The Kentish Coast

One of the most exciting adventures I’ve had since I have been here in England was a trip on a military cargo plane. We flew around the southeast corner of England, over the North Sea and the English Channel. We saw the White Cliffs of Dover, as well as many of the towns along the Kentish coastline, such as Margate, Ramsgate, Deal and Dover. The cargo door was opened, and we were able to view the cliffs from the most spectacular position. This travelogue will talk about Dover Castle, Deal Castle and Walmer Castle.

This region was a focus of one of the most famous, yet most misunderstood, of the English monarchs... Henry VIII. Ask an American who Henry the VIII was, and you will get something like, "He was the really fat king of England who ate a bunch of turkey, killed a bunch of wives and gave 'the finger' to the pope by starting his own religion." On the surface, that's about right, but the whole situation was far more complicated than that.

There was much going on in the world of the 16th century. In Germany, Martin Luther was causing all sorts of trouble with the pope. In mainland Europe, Charles V succeeded Maximillian I. Charles had con.nections to Spain, Burgandy (including the Netherlands) and Austria. They were united into a very complex power. After all, it was all about power. France was still very dominant. Henry got caught in the middle. Eventually, Henry decided to play one force off the other, which didn't work. Another factor in this web of politics was the pope. At this time in history, the pope was incredibly powerful. He could use 'the church' to control the politics of the day, including the monarchy.

Henry began as a popular monarch, but after he married Catherine (not a favorite choice because she was from Aragon, a part of Spain), he lived a lavish lifestyle, and England was losing power in Europe (as a matter of fact, was the butt of many jokes). Henry lost his popularity. His wife Catherine had several children, but they all died except Mary. No one wanted a female monarch. Henry went to the pope asking for an annulment. Normally, that would have been easy to do. The pope often gave such annulments, to keep the monarchies going.

The trouble was, Catherine was related to Charles, and he wanted to have control of England, so he convinced the pope to deny the annulment (as a matter of fact, Pope Clement VII, was currently detained by Charles -- what a way to get what you want). Well, this is where the religion and politics in England itself comes to light. There were several people in the court of Henry the VIII that were getting caught up in the whole reformation thing. Being called a Lutheran was extremely insulting, and yet there were people, right under Henry's nose that believed in the changes happening in the church in Germany. Henry remained a staunch Roman Catholic, but was convinced and controlled into making changes in the church in England. And since they could offer him the 'annulment' he wanted, he went along with the changes.

Remember that much of the discontent in Europe at this time had nothing to do with religion. The poor were getting very poor and the rich were living very well. Several of the king's men, including Cardinal Wolsey, were trying to make things better for the poor, but the influence of the rich was too great. Meanwhile, Henry's lavish lifestyle was bringing the monarch close to bankruptcy. Parliament, which was controlled by the king, who could call them anytime he wanted to raise taxes, was unwilling to raise the taxes. Wolsey, who wanted to remain in power, did whatever he could to grant Henry his annulment. A trial was held, but a fellow judge, on orders from Rome, frustrated the proceedings and the annulment was not granted. Henry fired Wolsey (who disappeared), but that didn't help because the new chancellors were not any more helpful to Henry's case. Thomas More became chancellor, and he disapproved of divorce and devoted himself to fighting the Lutheran heresy.

Henry needed to do something, so he figured a revolution would be in order. Thomas Cromwell (not to be confused with Oliver Cromwell) suggested that the king break with Rome, making England a spiritual department of state under the rule of the king. In January 1533, Henry married Anne Boleyn. In May, Thomas Cranmer the new Archbishop of Canterbury presided over a trial and granted the annulment from Catherine of Aragon.

Now, Henry was excommunicated, but no one cared. As a matter of fact, being made supreme head over the church was his greatest accomplishment. He believed that he had no superior on earth. It completed the image of that he was divinely instituted as the monarch. But, it caused him some troubles. He had attacked Luther in a book and proclaimed his devotion to the papacy, yet this act of breaking from Rome seemed to encourage the Protestant Reformation. His guys, Cranmer and Cromwell, were very happy about that, because they were Protestant.

Meanwhile, Henry needed money. Parliament would not grant more taxes to the king. Cromwell took advantage of this and convinced the king that by dissolving the monasteries, they could get all the good money that was going to the church. They started by taking the lesser holdings, but eventually took all the property. Working the land brought good money to the monarch.

Henry became a laughing stock because he appeared to control the kingdom, but Parliament and his cronies controlled it. He began his reign as a man of learning and theology, he ended it as a man out for blood. Many people lost their heads during his reign, including Thomas More and ... Anne Boleyn.

Henry, unsuccessful on the male heir front, got very tired of Anne, and had her head chopped off. Catherine had already died, so he married Jane Seymour. She finally provided a male heir, Edward, but died in childbirth. He married Anne of Cleves, but she was a political choice (Cromwell) and Henry greatly disliked her. That divorce came quickly. Cromwell was fired and was beheaded. Henry became paranoid. Well, when everyone is out to get you, are you really paranoid? Many people offered up conspiracies and fed his paranoia. He married Catherine Howard, a 20 year old [slut], who got her head chopped off because she continued to be promiscuous even after marrying the king. Finally he married Catherine Parr, who was the only wife to out live him.

Once Cromwell was dead, Henry finally took the reigns of his own kingdom, but at this point was so messed up mentally, and physically -- he was ill -- that things were not very well run. He often exploded against the ingratitude of his subjects and councilors. He also decided to play war games.

By 1542, the Emperor and the King of France was at it again. Henry sided with the Emperor, while the Scots (to become a major force in the reigns to come) sided with the French. Henry prepared his coastline against the threat of invasion, by spending what little money he had on fort-like castles. Henry had to sell off the monastic properties to get enough to support his war. The war between the Emperor and France ended in 1544, but Henry kept fighting for two more years. He spent his final months trying to destroy the Howard family, who he thought wanted to control his successor. When he died in 1547, he left the realm quite confused because he had not made arrangements for the rule of a boy king (Edward was only 10 at the time).

The Tudors would go on to confuse the realm for the next hundred or so years. Edward would die, Mary (daughter of Catherine of Aragon) was Roman Catholic, Elizabeth (daughter of Anne Boleyn) was Protestant. Of course, Lady Jane Grey would be in the mix as well. England would take several generations to work out which side of the religion debate they would settle upon.

Henry, was not really the bloodthirsty monarch we think he was. He was a self-centered man who was easily controlled and that led to his destruction. In the midst of it all, good things did happen in England, but he will long be remembered as the "too fat king, who ate too much turkey and killed too many wives and broke from the pope so he could get a divorce."

Dover is part of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports, which controls defense and cross-channel trade. The current Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Dover has been a military site for thousands of years, and that includes recent history. The foundation below the castle is chalk, hence the white cliffs. The chalk is very easy to tunnel through. There are miles of tunnels from ancient times, to Napoleonic times, as well as modern tunnels. Buildings on the site date from the Roman period, around 100 AD, and also from the 11th century and the 18th century. The view from the castle of the English Channel and the white cliffs is awesome. For more information on Dover Castle, go to Dover Castle. To read about the other Cinque Port Castles, go to Cinque Port Castles.