Henry VIII may have suffered repeated traumatic brain injuries similar to those experienced by American football players.

The Tudor King was plagued by memory problems, explosive anger, inability to control impulses, headaches, insomnia — and even impotence — that afflicted Henry in the decade before his death in 1547.

Now US researchers suggest that brain damage from a jousting injury is the best explanation for the King’s crazed behaviour in his final years.

New research suggests that Henry VIII may have suffered brain damage from a jousting injury, which would explain his erratic behaviour in his final years. Before his death in 1547, the Tudor king (pictured) was plagued by memory problems, explosive anger, inability to control impulses, headaches, insomnia and even impotence

BRAIN INJURY AND BAD BEHAVIOUR US researchers suggest that brain damage from a jousting injury is the best explanation for Henry VIII's bad behaviour in his final years. Henry suffered two major head injuries during his 30s. In 1524, a lance penetrated the visor of his helmet during a jousting tournament and dazed him. But researchers believe that the English monarch’s increasingly unpredictable behaviour may have been triggered by an accident during a jousting match in January of 1536, when a horse fell on him, causing him to lose consciousness for two hours. Advertisement

Arash Salardini, behavioural neurologist, co-director of the Yale Memory Clinic and senior author of the study said: ‘It is intriguing to think that modern European history may have changed forever because of a blow to the head.’

The English monarch is best known for his dispute with the Catholic Church over his desire to annul his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon and marry Ann Boleyn.

The affair led to the English Reformation and the creation of the Church of England. Henry would marry six times — and execute two of his wives.

Their findings, to be published in Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, support conjecture by some historians that jousting injuries caused later health and behavioural problems.

Researchers analysed Henry’s letters and other historical sources to document his known medical history and events that may have contributed to his ailments.

Henry VIII was an accomplished horseman, and enjoyed jousting in his younger days. But US researchers believe that this past-time may have caused him trouble in his later years

Henry VIII suffered two major head injuries during his 30s. In 1524, a lance penetrated the visor of his helmet during a jousting tournament and dazed him. But researchers believe it was an accident during a jousting match in January of 1536 which left lasting damage. Stock image

Historians who have suggested Henry VIII suffered from a traumatic head injury include Lucy Worsley, the presenter of historical documentaries.

Henry suffered two major head injuries during his 30s. In 1524, a lance penetrated the visor of his helmet during a jousting tournament and dazed him.

FOOTBALL HEAD INJURIES - A GROWING PROBLEM Deaths of former players and a lawsuit from others, books and documentaries about the league's reticence to come to grips with medical evidence, and now a Hollywood dramatizationhave all looked at the problem of concussion in football. Soldiers exposed to bomb blasts can have similar symptoms. The precise link between concussions and debilitating conditions like chronic traumatic encephalopathy is still being explored, but as the name suggests, repeated head injuries are a main culprit. Last year researchers have found that playing a single season of football can change the brain of a teenager - even if they don't suffer concussions. Even though players were not concussed during the season, researchers found abnormalities similar to the effects of mild traumatic brain injury. New York Giants defensive back Tyler Sash runs with the ball during football practice. Sash died at the age of 17 and was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The disease is linked to repeated brain trauma and associated with symptoms such as memory loss, depression and progressive dementia They called for more research into the area, which raises new questions over the safety of contact sports for young adults. Just last week, a member of the Giants' 2012 Super Bowl championship team who died at age 27, safety Tyler Sash, was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The disease is linked to repeated brain trauma and associated with symptoms such as memory loss, depression and progressive dementia. England Rugby player Chris Ashton seconds after suffering a concussion during a match against south Africa in 2010 Sash was just the latest CTE headline: The suicide of Pro Football Hall of Famer Junior Seau. The sudden retirement of San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland. The concussion-related lawsuits brought by former players. Various safeguards added by the NFL, including attempts to increase in-game monitoring of head injuries and more vigilant policing of illegal hits. During regular-season games, the NFL said Friday, there were 182 reported concussions, a 58 per cent increase from a year ago. Advertisement

A year later, he was knocked out when he fell head-first into a brook he was trying to vault across with a pole.

However, said the researchers, the English monarch’s increasingly unpredictable behaviour may have been triggered by an accident during a jousting match in January of 1536 when a horse fell on Henry, causing him to lose consciousness for two hours.

Professor Salardini said: ‘Historians agree his behaviour changed after 1536,’ and added that descriptions of Henry during his youth portrayed an intelligent and even-tempered young man who made wise military and policy decisions.

His behaviour in the later years of his life became notoriously erratic: He was forgetful and prone to rages and impulsive decisions.

In 1546, for instance, he assured his sixth wife Catherine Parr that he would not send her to the Tower of London when soldiers arrived to arrest her.

He launched into a tirade against the soldiers, having forgotten that he had given that order the day before.

The king's erratic behaviour stretched to having two of his wives' heads cut off, the first being Anne Boleyn in 1536 (pictured), while the second was Katherine Howard, who lost her head in 1542. Both events occurredin the months and years following a traumatic brain injury sustained by the king while jousting

WHO WAS HENRY VIII? Henry VIII was a domineering king who broke with Rome and changed the course of cultural history Henry VIII was a domineering king who broke with Rome and changed the course of our England's cultural history. His predecessors had tried and failed to conquer France, and even Henry himself mounted two expensive, yet unsuccessful attempts. He was known to self-medicate, even going as far as making his own medicines. A record on a prescription for ulcer treatment in the British Museum reads: 'An Oyntment devised by the kinges Majesty made at Westminster, and devised at Grenwich to take away inflammations and to cease payne and heale ulcers called gray plaster'. The king was also a musician and composer, owning 78 flutes, 78 recorders, five bagpipes, and has since had his songs covered by Jethro Tull. He died while heavily in debt, after having such a lavish lifestyle that he spent far, far more than taxes would earn him. He possessed the largest tapestry collection ever documented, and 6,500 pistols. While most portraits show him as a slight man, he was actually very large, with one observer calling him 'an absolute monster'. Advertisement

Other occasional side effects of traumatic brain injury are growth hormone deficiency and hypogonadism, which may lead to metabolic syndrome and impotence, respectively.

Despite the womanizing reputation of his youth, Henry had difficulty completing sexual intercourse as far back as his marriage to his second wife, Ann Boleyn, in 1533, some evidence suggests.

Other ailments attributed to Henry — such as syphilis, diabetes, or Cushing Syndrome, a condition marked by weight gain and obesity — seem less likely in light of the available evidence, said the study’s authors, noting that traumatic brain injury best explains most of his behavioural abnormalities.