On this day in Tudor history, 24th December 1545, Christmas Eve, King Henry VIII made his final speech to Parliament.
The king was concerned about the religious divisions in his realm and so chastised the Lords and Commons for their disagreements, and also the clergy for provoking this discord.
In today's talk, I share some of the king's compelling speech from that day in 1545.
You can read the full speech in the appendix of Volume I of “Dodd’s Church History of England from the Commencement of the Sixteenth Century to the Revolution in 1688” at https://archive.org/details/doddschurchhist01dodduoft/page/450
Also on this day in history:
- 1604 – Death of Sir Thomas Cornwallis, Comptroller of the household of Mary I and member of Parliament, at the age of eighty-six. He was buried at Brome in Suffolk. Cornwallis was active in putting down Kett's Rebellion in 1549 and in 1553, after originally proclaiming Lady Jane Grey as Queen in Ipswich, he swapped sides and swore allegiance to Mary I.
Henry, I believe was aware of his mortality and that he was not long for this mortal coil.
No matter what we think about Henry and the way he had behaved this speech to his last Parliament was sincere, a sincere appeal for unity and concord, his young son’s future in mind. Henry also really treasured the Word of God and he saw the reality of allowing it to be available for everyone to read in their own tongue, it was being disrespected. I agree Henry was hypocritical but he really did have genuine fears if the nobles and bishops remained divided and the kingdom was not at peace. This is a wonderful speech and I believe he felt deeply about it. It’s a very apt Christmas speech.