional character. I only gave it 3 stars because I thought it was very dry and"facty" in spots.
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