Henry VIII’s Reformation is a documentary film which was shown on US television (PBS) and British television (BBC) in 2021.
The title explains the topic: the English Reformation in the 16th century which began with Henry VIII and continued with his children (Edward, Mary and Elizabeth) (the Tudor family).
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Written and presented by Lucy Worsley
** Produced and directed by Kate Misrahi
** Run time: 54 minutes
THE CAST
Several persons are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants (listed in alphabetical order):
** Jessie Childs – author of God’s Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England (2014) (2015)
** Suzannah Lipscomb – professor of history, Roehampton University – author of 1536: The Year That Changed Henry VIII (2006) (2009)
** Diarmaid MacCulloch – author of Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life (2018)
** Peter Marshall – professor of history, Warwick University – author of Reformation England 1480-1642 (2012)
** Adrian Pabst – professor of history, Kent University
THE PLOT
The topic of this film is the English Reformation. The basic questions discussed are:
How, why and when did the English Reformation happen? What was the English reformation? Who implemented the English Reformation? What were the (short-term and long-term) consequences of the English Reformation?
In order to answer these questions, Lucy Worsley and the people who are interviewed in the film focus on the following persons who play a significant role in this chapter of English history:
** Henry VIII (born 1491) (King of England 1509-1547)
** Katherine of Aragon (1485-1536) (Henry’s first wife)
** Anne Boleyn (1501-1536) (Henry’s second wife)
** Jane Seymour (1508-1537) (Henry’s third wife)
** Anne of Cleaves (1515-1557) (Henry’s fourth wife)
** Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540) (Henry’s chief advisor) (chancellor of the exchequer and secretary of state)
** Edward VI (born 1537) (King of England 1547-1553)
** Mary I (born 1516) (Queen of England 1553-1558)
** Elizabeth I (born 1533) (Queen of England 1558-1603)
Henry was a loyal Catholic and a strong supporter of the Pope in Rome when he became king of England and when he married Katherine of Aragon (who was also a loyal Catholic) in 1509.
In 1517, when Martin Luther began the Protestant reformation in continental Europe, Henry heard about it and he was not pleased at all. He condemned the actions of Martin Luther.
Henry might have remained a loyal Catholic and a strong supporter of the Pope in Rome until the end of his life, if it had not been for one small thing on which he focused more and more.
It was not something which happened. It was something which did not happen! His wife did not give him a son. He wanted a male heir to the throne. The couple had children, but only girls survived.
At first, he was just annoyed with the situation, but as time went by, he became more and more obsessed with the need to have a male heir.
To solve the problem, he wanted to divorce his wife and marry another woman. He already had a suitable candidate: Anne Boleyn. Perhaps another wife could give him what he wanted so desperately?
As a loyal Catholic, Catherine could not accept a divorce. Henry needed to contact the Pope in Rome and ask for a divorce or an annulment of the marriage.
In the catholic Church, divorce or annulment is not impossible, but it can only happen under certain conditions. According to the Pope in Rome, these conditions were not found in this case, so the answer was no. Henry was not happy with this response.
He began to ask himself: why should I support the Pope in Rome if he does not want to help me when I need his help?
While he was thinking such heretic thoughts, his chief advisor (Thomas Cromwell) talked to him about a related issue. He pointed out that the Catholic monasteries in England had huge assets. If the King of England were to cut his connection with the Pope in Rome, these assets could be confiscated and the king’s fortunes would be greatly increased.
Now Henry had two reasons to break away from the Catholic Church and the Pope in Rome. Neither the first nor the second reason was about religion or theology.
The first was private, personal and political, while the second was purely economic. But they pointed in the same direction, and the more Henry thought about his predicament, the more he became convinced that a break with Rome was his best and only solution.
This is how and why the English reformation began. This is why Henry decided to break away from the Catholic Church and to found the Church of England (the Anglican Church).
As head of the Anglican Church, Henry could give himself the divorce he wanted. Once his first marriage was dissolved, he was free to marry his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
The main laws on which the English Reformation is based were implemented during the years 1532-1534.
When Henry died in 1547, he was succeeded by his son Edward who followed a hard Protestant line.
When Edward died in 1553, he was succeeded by Henry's daughter Mary who followed a hard Catholic line.
When Mary died in 1558, she was succeeded by Henry's daughter Elizabeth, who tried to find a compromise between the two extremes.
Elizabeth was a powerful monarch who ruled longer than her father. If Henry had been able to look into the future, he would have been amazed to discover that a Queen could rule the country on her own. Had he known this fact, he might have realized that his desperate demand for a male heir made no sense at all, because it was not really necessary.
In this film, Lucy Worsley visits several locations, including Harvington Hall, home of the Pakington family. She talks to Humphrey Pakington, a descendant of the family who is still around today.
In this old castle, there are several secret doors which lead into secret rooms where a Catholic priest or a Catholic organizer could hide, in case the castle was suddenly raided by government inspectors.
When Henry decided to break away from the Pope in Rome, some subjects refused to follow him. They were Catholics and they were not prepared to abandon their faith just because the king told them to do so. These people carried on as Catholics, but they had to do so in secret. Freedom of religion was not a part of Henry’s national program.
RATINGS AND REVIEWS
What do reviewers say about this film?
On IMDb it has a rating of 88 percent which corresponds to 4.4 stars on Amazon.
If you ask me, this rating is too high. I like this film and I want to give it a good rating, but I cannot go all the way to the top, because there are at least two flaws. Let me explain:
# 1. Lucy Worsley presents Thomas Cromwell who was the chief advisor of the king. But he was not the only chief advisor during Henry’s long reign. Cromwell served 1532-1540.
Before Cromwell, Henry had other chief advisors who are not mentioned in the film:
** Thomas Wolsey – chancellor 1515-1529
** Thomas More – chancellor 1529-1532
When we look at the line of chief advisors, we can see that Henry preferred a chief advisor whose first name was Thomas!
The three advisors had something else in common: the course of their career. In the beginning, the king liked them and allowed them to achieve power and prestige, but when they failed to deliver what the king wanted, when they somehow disappointed or offended him, they fell from grace and the fall was hard:
** Thomas Wolsey was fired in 1529, because he could not get Henry a divorce from Catherine. He was accused of high treason, but he fell ill and died before Henry could have him executed.
** Thomas More refused to obey Henry when he was told to drop the Catholic Church. He was forced to resign in 1532. He was accused of high reason and was executed in 1535.
** After several years in office, Cromwell offended the king and he was executed in 1540.
There is a pattern here. These people have not only the same first name, but the same tragic kind of career. It was dangerous to be close to Henry, because once he was offended, his revenge was swift and ruthless. When we look at Henry’s wives, we can see the same horrible pattern.
But in this film, this pattern is not pointed out. The two chief advisors who served before Thomas Cromwell are not even mentioned.
# 2. Lucy Worsley is the host of the program. She is the presenter. And she presents the whole time, meaning she is on the screen almost every minute from the beginning to the end.
Why do we have to see Lucy Worsley so much? She is in one location; she is in another location. She interviews one person; she interviews another person. This is fine. But why do we have to see her all the time? Why can’t we just see the location that she wants to show us? Why can’t we just see the person who is being interviewed?
The topic of this film is the English Reformation, not Lucy Worsley! We want to see items, people and places that are connected with the topic. We do not want to see Lucy Worsley all the time. We can hear her voice, as she explains what happened in one place or another. Why isn’t this enough?
Her face is always there. At first, it is OK, but after a while it becomes annoying, because she dominates the program with her presence! In the end, it is just too much.
Please stand away from the camera! Please find a position behind the camera! Not in front of the camera!
CONCLUSION
The story of Henry VIII and the English Reformation is interesting and deserves to be told, but this film is not quite successful. As you can see, there are some flaws which cannot be overlooked.
I have to remove one star because of these flaws. Therefore, I think it deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
PS # 1. The title of this film is awkward. Why use a genitive? I think it should be Henry VIII and the English Reformation.
PS # 2. This film is an episode of a series called Royal Myths and Secrets hosted and presented by Lucy Worsley. There are six episodes:
** Elizabeth: The Warrior Queen
21 June 2020 – IMDb 88
** Queen Anne: The Mother of Great Britain
28 June 2020 – IMDb 95
** Marie Antoinette: The Doomed Queen
5 July 2020 – IMDb 83
** Henry VIII’s Reformation
29 August 2021 – IMDb 88
** Kings George III & IV and the Napoleonic War
5 September 2021 – IMDb 80
** The Romanovs and the Russian Revolution
12 September 2021 – IMDb 86
The other five episodes of this series are reviewed on this blog in December 2023. Click here to see the first of these reviews.
REFERENCES
** Thomas More: A Lonely Voice against the Power of the State by Peter Bergler (2009)
** 1536: The year That Changed Henry VIII by Suzannah Lipscomb (2006) (2009)
** The King’s Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Wolsey by Peter Gwyn (2011)
** Reformation England 1480-1642 by Peter Marshall (2012)
** God’s Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England by Jessie Childs (2014) (2015)
** Broken Idols of the English Reformation by Margaret Aston (2016)
** Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch (2018)
*****
Lucy Worsley's Royal Myths and Secrets
Season one (2020)
Season two (2021)
*****
Harvington Hall
Located in Worcestershire
*****
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