The extent of Henry’s control over his own power, and therefore decisions, is an issue that has and continues to polarise historians. One division is over whether he was a master or prisoner of court factions in the years 1529 to 1547 – a timespan that begins with Henry VII’s attempts to annul his marriage…
It is possible to argue that the break from Rome only occurred because Henry VIII had asserted the claims his divorce had made necessary, rather than for any other contending reason, as conflicts with the church began with the conception of the idea of annulling his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Henry, convinced that his…
Henry VIII (born 1491, ruled 1509-1547). The second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York was one of England’s strongest and least popular monarchs. He was born at Greenwich on June 28, 1491. The first English ruler to be educated under the influence of the Renaissance, he was a gifted scholar, linguist, composer, and…
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I of Spain, of the Spanish realms from 1516 until his abdication in 1556. As the heir of four of Europe’s leading dynasties – the Habsburgs of Austria, the Valois of Burgundy, the Trastamara of Castile and the House of Aragon – he ruled over extensive domains in Central, Western and Southern Europe, as well as the various…