Henry VIII (18 years old)
As a young man, he was considered extremely handsome. Well, that may be the case, as it's difficult to estimate his looks from this old portrait. Normally, we think of him as the male hormone-bomb of later years, strutting along, flaunting his masculinity as some sort of banner of what he is as a human being.
I think his calves earned him most compliments, but to him, the most important part of his body must have been "the bulge" that sets him apart as a man. He was a man, and at one time, (or several times???), he boasted about his nightly ejaculations which he saw as a proof that he was all butch. However, boasting doesn't prove anything, and his behavior with women may indicate that the situation wasn't the best for either him as a person or his dynastic dreams of many healthy sons.
One of his favorite manly exploits was jostling. As a young man, being the sole, surviving male heir to the throne, he was not allowed to engage in this dangerous sport, but as a king he loved to show off his bravery and his skill by jostling. However, in 1524 he had a very serious accident when he forgot to close the vizier of his helmet, and his opponent had some problems with his outfit. Unfortunately, Henry VIII was hit in a manner that might have killed him, but which "only" set off a long line of health problems that ruined almost everything for him. Not that the accident is the sole reason for what may have been caused by weight gains, Diabetes, etc., but there is a marked difference of the quality of his life before and after it happened. One of these differences was his ability to perform sexually as before. His virility was impaired and one wonders if that was the reason for his executing two of his wives, Anne Boleyn and her cousin, Catherine Howard.
Catherine Howard
Anne kept her tongue, but still his sexual problems may have been one of the reasons for his wish to get rid of her. With Catherine, it was different: She was a rather giddy, young thing who betrayed the besotted king, who then turned upon her, blaming her for adultery and for not having been a virgin when they married. To me, it seems that his perceptible masculine vanity played a major part in his execution of her as a witness to his failure in the royal bed. That part of the history of his "serial executions" of wives, as well as his rejection of the "ugly" Anne of Cleves, signals a hurt masculine vanity that only might be alleviated by getting rid of those who might expose him.
https://www.tudorsociety.com/henry-viiis-1524-jousting-accident-sarah-bryson/
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