Why Was Henry VIII's Burial Site Forgotten ? How Is He Connected To Charles I And Horatio Nelson ?

One of the most famous kings in history is Henry VIII, but despite his name, Henry VIII's final resting place is rather discreet. Henry VIII is buried in a vault under the choir of Saint George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. There he rests, as he wished alongside his third wife, Jane Seymour. It might surprise you, however, that for hundreds of years the location of his grave was lost. No tomb for the king was ever erected, not even a stone slab was placed on the floor. So what happened to the final resting place of England's most famous king? And why is he connected in death to King Charles I and Admiral Nelson? To share this story, we must go back to Henry's youth, when Cardinal Thomas Wolsey acted as Henry's Lord Chancellor. The young Henry tasked Wolsey with running the kingdom, while he occupied himself with delights such as hunting and partying. While doing so, Wolsey greatly enriched himself. Eventually, though, Wolsey fell from power when he failed to persuade Pope Clement VII to grant Henry an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The cardinal was stripped of all his offices and arrested and charged with treason in November 1530. Wolsey died of natural causes on November 29 of that same year and most of his possessions were confiscated by the crown. While inventorizing Wolsey's possessions, some elaborate plans for a sculpted black marble sarcophagus were discovered. The design pleased the king, who decided to use the plans for his own tomb and Henry had orders for constructing the tomb registered in his will. We now move forward in time to the end of 1546. The old Henry VIII had suffered from poor health for many years by now. Henry weighed more than 25 stone and he probably suffered from untreated type 2 diabetes. Various measures were introduced to aid the aging king and those who saw the king daily realized that Henry's end was rapidly approaching. The king's council discreetly started to prepare for the transfer of power. Eventually, Henry VIII's health took a turn for the worse and the king died quietly in the early hours of Friday January 28, 1547. As the king wanted to be buried next to his third wife, Jane Seymour, preparations were made to transfer the king's body to St. George's Chapel. Henry's coffin was placed on a chariot which was drawn by eight horses. The king's lead-lined coffin weighed up to half a ton. An effigy made from wood and wax was placed on top of the coffin. It was dressed in robes of state and wore the While lying in state at various stop-off points, Henry VIII was finally buried at St. George's Chapel on February 16, 1547, a full 20 days after his death. However, upon Henry VIII's death, almost every instruction that the king had written in his will, including the orders for the construction of his tomb, was ignored and no memorial for Henry VIII was ever built. The plans for Henry VIII's beautiful marble sarcophagus became the property of the crown. Eventually, not even a stone was placed on Henry's grave to mark his final resting place. With no marker, the location of Henry VIII's burial site became forgotten. That lasted until the English Civil War ended with the execution of King Charles I. Charles I was beheaded on January 30, 1649, at Whitehall Palace between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. The fact that Charles received a burial at all, let alone one at St. George's Chapel, was both lucky and unlikely. To appease the many English citizens who were shocked by the execution of their king, Parliament agreed to a proper burial, but they also decided the king's body needed to be buried in a secluded place. The decision was made to bury Charles in St. George's Chapel, which was nicely hidden within Windsor Castle's protective walls. The body of King Charles I was taken there in secret. A vault in the choir was opened and to the surprise of those present, the vault wasn't empty, but contained the bodies of Henry VIII, whose coffin was placed alongside this of his third wife, Jane Seymour. However, the parliamentary forces had to quickly get rid of the body of Charles, so instead of searching for an empty vault, they just lowered Charles's coffin into the vault of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. The vault was sealed anew and once again the content of the vault was forgotten. It was not until construction works at St. George's Chapel were done in 1812, the vault holding Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and the coffin containing the body as well as the severed head of Charles was rediscovered. A fourth coffin, containing a stillborn child of Queen Anne, was also found in the vault. All four coffins remained in their resting place beneath St. George's Chapel. In 1837, King William IV ordered a marble slab to be placed above them, engraved with the four royal names and, with exclusion of the child, the years of their deaths. So what about Admiral Horatio Nelson? How does he fit into this story? On October 21st, 1805, the admiral was killed on the HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. The funeral plans for the but a suitable tomb was lacking. At this point, the plans of Wolsey's sarcophagus were resurfaced and on January 9, 1806, Admiral Nelson was buried in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral, inside the sarcophagus that Henry VIII had envisioned to be part of his own tomb. Thank you for watching.