Henry VIII & the Church of England

by Gabbie

Securing the executions of two of his seven wives was not the only thing that King Henry VIII accomplished during his 38 years as the monarch of England. He also brought about momentous religious reform, though this was not at all unrelated to his desire to replace his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

During their marriage, Catherine had borne several children but only one, Mary, had survived. Since Catherine had not given Henry a male child to carry on his line, she had failed him as a wife; also, he had once seemed to love and respect her, but sadly he had now grown tired of her and wanted to be rid of her so that he would be free to marry Anne Boleyn. King Henry cited the Bible as his grounds for a divorce; a passage of Leviticus states ominously, “If a man shall take his brother’s wife…they shall be childless.” Catherine was the widow of Henry’s older brother Arthur, though she maintained that their marriage was never consummated, because of Arthur’s declining health. It’s difficult to say whether King Henry, who seemed to be a devout Catholic, was truly haunted by Leviticus as he claimed to be or whether he found in it a convenient excuse.

Either way, King Henry decided to ask Pope Clement VII for an annulment, as per the suggestion of Cardinal Wolsey. Influenced by Charles V, the nephew of Catherine and the king of Spain, the pope denied King Henry’s request. King Henry soon realized that he need not subordinate himself to the decisions of the pope, and took advantage of the general anti-papacy sentiment to pass the Act of Supremacy, which named him as the head of the Church of England instead of the pope. His new power made him free to send Catherine away and make Anne his queen.

With King Henry as its head, the Church of England began to drift slightly. Probably in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience, he incorporated several Protestant ideas and practices. But it soon became evident that he was uncomfortable with these changes, and he eventually reverted to the old, more conservatively Catholic doctrines, which fit better with the teachings of his childhood.

Under the control of King Henry VIII, the Church of England had become different, but was still very much the same.

Works Cited
Hobbs, Jeff. "The Religious Policy of King Henry VIII." Britannia History. Britannia.com. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. http://www.britannia.com/history/articles/relpolh8.html

"Leviticus and the "Great Matter" of Henry VIII." UMKC School of Law. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/more/leviticus.html

Pollard, A.F. "The Life of King Henry VIII." Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature. Web. 21 Nov. 2010. http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/tudorbio.htm

"Tudor Monarchs: King Henry VIII." English History. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/henry8-main.html

Wilde, Robert. "Henry VIII of England." European History. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/ukandireland/p/henryviii.htm