Henry the VIII goes BANG..?

Question

In one of my history textbooks at school it says that henry the VIII exploded in his coffin.

IS THIS TRUE????????????

Answer 1

I've read about that but can't seem to find it online. I'd check into some biographies about him and see if they mention it. Apparently he was going to be buried and they left his coffin overnight and it burst open (probably due to the ulcers on his leg. His body was probably emitting so much gas that it caused the coffin to burst open)and when the sentries found him in the morning, the dogs were l*****g his remains.  

Answer 2

i don't think so.  his coffin was exhumed after his death but i don't think there was any evidence he exploded!!!

Answer 3

I don't think that he did, but "William the Conqueror" did.  He was swollen with peritonitis's from a probable intestinal rupture resulting from a riding accident.  They tried to force his swollen body into the coffin and it ruptured, driving everyone out of the church for several days.

Answer 4

Henry VIII died on 28 Jan 1547. His coffin, lying at Syon Abbey on its way to Windsor for burial, burst open during the night and in the morning dogs were found l*****g up the remains. This was regarded as a divine judgment for his desecration of the abbey.

Answer 5

It is true, although some accounts do differ to the exact timing. Looking at the witness accounts what appears to have happened is that Henry's coffin was transported to Windsor Chapel within a week of his death, during which the King's corpse was slightly "damaged" due to it's bulk. Henry had died amidst the stench of his bursting leg ulcers, possibly caused by syphilis, which probably added to the cause.

Once the coffin was left overnight at the Chapel the build up of gases caused it to burst open and according to one witness "all the pavement of the church was with the fat and the corrupt and putrefied blood foully imbued".

Because of the break with the church in Rome it had been prophesied about Henry that "...dogs will l**k his bones as they did Ahab's." When the sentries found him, dogs were l*****g his remains.

Answer 6

Umm, I hadn't heard that.  What I've read is that Henry's coffin leaked embalming fluids and that when dogs started to l**k it up, the people started to freak because it reminded them of a sermon that had compared Henry to the evil King Ahab from the Bible and Anne Boleyn to his wife Jezebel.  The priest predicted that dogs would l**k Henry's blood when they died just as they did when Ahab died.  There is a good explanation at this site:  http://tudorhistory.org/queryblog/2008/0...