Remembering History: After his death, aged 58, King Henry VIII’s body, while being moved to Westminster Abbey, swelled in the heat and exploded. The lead coffin 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.”

After his death, aged 58, King Henry VIII’s body, while being moved to Westminster Abbey, swelled in the heat and exploded. The lead coffin 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.”

After his death, aged 58, King Henry VIII’s body, while being moved to Westminster Abbey, swelled in the heat and exploded. The lead coffin 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.”