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Henry VIII before Jonathan Rhys Meyers: A Study of the Changing Image of Henry VIII between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

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2010, Bachelor of Arts, Miami University, College of Arts and Sciences - History.

In the thirty-eight years that Henry VIII sat on the throne of England, he divorced himself from two wives as well as the Roman Catholic Church, beheaded two more wives along with hundreds of other people and created a legend of ruthlessness and romance which thrives in popular memory today. There have been countless movies and novels produced that center on the volatile personality of Henry VIII and his tumultuous relationships with women, presently his life is even the subject of a successful drama series on Showtime. Even during Henry VIII’s lifetime, aspects of his personality and reign were already becoming romanticized, and common misconceptions were solidified into truths that would be retold throughout the following centuries after his death. As early as the Stuarts (1603-1715), history and popular memory bought the idea of Henry as an overweight bully, tyrant and wife-killer. Only recently have historians begun to step back and take another look at Henry VIII and his court; some have come up with drastically different conclusions.

While these scholars seek to develop new perspectives on the life and reign of this unique King and disprove past accounts, my thesis will look at the sixteenth and seventeenth century accounts produced about Henry VIII mostly disregarded by modern historians. This analysis will explore how Henry VIII’s life was viewed during his own time and during the reigns of his daughter Elizabeth and of the Stuarts. This thesis seeks to discover what aspects of Henry’s reign might have interested peoples of the sixteenth and seventeenth century and what critiques they might have offered. To what extent did social, economic and religious circumstances affect their perceptions and conclusions regarding the monarch? Finally, this thesis will examine how the presentation of history has changed over time and the ways in which these changes reflect contemporary concerns about monarchy, religion and other related issues.

Carla Pestana, PhD (Advisor)
Tatiana Seijas, PhD (Committee Member)
Qinna Shen, PhD (Committee Member)
69 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hang, L. (2010). Henry VIII before Jonathan Rhys Meyers: A Study of the Changing Image of Henry VIII between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries [Undergraduate thesis, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=muhonors1273694665

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hang, LiMin. Henry VIII before Jonathan Rhys Meyers: A Study of the Changing Image of Henry VIII between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. 2010. Miami University, Undergraduate thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=muhonors1273694665.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hang, LiMin. "Henry VIII before Jonathan Rhys Meyers: A Study of the Changing Image of Henry VIII between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries." Undergraduate thesis, Miami University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=muhonors1273694665

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)