Exhibition Programme
Henry VIII – Dressed to Kill
White Tower, HM Tower of London
2009 marks the 500th anniversary of King Henry VIII’s accession to the English throne. For the first time in modern history, Royal Armouries and Historic Royal Palaces will bring together the armour and weapons of Henry VIII in the place where it all began – the Tower of London.
Throughout his life, arms and armour were central to Henry VIII’s existence, both as an individual and monarch, as he moved England towards a greater role on the European (and eventually world) stage.
Royal Armouries possesses the world’s greatest collection of objects personally owned by Henry VIII and the best collection of Tudor arms and armour in the world. This stunning collection will be enhanced further, for this exhibition, with objects borrowed from a range of owners including Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Musee de l’Armee, Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.