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Home / Historical Periods / Tudor Period / Reign of Henry VIII

Phase

Reign of Henry VIII

1509–1547 CE

Henry VIII ruled from 1509 to 1547 and became one of the defining figures of Tudor history. His reign began with chivalric display and European ambition but became dominated by the search for a male heir and the break with Rome. The king’s marriages, ministers and executions made the court a place of opportunity and danger.

The reign mattered because it changed the relationship between crown, church and subject. The royal supremacy, dissolution of monasteries and shifts in doctrine altered daily life as well as high politics. Henry’s decisions created problems of succession and religion that continued long after his death.

Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy and C. J. Sansom’s Shardlake novels are key modern series for Henry VIII’s England, while Alison Weir and Philippa Gregory have written extensively around the king’s wives and court. The reign suits legal mysteries, court intrigue, religious suspense, royal marriage drama and stories of ordinary people caught in national reform.

Related people for Reign of Henry VIII

Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk1477–1545 Anne Askew1521–1546 Anne Basset1521–1557 Anne Boleyn1501–1536 Anne of Cleves1515–1557 Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus1489–1557 Arthur, Prince of Wales1486–1502 Catherine Carey1523–1569 Catherine Howard1523–1542 Catherine of Aragon1485–1536 Catherine Parr1512–1548 Charles V1500–1558 Claude of France1499–1524 Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset1506–1552 Edward VI1537–1553 Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire1480–1538 Elizabeth I1533–1603 Elizabeth of York1466–1503 Ferdinand II of Aragon1452–1516 Francis Derehamc. 1500s–1541 Francis I of France1494–1547 Francis Knollys1514–1596 Francis Weston1511–1536 George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford1504–1536 Hans Holbein the Younger1497–1543 Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon1526–1596 Henry Norris1482–1536 Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland1502–1537 Henry VII1457–1509 Henry VIII1491–1547 Isabella I of Castile1451–1504 James IV1473–1513 James V1512–1542 James VI and I1566–1625 Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford1505–1542 Jane Seymour1508–1537 Joan Larke1490–c. 1530s Kat Ashley1502–1565 Lady Jane Grey1537–1554 Lord Thomas Howard1511–1537 Margaret Butler, Countess of Ormondc. 15th century–1542 Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox1515–1578 Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury1473–1541 Margaret Tudor1489–1541 Mark Smeaton1512–1536 Mary, Queen of Scots1542–1587 Mary Boleyn1499–1543 Mary I1516–1558 Mary Seymourborn 1548 Mary Tudor, Queen of France1496–1533 Perkin Warbeck1474–1499 Philip II of Spain1527–1598 Reginald Pole1500–1558 Stephen Gardiner1483–1555 Susannah Hornebolt1503–1545 Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire1457–1539 Thomas Cranmer1489–1556 Thomas Cromwell1485–1540 Thomas Culpeper1514–1541 Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk1473–1554 Thomas More1478–1535 Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley1508–1549 Thomas Wolsey1473–1530 Thomas Wyatt the Younger1521–1554 William Brereton1490–1536 William Careyc. 1490s–1528 William Stafford1508–1556 Will Somersdied 1560

Series

Series about Reign of Henry VIII (5 series)

Sir Roger Shallot Tudor Mysteries in Order

by Paul Doherty 6 books 4.3

The Sir Roger Shallot Tudor Mysteries are presented as the recollections of an elderly rogue who once served Benjamin Daunbey, nephew of Cardinal Wolsey. During the early reign of Henry VIII, Roger and Benjamin are sent to investigate murders, stolen relics, espionage and threats to the Tudor dynasty.…

The Anne Boleyn Chronicles in Order

by Rozsa Gaston 4 books 4.4

The Anne Boleyn Chronicles reconstruct Anne Boleyn’s formative continental years before her emergence at the English court. Beginning in 1513 in Margaret of Austria’s household at Mechelen, the sequence follows Anne through the courts of Louis XII, Claude of France and Francis I, where language, ceremony, patronage and…

The Marwood Family Tudor Saga in Order

by Amy Licence 6 books 4.4

Beginning in 1527, the Marwood Family Tudor Saga follows the fictional Thomasin Marwood as she enters the court of Henry VIII during the king’s attempt to end his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Service to Catherine brings Thomasin close to the centre of royal politics, while her family…

The Shardlake Series in Order

by C. J. Sansom 7 books 4.6

The Shardlake Series follows Matthew Shardlake, a London barrister with scoliosis whose legal work repeatedly draws him into murder investigations and affairs of state between 1537 and 1549. He begins as an idealistic supporter of religious reform and an agent of Thomas Cromwell, but the violence of the…

The Wolf Hall Trilogy in Order

by Hilary Mantel 3 books 4.4

The Wolf Hall Trilogy follows Thomas Cromwell from his early service to Cardinal Wolsey through his rise as Henry VIII’s most effective minister and his fall in 1540. Told largely through Cromwell’s perspective, the series reinterprets the Tudor court as a working political system shaped by patronage, law,…

Books

30 Best Novels About the Reign of Henry VIII

Bestselling authors first, then star rating.

Non Fiction

12 Non-Fiction Books About the Reign of Henry VIII

Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.