'Many goodly pleasaunt bokes': The Royal Library of Henry VIII (England)

This thesis examines the history and significance of the royal library of Henry VIII, King of England from 1509–47. It considers both the contents and the cultural context of the library, as well as the contributions of important individuals at Henry's court. A close study of the surviving inventories for the king's collection, including his post-mortem inventory, forms the basis for this research. The results of this study show that Henry VIII's library provides convincing evidence for the argument that he was England's first Renaissance king, not its last medieval one.; Individual chapters consider the physical library and its contents; Henry's own reading habits; the library's relationship to important political events of the reign, including the Reformation; the influence and contributions of Henry's courtiers; and the role of his six queens in the library's history.