King Henry the Eighth (28th June 1491 - 28th January 1547)

Henry VIII became involved in changing the Church in England for reasons of his own. In 1509, he had married Catherine of Aragon. She was the widow of Henry's older brother, Arthur. In 18 years of marriage, she had eight children. All of them died except a daughter, Mary. Henry came to believe that he had done wrong by marrying his brother's wife. He had no son to follow him as King. That made him feel God was punishing him for his mistake. So he began to feel the answer was to divorce Catherine.

He became even more sure this was what he should do when he fell for Anne Boleyn. But there were problems. Such a divorce needed the permission of the Pope. The Pope was not willing to fit in with Henry's wishes. To do so would offend Catherine's uncle, the Emperor CharlesV, the most powerful ruler in Europe. Discussions about the matter went on and on. Henry became impatient. If the Pope would not give him a divorce, he would find someone who would.

The answer was to assert that England was itself an Empire. It's Church should not be governed by a ruler outside the country. The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, was willing to grant the divorce.