King Henry VIII and the Reformation

This is the second week in a row that I received questions on The Church of England, why members of the British Royal Family can't marry Catholics, etc. Though I had a vague idea about it all - and certainly do not think a week's worth of research has turned me expert on the subject - after spending all my free time this week reading about Henry VIII, the Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England I feel a little easier about sharing my opinion. My opinion is basically that it had nothing and everything to do with King Henry VIII. Nothing because he had no influence upon the way the stage was set for the reform of the Catholic Church and everything because it was his desire to produce an heir that caused the legislation which created the foundation for the Church of England. Let me explain…

Henry VIII was the second son born to Henry VII and Elizabeth of York the founders of the Tudor dynasty. Henry and his elder brother, Arthur Prince of Wales, were educated together in many subjects including Latin, French, Italian, mathematics, history and poetry with doses of music and physical exercise thrown in to round it all out. Henry also received extra lessons in theology and scripture, as it was believed he was being prepared for the Church. While Arthur was frail, reserved and bookish Henry was sturdy, gregarious and gifted both intellectually and physically easily excelling in all he attempted. Henry VII arranged that Arthur marry Catherine of Aragon the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. Beside a large dowry, Catherine would ensure that his grandchildren had a blood connection with another royal house in Europe. Arthur and Catherine wed and were sent to Wales shortly thereafter where they contracted a virus, which killed Arthur. Though Catherine survived, Henry VII was loathed to send her home as he'd already spent some of the dowry. That's when he decided to marry her off to his younger son, Henry.

There was one problem with this plan; the Catholic Church felt that to marry the wife of your brother was to engage in incest, which was strictly forbidden. Henry VII died during the negotiations leaving his son, Henry VIII, to fend for himself. Henry was granted a special dispensation from the pope. He married Catherine of Aragon and all seemed to be going along rather well. Two years after the marriage Catherine, who was six years older than Henry, gave birth to what was thought to be a healthy boy. Tragically, he died within two weeks of his birth. The couple was devastated. Catherine turned inward prostrating herself to God while Henry turned outward to war and the preservation of the Tudor Dynasty - which could be one and the same. Per Rosalind Miles, Henry VIII, who systematically carried out judicial murders of Dukes, Earls, and Baronet's, is credited with ensuring 'nobody with the faintest drop of royal blood survived'. This is the early sign that Henry VIII was driven to get what he wanted and what he wanted most was an heir to the throne.

Another outlet Henry had during this period was to become the biggest regret of his life. Realizing that war wasn't the only way that King's made a name for themselves, Henry found a chance to earn an honorific title from Pope Leo X. Envious of the King of France's title "Most Christian" and the title "the Catholic Sovereigns" bestowed upon his Spanish in-laws, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Henry passionately wrote a treatise in Latin titled "Assertion of the Seven Sacraments Against Martin Luther". Here Henry saw a chance to use his extra religious education by showing the pope his command of scripture and his passion for the Catholic Church in general and the pope in particular. Here is a sample of the text, "What serpent so venomous as he who calls the pope's authority tyrannous?" The year was 1521 and there was a great move toward Protestantism by those who saw the pope and the church as tyrannical, wealthy and not serving the true vision of Christ - basically, corrupt. Among these upstarts were Martin Luther, John Calvin and Desiderius Erasmus. For Henry's opus the pope conferred upon him and his successors the title "Defensor Fidei" Latin for "Defender of the Faith".

After several more miscarriages and the birth of both a stillborn and a premature son, Queen Catherine gave birth to a healthy daughter, Mary. Though faithful to his wife throughout these ordeals Henry's obsession with producing an heir drove him to infidelity with Mary Boleyn (sister of Anne) and Bessie Blount, mother of his son, Henry Fitzroy. When Henry Fitzroy was six years of age, Henry VIII, with his bereaved wife, Catherine, at his side bestowed upon him the title of Duke of Richmond at Hampton Court Palace. It is at this event that Henry first saw Anne Boleyn. His ardor for Anne combined with his drive to produce a legitimate heir created a belief in Henry that his and Catherine's inability to reproduce a male was the direct result of a curse by God whom, Henry believed, thought their union was an incestuous and, therefore, a sinful one. Though divorce was strictly forbidden, it was possible to get an annulment. Henry VIII decided to have his Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Wolsey, petition the pope to grant an annulment of the 18 years union.

There were two problems with this scenario. First, King Charles V of Spain, the nephew of Catherine of Aragon, had just invaded Rome and the pope was not keen to give his captor any reason to strike at him. Second, in order to grant the annulment, the pope would have to say that he did not abide by the sacred laws of the church when granting special dispensation for the marriage to have taken place. It is also possible that because Catherine of Aragon was such a popular Queen and devoted wife that the church and its ministers did not want to have anything to do with her demise. Still Cardinal Wolsey pressed on for six years warring with the Pope and his representatives who were playing for time. Finally in 1530 when Henry ran out of patience, he called for Wolsey to be tried for High Treason. Wolsey died in Leicester Abbey en route to the Tower and was therefore spared a trial and cruel death at the hands of Henry's butchers.

The year was now 1531 and Henry swore in Thomas Cromwell whose meteoric rise saw him Chief Minister in 1532. As ruthless as Henry, this brilliant bureaucrat enacted "The Act in Restraint of Appeals" which said that in all matters power lay with the king. This was to prevent Queen Catherine from appealing her divorce to the pope and cleared the way for 1533's "Act of Supremacy" in which the King Henry VIII declared himself "Supreme Head of the Church of England". This was an important act because it gave Henry the power to declare his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled making her the Dowager Princess of Wales, the title she had at the death of her first husband, Arthur, without the worry of her appealing to a higher authority. He also declared their daughter, Mary, illegitimate. He married Anne Boleyn in secret on January 25, 1533 and she was crowned his Queen on May 29, 1533. In September of that same year their child was born, a girl named Elizabeth. Henry was devastated.

Here's where I give you the rhyme… divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. The tale of the fate of the six wives of Henry VIII is a story for another column. Suffice it to say, Henry was a strong man who used a situation of unrest in the church, along with what he believed to be his divine right, to get him what he wanted. He took the emotion of the time and used it to his best advantage. Which brings me back to my point in the opening paragraph - he had nothing and everything to do with it. He didn't start the fire, but he certainly threw some gasoline on it.