King Henry The V Of England example essay topic

Throughout the course of time, greed for power and wealth has allowed people to totally revise their natural ruling methods, love struggles, etc. During the middle ages the struggle for power and land was at its max. When you thought of a man who yearned for money, women, and power, one cannot have Henry V pop right into his mind. Even a "messenger of god" in Cardinal Thomas Woolsey had a yearning to become powerful.

Even Anne Boleyn was corrupted when the throne was offered to her, no matter how rebellious she was. Man's natural will for power and wealth WILL corrupt you if given the chance. King Henry the V of England did not step to the throne without many interesting years ahead. Though popular with the people of England and also very talented politician he had many ups and downs throughout his tenure. Including the on-the-edge legality of his divorce with Catherine, the feud with the pope, and the framing of one of his wives. Henry was a genuine Don Juan with the ladies, at first anyway, probably not when he cut their heads off though.

The reason Henry would become king is because of his brothers, Arthur, death in April of 1502. After Henry was given the throne, his thirst for power gave him and gave away many allegiances. His first wife was Catherine of Aragorn, his brother's widow. Five wives would follow after her. Including the famous Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn was a very important, if not the most important character in "Anne of a Thousand Days".

She is the focal point in that it is her decisions and actions that reflect what happen throughout the story. For example, Anne could have refused to marry Henry, and could have run away. These actions and decisions would have dramatically changed the outcome of the story, and for that matter history. But the natural yearning in the heart of men for wealth and power kept her from making this decision.

Throughout the picture Anne has many different personality traits which seem to change over time. At first she seemed rebellious. This characteristic emerged when Anne found out that King Henry wanted to marry her. Over time this rebellion slowly disappeared as another very important characteristic, the natural lust for power reared its ugly face. Soon after, Anne became completely consumed with the becoming the Queen of England.

And Queen of England she became. Now as the Queen of the mightiest empire in the world, everyone, including King Henry succumbed to her wishes, well... for a little while anyway. During most of his early reign, Henry relied on Thomas Cardinal Woolsey to do much of the political and religious activities. Henry soon got tired of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, so he decides that he doesn't want to be married to her anymore, so he tells Thomas Woolsey to talk to the pope so he can divorce Catherine. But, Cardinal Woolsey wasn't able to convince the pope, so in 1529 Henry took Woolsey's authority away from him.

Henry then appointed Sir Thomas More. Henry then got that divorce through Thomas Crammer, that he wanted with Catherine of Aragon and then married Anne Boleyn. Crammer now the Arch Bishop of Canterbury made Henry's marriage with Catherine void and his marriage with Anne valid. As you can see, each of these characters has in one way or another been corrupted by power and / or wealth. Henry by greed for an heir, land, money, love, etc. Anne because of a sudden opportunity to transform from a normal Jane to the highest power on the planet.

And lastly, Woolsey by his argument that he does Henry's dirty work. The point being that there is no man or woman alive that could turn his head away from such a rich opportunity.