Henry VIII’s “anime” armor, worn during his final military campaign in 1544, by which time he was severely obese and suffering from chronic gout and an ulcerated leg[724X1200].

Henry VIII began his reign in 1509 at just 17 years old, charismatic, handsome, and exceptionally athletic, with a passion for jousting, hunting, and real tennis (predecessor to modern tennis). He would end it grotesquely obese, largely immobile, and often carried from place to place.

The familiar caricature of Henry did not fully emerge until January 24, 1536, when the 44-year-old king suffered a jousting accident. Thrown from his horse and knocked unconscious, possibly sustaining a traumatic brain injury, Henry also had his leg crushed beneath the animal. From that point on, his personality noticeably changed for the worse. Always a man of appetites, his reduced mobility accelerated his weight gain: his waist expanded from roughly 32 inches to over 50, and he eventually had to be hoisted onto his horse.

Despite later legends, Henry was reportedly a neat eater, but his appetite was real and immense. Fourteen-course meals prepared by two hundred kitchen staff featured spit-roasted meats, sparrow pies, whale, peacock, beaver tail, offal, swan, black pudding, and boar’s head, followed by marzipan and spiced fruitcake, all washed down with ale, wine, and gin. Fruits and vegetables were largely absent from elite diets of the period, less a personal failing than standard practice, though it did Henry no favors.

His injured right leg never healed properly. It ulcerated and festered, leaking through his garters and into his bedding. Yet even in decline, Henry remained desperate for martial glory. In 1544, he embarked on his final military campaign wearing this suit of armor, made in the “anime” style (a real historical thing and not something I am making up). In this construction, the breastplate and backplate are formed from horizontal overlapping plates, made flexible by rivets and internal leather straps.

If interested, I write about the life of Henry VIII here: https://open.substack.com/pub/aid2000/p/hare-brained-history-volume-61-henry?r=4mmzre&utm\_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay