22. Marks 475 years since the death of Henry VIII

And in fact there's a strange symmetry to the dates because the founder of the Tudor

dynasty Henry VII had been born in obscurity on the 28th January 1457 while his famous

and infamous son died on a winter's night on the same day 90 years later. He was 55 years

old, he was grossly overweight and he was disabled he'd been plagued for a decade by a terrible

running saw in his leg that in the end had forced him into the Tudor equivalent of a wheelchair

and a stannous stairlift. Following his jousting accident in 1536 this also in his leg had

never healed and modern physicians have suggested that Henry suffered from osteomyelitis or a chronic

septic infection of the femur and this produced intermittent feverish attacks caused by septic

absorption or clotting of the blood as happens in deep vein thrombosis. Untreated or at least

untreated by modern medicine such clots can lead to a pulmonary embolism and it therefore may be

this that finally killed Henry although kidney disease and heart failure perhaps together with the

swollen legs that are characteristic of a demon or dropsy may also have been contributors.

At his death he was Henry VIII by grace of God King of England, Ireland and France,

defender of the faith and of the Church of England and also an island on earth supreme head

and at two o'clock in the morning on the 28th of January 1547 in what was the 38th year of his

reign he took his last breath. Some years ago I wrote a book called The King is Dead,

The Last Will and Testament of Henry VIII and so to commemorate the anniversary of Henry's death I

wanted to explore with you some ideas about that last year of Henry's life what his plans had been

for the future what he had hoped before he died and what happened when he died and so in today's

explainer we explore the death of Henry VIII and the mystery of his will.

An act passed in Parliament 13 years earlier had made it treason to speak of the King's death

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