TR020
King & Country
Not yet released - expected in mid-October.
Henry Ⅷ (1491-1547) was King of England from 1509 until his death in 1547. To the general public he is best-known for having six wives which in turn led to his dispute with the Pope in Rome and the beginning of the English Reformation which separated the Church of England from papal authority.
Throughout his life, Henry was also a serial womanizer which alas, proved fatal for some of his spouses. In addition he could be egotistical, frequently paranoid and occasionally… tyrannical.
This figure is based on several portraits of the King painted in the prime of his life by the painter Hans Holbein, a contemporary of the monarch.
Although England’s Henry Ⅷ is perhaps best known for having six wives. its less well-known that he enjoyed a rather unique nickname… “Old Coppernose”.
That came about due to the King’s lavish lifestyle and penchant for making wars on some of his nearest neighbours, Scotland and France in particular.
In order to pay for his extravagant lifestyle and costly wars Henry would deplete country’s treasury and force them to reduce the amount of silver in the nation’s coinage.
This was done by using more copper in coins and thinning out the silver covering particularly on the sovereign’s head.
Constant use of these coins wore away the silver coating particularly on the monarch’s head revealing the cheaper copper underneath hence the nickname… “Old Coppernose”.