A Profile of Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 1509 to 1547. An athletic young man who famously grew much larger later in life, he is best known for having six wives (part of his quest for a male heir) and breaking the English church away from Roman Catholicism. He is arguably the most famous English monarch of all time. Early Life Henry VIII, born June 28, 1491, was the second son of Henry VII. Henry originally had an older brother, Arthur, but he died in 1502, leaving Henry heir to the throne. As a youth, Henry was tall and athletic, frequently engaged in hunting and sport, but also intelligent and academic. He spoke several languages and studied the arts and theological debate. As king, he wrote (with help) a text refuting the claims of Martin Luther, which resulted in the Pope granting Henry the title of Defender of the Faith. Henry became king on the death of his father in 1509 and was welcomed by his kingdom as a dynamic young man. Early Years on the Throne, War, and Wolsey Shortly after acceding to the throne, Henry VIII married Arthur’s widow Catherine of Aragon. He then became active in international and military affairs, pursuing a campaign against France. This was organized by Thomas Wolsey. By 1515, Wolsey had been promoted to Archbishop, Cardinal, and Chief Minister. For much of his early reign, Henry ruled from a distance through the greatly capable Wolsey, who became one of the most powerful ministers in English history and a friend of the king. Some wondered if Wolsey was in charge of Henry, but this was never the case, and the king was always consulted on key matters. Wolsey and Henry pursued a diplomatic and military policy designed to raise England’s (and thus Henry’s) profile in European affairs, which was dominated by the Spanish-Franco-Habsburg rivalry. Henry displayed little military ability in wars against France, living off one victory at the Battle of the Spurs. After Spain and the Holy Roman Empire became united under Emperor Charles V, and French power was temporarily checked, England became sidelined. Wolsey Grows Unpopular Attempts by Wolsey to change England’s alliances to maintain a position of importance brought a backlash, damaging vital income from the English-Netherlands cloth trade. There was upset at home, too, with the regime growing unpopular thanks partly to demands for more taxation. Opposition to a special tax in 1524 was so strong the king had to cancel it, blaming Wolsey. It was at this stage in his rule that Henry VIII entered into a new policy, one which would dominate the rest of his rule: his marriages. Catherine, Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII’s Need for an Heir Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon had produced just one surviving child: a girl called Mary. As the Tudor line was recent to the English throne, which had little experience of female rule, no one knew if a woman would be accepted. Henry was worried and desperate for a male heir. He had also grown tired of Catherine and fascinated by a woman at the court called Anne Boleyn, sister of one of his mistresses. Anne didn’t want to simply be a mistress, but queen instead. Henry may also have been convinced his marriage to his brother’s widow was a crime in Gods eyes, as proved by his dying children. Henry decided to solve the matter by requesting a divorce from Pope Clement VII. After seeking this, he decided to marry Anne. Popes had granted divorces in the past, but now there were problems. Catherine was an aunt to the Holy Roman Emperor, who would be offended by Catherine being shunted to the side, and to whom Clement was subservient. Furthermore, Henry had obtained, at cost, special permission from a previous Pope to marry Catherine, and Clement was loathe to challenge a previous papal action. Permission was refused and Clement dragged a court decision out, leaving Henry worried about how to proceed. Fall of Wolsey, Rise of Cromwell, Breach With Rome With Wolsey growing unpopular and failing to negotiate a settlement with the Pope, Henry removed him. A new man of considerable ability now rose to power: Thomas Cromwell. He took control of the royal council in 1532 and engineered a solution which would cause a revolution in English religion and kingship. The solution was a breach with Rome, replacing the Pope as the head of the church in England with the English king himself. In January 1532, Henry married Anne. In May, a new Archbishop declared the previous marriage voided. The Pope excommunicated Henry soon after, but this had little effect. The English Reformation Cromwell’s break with Rome was the start of the English Reformation. This wasn’t simply a switch to Protestantism, as Henry VIII had been a passionate Catholic and he took time to come to terms with the changes he made. Consequently, England’s church, which was altered by a series of laws and bought tightly under the control of the king, was a halfway house between Catholic and Protestant. However, some English ministers refused to accept the change and a number were executed for doing so, including Wolsey’s successor, Thomas More. The monasteries were dissolved, their wealth going to the crown. Six Wives of Henry VIII The divorce of Catherine and the marriage to Anne was the start of a quest by Henry to produce a male heir which led to his marriages to six wives. Anne was executed for alleged adultery after court intrigue and only producing a girl, the future Elizabeth I. The next wife was Jane Seymour, who died in childbirth producing the future Edward VI. There was then a politically-motivated marriage to Anne of Cleves, but Henry detested her. They were divorced. A few years later, Henry married Catherine Howard, who was later executed for adultery. Henry’s final wife was to be Catherine Parr. She outlived him and was still his wife at the time of Henrys death. Final Years of Henry VIII Henry grew ill and fat, and possibly paranoid. Historians have debated the extent to which he was manipulated by his court and the extent to which he manipulated them. He has been called a sad and bitter figure. He ruled without a key minister once Cromwell fell from grace, attempting to stop religious dissension and maintain the identity of a glorious king. After a final campaign against Scotland and France, Henry died on January 28, 1547. Monster or Great King? Henry VIII is one of England’s most divisive monarchs. He is most famous for his six marriages, which caused two wives to be executed. He is sometimes called a monster for this and for executing more leading men than any other English monarch on alleged charges of treason. He was aided by some of the greatest minds of his day, but he turned against them. He was arrogant and egotistical. He is both attacked and praised for being the architect of England’s Reformation, which brought the church under crown control but also caused dissension which would lead to further bloodshed. Having increased the holdings of the crown by dissolving the monasteries, he then wasted resources on failed campaigning in France. Henry VIIIs reign was the height of direct monarchical power in England. However, in practice, Cromwell’s policies enlarged Henry’s power but also bound him tighter to Parliament. Henry tried throughout his reign to enhance the image of the throne, making war partly to increase his stature and building up the English navy to do so. He was a fondly-remembered king among many of his subjects. Historian G. R. Elton concluded that Henry was not a great king, for, while a born leader, he had no foresight for where he was taking the nation. But he was not a monster, either, taking no pleasure in casting down former allies. Sources Elton, G. R. England Under the Tudors. Routledge Classics, 1st Edition, Routledge, November 2, 2018. Elton, G. R. Reform and Reformation: England, 1509-1558. The New History of England, Hardcover, First Edition edition, Harvard University Press, January 26, 1978.

Criticisms of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been...

A short story by Joyce Carol Oates called â€Å"Where are you going, where have you been?† reflects the writer’s point of view of the way society looked to women in the sixties. The story takes place in the 1960’s when almost everything reached a turning point at that time. It talks about a teenager who wanted boys’ attention, but she ended up leaving her family house with a stranger. Connie represented most teenage girls, and their destiny at that time. The story can be looked at from many different points of view such as feminist, social, psychological and historical (Purdue (OWL)). The time this story had taken place is what makes it important. The story was written when the feminist movement was established, and the American society†¦show more content†¦When Arnold felt that Connie was not going to do what he wanted, he started to threat in hurting her family. The more the story was coming to end, the more orders were thrown at Connie by Arnol d. Many different critics were written on why Connie decided to leave her family and home and leave with a stranger. But taking the time of the story into account, it is possible to see that men, like Arnold, broke women pride and dominated them. Marie Urbanski writes â€Å"Connie leaves with Arnold because she is, â€Å"bowing to absolute forces which her youthful coquetry cannot direct – absolute forces over which she has no control† (78). Connie had to give up, just like any other women at the time and listen to what the man said. â€Å"At the end the terrified girl finds herself moving irresistibly toward him† (WinslowShow MoreRelatedSummary Of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?854 Words   |  4 Pagesbecause had Connie and her mother communicated better, Connie, who is still a child, would have be protected from the evil of the world. Barstow also points out that the modern American is unable to distinguish evil from good. Evaluation: This article is useful to me because Barstow effectively shows the theme of loss innocence by using thorough examples to show Connie’s carelessness. Barstow seems to enjoy Oates’ use of childish aspirations, violence, and suspense and relates most of her main pointsRead MoreEssay on Arnold Friend669 Words   |  3 Pagesappearance hiding something deeper, something evil? Arnold, posing as a teen-age boy, is none other than the devil himself, which shows in his words and actions, and in his physical traits. From the very beginning of, Joyce Carol Oates, Where are you going, Where Have you been? a certain number of religious references are interspersed throughout. These references help to maintain a biblical feeling, as well as to set a path for Friends entry into the story. They also foreshadow that; powersRead More Joyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1539 Words   |  7 PagesJoyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You B een?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Joyce Carol Oates was born in 1938 in Lockport, New York. She started writing very young and that the age of fifteen she submitted her first novel, but it was rejected for being too dark;. This style of writing is common on many of her works including Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?; Oates graduated from Syracuse University and then went on to get her masters degree from the University of Wisconsin. Oates turnedRead More An Analysis of Joyce Carol Oates’ Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been1902 Words   |  8 PagesAn Analysis of Joyce Carol Oates’ Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most productive writers of our time. Between 1971-95, Oates published twenty-five novels, eighteen short story compilations, three collections of novellas, five volumes of poetry, six editions of plays, eight books of essays, and countless more umcollected works (Kellman 487). As the format for her writing varies, so does her subject matter. Her creations cover a wide range of genresRead MoreJoyce Carol OatessWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1554 Words   |  7 PagesMystical voices of unity and liberty filled the youths spirits in the 1960’s, sparking what may have been America’s â€Å"golden ages†. For baby boomers, however, the new generation was being poisoned by talks of rebellion and uprising. Joyce Carol Oates, the author of â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?†, begins by introducing Connie, a stereotypical 15 year-old in the 1960’s, who voices the arrogance of the youth. Connie’s pa ssion for glancing at every reflective surface she passes by, her attemptsRead MoreEssay on Transition in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been3629 Words   |  15 PagesTransition in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Each of us experiences transitions in our lives. Some of these changes are small, like moving from one school semester to the next. Other times these changes are major, like the transition between youth and adulthood. In Joyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?, the author dramatizes a real life crime story to examine the decisive moment people face when at the crossroads between the illusions and innocenceRead More Comparing Where Are you going, Where Have You Been and Hills Like White Elephants1320 Words   |  6 Pagesoften use good technical writing skills. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast two short stories: Where Are you going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates and Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway. The comparison and contrast will be done based on their use of plot, point of view and character development. The short story where are you going, where have you been is about a teenage girl who is, vain, self-doubting and affixed in the present. She does not know anything aboutRead MoreThe Light On Daisys Dock1263 Words   |  6 PagesIn the literary criticism How to Read Novels Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, Foster underscores the notion of character’s desires. In the literary criticism of chapter fourteen of The Light on Daisy’s Dock, Foster says that not only is the novel is driven by character’s desires but also character’s desires are often associated with symbols and conflicts. These symbols and conflicts guide readers in a significant way which readers will understand the message the author is conveying in the novelRead MoreFamily Matters : Joyce Oates s Story About A Young Girl Being Stalked1060 Words   |  5 PagesKaylee Coughran Professor Royster Comp 2 7 October 2017 Family Matters How much of an impact does family have on a person’s life? â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,† Joyce Oates’s short story about a young girl being stalked, shows just how much of an influence families are on children. Connie was a fifteen-year-old girl living with her parents and sister in the 1960s. Connie started sneaking off as way to rebel from her less than perfect family and encountered the man who would later becomeRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Essay2193 Words   |  9 Pagesreading Joyce Carol Oates’ short story â€Å"Where are you going, where have you been?† and Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† readers will dismiss the idea of the existence of any similarity in the stories of a fifteen year old girl and a grandmother. However, upon closer inspection, it is easy to appreciate how these two seemingly polar opposites are actually structured to invoke the same feeling s in readers and to explore the same concepts. A close examination of â€Å"Where are you going

Summary Response Free Essays

Agents of Change and Nonviolent Action* Nonviolent action is a way for ordinary people to fight for their rights, freedom, and justice. It is frequently associated with moral or ethical nonviolence, but I will address it here as a distinct phenomenon, separate from any moral or ethical underpinnings, to expand on how it works as a pragmatic way to exert leverage in a conflict. Nonviolent action is based on the insight that power in a society is ultimately derived from people’s consent and obedience. We will write a custom essay sample on Summary Response or any similar topic only for you Order Now In contrast, the prevailing view is that power in a society is inherently based on whoever has concentrated wealth and the greatest capacity for violence. But just as the economy is a subsystem of the biosphere— and therefore is ultimately governed by the laws of the biosphere—so too, systems of power that are seemingly based on violence and money are actually subsystems of thousands or millions of people’s broader behavior and obedience patterns. If those people shift their loyalties, behavior, and obedience, the balance of power in a society, and in the world, shifts. Simply put, if people do not obey, then rulers or corporations cannot rule. Nonviolent action, therefore, wields power by creating shifts in people’s loyalties, behavior and obedience patterns at a collective level. This can happen dramatically, for example as it did at moments during the Indian Independence Struggle, the US Civil Rights Movement, various labor struggles (i. . the United Farm Workers movement in the mid-late 1960s), and the downfall of Ferdinand Marcos (1986), Augusto Pinochet (1988), Apartheid in South Africa (1980s-90s), Slobodan Milosevic (2000), and the authoritarian system in Ukraine (2004). Or, shifts can happen more subtly, as when people choose to shop at locally owned businesses, boycott a product, or work to develop alternative institutions and economies. Regardless of its myriad of methods and manifestations, all acts of nonviolent action fall into one of three categories: acts of 1 Â © 2008 Hardy Merriman. *A slightly modified version of this essay appeared in: Conservation Biology, Volume 22, No. 2, April 2008 pp. 241-2. commission—that is, people do things that they are not expected, supposed, or allowed to do; acts of omission—that is, people do not do things that they are expected, supposed, or required to do; or a combination of acts of commission and omission. In order to promote shifts in people’s obedience and behavior patterns, it is important to understand why people obey and behave as they do in the first place. Reasons will differ from society to society, but two of the most common reasons for obedience that I encounter in my work with activists and organizers around the world are that people feel there is no alternative way of behaving and they lack confidence that their actions make a difference. Many people have forgotten that they are the true power holders in their society. Of course formal education, corporations, governments, and media all reinforce the narrative that power resides among the few individuals in a government building or corporate headquarters, and that money and guns (on which they have a monopoly) are the ultimate source of strength. This narrative suits their purposes well. Successful nonviolent movements throughout history, however, have awakened people to the fact that through their collective actions, people who are organized around a common vision and act strategically are far stronger than armies and money. Any contemporary grassroots movement that wants to gain traction should take note of this fact and make reminding people that they are powerful a central point of its rhetoric. Taking this one step further, successful movements not only tell people that they are powerful, they demonstrate people’s power by setting clear, achievable objectives and then documenting and publicizing their victories. The victories themselves may be limited, but their impact on mobilizing people can be enormous. For example, the US Civil Rights Movement concentrated its strength on desegregating buses in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955-56 and desegregating Nashville lunch counters in 1960. The Indian Independence Movement focused its effort on gaining concessions from the British on the Salt Acts and others laws in 1930-31. Once achieved, these objectives were small 1 Gene Sharp, Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice and 21st Century Potential, (Boston, MA: Porter Sargent Publishers), 2005, p. 547. 2 Â © 2008 Hardy Merriman. A slightly modified version of this essay appeared in: Conservation Biology, Volume 22, No. 2, April 2008 pp. 241-2. relative to the mammoth task of overturning segregation in the entire US South or gaining independence in India. But their true impact was in their catalyzing effect on the movements themselves. These victories showed people that their actions mattered and that they were capable of making a difference, which led to great increases in support and m obilization and propelled these movements to the national and international center stage. These objectives were not achieved merely because the US Civil Rights Movement or the Indian Independence Movement occupied the moral high ground. They were achieved also because of hard work, creativity, and skillful political analysis. This is true of all successful nonviolent action. However, many neglect this fact and instead assume that nonviolent action consists primarily of public protests, expressions of outrage, and moral injunctions, or that its success depends on a charismatic leader or some sort of mystical power. It does not. Nor does it require people who are ideologically committed to pacifism or ethical nonviolence. What it does require is an inclusive vision that unites people, sound strategic planning, effective public communications, and the identification of appropriate methods for the situation. There is no one-size-fits-all recipe—nonviolent action is place-specific. While the principles that govern it, such as power being based on consent and obedience, are constant across all struggles, its application depends on the context and particulars of a given society. Whether it manifests as bold public action, subtle shifts in buying patterns, or both (most movements have a wide variety of tactics that are designed to be used by people with different levels of involvement), it provides a way for people to use or create political space in their society from which to leverage concessions from an entrenched adversary. Fortunately, a lot of intellectual work, research, and communication have been done about how people can use, and historically have used, nonviolent action to achieve great results. Demand for this knowledge is increasing among those who recognize the power and potential that nonviolent action holds. You won’t read about this in most 3 Â © 2008 Hardy Merriman. *A slightly modified version of this essay appeared in: Conservation Biology, Volume 22, No. 2, April 2008 pp. 241-2. newspapers, and you won’t find a lot of politicians talking about it, but if you talk to grassroots organizers and members of civil society around the world, they will tell you. They recognize that it is the people in a society who are the agents of change and that structural change is created from the ground up. They are not waiting for a person to lead them, because they understand that most government and corporate leaders will not take the lead to do what is right if their populations are disengaged and do not know the means to hold them accountable. Therefore, people around the world are increasingly looking towards nonviolent action (which they may use in conjunction with voting, the legal system, or other traditional means of making change) as a pragmatic way to empower their communities to win human rights, freedom, justice, transparency, women’s, indigenous people’s and minority rights and environmental protection. Regardless of the objective for which nonviolent action is used, its prerequisite is the same: a reframing of the concept of power in people’s minds. Sharing this knowledge, and awakening people to their power, is an essential task in shifting humanity’s course. 4 Â © 2008 Hardy Merriman. *A slightly modified version of this essay appeared in: Conservation Biology, Volume 22, No. 2, April 2008 pp. 241-2. How to cite Summary Response, Papers