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King Henry VIII
King Henry VIII Title Card
Shay Carl as King Henry VIII
Character information
Birth name Henry Tudor
Nickname(s) King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Old Coppernose
Born June 28, 1491
Greenwich, England
Died January 28, 1547 (aged 55)
London, England
Physical description
Hair Chestnut
Eyes Brown
Based on
King Henry VIII Based On
Rap battle information
Appeared in King Henry VIII vs Hillary Clinton
Vs Hillary Clinton
Release date February 15, 2020
Official vote(s) N/A
Location(s) Tudor emblems
A red background
A light blue and white background (preview)
I am Henry the Eighth, king of England, Ireland, and Wales!
— King Henry VIII

King Henry VIII was set to battle Hillary Clinton in King Henry VIII vs Hillary Clinton. However, the Epic Rap Battles of History crew did not like the way the original audio turned out, and ultimately scrapped the battle. He was going to be portrayed by Shay Carl. The full audio was eventually released on the Epic Rap Battles of History Website on December 21st, 2017,[1] with the battle being released in video form on February 15th, 2020, as part of a Season 6 update video on the ERB2 channel.[2]

Information on the rapper

Henry VIII was King of England, and Lord (King from 1542 onwards) of Ireland from 1509 until his death in 1547. Born on June 28th, 1491, in Greenwich, England, under the name Henry Tudor, he was the third child and second son of the first Tudor king of England Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York.

Initially, Henry VIII was not expected to succeed to the throne. He initially lived with his mother two sisters where his was being trained for a church career. However, following the death of his elder brother Arthur, Prince of Wales in 1502 (20 weeks after he had married Henry's future first wife Catherine of Aragon in a move intended to establish a marital alliance between England and Spain), Henry became heir apparent and was moved to the Royal court. Henry ascended the throne on April 22, 1509 following his farther's death, and a few months later, married Catherine of Aragon with whom he was married to for the longest time. In the early years of his reign, Henry was a monarch who was widely popular with the people. He was considered the archetypal Renaissance king and was remarked for his handsome appearance and physically fitness, enjoying several hobbies including jousting, hunting, horse riding, music, and writing. He also led England in expensive wars against France and Scotland.

After Catherine of Aragon failed to bear Henry a son during their 24 years of marriage (their marriage only producing one daughter, the future Queen Mary I) Henry desired to annul his marriage to her, believing that such was due to their marriage being cursed since he claimed that the 21st verse of the 20th chapter of the Book of Leviticus forbade a man from marrying his brother's widow and such would lead to childless (Catherine of Aragon having been previously married to Henry's elder brother Arthur). When Pope Clement VII refused to grant the annulment Henry so requested (due to Pope Clement VII being held a prisoner by Catherine of Aragon's cousin Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor), he (Henry) split the Church of England from the Catholic Church in order to get the annulment he so wished. Following the split from Rome Henry made radical changes to England from dissolving many monasteries and appropriating their assets to enrich the crown to executing several former close friends and advisers for remaining loyal to the Catholic Church and refusing to recognize Henry's annulment like Thomas More. After annulling said marriage, Henry married his second wife Anne Boleyn, but when she too failed to bear Henry a son in their three years of marriage (only producing a daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I), Henry annulled his marriage to Boleyn and ordered her beheaded on trumped up charges of adultery, incest, and treason. Henry's third marriage to Jane Seymour did succeed in bearing him a son, Edward, but Seymour died shortly after due to complications caused by the pregnancy. Henry was greatly distraught by Seymour's death and mourned her for two years.

Following Seymour's death, Henry was advised by his new chief minister Thomas Cromwell to find a wife among the Protestant Royal families of Europe to forge an alliance with them against the Catholic powers. After being shown portraits of different eligible European Protestant royal women, Henry chose Anne of Cleves, the daughter of a powerful Protestant German duke, to be his next wife and they were married by proxy. However, when Cleves arrived in England, Henry found her repulsive. Henry subsequently annulled the marriage and ordered Cromwell executed over charges that he (Cromwell) had deceived him (Henry) about Cleves' appearance (a move Henry came to regret). Due to her compliance, Cleves did fare better than Henry's other wives as she received a generous settlement that included being titled "The King's Beloved Sister" and two royal residences (in fact, she was the last surviving of Henry's wives, having outlived him by ten years, living well through the reign of Edward VI before dying on July 16, 1557 during the reign of Mary I).

Following the annulment of his marriage to Cleves, Henry married Anne Boleyn's maternal first cousin Catherine Howard. Howards was only a teenager at the time while Henry was 49. However, after it was discovered that she was having an affair with her cousin Thomas Culpeper, Henry stripped Howard of her title of Queen and had her beheaded. Henry's last marriage was to Catherine Parr who nursed him during his final years and outlived him by a year. As he neared the end of his life, Henry grew increasingly obese, moody, and paranoid and became feared by everyone around him. Henry died in the Palace of Whitehall in London, England on January 18, 1547 at the age of 55 most likely from complications exacerbated by his obesity and was buried in a vault inside Saint George's Chapel, Windsor Castle beside Jane Seymour. Following his death, Henry was succeeded by his only surviving son, who inherited the throne as King Edward VI. In the years to come, a play based on his life titled Henry VIII was co-written by English playwrights William Shakespeare and John Fletcher.

Lyrics

[Note: King Henry VIII is in orange, while Hillary Clinton is in regular text.]

Verse 1:

I am Henry the Eighth, king of England, Ireland, and Wales!

You are a presidential candidate in a pantsuit who fails!

Girls don't belong in politics, too much stress!

You should stay at home and wash the stains out of another lady's dress!

I tend to have separation issues with women.

It's like their heads are the Pope, and their necks the Church of England!

Madam Secretary, hold my calls! I'm off for a walk!

'Cause no one's beat you this bad since a swarthy man named Barack!

Verse 2:

I'm big because I'm God's appointed vessel!

The only way you could beat me is if maybe we wrestled!

I mean, come on! Is it any wonder why you can't keep your man at home?

The only thing getting blown is Bill's saxophone!

During Hillary Clinton's second verse:

I'm more powerful than Oprah! And more handsome than Ellen!

Trivia

  • Henry VIII is the only rapper previewed at the end of Nice Peter vs EpicLLOYD to not appear in an official battle afterwards, due to his battle being scrapped.
  • If he had not been scrapped, he would have been the first male to rap against a female. This title was given to Adam instead.
  • If he had not been scrapped, he would have been the fourth rapper whose title card reads differently from what the announcer says, as he is only called "Henry the Eighth" while his title card reads "King Henry VIII".

Gallery

References

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