Explore the intriguing “what-if” scenario of King Henry VIII’s potential death after a jousting accident in 1536. Who would have inherited the English throne?
One thought on “What if Henry VIII had died in the jousting accident of 1536: who would have succeeded him¿”
There would have been complete shock and disbelief that this king had died so suddenly and tragically, Henry V111 was once so athletic and was a champion at the jousts as well as tennis and wrestling and other sports, but he had grown quite heavy and wearing armour, when that person falls they hit the ground harder, then having his horse roll on him which caused him more damage, not only did his ulcers burst open but it did more damage to his frontal lobe and must have altered his psyche, certainly he became more irritable and short tempered and very cruel sparing no mercy for his victims, had he died then I do believe there would have been a succession crisis, his only legitimate heir was Elizabeth at just two years and four months old, and Anne would have tried to bully the council to have herself declared regent, but it is Parliament really who decides on matters of the utmost importance and I feel there were many who would not have approved of her being appointed regent, she was not popular and there were catholics in Parliament who would have supported his eldest daughter, although Mary had been declared a bastard by the king there were many who thought Elizabeth was the bastard and I believe Spain would have supported Mary’s claim, had she decided to contest Elizabeth’s right, I don’t believe James V would have tried to claim the throne, but as the son of Henry V11’s eldest daughter he would have had more claim than Frances Brandon, but first he would have had to muster an army, which later he tried and failed miserably, dying in a state of deep depression, leaving his baby daughter Mary as queen, Henry V111 when he drew up his will, had left out the Scottish claim putting his younger sister Mary’s first, and yes I don’t think his people would have wanted James as king, it was not something Henry would have wanted so Frances Brandon would have had more support, but she was his niece not his daughter, so would Mary have been seen the more desirable out of all of them, we know that the Seymour brothers had a power struggle between them when young Edward was king, and both of them lost their heads, I think In Elizabeth’s case there would have been something similar, between Anne and the Duke of Norfolk, he was Earl Marshal and of a very noble and important family, he would have wanted to be regent I believe and hating his niece there could well have been fireworks there, then there was Cromwell the kings clever lawyer, what would he think? So many different scenarios I have always believed that Fitzroy said by many to be a fine young boy would have been legitimised by Henry had Elizabeth not been born, he would have had a regency council drawn up by the king and recognised as his one true heir, he was his only living son and I do believe he would have done this if he felt he would never have another son and he knew he was dying, however as we know death can strike suddenly and this king was lying unconscious whilst the people around him prayed, and his queen was told very clumsily by her uncle of his accident, possibly the shock was to blame for her miscarriage but as history tells us, this king survived which was a miracle, it was his near brush with death however which I feel hastened his decision to discard Anne and replace her with Jane Seymour, his need for a son was growing ever more desperate, no matter if blood had to be shed, England needed a prince!
There would have been complete shock and disbelief that this king had died so suddenly and tragically, Henry V111 was once so athletic and was a champion at the jousts as well as tennis and wrestling and other sports, but he had grown quite heavy and wearing armour, when that person falls they hit the ground harder, then having his horse roll on him which caused him more damage, not only did his ulcers burst open but it did more damage to his frontal lobe and must have altered his psyche, certainly he became more irritable and short tempered and very cruel sparing no mercy for his victims, had he died then I do believe there would have been a succession crisis, his only legitimate heir was Elizabeth at just two years and four months old, and Anne would have tried to bully the council to have herself declared regent, but it is Parliament really who decides on matters of the utmost importance and I feel there were many who would not have approved of her being appointed regent, she was not popular and there were catholics in Parliament who would have supported his eldest daughter, although Mary had been declared a bastard by the king there were many who thought Elizabeth was the bastard and I believe Spain would have supported Mary’s claim, had she decided to contest Elizabeth’s right, I don’t believe James V would have tried to claim the throne, but as the son of Henry V11’s eldest daughter he would have had more claim than Frances Brandon, but first he would have had to muster an army, which later he tried and failed miserably, dying in a state of deep depression, leaving his baby daughter Mary as queen, Henry V111 when he drew up his will, had left out the Scottish claim putting his younger sister Mary’s first, and yes I don’t think his people would have wanted James as king, it was not something Henry would have wanted so Frances Brandon would have had more support, but she was his niece not his daughter, so would Mary have been seen the more desirable out of all of them, we know that the Seymour brothers had a power struggle between them when young Edward was king, and both of them lost their heads, I think In Elizabeth’s case there would have been something similar, between Anne and the Duke of Norfolk, he was Earl Marshal and of a very noble and important family, he would have wanted to be regent I believe and hating his niece there could well have been fireworks there, then there was Cromwell the kings clever lawyer, what would he think? So many different scenarios I have always believed that Fitzroy said by many to be a fine young boy would have been legitimised by Henry had Elizabeth not been born, he would have had a regency council drawn up by the king and recognised as his one true heir, he was his only living son and I do believe he would have done this if he felt he would never have another son and he knew he was dying, however as we know death can strike suddenly and this king was lying unconscious whilst the people around him prayed, and his queen was told very clumsily by her uncle of his accident, possibly the shock was to blame for her miscarriage but as history tells us, this king survived which was a miracle, it was his near brush with death however which I feel hastened his decision to discard Anne and replace her with Jane Seymour, his need for a son was growing ever more desperate, no matter if blood had to be shed, England needed a prince!