Early Reign and Consolidation (1509-1514)

Henry hit the ground running when he became king, making dramatic changes to distance himself from his father's unpopular policies. Within days of taking power in April 1509, he arrested Empson and Dudley - his father's hated tax collectors - and abolished the Council Learned in Law that had terrorised the nobility.

The young king wanted to be seen as generous and decisive. He cancelled 175 bonds and debts, executed potential rival Edmund de la Pole, and honoured his marriage agreement with Catherine of Aragon. Henry desperately wanted to emulate Henry V's victory at Agincourt and become a legendary warrior king.

His early military campaigns showed mixed results. The 1512 expedition to France failed miserably, but Wolsey's 1513 campaign captured Tournai and won the Battle of the Spurs. Meanwhile, the Battle of Flodden against Scotland proved devastatingly successful - England lost 1,500 men whilst Scotland lost 10,000, including King James IV himself.

Key Point: Henry's early reign was all about establishing his authority and proving England could punch above its weight on the European stage.

Wolsey's Rise and Governmental Revolution (1515-1529)

Cardinal Wolsey became Henry's right-hand man, accumulating unprecedented power as Lord Chancellor (1515), Cardinal (1515), and Papal Legate (1518). Unlike previous ministers, Wolsey essentially ran the country whilst Henry focused on his image as a Renaissance prince.

Wolsey's legal reforms were genuinely revolutionary. He strengthened the Star Chamber to hear around 120 cases annually, giving ordinary people a chance to challenge powerful nobles. The Court of Requests offered cheap, quick justice, whilst Wolsey encouraged the poor to speak out against unfair treatment. Many historians see him as 'a friend to the poor'.

His financial policies were less successful. The 1523 Subsidy demanded £800,000 for war with France but only collected £150,000. The Amicable Grant of 1525 sparked a 4,000-strong rebellion in Suffolk and had to be abandoned completely.

However, Wolsey's downfall came through his inability to secure Henry's annulment from Catherine of Aragon. Despite trying three different legal approaches, including the famous Blackfriars trial, he failed. Charged with praemunire in October 1529, Wolsey died at Leicester Abbey in November 1530.

Key Point: Wolsey transformed English government and justice, but his failure to solve Henry's 'Great Matter' cost him everything.

Cromwell and the Reformation Parliament (1532-1540)

Thomas Cromwell orchestrated what historian Geoffrey Elton called a 'revolution in government'. Unlike Wolsey, Cromwell worked through Parliament to achieve Henry's goals, fundamentally changing how England was governed and establishing the 'King in Parliament' as the supreme authority.

The Reformation Parliament passed crucial legislation that broke England's ties with Rome. Key acts included the Act in Restraint of Appeals (1533), which stopped matrimonial cases going to Rome, and the Act of Supremacy (1534), declaring Henry 'Supreme Head of the Church of England'. The Treason Act made it treasonous even to speak against the king's authority.

Cromwell's bureaucratic reforms created four new financial courts to handle the wealth seized from the Church. The Court of Augmentations managed ex-monastic lands, whilst the Court of First Fruits and Tenths collected money previously sent to Rome. Parliament met for 136 weeks between 1529-1547, compared to Wolsey's mere two sessions.

The dissolution of the monasteries began with smaller houses in 1536, then larger ones in 1539. This transferred enormous wealth to the Crown whilst destroying centuries of religious tradition.

Key Point: Cromwell used Parliament as his weapon of choice, creating lasting constitutional changes whilst making Henry richer than any previous English king.

Political Factionalism and Henry's Final Years (1540-1547)

After Cromwell's execution in July 1540, Henry's court split into two competing factions fighting for influence. The Conservative Faction, led by the Duke of Norfolk and Stephen Gardiner, accepted the break with Rome but opposed Protestant reforms. They secured the Act of Six Articles (1539) and orchestrated Cromwell's downfall.

The Reform Faction, led by Edward Seymour and Archbishop Cranmer, wanted to push England towards full Protestantism. They engineered Catherine Howard's fall and supported Catherine Parr as Henry's final queen. Most crucially, they gained control of Henry's dry stamp in 1546, allowing them to alter his will.

This factional warfare had serious consequences. The conservatives' plot against Catherine Parr (1546) nearly succeeded, whilst the reformers' arrest of Norfolk (1546) eliminated their main rival. Surrey's execution in 1547 marked the final collapse of the conservative faction.

Henry's paranoia reached new heights during these years. Elton notes that 883 people were charged with treason in the 1530s, with 329 executed - over half during the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion. The king trusted no one completely and played factions against each other to maintain control.

Key Point: Henry's final years were marked by deadly court intrigue, with competing factions literally fighting for their lives and the future direction of England.

Early Foreign Policy and European Diplomacy (1509-1529)

Henry's foreign policy ambitions far exceeded England's actual power, leading to expensive military adventures and diplomatic confusion. His dream of conquering France like Henry V at Agincourt drove most of his early decisions, whilst Wolsey tried to balance the budget and maintain England's influence through diplomacy.

The Anglo-French wars of 1512-1514 cost Henry £960,000 - nearly nine years' worth of ordinary income. Despite capturing Tournai and Therouanne in 1513, one town was given away to allies whilst the other proved too expensive to garrison. The Treaty of Saint Germain-en-Laye (1514) effectively bought peace when Henry ran out of money.

Wolsey's masterpiece was the Treaty of London (1518), which placed England at the centre of a 20-nation peace agreement. This diplomatic triumph was followed by the spectacular Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520), where 3,000 English and French nobles met for two weeks of festivities that achieved absolutely nothing.

The rise of Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor (1519) fundamentally changed European politics. His victory at the Battle of Pavia (1525) and capture of Francis I made him the dominant European power, forcing England to accept a much smaller role in continental affairs.

Key Point: Henry's early foreign policy was expensive, largely unsuccessful, but established England as a player in European diplomacy through Wolsey's skilful negotiations.

Later Foreign Policy and the Break with Europe (1529-1547)

After 1529, Henry's foreign policy became increasingly defensive as his break with Rome isolated England from Catholic Europe. The Pope's excommunication (1538) and the Truce of Nice between Charles V and Francis I raised fears of a joint Catholic invasion of heretical England.

Henry's response was to seek Protestant allies whilst strengthening his position in Ireland and Scotland. He made overtures to the German Schmalkaldic League and arranged his disastrous marriage to Anne of Cleves (1540) to secure Protestant alliances. When this failed, he quickly divorced Anne and returned to a more independent foreign policy.

Ireland became a major priority during Henry's later years. The 10th Earl of Kildare's rebellion (1536) showed how dangerous Irish Catholic opposition could be. Henry declared himself King of Ireland (1541) and began the policy of Plantations - breaking down feudal lands to extend English common law across the whole island.

Scotland remained problematic throughout the reign. James V's marriage to Mary of Guise (1538) cemented the Franco-Scottish alliance, whilst Scotland's pro-French policy in the 1540s kept pressure on England's northern border. Henry's attempts to control Scotland through force and diplomacy largely failed.

Key Point: Henry's break with Rome forced him to adopt a more defensive foreign policy whilst dealing with increased threats from Ireland and Scotland.