Hampton Court

Like father like son? In the case of Henry VII and Henry VIII, in essence, the exact opposite is true.

Henry VII, a Welshman born in 1457, was a benevolent and extremely cautious king during his 1485-1509 reign. Literally having to fight to become king (killing previous monarch Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth Field), Henry VII came into leadership and immediately began making allegiances and treaties with other countries so as to completely secure his standings and prevent any wars from breaking out. For example, he made an allegiance with France so that they wouldn't support any pretenders who may want to become king. He also made political alliances with several countries so as to remain amicable with everyone and not lose ties with anyone.

He, a Lancastrian, even married a woman of the enemy, Elizabeth of York, to cancel any link that they might have had to the throne. Through their union, the Tudor Rose came into existence, a symbol of peace which is a combination of the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York.

In addition to his cautiousness and his efforts of peace and prosperity, Henry VII was a brilliant administrator and a political and economic mastermind. When the War of the Roses completely wiped out England economically and financially, Henry VII developed a tax system in which everyone paid; by the time of Henry VIII's reign, Henry VII had collected approximately 1.5 million pounds. This significant increase in funds helped England to regain its economic power and bounce back after the severe damages of the War.

During his reign Henry VII also encourage trade and exploration, which also greatly benefited England socially and economically. Overall, Henry VII was a compassionate, cautious, and brilliantly intelligent king who greatly boosted several aspects of English life and made the country a place of peace and prosperity. Whenever his son, Henry VIII, came into leadership, many things were about to change.

Henry VIII, the second son of Henry VII, was not even supposed to be king but rather the position "fell" on him when the eldest son, Arthur, the original and intended heir to the throne, died in 1502. With this, Henry VIII did not have to fight to become king as his father did, and was by no means prepared to rule the place his father worked so hard to rebuild. Henry VIII was not educated in politics and warfare but instead fancied fashion, sports, music, and women. His mannerisms were very different compared to those of his father; when he took over in 1509, one of the first things he wanted to do was to go against his father's rulings he established and go to war with France. Henry VIII thought he deserved some land in France from his father, and when he did not get what he wanted, he went to war. As can obviously be inferred, Henry VIII was very hot-headed and arrogant and had a very big ego, perhaps one of the biggest egos in the history of man. He was a very "look at me look at me" type and did not accept anything other than his way.

Perhaps one of the biggest enablers of Henry's ego was his right hand man, Cardinal Wolsey. Wolsey, an absolute genius of his time but also a man of poor origin, was chief advisor to Henry VIII for most of his reign. Wolsey, although extremely helpful to the king, caused many problems within the monarch system because of his poor origins and rapidly ascending status. Many of the noblemen greatly disliked Wolsey for he was of a lower class than themselves but received special treatment from the king. Despite their dislike, Wolsey did most of Henry VIII's work such as setting up a Barrier System among other many influential things. It was pretty much as if Cardinal Wolsey was doing all the work and Henry VIII was getting all of the credit.

When Wolsey advised Henry VIII to not go to war with France because of a lack of funds, Henry VIII would not listen and demanded that Wolsey do something about it. Wolsey, unable to change Henry's mind, eventually went along with the king and in 1518 created a world stage for economics and politics to be discussed in the UK. This event, particularly the Field of the Cloth of Gold, took place in France and people were shipped to France from everywhere except Western Europe. This event wrecked England's bank account that Henry VII worked so hard to accumulate; this can tell one a great deal about Henry's impulsive and egotistical character.

As only the second Tudor Monarch in England's history, producing a son and therefore heir to the throne was among Henry's top priorities. When his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, did not produce a son (although we know now that it is the male who determines the sex of an offspring), Henry wanted to divorce her and try to produce a son with another woman. Although he truly loved Katherine, her perceived failure of producing a son forced Henry to leave her. This is when problems arose between Henry and the Roman Catholic Church. A divorce is strictly prohibited within this religion, so when Henry wanted a divorce, it was not allowed by Roman Catholic officials. Henry then demanded Cardinal Wolsey to do something about the situation, but when Wolsey was unable to produce any changes, Henry dismissed Wolsey and sentenced him to death, even after Wolsey had practically done Henry's job for him and built up England's economics for so many years. It is believed that Wolsey died on the way to the court.

When Henry VIII was not allowed to get a divorce, he severed the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church and established himself, the king, as the supreme head of the Church in England. With this, Henry could divorce Katherine of Aragon and marry another woman in attempts to produce an heir to the throne.

This is when Henry VIII infamously wed five other women to try to produce a son, all with failed attempts. His third wife, Jane Seymour, gave him a son, Edward, but unfortunately Edward was very sick his entire life and died quite young. His two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, both born to different women, eventually became queens, but Henry never had the son he so desperately desired.

While Henry was busy trying to produce a son, England was gaining status but lacked the funds to support it. Henry VIII had spent all of his father's 1.5 million pounds and was not doing much to gain any of it back. He was also encouraging political arguments and breaking ties with families as well as allies, something his father would have never done.

Despite his audacious attitude and impulsive moves, Henry VIII did do things to greatly benefit and advance England. He joined Wales to England, was involved in the original construction and improvement of several significant buildings, was among the first European rulers to learn about the true geography of the world, launched the English Reformation, and is also considered one of the founders of the Royal Navy.

With all of this information, I would have to say that Henry VIII was a more notorious rather than most important king. He did do several acts to improve England, but his brash mannerisms seemed to lead to more problems than solutions. Henry VII, his father, was a very conservative and cautious king, which was very different to his son. Both men were very influential in England's history, but, in my opinion, they are so for very different reasons.