Henry VIII (nicknamed Copper Nose) was King of England from 1509 to 1547. He was born in 1491 and died in 1547. Henry VIII was the son of Henry VII and was 17 when he became king in 1509. He was soon prevailed upon to join in a league formed against Louis XII of France. Some campaigns in France followed, but the success of the English at the Battle of the Spurs in 1513 was succeeded by no adequate result, the taking of Tournay being the only fruit of this expensive expedition.
Meantime, more splendid success attended the English arms at home, James IV of Scotland being completely defeated and slain at Flodden Field in 1513. Henry, however, granted peace to the Queen of Scotland, his sister, and established an influence which rendered his kingdom long secure on that side. Finding himself deluded by his allies, he soon after made peace with France, retaining Tournay and receiving a large sum of money.
From l515 until 1529 the government was practically in the hands of Wolsey, no parliament being summoned in that period until 1523. After the election of Charles V to the German Empire, both Charles and the French king, Francis I, sought the alliance of England. A friendly meeting took place between Henry and Francis at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520, but the interest of Charlea preponderated, and Henry declared war against France, though with no important results.
Now came the determination of the king to divorce his wife Catharine of Aragon, who was older than he, had borne him no male heir - though a girl - and had, moreover, been in the first place the wife of his elder brother. The last of these points was the alleged ground for seeking divorce, though Henry was probably influenced largely by his attachment to Anne Boleyn, one of the queen's maids of honour. Wolsey, for his own ends, had at first been active in promoting the divorce, but drew back and procrastinated when it became apparent that Anne Boleyn would be Catharine's successor. This delay cost Wolsey his power and the papacy its authority in England. Henry in disgust eagerly caught at the advice of Thomas Cranmer, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, to refer the case to the universities, from which he soon got the decision that he desired.
In 1533 his marriage with Catharine was declared null and an anticipatory private marriage with Anne Boleyn declared lawful; and as these decisions were not recognized by the pope, two acts of parliament were obtained, one in 1534 setting aside the authority of the chief pontiff in England, the other in 1535 declaring Henry the supreme head of the church. But although Henry discarded the authority of the Roman Church, he adhered to its theological tenets; and while, on the one hand, he executed Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More for refusing the oath of supremacy, he brought many of the reformers to the stake. Finding that the monks and friars in England were the most direct advocates of the papal authority, and a constant source of disaffection, he suppressed the monasteries by act of parliament, and thereby inflicted an incurable wound upon the Catholic religion in England.
The fall of Anne Boleyn was, however, unfavourable for a time to the reformers. Henry then married Jane Seymour, and the birth of Prince Edward in 1537 fulfilled his wish for a male heir. The death of the queen was followed in 1540 by Henry's marriage with Anne of Cleves, the negotiations of which were conducted by Cromwell. The king's dislike to his wife, which resulted in another divorce, became extended to the minister who had proposed the union, and Cromwell's disgrace and death soon followed.
A marriage with Catharine Howard in 1541 proved no happier, and in 1542 she was executed on a charge of infidelity. In 1543 he married his sixth wife, Catharine Parr, a lady secretly inclined to the Reformation, who survived the king. In the meantime Scotland and France had renewed their alliance, and England became again involved in war. James V ravaged the borders, but was defeated at Solway Moss in 1542, and in 1544 Boulogne was captured, Henry having again allied himself with Charles V. Charles, however, soon withdrew, and Henry maintained the war alone until 1546. Disease now so much aggravated the natural violence of Henry that his oldest friends fell victims to his tyranny. The Duke of Norfolk was committed to the Tower, and his son the Earl of Surrey was executed. Control of Wales was strengthened by the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1542 which united England and Wales administratively and legally, and gave Wales representation in Parliament. Henry died in 1547, leaving his sickly 10-year-old son to inherit the throne as Edward VI.
Henry's nickname of copper nose came about after, having spent the money left him by his miserly father, he minted inferior silver coins. The silver soon wore away from the prominent parts of the coins, notably the king's nose, revealing the base copper below, and the nickname was born. Research Henry VIII
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