Essay
Exemplar Tudor Extract Analysis
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Lauren BarlowWith reference to Extracts 2 and 3 and your understanding of the historical
context, which of these two extracts provides the more convincing interpreta-
tion of the young Henry VIII as king?
Both extracts provide a fairly convincing interpretation of young Henry VIII as king, highlighting his
characteristics and early decisions in his reign. In extract 2, historian Susan Brigden begins with an
overall judgement on Henry’s character saying that he was well “educated and cultivated”- this
statement is convincing as it is known that Henry was well versed with languages showing a partic-
ular talent for French, Latin, Spanish and some Italian. The idea of Henry being well “educated” is
also referenced in extract 3 as Christopher Morris states he was “an accomplished linguist”. In ad-
dition to this Brigden says that Henry had “courage, charm, even humour” - these attributes have
generally been associated with Henry VIII especially his “courage”. In Henry’s youth he was forbid-
den by his father to joust as he was Henry VII’s last son and male heir to the throne, however
Henry participated in a jousting competition in disguise. This shows his “courage” as he rebelled
against his councillors which he also did at the beginning of his reign. After Thomas Wolsey was
brought to prominence in 1511, the Order of the Seals was dissolved allowing Henry to wage war
against France in Tournei- historian David Starkey also references Henry’s courage saying that it
was his “boyhood dream of war”. Furthermore, Brigden also claims that Henry was a “King of com-
manding will”, it is often recognised that Henry had a fickle temperament however in the initial
years of his reign he did not participate much in government and David Starkey even calls him a
“soft touch”. Though he was “commanding” as a king in terms of getting his own way with things
generally, in his earlier days as King he did not exert much command in the way his government
was run and was limited by the Order of the Seal. In this extract, Brigden notes that “Sir Thomas
More warned…unlimited power tended to weaken good minds” arguing that some of his limits as
King were more for preservation of his good nature then diminishing his command. Moreover, she
argues that “Henry’s reign began…with comprehensive practices for high political purpose” this
statement could suggest two decisions Henry made at the beginning of his reign his marriage to
Catherine of Aragon and the execution of Sir Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley (two of Henry
VII’s most faithful councillors). His marriage to Catherine of Aragon took place a few weeks after
his succession to the crown and resulted in an alliance between Spain and England which Henry
VII had tried to fortify in his reign but had failed to do so. This was a politically savvy move for
Henry VIII to make as he not only secured a foreign alliance early on in his reign but increased his
chance of producing a male heir early on in his reign in order to strengthen his position. With Emp-
son and Dudley, Brigden recognises that they were “hated councillors” and that Henry sent them to
the Tower of London to be executed. This was also a politically motivated manoeuvre as most of
the people disliked them due to their oppressive policies and punishment of the nobility, so getting
rid of them would increase his popularity. Both Empson and Dudley were executed August 17th
1510, a little over a year when Henry succeeded his father, therefore making Brigden statement all
the more convincing as this happened very early in his reign. At the end of the extract Brigden
leaves us with the acumen that “already the ruthlessness of the king seemed apparent”- the word
“ruthlessness” insinuates the quick execute of Empson and Dudley and that Henry was willing to
do anything to secure his thrown and popularity amongst the nobility and the people. Unlike Henry
VII who was more ruthless financially, Henry VIII took a more violent approach as such his deal-
ings with the two councillors. Therefore, the statement that his “ruthlessness” was apparent holds
true.
On the other hand, Christopher Morris in extract 3 seems to give Henry VIII quite a bit of praise
claiming that he had many “remarkable attributes” and with that producing a lengthy list of adjec-
tives such as “handsome, affable, athletic, musical”. These four adjectives seem to be convincing
as Henry was regarded to be a very attractive man, he was very friendly with the nobility as he par-
ticipated in many sporting activities with them, he was indeed very close with Charles Brandon. He
participated in many jousting contests, hunting expeditions, tennis games and dancing- unlike his
father he always appeared in court and mingled with courtiers, playing music and writing poems; at
the beginning of his reign he wrote a song with the lyrics “some say youth doth rule me”. However,
Morris infers that Henry was heavily influenced by the nobility saying that for “many years…play
the part expected of an ideal king”- due to his fickle temperament he was easily influenced by the
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