6. Henry VIII Was A Handsome And Thin Man... For The Most Part
The most-regularly-used pictures of Henry VIII tend to be those painted towards the end of his life when he had ballooned in weight, but actually for the majority of his reign he was an athletic and - if contemporary reports are to be believed - handsome man. In fact, Henry was described in 1515 as: "The handsomest potente I have ever set eyes." He was also said to be an "Adonis, with an extremely fine calf to his leg, his complexion very fair... and a round face so very beautiful, that it would become a pretty women". He was 6ft 2ins tall, was a lover of sports, and was brilliant at jousting before he suffered a serious wound to his leg in 1536 after falling from his horse. It was then that Henry became unable to move as freely as before - and his waist billowed from 32ins to 52ins within four years. Peter Armstrong, director of the Royal Armouries, famously declared that Henry VIII - who by now had to be winched on to his own horse - had become "an absolute monster" late in life.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
The most-regularly-used pictures of Henry VIII tend to be those painted towards the end of his life when he had ballooned in weight, but actually for the majority of his reign he was an athletic and - if contemporary reports are to be believed - handsome man. In fact, Henry was described in 1515 as: "The handsomest potente I have ever set eyes." He was also said to be an "Adonis, with an extremely fine calf to his leg, his complexion very fair... and a round face so very beautiful, that it would become a pretty women". He was 6ft 2ins tall, was a lover of sports, and was brilliant at jousting before he suffered a serious wound to his leg in 1536 after falling from his horse. It was then that Henry became unable to move as freely as before - and his waist billowed from 32ins to 52ins within four years. Peter Armstrong, director of the Royal Armouries, famously declared that Henry VIII - who by now had to be winched on to his own horse - had become "an absolute monster" late in life.