Henry VIII, Lady Killer - History Hijinks
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- brb I'm blaring "Haus of Holbein" from Six the Musical on the loudest speakers I own.
SOURCES & Further Reading:
Britannica "Henry VIII" (www.britannica..., History "Who Were The Six Wives of Henry VIII" (www.history.co...)
The Great Courses lectures: "Young King Hal - 1509-27" "The King's Great Matter - 1527-30" "The Break From Rom - 1529-36" "A Tudor Revolution - 1536-47" and "The Last Years of Henry VIII - 1540-47" from "A History of England from the Tudors to the Stuarts" by Robert Bucholz
Music: "Scheming Weasel" by Kevin MaLeod. (Incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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Did you forget to pin this?
They look really cool, but as someone said, I think you forgot to pin this.
man got on trending
Hey, if Henry's wives did so much (7:18) why not do a video on them?
So cool!
There's this one story I've heard about Anne of Cleaves that somehow manages to put Henry in an EVEN WORSE LIGHT than the "she wasn't pretty enough" story. Basically, when going to meet Anne for the very first time, Henry wanted to reenact a romantic English folk tale and dressed up like a peasant as a disguise and tried to sweep her off her feet. The German Anne had absolutely NOT heard these stories before, so when some strange man in rags starts trying to flirt with her, she rejects his advances HARD. Henry gets pissy, says she was never that pretty anyway, and divorces her
The version I heard was that Henry was in full plate armor.
Not to mention that until that point, the only image Anne had of him was very likely an outdated court portrait from before Jane Seymour's death. So he not only sprung himself on her well before she expected to meet him, while in disguise... but he was at this point *enormously fat* with a leg wound that had never healed and stank to high heaven.
Although, all things considered, I'd say Anne came out well ahead of any of her fellow queens. She not only survived her marriage, but in order to get her to agree to end it and *not* cause a huge stink with her family, he settled not just a large estate but an annual income that Edward would later have trouble paying on her. She lived long enough to see Mary crowned Queen, and died rich and single.
And then Anne and Henry became best friends, and she was the godmother to all of Henry's kids, and she actually even outlived Katherine Parr by a few years. She was referred to as "Henry's Sister" by anyone who knew the two of them.
Didn’t he also say she looked like a horse?
Anne of Cleves definitely made out best of all his wives
Anne of Cleves didn't fare so badly either. Once she WAS no longer his wife, Henry found that he really like her personality, and she became his "dear sister in all but name" i.e. one of the few actual friends he had.
Indeed, I think he granted her the literal title of "Honorary Sister" and set her up in one of his ex-wive's estates.
That sounds pretty wholesome!
Poor girl, left with nothing but tons of money, a beautiful palace, and no husband to order her around! How did she ever cope...
honestly i think that raises a few questions about what she was like as a person...
I once saw a comment on an Oversimplified video that was something like 'Ironic that he worked so hard to get a son but his daughters were way more well known.'
Even Lady Jane Grey is better known than little Edward... if only because Edward trying to meddle with the line of succession got her killed.
Heck, even poor queen Jane is better known than his son. And she reigned for a week.
What else is ironic is that Mary ruled for 1 year LESS than her younger brother Edward VI, before Elizabeth took over.
@@louisduarte8763 and Edison Lima both good points!
A couple things worth noting:
1. The Pope at the time was living under Spanish occupation, which is probably why he wouldn't grant an annulment.
2. The mention that Henry got an "annulment" instead of "divorce" is _much appreciated._ The Church of England didn't recognize divorce until 2002.
3. It's really important that, despite the King being the head of the Church, the administration of the Church remained and still remains independent of the monarchy. Back when the Magna Carta was drafted, it was still an open question whether secular rulers could appoint Catholic bishops, and the Barons in 1215 were firmly against it. The rule against royal appointment of bishops is one of the three clauses in the Magna Carta that's still in effect, and it prevented the Church of England from ever becoming a weapon of political autocracy (cough- _Patriarchate of Moscow)_ even before it came into existence.
The Pope at the time was also the *prisoner* of Spain, having been captured after the Spanish sacked Rome. And when a Holy Roman Emperor has his figurative "hands" on you and says, "Don't let this guy get out of his marriage with my aunt," you listen.
It is also important to know the distinction between anullment and divorce because said distinction makes all the difference.
Basically: a divorce is the cancellation of a marriage that had legal grounds, while the anullment is the cancellation of a marriage that had no legal ground (e.g. the marriage between an adult and a child or polygamy). However, both are the cancellations ex nunc, i.e. for the future and the marriage is considered to have been valid.
Love the shade thrown at the Russian Orthodox church, very accurate lol
love ur channel! two faves interacting
Yeah, and I think that Henry used to be very chill with the Church.
The part I always found most fascinating about this time wasn't Henry 8 himself. It was ALWAYS his wives and two daughters. Like, Catherine of Aragon didn't recognize the divorce. She claimed that she was still married and was the true queen until she goddamn died.
Legendary honestly
And as far as the rest of Europe was concerned, she was
Like I know she was rich and had servants and all that, but I feel bad for her nonetheless. She thought her life was SORTED, unquestionably so, and not only did she have the personal heartache of many stillbirths/miscarriages/baby dying shortly after birth, but then she went through this unthinkable upheaval where her husband just dismissed her in an era where divorce was illegal. Like it must have felt like she was in the upside down.
@@PheOfTheFae She had a hard seven years of widowhood before her marriage, too, with no liberty to either return to Spain or choose her path in England, since she was pretty much subject to the political interests of both Henry VII, father of Henry VIII, and her own father, Fernando of Aragon.
(I had a whole bunch of cause-and-effect following this, but thank goodness for everyone here, I decided better not to blabber away!)
Because she was
Pope: "YOU CANNOT DIVORCE YOUR WIFE!!! THAT'S AGAINST THE LAW OF GOD!!!"
Henry VIII: "I missed the part where that's my problem..."
Why do I get the feeling Henry VIII is what inspired Big Mom in One Piece?
Once married and bore a kid, one of the partners is disposed of and the other partner picks a new interest to bone
Henry VIII: "I CANNOT BREAK THE LAW! I AM THE LAW!"
“I’m the king, I can do what I want”
“WHAAAAAAA?”
More like: what? you and Woolsey said it was okay. No take backs.
Cringe and overused reference
That mommy joke was simultaneously the crudest and funniest thing I could ever think of coming out of blue’s mouth
Ironically, the bluest that Blue's ever worked
I'm not sure I get it. Is he calling Henry a manchild?
@@benthomason3307 she showed the boss baby as a representation
@@benthomason3307 it's a double entendre
@@beeaggro2593 Oh, so the joke is about Henry trying to _make_ someone a mommy, right?
The musical "Six" does a great job poking fun at Henry.
HECK YEAH!!! Fellow Six fan here haha 😂
“Don’t Lose Your Head” has my favorite Henry insult.
DIVORCED
BEHEADED
DIED
Never has there been a more glorious middle finger to Henry than Six.
Because they're ONE OF A KIND, NO CATEGORY...
@@amandahealey2216 TOOOOO MANY YEARS LOST IN HISTORY
"What's the difference between a monarch and a spoiled, bratty three-year-old throwing a tantrum?"
"There's a difference?"
"One has power."
"Which one?"
Toddlers have more self awareness
The toddler MIGHT grow out of it.
Body count.
I appreciated that the show The Tudors literally had Henry throwing tantrums because that's what he was doing on the large scale, whether he did so or not in the day to day.
Actually, his reason for divorcing Anne of Cleves was much more complicated, and entirely his fault. That whole thing about her not looking like her portrait was an excuse. They were supposed to meet for the first time at a particular venue (I don't remember what it actually was) and due to some weird idea of how romantic first meetings should go that was making the rounds in the British Court at the time, rather than coming in formally as the King he was Henry dressed down to a level that could be considered slovenly, had a bunch of his "buddies" with him, and just randomly embraced her from behind and go in for a kiss rather than properly introducing himself. Not knowing who he was and the context behind his actions and being in a completely foreign country, Anne of Cleves thought she was being assaulted by some random guy and reacted accordingly by slapping him. His response was to get salty, say "I like her not", and get a divorce. The portrait excuse I'm guessing was used to save himself from humiliation by not having to explain the whole story.
TLDR: He made an ass of himself on the first date, and got salty and blamed it on her.
At least Anne of Cleves lucked out those. As Six's Anna said "You can't imagine how tragic it is to be moved to a splendid palace in Richmond, with more money then I could ever spend in my entire life, with no man telling me how to spend it..."
I thought the annulment was more geopolitical than that, ie; it was a transparent marriage of two states, but then Anne's family lost much of their power back in Europe and/or became politically (NOT personally) opposed to England and English interests. Anne herself was still considered "the King's Sister," and kept her head and some English estates, so there obviously wasn't much beef at all there.
Anne of Cleves made out well. She was granted castles in England, a generous income, and was considered part of the Royal family, and actually had a friendship of sorts with Henry
I watched a video on this recently and the portrait that "didn't look like her" was painted straight on. Her other portraits were slightly profile and she had a largish nose that didn't show in the straight on one.
Yup. He blamed her for not looking like her portrait, but then didn’t punish the artist who made it? Also, other paintings of Anne depict her similarly to the painting that was supposedly inaccurate? Nah… Henry was just a liar and clearly had a preference for tiny boobies (yes, he complained that Anne’s boobs were big like a woman who just gave birth).
Honestly dude mades me kinda sad, seeing as how some sources say his behaviour radically changed after getting hit in the head and knocked out during a jousting match. Dude was brain damaged in a time with no effective medicine and in a position where no one could correct his behaviour and he spiraled into madness
Well, that explains a lot
And the leg injury he got from that jousting accident never properly healed
I recall that its still somewhat disputed whether the jousting accident was exact cause behind his change in character, although its certainly agreed that around that time shortly before divorcing Catherine of Aragon he did undeniably flip to being a lot more aggressive/angry and it was following where did a lot of the more horrible things he's know for. Its also worth noting that he was was married to Catherine of Aragon for longer than the other 5 wives combined.
@@ovrair6340 Yep, you're both right. Henry had suffered severe brain damage and was in constant pain, to the point where his personality flipped. That's not to say he was a total angel before it, but before he was simply callous, and not a violent, paranoid lunatic that made subjects even just having a concern for the king's health a crime worthy of beheading. "Imagining the King's death" was what he called it. But, of course, since it was the 16th century, nobody connected the brain injury with the sudden, massive uptick in violent executions ordered by the king.
@@ms_scribbles mmmm explains a lot😅
Ah yes, Henry VIII, giving the term "Lady Killer" an entirely new subtext.
And he only technically killed two of them directly...
Well, from one perspective, you could say he also killed Catherine of Aragon and Jane. Catherine got sick because Henry forced her to move to an old, worn down and cold castle that hadn't been taken proper care of. With the harsh English weather, this was disasterous for her health. And Jane wouldn't have died if Henry hadn't gotten her pregnant, but I guess you could say that was both of their faults, plus the doctors who didn't understand female anatomy and never washed their hands.
I'd argue he strips away whatever subtext it had.
Wild thing is that my old school is called King Henry VIII.... because it was founded because of him in 1542. Our school houses were named after the four wives he didn't execute.
Dark.
Never did I think I'd hear Henry VIII referred to as a Lady Killer and now I can't stop laughing. OSP once more being the best as always!
Right he was literally a lady killer 😂😂😂😂
So literally that his escapades are infamous! 😂😂😂
Meh, it's alright
I can't believe no one thought of that joke before. I mean it fits soooo well! (I guess it's possible, even probable someone did, but it is catchy enough that i'd expect it to be requoted everywhere)
The shoutout to Six at the end made me smile. The second you mentioned Henry starting the Church of England, I got "everybody chill, it's totes God's will" in my head. It's a delight. Or... it's a tragedy sometimes (glances sorrowfully at "All You Wanna Do") but it's also clever, empowering, and lays some well-deserved burns on dear ol' Henry.
As you can imagine from this comment, I'm not unfamiliar with Henry VIII and his wives-who-all-deserved-better. Still, I enjoyed this video a lot. Appreciate the acknowledgement that his wives are ultimately the reason we remember Henry to this day, and that memes aside, his actions had sucky consequences for a lot of people. (But also, that "lady killer" joke. I am disappointed I'd never thought of that one.)
History makes memes, but memes still need context. This was a great top view of Henry VIII's 'love' life. The yearly Valentine's episode are always fun.
The Is go after the V. VIII is 8. IIIV isn't actually a thing in Roman numerals.
@@elijahpadilla5083 Thanks, I fixed it
After this video i could br convinced that Henry VIII was the sole inspiration for the Curasder Kings series.
Hello Red and Blue! I hope you’ll be able to read this, because I owe you all my thanks for being the reason why I’ve chosen to pursue History as my field of study in the hopes of becoming a historian in the future.
I’ve been watching your videos since I was in the 9th or 10th grade (all I know is that I’ve been your fan for a very long time 😂). Even though history has always been a major interest and passion of mine since I was young, your videos were what kept that interest and passion alive and thriving-and eventually led me to where I am today.
I wish you both nothing but success and all the happiness the world has to offer. I’ll make sure to thank you again in two years’ time when I graduate 😄
Fun fact! It's actually likely that Anne of Cleves DID look like her portrait, but Henry just said that (among other comments about her chest being too large and what have you) as an excuse to get rid of her, cuz he was embarrassed. He greeted her by surprise when she arrived in England, attempting to sweep her up in his arms and kiss her like a fairytale prince, but she didn't recognize him (cuz at this point he was older, gaining weight, etc. Not the young, handsome athlete he used to be) and she freaked out. Also I'm pretty sure she didn't want to "enjoy the honeymoon" so to speak. So yeah, he was embarrassed and neither found the other attractive without clothes on. But her face probably did look like her portrait, the painter was very well known for accurate portraits, and deceiving the king would've been more trouble than it's worth.
Good for holvein to escape to England before the king axed him because of Henry's immaturity
I watched a video on this recently and the portrait that "didn't look like her" was painted straight on. Her other portraits were slightly profile and she had a largish nose that didn't show in the straight on one.
Another point in your favor. The famous 'looks like a horse' line. Only shows up in secondary sources. It's not mentioned by anyone who was there. So could have been fabricated later on.
Significantly, there is no evidence that Henry blamed Holbein for painting a false portrait (as already mentioned, the most Holbein did was paint Anne at her most flattering angle). Indirectly, however, Holbein did have a setback because the disastrous marriage led to the execution of Thomas Cromwell, Holbein's most important patron.
can’t believe they made six the musical in real life
When it comes to Jane Seymour, Lindsay Holiday summed it up nicely when talking about how Henry was buried with her when he died, because she was the one wife "who didn't live long enough to piss him off".
The younger me could not wrap her head around the fact that Charles III would be head of the Church of England despite being an admitted adulterer. That was before it clicked in my head that the entire reason there is a Church of England is because of Henry VIII's serial adultery.
Contrary to what Henry believed, it was not his son that secured his and the Tudor Legacy.
It was his wives and daughters. THEY are what people remember him for.
It's the greatest karma we could have asked for.
@@emmarichardson965 Karma's a relaxing thought 😌
I think about this a lot where most of the time the reason we remember kings is because they had interesting wives or daughters or mothers. Like Henry II, did you mean Eleanor of Aquitaine's second dickish husband? James I, did you mean Mary Queen of Scots son? George VI, do you mean Elizabeth's dad?
"Till death do us part" -Henry VIII
"Even if I have to kill you."
The reason the Pope would not grant Henry's Annulment was because Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, was in the middle of a Pope Fight with said Pope, having sacked Rome, and Charles V was Catherine of Aragon's nephew. So any theological arguments he offered for refusal come with a grain of salt when "I don't want to anger the guy with a big army at my doorstep" is an equally compelling factor.
Right--at times, Popes handed out Royal annulments like Halloween candy, so religious scruples weren't really a factor.
Henry VII: "I need an annulment!"
Pope: "Dude, your wife's nephew has an army sacking my house, now REALLY is not the time!"
Its ironic, Henry VIII’s attempts to secure the line of succession ended up causing many of the succession problems of his children
The Tudors had always been paranoid about their legitimacy as they were a junior branch of the Plantagenets. Their prominence in the Lancastrians had less to with the closeness of their relation to Henry VI through tge English royal bloodline than by Henry VII's father and uncle being Henry VI's half brothers on his mother's side. They were always afraid some other Plantagenet with a better bloodline claim to the throne would rebel and overthrow them.
@@mjbull5156 There were surviving Plantagenet's with better bloodline claims to the throne than them? I just assumed that Henry VII was the last person with a claim to the throne remaining after the War of the Roses killed everyone else. This is interesting to learn.
@@matthewmuir8884 There was a male cousin of Elizabeth of York that was locked up in the Tower and later executed. He was a Plantagenet.
And, around 3 or 4 young men were saying they were Elizabeth of York's brother; who disappeared in strange conditions after the death of his father in 1483 and his uncle Richard III usurped the throne.
Even when Henry VII was king for conquest; he had a relatively weak blood claim of his own; that's why he married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV. So, it was plausible that a better claim can get him off the throne.
Honestly I started watching this channel because I had to get a summary of a midsummer nights dream. I am so glad I found this channel because I have learned so much from it.
I honestly think that a video per wife would be incredible
Aragon was his wife for over 30 years, refused to stop calling herself queen, embaraserd Henry in court, and died after H had her sent to rotting castles with the hope her lungs would give out
Bolynne was raised in France in the Protestant tradition, and is the entire reason we have the bible in English. She was a powerful and smart woman that refused the King's advances, but made the best of the situation when he wouldn't leave her alone.
Seymore was perhaps H's one true love, and was a bastion of strength and Christian devotion to her husband. The only one to produce what H really wanted, her death was truly tragic
Cleaves was brave and sassy. After H kissed her while disguised as a beggar when she first got to England, she had the portrait he claimed was unflattering hung in the main gallery for everyone to see. A wild woman
Howard was 17-19 when a 55 year-old gangrenous H married her. A victim of SA twice before, the poor girl did her best by the king, but fell for a handsome man her own age. When H had her killed he also had her body Quicklimed, something abhorrent to her Catholic family
Parr was a huge proponent of women's rights, and funded programs to educate and employ women. When H died she married her true love, and tragically died in childbirth while he cheated on her...
All 6 were honestly incredible
I really admire how responsibly you sought to handle the retelling of this often trivialised story, especially to focus the takeaway on the remarkable prescience of these women who were terribly treated and working under perilous circumstances.
There’s *no way* I could have known about Henry VIII. I would’ve *lost my head* learning about him. He truly has a *heart of stone* . I need to *get down* on these lessons. *I don’t need your love* , I just want to learn about him
I guess *all you wanna do* is make puns, isn’t it?
The man who managed to make Christmas with the family both less complicated and more complicated...
Well, have you seen The Lion in Winter (the most quotable movie ever)?
His predecessors were not that good at Christmases, either.
I think more people ought to know of Henry's likely brain damage. As we all know, he was a prolific jouster in his youth, and it's *known* that he was injured by a blow to the head during one. It can be hard to say if someone's behaviour changes for sure, especially from the Historical Record, but I understand that Henry was remarked upon as being *clearly* different after the accident. It explains a lot about how he spiralled into paranoia, delusion, and obesity.
Caligula similarly was actually a pretty good emperor until he got hit with an illness marked by some insane fevers, and after he recovered from is when he started doing things like declaring war on Neptune and suggesting his horse be made Consul.
7:00 "... leaving our last Catherine to lead her best life." Which, unfortunately, was not that long. She married her fourth husband, Thomas Seymour, and died about a year later after giving birth to a daughter.
You left out my favorite part! King Henry VIII was given the title of "Defender of the Faith" by the Catholic Church in 1521 for writing multiple anti-protestant (Anti-Lutheran specificlly) papers and keeping England Catholic. Then 13 years later in 1534 he formed a NEW protestant Church. The new Church is some hellish love-child of Lutheranism and Catholicism (probably because Henry still liked Catholicism and knew a LOT about Lutheranism) and despite this, since "Defender of the Faith" cannot be revoked, he retained the title for the rest of his life.
So the dude who made a new Church in England which alienated the Catholic church so badly that five hundred hundred years of Catholic persecution were to follow was a Defender of the Faith.
Also, fun fact, but King Henry VIII was also a music composer with about 20-30 songs and composition pieces attributed to him - so the dude could certainly serenade his way around the ladies.
6:29 "There was a religious strategy to this...... I don't care" is my new favorite sentence
Honestly after Six: the musical, I was wondering if you were going to do Henry, and I am so glad you did! Have a good day Blue!
My Catholic school taught us about this because one of the officials who stood against Henry would become a saint. But the main thing was to show the many branches of Christianity and how some had good reasons like Martian Luther while others like Henry were selfish. My religion teacher was chill in telling us we should always look into what we believe where it be church or state.
Good video blue!
Let me guess: was the saint named Thomas More?
@@matthewmuir8884 that’s it thank you! It’s been such a long time I forgot the saints name.
@@masenguerra7835 You're welcome. I remember him because there was a play about him that I had to read in high school English class: _A Man For All Seasons._
@7:25 Another reason these ladies stick in our minds is that they have a catchy song from the horrible histories show, AND have their own musical too!
Thanks for focusing part of the discussion on the fact that these women were also partially responsible for the history Henry is often solely credited for. Good work
There's a book series written by Alison Weir called six tudor queens which follows the lives of Henry's wives in more detail in case that is of interest. She is also a historican so they are well researched but written in the style of fiction. It's genuinely like reading game of thrones (a song of ice and fire), no surprise but with less dragons and the unfortunate but Fascinating reality that these are real people. There are also quite a few documentaries about them my personal favourite being six wives with Lucy Worsley. Just in case it's of interest for anyone I though I would share because obviously as history does tend to you could make a video about this in 1 minute or 1000 minutes and still there would be avenues to explore further.
I've had a special interest in the tudors since I was 7 and it was my avenue into history as a whole as my interest has expanded. This video was really nice because I got to see something I'm interested in talked about by someone who is engaging and makes things fun. In a way it was like remembering how it felt to find out about it for the first time in school only... I mean OSP is better at teaching and engaging than my school was. So yea. Thank you for making this video fun.
You know there was recently a book in my local book exchange about the North Country rebellion against Henry VIII. Unfortunately I wasn't sure if my mom would approve, so I read parts of it and debated for a week about whether to take it. Unfortunately when I finally DID decide to take it, it was gone. Oh well. Maybe it'll show up again one day.
Love Allison Weir!! She was my first into the the Tudors as well. She has several fictional novels as well.
The funniest part is that Catherine of Aragon was engaged to Arthur and then Henry because her claim to the throne was stronger than their father Henry the VII (being twice descended from John Gaunt, son of Edward III as opposed to Henry VII’s only posthoc legitimization of John’s third wife out of wedlock). Henry was so pressed to have an heir that he disinherited Mary, arguably the strongest claimant to the throne in Tudor history lol.
One grim detail: Ferdinand and Isabella refused to let Catherine go to England until the imprisoned Yorkist claimant Edward, Earl of Warwick was gotten rid of.
“And then I, like, died!”
“Wait, didn’t you actually die?”
“Yeah. It was so extra.”
YESSS JUST WHEN I STARTED GETTING BACK INTO MY SIX ERA *starts blasting all you wanna do*
honestly this is a better and more nuanced education of Henry VIII than any of the 5 times we get taught this in the UK
Anne and Henry VIII were in correspondence for three years before he actually married her. We also have their love letters from this period, one of which has Henry thanking Anne for the cute toy boat she got him as a present, and signs it "H. seeks no other than A.B.", complete with a little doodled heart.
"Those traits were only matched by his impulsiveness, arrogance, and self obsession"
Sun Wukong "You called?"
Another detail: Henry's first choice to replace Jane Seymour from the portraits he received was Christina of Denmark, the recently-widowed Duchess of Milan. Christina, however, strongly opposed marrying him and supposedly said "If I had two heads, one should be at the King of England's disposal" (Catherine of Aragon was also her great-aunt).
Looking at a timeline of events it's clear that if Henry loved any of them it was Catherine of Aragon, that is, if he was even capable of love. His obsession with Anne Boleyn was because she was the one thing he couldn't have. When he finally got her that distinction was gone. She's definitely the evil step mother of Mary's story but I digress. Also, Henry didn't want to marry again after Jane but was pressured to by advisors so if Jane didn't die he would've just been Henry with 3 wives. Sad he never gave Anne of Cleve's a chance though. Catherine Howard's fate was also very unfortunate but if Henry killed Anne on FALSE accusations then it wouldn't make sense to let real (probably) adultery to slide.
New hijinks, let's go! It's already a great one, good job blue!
Still shocks me that Howard's life was shorter than Aragon's marriage! 😱
She was a kid at the time, really disturbing stuff
8:00 - That is a pretty good way to describe Six 👌, also really happy you like it! 😆
Thanks for putting into words the thing about focusing on Big Guys and their Tonka Truck Wars as rewarding bad behavior. I've been trying to convey that for years and you managed it in a single sentence. A gift to humanity, as usual :)
Knowledge of Six the musicial made this video even better for me. Along with videos that go more into the lives of the queens
It makes perfect sense that Elizabeth I never married. A) her husband would have basically become de facto king and take all the power B) think of the examples of marriage she saw growing up. Her own mother executed in a jealous rage
Some minor things of note: Anne of Cleves was never in danger of being killed. Henry didn't dare risk pissing off one of the few Protestant states out there. Henry had an ego like rotten apple -- easily bruised. When he first attempted to approach Anne, in disguise (because he subscribed to a LOT of romantic nonsense and thought his Bride to Be would recognize him instantly despite sending her what was likely a very flattering and VERY out of date portrait), she told him to shove off. After the divorce, Anne actually remained a favorite at court, and a close friend to King Henry, who survived to see Mary claim the throne and spend the rest of her life rich, comfortable, and unmarried. A body could probably do an entire *series* about the shenanigans of Henry's court during the brief time Anne was queen, it's so ridiculous.
Katherine Parr might have survived Henry, but she didn't do it by much, dying in childbirth a year later.
I was NOT expecting a 'mommy' joke from Blue.
Ann Bolyn did have a pregnancy after Elizabeth, but Henry VIII had a nasty fall while jousting and miscarried. The pregnancy was far enough along that physicians could tell that baby was a boy. It's thought by some that the fall gave Henry VIII some kind of acquired brain injury, because it was noted at the time how his personality changed drastically from before and after the fall. If he did have a brain injury, it would in no way excuse what he did. But it does make you wonder.
Honestly, I think Henry’s shenanigans might have been a big factor in his daughters going “NOPE” at the idea of marriage.
That title tho’ 😂
Between this and Oversimplified's Henry VIII I am living for the roasting of this mad lad.
I love Oversimplified. A lot of the jokes from that video were going through my mind as I watched this one.
And in conclusion, this is why SIX is the best historical musical ever made. Thanks for coming to my tedtalk, I'll be here all week.
I dunno. To me, SIX is more of a concert than a musical.
@@ms_scribbles Fair enough, but is literally called "SIX: The Musical", so that's why I'm referring to it as one.
4:07 Quick correction: Martin Luther did not _choose_ mayhem; he originally wanted internal reform and pleaded for an end to the corruption in the Catholic Church and his pleas were met with hostility; he did not want to break away from the Catholic Church until he saw no other option.
Real OGs know the wives from the "Money Money Money" parody your social studies teacher showed you. Kids these days with their whole pop musicals that also double as an intro to historiography by explaining the concept of looking at how we look at history. You have it too good.
That mommy joke made me laugh so hard. XD
Great video, Blue! Though I also feel kinda bad, cuz I can tell you were very exhausted after researching this hot mess of a man, but that makes me respect your work even more. Rest well, you deserve it.
Blue, you and Cyan should see Six if you get a chance. You will love it.
I think he already saw it :D
He mentioned it during the credits.
I love that the Valentine's Day episodes get increasingly unhinged every year
Catherine Howard was made Queen to limit the Protestant factions power at court, and to restore Howard influence at court. It’s likely she had no desire to marry Henry but her uncle and grandmother pressured her into the marriage. She was possibly blackmailed (she had a “relationship” with a Francis Dereham before coming to court, a very questionable one considering how young she was, and this was also used against her) into a relationship with Thomas Culpeper while Queen, or had been courting him before the King’s eye fell on her, which led to her downfall and execution.
Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham were executed with her.
She wasn’t any older than 20 when she died, so can hardly be blamed for falling victim to so many men. Arguably she was the biggest victim of his wives, both for what happened when she young and during her marriage.
“Like monarch like baby, they want their mommy.” 👑 You dropped this, king
I love how Thomas Cromwell (Henry's right hand man who did a lot of the work) did Henry's bidding to make sure there was no secession crisis and his payment for all of his hard morally dubious work: getting executed for the "Anne of Cleves doesn't look like her pic" debacle
Makes sense then that the next Cromwell in England's history would be the one to execute a king (Oliver Cromwell, whose statue still sits outside the UK parliament despite the fact that everyone who wasn't a rich English landowner hated him for good reason and, when he died, the people of Great Britain _celebrated_ his death for an entire day).
Catherine Parr did live her best life...until she married one of King Edward's uncles and died after giving birth to her only child similar to Jane Seymour, but hey it's better than facing Henry's wrath. And yes, Six the Musical is great!
Henry VIII's entire life was a comedic tragedy. A man who used to be a handsome and athletic king slowly degraded into a overweight ugly shadow of his former self blaming all of those for his faults be it the Catholic church or his wives
I'm so glad you covered this, I was fascinated by this story ever since watching Six
One of my favorite song cycles is by Libby Larsen, called "try me, good king" based on the last words of all of Henry's wives.
Anne Boleyn 's song is harrowing. It ends with her saying "I hear the executioner's good, and my neck is so little"
Pro tip for historians: If you think Henry VIII is England's most infamous lady killer, you don't know Jack!
0:28 wow you really _can_ see it in their eyes 👀 that's a good art choice
I saw a podcast about bad historical moment and the episode about Henry VIII described him as that one guy who would wear a FBI (female body inspector) shirt
You did a good job of giving a short but comprehensive overview beyond the memes (tho them memes still slap)
Missed the bit where some of his behaviour may have been from a head injury when jousting
He also missed the part where Henry VIII wasn't satisfied with just having a son; he also wanted that son to have a marriage arrangement for when the boy became of age, and, since he also wanted to subjugate Scotland, he tried to do both at once by demanding that the Scottish Parliament agree to wed the infant Queen Mary to his son, and when they refused, he attacked Scotland for eight years; an event that would be known as the "Rough Wooing".
Apart from the whole "no son" thing, Anne Boleyn kind of got caught up in the whole religious conflict side of things after Catherine of Aragon died. The Papist faction obviously never recognized Henry VIII's divorce and subsequent marriage, so when Catherine died he became in their eyes a widower and free to marry again (preferably to a nice Catholic girl who could get him past this whole Church of England nonsense). At which point a lot of people got invested in convincing Henry to drop his side piece as quickly and permanently as possible.
Also saw Six this weekend and can confirm it is a delightful show.
Hello Musical Hell! I am a big fan of yours! you know if you know, if you liked six you might want to check out The Ballad of Anne Boleyn by Karlienne. Also please do a video on titanic the musical (yes it is a thing) I would be very grateful!
Blue: *[Makes THAT joke at the end of the video]*
Me: "Huh... I must be either a toddler or a monarch then."
Honestly I would love to see a kill count comparison between Henry and his daughter Mary. Because frankly, listening to this, I should probably be bloody Henry instead of bloody Mary
Ooh!! This has been done, so you can look it up, but the short version is that Mary had around 300 people killed (mostly for heresy) during her 5-year reign, while Henry's body count ranges from 57,000-72,000 (for various reasons). Henry was definitely the bloodiest Tudor, though Edward was showing signs of religious zealotry similar to Mary's (just Protestant) when he died young. Couldn't find a reliable number for Elizabeth, but even she had around 800 Catholic rebels killed over one event and another 180 hanged, drawn, and quartered.
Tl;dr: History was written by the Protestants, not the Catholics, so we pretend Henry wasn't terrifyingly bloodthirsty.
@@emmarichardson965 I literally balked at the number. Thank you though 🤗 yeah humans are kinda messy to put it lightly 🙃
I watched the Trope Talk about the Heart just before watching this. So I watched a video with a "Your mom" joke, and then a video that ends with a mommy joke.
This is why I love this channel.
The BBC's _The Six Wives of Henry VIII_ is one of the most accurate series which focuses on all the wives. _Wolf Hall_ is a great take on the Anne Boleyn story from the view of Cromwell. Both of these can feel a bit dry in comparison to the musical, so take your joy in what floats your boat.
I have been doing research on Henry the eigthth but its for school work but I was waiting for somebody to put out a new video about this tudor history but finally so I subscribed to you because helps to laugh more than actually being bored where as other people would just not make it fun so I laughed quite a lot but still understood the meaning of this Henry the 8th thanks so much dude!
Fun thing I had to do in uni was look at these portraits and have to figure out what meanings the creators were trying to portray as this time is FASCINATING from a ‘royalty is trying to manage their public image’ perspective. As portraits just for them and their family tend to show them fairly reasonably but then you get the ones that passing dignitaries and diplomats might see which are so ENTRENCHED in metaphor and symbolism that they pretty much are screaming edifices telling people ‘yes trade with us and/or marry us we have all the traits that make that good come on you know you want to’. Like take Lizzie 1, she has a whole thing about pearls on her younger pictures as pearls are associated with virginity, so she basically has a series of portraits that are basically ‘yo I am young and willing and fresh’ and then as time goes by these pearls stop being as prominent not because she’s no longer a virgin as she still is supposedly but because she wants to be seen as a good war queen as her health and age slowly fails her, the old metaphor is no longer useful.
So too did her father try to convey the image of a jolly and strong king. They couldn’t hide that he was very fat in part due to his injury impeding his movement, but the entire family really did some clever things with their commissioned paintings.
To add about Anna von Klev (you call her Anne of Cleves), Henry suprised her when she arrived, dressed himself as a beggar, that true love would make her recognize him. A trope in english romantic novels at the time. Problem? Anna was german, even if she spoke english, I don't think back then she would have read those novels.
Cathrine Howard was 19 when she died, after years and years of sexual abuse by older men.
Parr made the best out of desperate situations, sadly it didn't get her a long life like she deserved.
"Englands most notorious lady killer"
_Sad Jack the Ripper noises_
*Ba Dum Tsh*
If you guys want more info, Over Simplified also has a video on the topic.
*Trigger Warning: it gets graphic, but not in the way you think*
OSP is keeping stuff family friendly.
always loved the Simpsons segment which parodied Henry the VIII's reign in the episode the Magical History Tour from S15
Loved that too--"By the power vested in me, by you, just now..."
*OSP:* "Henry VIII"
*My mind:* "Grew up in the french court, oui oui bonjour. Life was a chore-"
Also considering Henry slept around, he most likely contracted syphilis or some other venereal disease (althought some historians believed he had certain genetic disorders) and passed it onto his wives (or his children with genetic disorders), making them more likely to miscarry or unable to have kids that survived
“brb I'm blaring "Haus of Holbein" from Six the Musical on the loudest speakers I own”
This plus the mention of SIX at the end of the video makes me so happy! I’m seeing SIX in theaters later this year but I’ve listened to the soundtrack for ages previously and it’s awesome!
I can feel the ground shaking from the stampede of Six stans in the comment section 💕
Like I presume a lot of English kids my age at the time, the first bit of history we learned was the Tudors. It's weird that now I think about it... The first thing you reach 6 year olds is the dude who introduced divorce, plundered catholic churches and had wives executed.
Actually I went to catholic school, maybe that was intentional...
I wonder if the first thing Scottish kids learn about Henry VIII is his wives or his eight-year war against Scotland where he tried to pressure their parliament into agreeing to wed the infant Queen Mary to his son; an eight-year war that would come to be known as the "Rough Wooing".
@@matthewmuir8884 Can't speak for all Scots, but my school definitely covered the Rough Wooing (and Mary in general) first. We never actually had a class on his wives, probably either because it wasn't really relevant to Scotland's own history, or because it's pretty easy to pick that stuff up through cultural osmosis anyway haha.
@@morinomajou I see. Thanks for the information. I'm Canadian, so Henry VIII was probably talked about more in my English classes (due to the play _A Man For All Seasons_ about Thomas More) than in our history classes, though he came up in those as well.
I was curious because I am very fascinated by Scottish history and culture. I'm currently writing a fantasy war novel right now, and one of the protagonists is a princess whose backstory includes that she was basically the Mary of this fantasy world's version of the Rough Wooing. I even took direct inspiration from the Rough Wooing when writing that bit of her backstory; a lot of stuff in the novel is drawn directly from Scottish History, particularly the War of Scottish Independence.
@@matthewmuir8884 Ohh cool stuff! Excited to pick that one up when you've finished it (particularly in light of your surname; I don't know if you're a relative of Tamsyn Muir's, but if you are then there's already a family history of writing really good speculative fiction haha).
I will say that the curriculum I got was in some ways overcorrecting for how England-centric the curriculum for previous generations was; my parents WERE expected to memorise information about pre-Union English monarchs &c, while my non-STEM classes were usually pretty focussed on Scotland. We did (finally) get our Parliament back the year before I started school, so that was probably the main factor there haha!
@@morinomajou It's not actually my last name; this is just my UA-cam account name (and I might make it my pen name; I haven't decided yet). I am descended from Clan Muir; hence my using it as part of my UA-cam account name, but I've never heard of Tamsyn Muir.
I see; that makes a lot of sense.
Thanks so much for doing a video on Henry VIII, Blue - while he's not my favourite monarch of my country (that honour goes to his daughter Elizabeth I), it was learning about him and his six wives that sparked my lifelong passion for history.
Henry was 55 when he died, he remained married to Catherine of Aragon, his first wife, that he married when he was 18, for 24 years ... so nearly half his life ... He then spent 10 years trying to get a son, gave up and remained married to Catherine Parr for nearly 5 years until he died ...
Henry VIII "Will I be remembered as the great, warrior king who invaded France, revolutionized English healthcare, and developed great parklands?"
Blue: "Best I can do is 1 out of 3."
It's good to be the king.
It's Blue's wordplay that makes his takes on history fascinating and funny.
King Henry VIII: The king with one of the most destructive mid-life crises ever.
There's a theory that Anne Boylen's "I won't sleep with you unless we are married" was her way of rejecting him without insulting. Being royal mistress is limits your marriage prospects.
I got this notif and was like, “There’s no way… my internal calendar can’t be that off.”