Today in History, June 22, 1535---
King Henry the VIII of England beheads Cardinal John Fisher for refusing to recognize him as head of his newly formed Church of England.
King Henry the VIII of England beheads Cardinal John Fisher for refusing to recognize him as head of his newly formed Church of England.
I know, you've heard this story before. A Mad Tyrant, grossly obese, has literally dumped one Wife after another, trying to produce an Heir to take over his Family business. He is so paranoid and foul tempered that he purges the government and silences the voices of his opposition, including Church leaders who speak out against his repression. He leads an immoral lifestyle, blowing up his marriages, bedding Prostitutes, taking Mistresses, and stealing from the people. He threatens to jail and execute his own people if they are disloyal. He creates a New Church and appoints himself head of it, which consists of people expected to be fanatically loyal to him, despite his lifetime rejection of the moral and ethical principles of his nominal Religion. He prosecutes the Religious and ethnic minorities in his country, taking advantage of his control of a corrupt legal system in which he asserts unlimited powers to make the Law. His reign was destructive, and led to division and instability.
Yes, that was Henry VIII of England. It may sound familiar to you, I would wager, harkening to the present day. Someone out there, I know, is going to be Captain Obvious, and state the vacuous platitude about "History Repeating itself". No, it doesn't. Idiotic and neurotic people who are failures in leadership, keep repeating similar types of stupid and moronic blunders, over and over again throughout History. From the time of the early Homo Sapiens who became distracted while looking at their Stone Tablets, and were not looking where they were going, silly people were run over by a stampede of Wooly Mammoths on their way out for hunting and gathering. As far as our present pile of incredulous nonsense, we are still distracted.
John Fisher, who helped found Cambridge College, and was the personal Chaplain to the Lady Margaret, Mother of King Henry VII, antagonized Henry VIII by calling him out repeatedly on his attacks on the Catholic Church in England. Fisher also undertook the legal defense of Catherine of Aragon in Henry's Divorce case against her. One of the constants in History is that Fat, Rich, tyrannical leaders who cheat on their wives, hate no one else on Earth more than their Exes' Divorce Lawyer. Fisher was a man of great principle, and was described by the famous theologian and philosopher Erasmus of Rotterdam as "the one man at this time who is incomparable for uprightness of life, for learning, and for greatness of soul". But, clearly he put himself on track for martyrdom by standing in the way of the King's Sex Life by opposing the Divorce, and then refusing to recognize the Church of England with Henry at its head. Henry's break with Rome was solely over their refusal to accept the Divorce.
The other thing which angered the King was Fisher's attempts to engage the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in a plot to invade England and depose Henry in combination with a Domestic uprising. Fisher became the target of multiple assassination attempts, including poisoning of his food by his cooks, which killed two people in his inner circle but not him.
Fisher, along with his colleague and fellow Martyr Sir Thomas More, both believed they would not be convicted of Treason if they remained silent at Trial, and didn't explicitly state their belief that the King should not be recognized as head of the Church of England. Richard Rich, who perjured himself in More's trial to obtain a conviction, tricked Fisher by asking him to State his opposition in private so Henry would know as a matter of conscience,, and it wouldn't be held against him, would be held in secret. So, Fisher was tricked into confessing and was convicted. Shortly thereafter, Pope Paul III Appointed Fisher Cardinal, hoping for a lenient sentence. Rome sent the Cardinal's Hat to England, but Henry sent it back, and told them he was sending the Cardinal's head back with it. One of his Judges voting for conviction was Thomas Cromwell, the Father of Anne Boleyn, who was already on deck to be Mrs. Henry number two.. (Sounds like the US Senate a little bit, eh?) Cromwell's reward for his loyalty was his daughter later getting the same treatment, a show trial, conviction, and beheading because she had the misfortune to give birth to a Daughter, Elizabeth, and then had 3 miscarriages. No Son for an Heir, so, she had to go. But, Henry had already started a plan B, taking up with Jane Seymour while still married to Anne.
Fisher was executed by beheading, drawn and quartered, and his head placed upon a pole on London Bridge, 485 years ago today. He was Beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886, and Canonized on May 19, 1935 by Pius XI, along with Thomas More. They are both commemorated on July 6 of each year as Martyrs of the Reformation.
