Henry VIII: The Paranoid Tyrant

As I laid in bed at midnight, I wondered what topic to discuss next. By this point, I've already done a few reviews, and as a serious historian, I thought it necessary to discuss something more realistic and stray away from non-fiction for my next post. My specialisation for History has always been the Tudor dynasty, and it's been that way for as long as I can remember. I don't know why it began in the first place, but I remember the first time I studied Tudor History, which was in Year 4. 8-year old me had heard of Queen Elizabeth I, but at the time, I didn't know anything about her. When I learnt that she was the result of a scandalous union that tore England from papal authority, naturally I was curious - most romances do not involve such acts. Thus my love for the Tudor dynasty began. My fascination for all things Tudor has even led me to aspire to visit the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula within the Tower of London, where the bodies of many "traitors" were buried, such as St Thomas More, Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey. What made me consider this topic was that we are living through a pandemic, and as I laid in bed wondering what to write about without delving into done-to-death topics, I considered Henry VIII's aversion to infection.

King Henry VIII of England was notorious for his marital life, and for his gluttonous lifestyle. When one thinks of this royal bully, it's hard not to think about how much he used to eat, or how he treated his wives as though they were like underwear. However, his paranoia for illness and maladies is not as well-known, yet it played a large role in how he conducted himself, or how he raised his children, especially Edward. Knowledge surrounding how illness was spread at the time was very limited, and generally incorrect. The common argument was "bad air" when one fell ill, which then spread to others as long as they were in the same room. However, in Henry's case, if someone were to fall sick within his own palace, that would be enough to consider himself damned, and he would immediately remove himself and close members of his family to a different location, usually the countryside far from London.

A notable moment when Henry had to deal with an outbreak was in 1528, during the outbreak of the Sweating Sickness. Even today, no one really knows exactly what the Sweating Sickness was. It was a well-known early-modern disease, described as a quick killer. Discover magazine writes, "Death usually came quickly. It killed some within three hours, wrote one Tudor chronicler. Some within two hours, some merry at dinner and dead at supper." This was one disease that Henry was particularly fearful of, considering it claimed the life of his older brother, Arthur, and his close friend, William Compton. The 1528 outbreak even nearly killed his then-lover, Anne Boleyn. At the beginning of the outbreak, Henry was tempted to go elsewhere, but as the illness had not affected anyone at court, there was little reason to leave. However, when several servants died, among them Anne's personal maid, Henry immediately took his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and his daughter, Mary, to Ludlow, where they would be far away from London, safe from the disease's reach. As he had already begun his affair with Anne Boleyn, although it was not sexual, he wished her well and sent her to her home, Hever Castle for her protection. I read somewhere that when Anne disclosed to Henry that her maid had died from the Sweating Sickness, he recoiled from her, and did not wish to be anywhere near her physically. If this is a true account, it's not all too surprising. Henry was generally a selfish person, and his fear of infection would have meant that he would prioritise his health over others. Of course, the excuse would likely have been, "Who will succeed me if I'm dead? Not my daughter!!!"

Henry's obsession with health arguably jeopardised the health of his son, in a twisted way. The arrival of Edward Tudor was an assurance to the Royal Family not only that the Tudor dynasty would continue, but that the country would be safe from the threat of civil war. Up until this point, the succession was in question, as both the King's daughters had been declared illegitimate from invalid marital unions, thus they ideally would have no claim to the throne. Yet the religious turmoil that struck the country in the 1530s threw into question who would rule the country in the unfortunate event that the King died; traditionalists and the country folk supported Mary Tudor's claim, whereas reformers - which were found among the nobility - supported Elizabeth Tudor. Edward's birth settled once and for all who would inherit the crown.

However, as Edward was the son Henry had prayed so hard for, he did not take Edward's health lightly. Put in the care of his governess, Lady Margaret Bryan, Edward was immediately placed in Hampton Court Palace, which was at the time in the countryside away from plague-ridden London. Edward's household was under strict observance by both the King and Lady Margaret. Nobody below the rank of knight was allowed near Edward, and regardless of rank, no one was allowed to touch Edward without the King's permission. Edward's food was to be tested first in the event that someone tried to poison him. The rooms Edward would inhabit were to be scrubbed down three times a day. When this was depicted in the 2007 series, The Tudors, Lady Margaret's son, Francis, pointed out that Edward was probably the cleanest baby in England, to which Margaret noted that Edward was also the most precious baby in England. No doubt someone will have made the same remark in history, for Edward was indeed Henry's precious jewel. Yet it is because of Henry's paranoia surrounding Edward that Edward's health deteriorated frequently, thus resulting in his early death at age 15. Living in such sanitary surroundings meant that Edward would not have been able to develop a proper immune system to combat infection. I would argue that Henry was indirectly responsible for his son's death. There were other causes, but that's a blog post for another time.

So, moral of the story: wash your hands, don't overdo it. Kids need space to develop their immune system, but don't throw them into mud or something to do it.