Henry Education

In General

Henry was a bright child and a great deal of attention was paid to his education. Henry education benefited from the instruction of many tutors. Henry had a sharp an eye for detail and an encyclopaedic memory which eased the learning process. His early education was supervised by his learned maternal grandmother Margaret Beaufort, who adored the young Prince Henry. It was Margaret Beaufort who instilled in Prince Henry a regard for education and for religion as she was an extremely pious person, attending church services several times in any day.

Early Education

During his early education Henry would have first been taught the alphabet and the rudiments of English Grammar together with reading and writing skills using parchment and a horn-book. A horn-book was a piece of parchment usually pasted on to a small wooden board with a handle, and covered with a thin plate of transparent horn ( from where the name of horn-book was derived ).The horn-book displayed the alphabet in both small letters and capital letters. The Lord's Prayer in English was also included on the horn-book together with the mark of the cross. The alphabet used during the Tudor period and used during the education of Henry contained just 24 old English letters as opposed to the 26 letters used in the modern English alphabet.

His Tutors

By the time he was five years old Henry would have been expected to learn foreign languages and various other subjects. Henry had the best tutors available who were entrusted with his education. The names of these tutors included the following: John Skelton - The Poet Laureate who taught Henry literature, rhetoric and languages Bernard Andre - Latin teacher Giles d'Ewes - French tutor Richard Croke - Greek Thomas More and Erasmus certainly influenced the education of Henry VIII as a young boy - he was known to correspond with both of these great men Erasmus described Henry as "a lively mentality which reached for the stars, and he was able beyond measure to bring to perfection whichever task he undertook." Thomas More described Henry as follows "He is in every respect a most accomplished prince"

His Lessons and Studies

Henry was taught a range of different lessons as part of a standard curriculum for the royal children. His education included lessons in languages, grammar, theology, history, rhetoric, logic, philosophy, arithmetic, logic, literature, geometry, and music. In addition to all of theses subjects the education of the young Henry also included astronomy, navigation and cartographer - his interest in these particular subjects stayed with him throughout his life. One of his accomplishments was to increase the ships in the English navy from just five at the beginning of his reign to over fifty. Henry was also taught religious studies in the Roman Catholic religion. Great attention was given to the study of languages. During the education of Henry he was taught Latin, Greek, French, Italian and Spanish. His daily lessons were divided into the morning lesson and the afternoon lesson. Cicero and Livy were closely studied.

Non-Academic Education

Henry was a genial child who enjoyed education but also had a passion for sporting activities. He therefore revelled in the education and instruction in "all such convenient sports and exercises as behoveth his estate to have experience in". Education in these skills included riding, jousting, tennis, archery, hunting and dancing.

Education and his Father

Henry was the younger son, his brother Arthur was the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne of England. Arthur was therefore given royal responsibilities whereas Prince Henry was destined to a secular life, his possible future role might have been the Archbishop of Canterbury. The relationship between his father King Henry VII was somewhat perplexing. King Henry VII taught history to both of his sons but clearly favoured Prince Arthur. Prince Arthur was the Heir and Prince Henry was the 'spare'.