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1536: The Year that Changed Henry VIII

by Suzannah Lipscomb (Goodreads Author)

3.79 · rating details · 19 ratings · 5 reviews

Henry VIII is known stereotypically as a corpulent, covetous, and cunning king whose appetite for worldly goods met few parallels, whose wives met infamously premature ends, and whose religion was largely political in intent. By focusing on a pivotal year in the life of Henry, this study moves beyond the caricature to reveal a fuller portrait of this complex monarch. In 15...more

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published October 1st 2009 by Lion UK (first published August 1st 2009)

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Feb 14, 2011

Sarah rated it

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This is one of the best books that I have ever read in regards to the personality of Henry VIII. Suzannah Lipscomb claims that the accumulated effects of 1536 worked together to deeply affect the personality and behaviour of Henry VIII and from this year onwards we can see the affects of these events in his tyrannical behaviour. Personally I have always felt that there was so much going on for Henry VIII during the year 1536, from the death of Katherine of Aragon to the fall of Anne Boleyn to th...more

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Sep 09, 2011

Sam rated it

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From the moment I picked this book up I could barely put it down. I was hooked from the word go, and thoroughly enjoyed every moment that I sat down and read this book. So much so that I finished it in a little under two days. In fact I would say that this book is one of the best books on Henry VIII that I have ever read, for the sheer fact that is completely unlike any book on Henry that I have ever read. In fact it concentrates on one single year in Henry VIII’s reign, and a year in which a lo...moreFrom the moment I picked this book up I could barely put it down. I was hooked from the word go, and thoroughly enjoyed every moment that I sat down and read this book. So much so that I finished it in a little under two days. In fact I would say that this book is one of the best books on Henry VIII that I have ever read, for the sheer fact that is completely unlike any book on Henry that I have ever read. In fact it concentrates on one single year in Henry VIII’s reign, and a year in which a lot of bad things seemed to happen to Henry VIII, things that went some way to making Henry into the tyrant that we all think of today. In fact the amazing thing about this book is that it goes some way to explaining the psychology behind the change in Henry VIII, and looks in some details at particular events during this year that changed Henry VIII. And in fact Suzannah Lipscomb presents compelling arguments here to say that it wasn’t just one event that changed Henry; in fact it was a mixture of every single event that happened throughout this year that changed him. Some historians blame Anne Boleyn; some blame his jousting accident, some blame the Pilgrimage of grace but Lipscomb puts across that it can’t be just one thing. It has to be a number of contributing factors that changed him from the Virtuous Prince that Starkey talks about into the obese tyrant that we all love to hate today.

Lipscomb presents her book in a very readable style, keeping things short and to the point and tying them all in wonderfully. It makes the whole book incredibly readable and a sheer joy to curl up on the sofa with. Her writing style makes the book move along at a fast pace, and it is far from dry like many Tudor books out there. The chapters are presented in short, bite sized chunks – some of them clock in at just a couple of pages – which give the information needed but don’t run on for pages and pages with information that really doesn’t help the reader understand anything. I honestly wish that some of the books and articles I had to have read at University had read like this.
The first few chapters concentrate on “setting the scene”; giving the reader the sense of what Tudor England was like up to 1536. We learn that every person from the lowest common person up to the highest person in the land had their place in society; we learn how important religion was to the people of England and most of all we see exactly where women came into play. They were seen during this time as the weaker sex, the sex that brought sin into the world and who had to be kept in place by men. Following this, Lipscomb looks at the theories surrounding the changes in Henry VIII’s personality, those that blame the change on certain events and different dates. Her own theory then comes into play that 1536 was the year that accelerated the change in Henry, pushing him towards being the tyrant that everyone thinks of today. Of course, more background is provided and we are shown that even in his younger days Henry was stubborn and could be cruel, and then we are shown his divorce. Henry’s divorce came about through his wish for a male heir and his worry that after 20 years of marriage to Katherine of Aragon that his dynasty was in peril. After all, the Tudors were still relatively new on the dynastic scene and nothing would be certain unless Henry could provide a strong male heir to continue the dynastic line. Lipscomb suggests here that he was convinced the reason he was being declined a male heir was because he was being punished by God, and that the Pope should never have granted his dispensation to marry Katherine.

From here on in, we start getting to the nitty gritty of 1536 and the events that made this year Henry’s annus horribilis. This whole section is dedicated not only to these events, but of the masculine crisis that Henry would go through in this year. At this point, Henry VIII was getting towards old age and things began culminating which he himself commented, made him feel like an old man. The first event of the year was the death of Katherine of Aragon, and whilst this may have been an important moment for him, it was just the beginning of things to come. And then we are shown how important honour was to Henry, and the idea that jousting was the best way that any man could show his honour. We are given a taster of how the jousting accident that happened in this year and stopped Henry from jousting was a severe blow to his honour.

The Fall of Anne Boleyn was a major event in this year, and an event that really would have affected Henry. Lipscomb runs through Anne’s downfall in a prompt manner, explaining her miscarriage of 1536 would have been the beginning of the end, bringing in Jane Seymour and showing how quickly Henry became enamoured of her, the investigation and the arrests of Smeaton, Rochford, Wyatt, and Norris etc. We then look at the reasons as to why Anne fell from grace so suddenly and so dramatically – was it all Cromwell? Was it Jane Seymour and her family? Did Henry prompt Cromwell to do it because he wanted her out of the way or was she really guilty? But, despite the evidence Lipscomb puts forward to Anne’s innocence, she was still found guilty and Lipscomb takes us through the reasons why Anne was still put to death despite the evidence that Anne was actually innocent of all the charges. And Lipscomb points out that even though Anne was innocent, the fact that her apparent guilt convinced Henry she should die.

The next major event in this year was the death of Henry’s illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy. This along with the fact that both of his daughters were now illegitimate meant that he was now without heirs at all, and this would have been a huge blow for the aging monarch.

We are then given an overview of religion at the time, and how this affected Henry. His break from Rome caused the reformation that is so embedded in our minds and this was a major thing for Henry – he saw himself as Head of the Church and he believed that everyone else should see it that way. We are shown how despite the fact he still held true to a few Catholic practices, he completely changed others and woe betide anyone who went against him! He put his foot down with anyone who disagreed with him, executing those who he believed were heretics and executing others for not conforming to his new religion. It seems he went for the middle way, but took a hard line with it. Of course, we are also shown how he held to his Act of Succession, and how he dealt with those who refused to swear the oath also. His daughter Mary had been forced to sign, and men whom he had once held close (i.e. Thomas More) had already been put to death.

The next huge event in 1536 was the famous Pilgrimage of Grace, a massive uprising in the north of England against the religious changes, suppression of the monasteries and most of all against Henry’s councillors. By this point, it seemed as though Henry had become a dangerous man to know – as Robert Aske would find out when despite doing what the King said and helping to put down the rebels he once lead, he still ended up in chains, left hanging to rot. Mixed in with this, following the rebellion, prophecies became much more ardent and something that Henry was determined to put down. Henry was constantly being labelled as the mouldwarp from the prophecy of the same name. We are told how seriously this was taken, how prophecies were banned and most of all how people were put to death for calling Henry the tyrant spoken about in these prophecies.

The book is finalised with a wonderful chapter named “How did Henry VIII become a tyrant?” and this is basically a conclusion to the whole book which summarises each point in turn. Here Lipscomb runs back over each point she has made, the fall of Anne Boleyn, Henry’s jousting accident and the effect it had on his honour, the death of his son Henry Fitzroy and the Pilgrimage of Grace and she pulls them all together. She shows us how each of these events gave rise to the tyrant we know and that by this year, more so than any other, Henry had become a seriously dangerous man with a violent temper. Because after all in this year the Act of Attainder was used on more and more people, something which had previously never been done before, and it meant that he could have people executed without a trial. All the warrant needed was his signature. Indeed, Lipscomb comes to the conclusion, through looking at all of this and then the definitions of a tyrant in both the modern day and in the 16th century, that by 1536 Henry had indeed become the tyrant that we, as readers and historians, all want so desperately to know.

All in all a fantastic read and one I would definitely recommend to anyone that is new to Henry VIII. This really was a wonderful book and a great attempt at unravelling the mystery of how Henry became such a tyrant. I’m glad it wasn’t any longer because I think had it been then it could have quickly become dry. Instead the length was just right, and made it a pleasure to read. It’s certainly one I will be going back to again.
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Apr 11, 2010

Bettie rated it

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Shelves: history, spring-2010, published-2009, nonfiction, fraudio, tudor

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Jan 03, 2012

Michele Kallio rated it

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An informative read....if you really want to understand just why 1536 was Henry VIII's 'annus horribilis' you must read Lipscomb highly readable book. Her clear and concise writing helps the reader to understand how that terrible year changed Henry from Prince Charming into the monster he became. An excellent read!

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Dec 09, 2010

Abby rated it

Fascinating, intelligent and original. I loved this book and urge anyone with an interest and/or thorough knowledge to read this book. It taught me a thing or two!

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