About: Inventory of Henry VIII

The Inventory of Henry VIII compiled in 1547 is a list of the possessions of the crown, now in the British Library as Harley MS 1419. The inventory was made following a commission of 14 September 1547 during the first year of the reign of Edward VI of England. The surviving manuscripts list the possessions of Henry VIII item by item, by their location in houses. The armaments of ships and forts are also recorded. Altogether there are 17,810 items listed, and some of these entries contain multiple objects. Despite this abundance, only a very small number of objects survive and can be identified. The monetary values of the objects were not recorded, though the weights of many gold and silver items were given.