FYS 10 - Power of Tradition, Forces of Change

"Henry VIII" focuses on the fluctuating, often fraught relationship between the king and his court, his Church and his people - and with the other powers of continental Europe, relations with whom were thrown into turmoil by Henry's successive marriages. It explores Henry's policies and strategies and his manipulation of key players such as Wolsey, Cromwell, Fisher and More, as well as the shaping of his royal image over decades of change. It also probes the intriguing nature of the man behind the monarch, especially his complex religious beliefs that determined the shape of England's reformation. David Loades, an authoritative historian of Tudor England, begins by explaining how historians have treated Henry and the expectations contemporaries had of the Renaissance prince who ascended the throne. He describes the ensuing reign in detail, taking in the wars, law enforcement, the succession question, the court, the rebellions and the problem of Ireland, illustrating the narrative with original National Archives documents and full colour portraits of those involved.

In 1533 the English monarch Henry VIII decided to divorce his wife of twenty years Catherine of Aragon in pursuit of a male heir to ensure the Tudor line. He was also head over heels in love with his wife's lady in waiting Anne Boleyn, the future mother of Elizabeth I. But getting his freedom involved a terrific web of intrigue through the enshrined halls of the Vatican that resulted in a religious schism and the formation of the Church of England. Henry's man in Rome was a wily Italian diplomat named Gregorio Casali who drew no limits on skullduggery including kidnapping, bribery and theft to make his king a free man. In this absorbing narrative, winner of the Rome Fellowship prize and University of Durham historian Catherine Fletcher draws on hundreds of previously-unknown Italian archive documents to tell the colorful tale from the inside story inside the Vatican.

Chronicles the life of King Henry VIII, discussing why his was considered one of the most magnificent, and dangerous, courts in Renaissance Europe.

When Henry VIII died in 1547 he left a church in England that had broken with Rome - but was it Protestant? The English Reformation was quite different in its methods, motivations and results to that taking place on the continent.This book: examines the influences of continental reform on England; describes the divorce of Henry VIII and the break with Rome; discusses the political and religious consequences of the break with Rome; assesses the success of the Reformation up to 1547; provides a clear guide to the main strands of historical thought on the topic.

This biography of Thomas Wolsey (1475-1530), written by his gentleman-usher George Cavendish (1500-1561), is available on the Cowles Library shelves. It is also in the public domain, so a scanned version can be viewed and downloaded from the Internet Archive by clicking on the title above.

A dual biography of Thomas Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell, spanning the events and personalities of Henry VIII's reign down to Cromwell's dramatic fall in 1540.

This meticulous study of Cromwell's early political career expands and revises what has been understood concerning the life and talents of Henry VIII's chief minister. Michael Everett provides a new and enlightening account of Cromwell's rise to power, his influence on the king, his role in the Reformation, and his impact on the future of the nation. Controversially, Everett depicts Cromwell not as the fervent evangelical, Machiavellian politician, or the revolutionary administrator that earlier historians have perceived. Instead he reveals Cromwell as a highly capable and efficient servant of the Crown, rising to power not by masterminding Henry VIII's split with Rome but rather by dint of exceptional skills as an administrator.

Thomas Cromwell, chief architect of the English Reformation, served as minister of Henry VIII from 1531 to 1540, the period during which more political and religious reform was accomplished than at any other time in Henry's thirty-seven-year reign. Thus the momentous events of the 1530s are generally (but not universally) attributed to Cromwell's agency. Cromwell has been the subject of close and continuous attention for the last half century, with positive appraisal of his work and achievements as the scholarly norm. In this classroom biography_the first in a generation and the only one now in print_that judgment is largely accepted, though it is combined with earlier and more critical assessments that view Cromwell as a disciple of Machiavelli. One distinguishing feature of this study is its overview of Machiavellian thought, along with its overview of Marsilian thought. Marsilius of Padua, fourteenth-century political philosopher and author of Defensor Pacis, is widely recognized as the source of Cromwell's reformation ideas; but nowhere is Marsilius explicated. The same is true of Machiavelli_never explicated though said to be (by Reginald Pole, cousin of Henry and cardinal of the church) the source of Cromwell's ideas on statecraft. A second distinguishing feature of the book is its inclusion of an introductory chapter that situates Cromwell in the sixteenth century and shows his connection to important events, characters, and ideas. Thus, while the book is a biography, its focus is broader and its uses more various.

Professor Lehmberg gives a full analysis of the composition and attendance of both Houses of Parliament and of the Convocation of the Province of Canterbury which sat simultaneously with Parliament. His main concern in this book, however, is with the activities of Parliament rather than with an analysis of its composition. He examines the attitudes and achievements of Parliament session by session and shows the precise part played by both Houses in the passing of the measures which led to the establishment of the independence of the Anglican Church and the annulment of the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.

A volume of primary sources that were written during the 15th and 16th centuries. The sources include treaties, statutes, declarations, government and cabinet proceedings, military dispatches, orders, acts, sermons, newspaper articles, pamphlets, personal and official letters, diaries and more. The sources cover a wide spectrum of topics, from political and constitutional issues to social, economic, religious as well as cultural history

Letters written during the reigns of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, and Queen Mary, chiefly from the archives of Zurich. Cowles Library has print versions of both parts. Click on the title to view and download a scanned version from the Internet Archive.