編造王權――亨利八世政府對君王典故的新歷史解釋

Manipulating Kingship Discourse: Henry VIII's New Historical Interpretation of Ancient Kingship

本文處理亨利八世政府在宗教改革期間的「王權宣傳」問題。亨利八世透過宗教改革，將傳統的教權納入王權管轄，也為自己帶來空前危機。亨利八世於是透過「王權宣傳」，解說其合法基礎，以換取臣民支持。「重新詮釋君王典故」是其運用的手法，其中又以「大衛王」與「約翰王」兩項典故最具代表性。亨利的典故詮釋充滿了篩節與扭曲。此點顯示，他意不在客觀陳述，而是以主觀詮釋的方式，進行王權宣傳。「王權宣傳」為亨利朝「官方宣傳」的重點；理解「王權宣傳」有助於重建此時期的宣傳工作，進一步讓亨利朝宗教改革的圖像更趨完整。

This paper deals with the kingship propaganda promoted by Henry VIII during the English Reformation. Reformation caused an unprecedented crisis for King Henry. He had to explain his expansion of kingship to win back the support of his people, which was crucial to the survival of his regime. He reinterpreted ancient kingship to build a foundation for his own kingship. However, his interpretation of King David and King John shows that he did not mean to clarify the essence of kingship, but rather to take these examples as immediate evidences to validate his own kingship. Henry was pursuing a propaganda campaign. The conclusion of this paper will contribute to the debates of Tudor political history and English Reformation.