ABSTRACT
Fifty-seven years old, King Henry VIII died on 27 January 1547, his hand in Cranmer's, convinced as he had always been of his own righteousness. The nation, informed three days later by Lord Chancellor Wriothesley (in tears), was stunned and frightened of the future. The follies of the last seven years made sure that the next reign would be burdened with an evil inheritance, but the earlier work of Henry VIII and his great ministers had not been done in vain.
