3 – He Was A Poor General
Although he was athletic, strong and brave as a young king, Henry VIII was a poor commander regarding military strategy and the ability to understand the long-term consequences of his actions. Matters weren’t helped by the fact that he preferred to play rather than govern. He used to wake up at around 8 am which was incredibly late by the standards of the time.
Once he got out of bed, he would typically hunt rather than tend to the business of government. When he eventually finished with his outdoor fun, Henry would not spend too much time attending to his obligations because he wanted to dance, drink and gamble at night. One of the things that prevented disaster was Henry’s intellect and outstanding memory which allowed him to make decisive decisions quickly. It is important to note that Henry was not supposed to be king. His older brother was groomed for the role but died before he had the chance to rule.
Despite his desire to party rather than rule, England was in an almost constant state of war during Henry’s reign. He tried to conquer Scotland repeatedly and made a complete mess of things. In the beginning, there appeared to be hope for an alliance as Henry was on friendly terms with James IV of Scotland but this possibility was dashed when France and Scotland reviewed the ‘Auld Alliance’ in 1512. Unfortunately for the Scots, James died at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. When the Francophile Duke of Albany governed Scotland as regent in 1515, Henry made it clear that he would try to subdue the enemy.
He offered to make a truce with Scotland in 1523 in return for deposing Albany, but the Scots refused. Henry retaliated by attacking the Borders that year. When Albany sailed to France in 1524, James V became king, and due to the French defeat at Pavia in 1525, Henry had no reason to worry about Scotland becoming a base for a French invasion. Nonetheless, he was never able to control the Scots who began to sympathize with France in the 1530s.
In a purely military sense, Henry never increased England’s standing army to the point where it could become a force in Europe. While other nations evolved their military might through the use of pikemen and hand guns, England continued to use outdated longbowmen and billmen. When he joined forces with Charles of Spain to fight the French in 1542, Henry was too fat to ride a horse and had to be carried on a litter; hardly an inspiring sight for his men. While Charles saw sense and signed a treaty with France, Henry struggled on and bankrupted himself. By the end of his reign, which was characterized by war, Henry only managed to conquer the minor port of Boulogne; the French took that back soon after the king’s death.