Hunting and the Royal Image of Henry VIII

The hunting activities of early modern monarchs have attracted surprisingly little attention from historians. Those of Henry VIII, possibly the most famous of English hunting monarchs, have attracted little more than passing comment. An examination of the existing evidence, however, shows that Henry VIII was indeed an enthusiastic huntsman, but that this interest needs to be placed within a context of the life of the early Tudor elite but also of early sixteenth century monarchy. Henry's interest in hunting emerged not only because of personal choice, but because it was expected of him as gentleman and as king but also because it was essential in the projection of his image as a renaissance prince.