Henry VIII: Man & Monarch at the British Library

Henry VIII: Man & Monarch at the British Library

21 April, 2009
by: Tom Jeffreys

I'm pretty certain I'm not alone in picturing Henry VIII as a colossally fat and lecherous beast, upholstered in opulent materials, bejewelled, becrowned and gnawing on a chicken drumstick. But maybe you're one of those who saw him played by Twiglet-legged actor/model Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Tudors and you instead envision him as some smouldering blue-eyed sexpot. Turns out we're both kind of right, but also massively wrong.

Having just visited the press preview of the British Library's fascinating exhibition Henry VIII: Man & Monarch, I now know that he was far more intelligent and cultured than either of these lazy stereotypes allow for. As you'd expect from an exhibition in a library, the focus is very much on books: not boring books, mind, but stunningly beautiful 500 year-old artefacts. Take, for example, the exquisite illuminated books which Henry studied as a young boy, or Skelton's book of advice, Speculum Principis, with such instructional gems as 'do not deflower virgins'.

But this is not just about books. On display are a whole host of manuscripts, letters, documents, a massive intricate tapestry, a Dürer woodblock, grand and famous portraits of Cranmer, Wolsey, Henry himself, Elizabeth I, as well as poetry by Thomas Wyatt, maps, cartographic equipment, and a cool interactive video thing that recreates what it might have been like to be in a jousting match. But the highlight (in some ways) is Henry's portable writing desk – a delightful piece made of walnut and covered in painted and gilded leather. Either side of this are some of the fateful letters written between the young (married) monarch and Ann Boleyn.

Just as this is one of the most visually striking elements of the exhibition, it is also its narrative crux. Up until now Henry had been an ordinary young man and king: Catholic, conservative, well-educated and with diverse interests – from hunting and jousting to philosophy. But it was this love for Boleyn that was to turn upside-down not only Henry's own life, but, indeed, the fate of a nation.


Valor Ecclesiasticus 1535, National Archives

From here, the bulk of the exhibition focuses – naturally enough – on the split with Rome, and the process by which this took place. Although – as guest curator David Starkey argues – the desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon originated from Henry's love for Anne Boleyn, the actual process was in fact an academic and a bookish one. Arguments in favour of Henry's desire were assembled by legions of lawyers, theologians and academic researchers, often reporting directly to the monarch.

My favourite part of the exhibition is seeing the way in which Henry read through and annotated all of this research. He digested and appropriated the arguments, so that – superficially at least – reason and right became his allies. It really is amazing to see Henry's handwriting on these documents – his notations bring his thought-processes alive. History has perhaps never been so immediate.

And it's incredible also to see how England and her Church were founded on obfuscation. The gaps and overlaps between the spheres of law, politics and religion required a characteristically modern fudge. Phraseology – in law, as in politics and biblical exegesis – is everything. This is the glorious domain of the pedant. And from here tyranny emerges.

This is truly a brilliant exhibition. It progresses slowly, confidently and in great detail, but never becomes tedious because the bare bones of the narrative are already universally known. It contains beautiful things, gets as close to the mind of a man as is possible and also touches on a host of other issues: love, war, religion, politics, law, national identity...

At its heart though are books. Reading, writing, notes in the margins: this is how history is made. Starkey explains how 'the core collection of the British Library – the world's greatest collection of books – is Henry's own collection'. It is through books – more than a TV series or even Holbein – that Henry is to be understood. Through reading and writing emerges a nation, a religion, an archive: a man and his unparalleled legacy.

Henry VIII: Man & Monarch is at the British Library until 06.09.09.

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Tom Jeffreys