Henry VIII: more than a boor

Regarding the informative article "Notorious Henry VIII Reassessed," Aug. 13: I am more than a bit surprised to discover that to credit Henry with more than boorishness and a taste for multiple marriages is part of a "revisionist" movement.It has been more than half a century since I was intrigued by Tudor history at the University of Minnesota. But even in those long-past days, my professors made it clear that Henry VIII was a multifaceted, multi-talented monarch with an overriding interest in preserving - against Spain and the papacy - the nationalism and independence of England. Perhaps historians' views of kings run in cycles - rather brief ones, at that. George W. Rice, Vashon, Wash.

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