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More about Henry....

The older King Henry VIII

By the end of his life, Henry was a sad and lonely person. He was terrified of getting ill, and anyone who had had contact with small pox or the plague was not allowed in court. He had a serious weight problem, he ate vast amounts of food, meat, fish, dairy products and lots of wine and beer. He wouldn't stop eating, even when a doctor told him to cut down. He became so fat that he had to be carried everywhere by servants.

He also had a bad leg, with ulcers possibly from an old jousting wound. Both legs became infected in 1538 and doctors thought he would die.

On 28th January 1547, he died at Greenwich. Various theories have been put forward for the possible cause of death:

• Old age - 56 was a ripe old age in Tudor times
• A sexually transmitted disease
• Over eating
• Gangrene - where his bad legs went off
• Scurvy - lack of Vitamin C because he didn't eat his veggies!

No-one knows the answer.

Henry and the Navy

The Mary Rose

In Tudor times all ships in the Navy, belonged to the King – the Royal Navy.

When Henry became King, he started to build up the Navy into a strong fighting force.

Henry loved his ships – he would often go and watch them being built and have parties on board.

His most famous ship was the Mary Rose, she was built in Portsmouth around 1510 and was named after his sister.

In July 1545, Henry was watching from Southsea (Hampshire) as the Mary Rose sank in the Solent just after leaving Portsmouth Harbour. About 700 men died.

She lay on the seabed, covered in mud for 400 years before being discovered in 1967. In 1982 she was lifted out of the sea – an amazing feat of engineering.

She and many Tudor items found with her, can be seen at Portsmouth Dockyard Naval Museum, Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Learn more about the Mary Rose at this brilliant web site! www.maryrose.org

This is his signature

This is a letter he wrote to Anne Boleyn