What made him do it?

There are many different lines of argument for this, but one thing that all historians agree on is that Henry’s failure to obtain an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon from the Pope was a major factor, which forced him to do the unthinkable: become Supreme Head of the Church in England (’so far as Christ’s Law allows’ at first).

His marriage with Catherine of Aragon and ‘love’ for Anne Boleyn

Henry VIII needed an heir to uphold the Tudor Dynasty when he died. That heir unquestionably had to be a son. Therefore Mary, the daughter of Henry and Catherine born in 1516, would not suffice. Catherine had suffered several disappointing failed pregnancies, and by 1527 she was an ageing woman, with her good looks fading, who was unlikely to conceive again (In Tudor times the average life expectancy was 33 so I am not calling modern 40-somethings old!). She was six years Henry’s senior, and the lack of children in the nurseries could only have added to such an arrogant man’s frustration with his wife.

Instead he focused his attention on the young and attractive Anne Boleyn, fresh faced and French having spent her adolescent years at a French court. Before he knew it, Henry was charmed and enticed by Anne, who, unlike so many of his previous mistresses, refused to sleep with him without him taking marital vows first. She wanted to be Queen, and would settle for nothing less. This only served to intensify Henry’s infatuation, to Catherine’s downfall.

To marry Anne, Henry needed an annulment or divorce (less likely in a Catholic society), and he sought a papal annulment from Rome so that it would be valid and indisputable across Europe; that way any children the couple had would not have their legitimacy questioned in the future.

Henry’s legal argument

Catherine of Aragon had originally come from Spain to marry Henry’s elder brother Arthur, who was to be king. However, not long after the marriage, Arthur died at Ludlow castle from the sweating sickness, and Catherine was left as a widow in a foreign country. After months of fluctuating foreign policy with Spain and arguments over Catherine’s dowry that left her impoverished, Henry finally decided to renew the marriage alliance. To be allowed to marry, the pair had to be granted a papal dispensation, on the grounds, crucially, that Catherine’s marriage to Arthur had not been consummated. Pope Julius II granted it, and in 1509 Henry VIII married Catherine, to his subsequent regret.

Henry had two options for his line of argument to Rome: one was his idea; the other Wolsey’s. Henry’s argument was the more radical of the two, using an extract from Leviticus in the Bible to argue his case: “If a man shall take his brother’s wife it is an impurity: he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.” This did not strictly fit his case, as he and Catherine had had a daughter, Mary. So Henry used a Hebrew version of the translation, which said instead: “he shall be without sons.” However this argument was contradicted by a text from Deuteronomy, which said it was a brother’s duty to marry his dead brother’s widow if at all possible. Henry and his lawyers denounced this contradiction, saying Deuteronomy was a Judaic custom and did not apply to Christians. A weak response whichever way you look at it!

Wolsey saw the many flaws in Henry’s argument, and came up with an alternative. After all, it was unlikely that Clement would agree, as to grant the annulment on Henry’s grounds would be to question Pope Julius’s right to grant the dispensation in the first place. This would ultimately undermine papal supremacy, which could be catastrophic to the Catholic Church. Wolsey’s idea was based on a technical insufficiency in Pope Julius’ dispensation. This line was much less challenging to the church and had a better chance of success, but Henry chose to ignore it and went with his own argument anyway.

Obstructions to Henry’s Annulment

One of the most politically powerful men in Western Christendom at the time was Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, who controlled all of what are now Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. There was an ongoing conflict between the Habsburgs (Charles V’s family) and the Valois (Francis I of France’s family) in Italy, and Charles V was superior in terms of military resources. Therefore it would have been unwise for the pope, Pope Clement VII, to insult Charles V by granting an annulment to Henry. It certainly would have been insulting, as Henry’s wife Catherine of Aragon was none other than Charles V’s aunt.

In May 1527 troops under Charles V sacked Rome and in effect took Pope Clement as prisoner. This reduced Henry’s chances of being granted an annulment even more, as Clement was forced to bow to Charles’ wishes.

Wolsey, Henry VIII’s chief minister as Lord Chancellor, had been appointed as a cardinal, and was a papal legate (chief representative of the pope) in England. He hoped to use his substantial authority to attain Henry’s wish, by calling a council of archbishops to grant Henry’s divorce without the Pope. His plan was destroyed as French cardinals were unwilling to cooperate, and in December Pope Clement was ‘released’ although remained under Habsburg control in reality. Now all Wolsey could hope for was for French fortunes in Italy to improve, and reverse the situation.

Wolsey, ever the creative lawyer, decided to change tactics. His next strategy was to have the case heard in England, with papal approval. Pope Clement did not want to offend either Henry or Charles, but especially Charles. He suggested that Henry should divorce Catherine in England, marry Anne and seek an official annulment later. In effect the Catholic Pope was promoting bigamy! Quite rightly, Henry dismissed this idea and continued to strive for his original desire. Clement also suggested that Catherine should enter a nunnery, leaving Henry free to marry. However, Catherine refused and Henry still preferred a papal annulment. The struggle continued. At one point, a barbaric idea was put forward as a solution to the succession issue: Henry’s illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, could supposedly marry his legitimate daughter Mary! Obviously, Henry was not keen on this idea either.

Another major stumbling block was Catherine’s absolute refusal to entertain the idea of a divorce. She was a devout Catholic, and had many strong supporters, namely Bishop John Fisher and Thomas More (who was to be Henry’s Lord Chancellor in the future), not to mention her nephew, Charles V. Catherine insisted that the old marriage to Henry’s older brother Arthur had never been consummated, and that she came to Henry a virgin, making his grounds for divorce invalid. After all, if Henry’s case were proved to be true, it would make Catherine’s daughter a bastard, and Catherine herself no more than the King’s mistress for almost two decades. Despite his cruel dismissal of their marriage, Catherine continued to be loyal to Henry, convinced that it was Wolsey putting ideas into his head and no more.

At long last, in April 1528, Pope Clement decided to send Cardinal Campeggio to hear the case with Wolsey in England. However he was under strict secret orders not to come to any conclusion on the matter, and he was so slow to reach England that it was October by the time he arrived, when Italy was entirely under Imperialist control and the likelihood of Henry’s annulment materialising had all but vanished entirely.

The trial was delayed even further when Catherine’s mother, Isabella of Spain, ‘discovered’ a Spanish version of the marriage contract between Henry and Catherine. The English believed this to be a fake, as it was so conveniently ‘found’ at such an appropriate time. Henry demanded to see the brief, but unsurprisingly the Spanish refused to let it go. Finally, in March 1529, the court opened at Blackfriars, but the case had no chance of being resolved as Campeggio’s orders prevented him from making a decision. The trial was dragged through until July, when it was adjourned on account of the Italian Summer! In addition, France and Spain made peace with the Treaty of Cambrai, which ensured Charles V would assume power in Italy, as well as revoking Catherine’s case to Rome: it was exactly what Wolsey had been dreading. From now on, Henry would continue to seek an annulment from Rome, but begin to entertain more ‘heretical’ ideas that ultimately led to the break with Rome.

The change in royal policy 1529-32

 Henry faced a difficult decision: contine his pursuit for an annulment from Rome, or seek other means to his end. The alternative solution would increase his power and authority over the church, and therefore his country, and provide him with an easy escape from his ensnaring marriage. However, even whilst his mind was turning over this possibility, he still pushed for the annulment that would make his marriage to Anne Boleyn watertight, and their children indisputable heirs to the throne. The failure of Blackfriars court served to assist his decision-making, and also marked the end of his chief minister’s career as Lord Chancellor. Henry was angry with his failure to obtain the annulment, and had Wolsey charged with praemunire (serving a foreign power, such as the church in this case, above the sovereign). Wolsey would probably have been executed for this, but he died at Leicester Abbey on the way to London to be charged. Thomas More took over as Lord Chancellor; an unlikely choice seeing as he was not a strong supporter of the King’s case.

By 1530 the king was starting to be won over by certain court factions, persuading him with the benefits of becoming head of the Church in England. Keeping his options open however, he bribed the top universities in Europe to give a favourable opinion on the Great Matter, and therefore conducted an extremely biased ‘survey’ on the popularity of his case. Seven universities complied, ‘agreeing’ with Henry’s argument that used the Levitical line, therefore putting pressure on Rome to grant the annulment.

Henry also started to follow the more radical path, cautiously to begin with. The Bishop of Hereford, the Archbishop of Cantebury, and Thomas Cranmer composed the “Collectanea satis copiosa,” which used ancient manuscripts and Anglo saxon chronicles to support the idea of Royal Supremacy. Henry’s curiosity had been sparked.

Henry also fined the clergy (churchmen) for supporting Wolsey’s papal posts, with the total money raised from this mass-prosecution reaching  £118,000, a huge amount for the period (to estimate the value in modern terms, multiply the Tudor value by 70 – which means that in today’s terms Henry rose around £8,260,000!). Henry was clearly exercising his authority, and making a threatening point to Rome. To make matters even more sincere, he demanded that he be titled: “Sole Protector and Supreme Head of the English Church and Clergy”. The less radical men at court were horrified, and as an afterthought “as far as Christ’s law allows” was added to the title. This prevented an immediate break from Rome, but Henry’s intentions appeared to be beginning to favour radicalism.

As a result of ‘The Submission of the Clergy’ Henry’s pious Lord Chancellor, Thomas More, resigned from his post as a result of his torn loyalties. Cromwell jumped eagerly into his place, having clawed his way up the social ladder from being the mere son of a dishonorable brewer in Putney, Surrey. Just like Wolsey, the Lord Chancellor before More, Cromwell was of low birth and ambitious and rapacious character, which deeply offended the nobility and almost every man to meet him. With Cromwell’s daring influence, Henry was on the path towards cutting himself off from Rome entirely.

In March 1532 the Reformation Parliament, which was more prestigious than the Parliament before the 1530s, passed an Act which restricted the previously compulsory ‘annates’, which were large payments made to the Pope by bishops assuming their new posts. Part of the statute was that if the Pope refused to consecrate the bishop as a result of the lack of payment, the English church would consecrate them instead. This clearly undermined papal authority, and the more traditional bishops voted against the statute, despite the annates being extremely unpopular across Europe. Henry was cautious however, as his radical move to assert his authority above the Pope went against centuries of tradition, and he could all too easily cause widespread rebellion or even a crusade against England.

Ultimately, by 1532 Henry had become more and more susceptable to radical ideas, and had all but given up on obtaining an annulment through Rome. His daring moves against the Pope’s authority just go to prove this, as a decade or so ago he would not have dreamt of half the actions he took, for fear of offending the Pope irretrievably, and not getting what he wanted. Henry VIII, however, always got what he wanted… [to be contined with part II]