 A large well @-@ built athlete ( over 6 feet [ 1 @.@ 8 m ] tall and strong and broad in proportion ) , Henry excelled at jousting and hunting . More than pastimes , they were political devices that served multiple goals , from enhancing his athletic royal image to impressing foreign emissaries and rulers , to conveying Henry 's ability to suppress any rebellion . Thus he arranged a jousting tournament at Greenwich in 1517 , where he wore gilded armour , gilded horse trappings , and outfits of velvet , satin and cloth of gold dripping with pearls and jewels . It suitably impressed foreign ambassadors , one of whom wrote home that , " The wealth and civilisation of the world are here , and those who call the English barbarians appear to me to render themselves such " . Henry finally retired from jousting in 1536 after a heavy fall from his horse left him unconscious for two hours , but he continued to sponsor two lavish tournaments a year . He then started adding weight and lost the trim , athletic figure that had made him so handsome ; Henry 's courtiers began dressing in heavily padded clothes to emulate – and flatter – their increasingly stout monarch . Towards the end of his reign his health rapidly declined . 
