Henry VIII Banned Football

The Brutal Tudor Sport That Shocked Kings!

 

Think football is a rough game today? Tudor football was an entirely different beast—chaotic, lawless, and downright deadly. Henry VIII banned it in 1540, but he wasn’t the first! Monarchs before him had also tried to stop the game, but why?

 

This wasn’t the structured sport we know today. Picture entire villages battling it out, no rules, no referee, and injuries galore! Broken bones, bloody noses, even fatal accidents—Tudor football was more like a medieval battlefield than a pastime. And yet, the same Henry VIII who banned it had a pair of custom-made football boots!

 

But why did multiple kings fear the game so much? What does it have to do with archery, war, and even molehills? And is there anywhere you can still see medieval-style football played today?

 

Find out in today’s Saturday Trivia as we dive into the most dangerous sport in Tudor England! Do you think Henry VIII was right to ban it, or should people have been free to play?

 

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