Henry VIII question?

Question

I know he was an important factor in the English Protestant Reformation but I don't really understand what he did and what Anne Boleyn had to do with anything. Please help!

Answer 1

He was married to Catherine of Aragon who was previously married to Henry's deceased elder brother Arthur. Having been seduced (but not bedded) by Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine's Ladies in Waiting, he split from the Roman Church (whom did not allow divorce) and appointed himself as head of the Protestant Church in order to divorce Catherine (siting that it was not a marriage in the sight of God, she having been his former sister-in-law) and marry Anne. That was the only way that Anne would go to bed with him.

Answer 2

Short answer-Catherine had not produced a son. Henry was hot for Anne(and the promise of a son). He couldn't get Rome(the Pope) to approve a divorce or annulment from Catherine.So he took matters into his own hands and broke from the Roman Catholic Church and created his own church.Hey-it also gave him a lot of extra money too-he didn't have to give money to Rome anymore. New wife,more money,turn the country upside down,make people swear allegiance to him and his new religion,things were going his way. BUT then Anne didn't have a son-she had a daughter. Henry went with his decision to keep his church,but got rid of Anne. He went through a bunch of other wives and eventually died. He never knew- the greatest leader England would ever have was that daughter of Anne's-Elizabeth l. Queen Elizabeth kept his protestant religion which stands to this day.

Answer 3

Additionally, I would just mention that Anne Boleyn was a fan of William Tyndale. In the late 1520s and 1530s Tyndale's english translation of the New Testament was being smuggled into England. Despite the efforts of the Church to suppress the work (denounced as heresy), it was widely popular. Boleyn turned the King onto Tyndale when she gave him a copy of Tyndale's work "The Obedience of a Christian Man" (also declared heretical by the Church), which in part accused the church of usurping the authority that God had bestowed upon kings. Henry was warmed to the Reformers when he saw a way to achieve his desired annullment to Catherine with the approval of a spiritual body of clergy. For himself, Tyndale did not believe that Henry's annullment was legitimate in the sight of God, but did believe that the monarchy and not the papacy was the divinely appointed seat of temporal authority for a nation, unanswerable to the papacy.
Tyndale was eventually betrayed by a spy of Thomas More, who had been appointed by the Church to discredit and refute Tyndale's works. He was strangled and burned at the stake. However, his work on the translation of the New Testament still lives on. Depending on the scholar asked, Tyndale was responsible for anywhere from 75-95% of what became the King James translation and is often unknowingly as quoted as Shakespeare. "Let there be light", "Am I my brother's keeper?", "Death, where is thy sting?" , "Eat, drink, and be merry." , "The signs of the times" , "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak"...these were all expressions introduced by Tyndale through his translation almost 500 years ago.

Answer 4

Henry VIII had been married for 20 or so years to Catherine of Aragon who was his brothers wife but that union was never consummated before his brother died. Catherine gave Henry a daughter Mary and they and England was Catholic. Henry then met Anne Boleyn and wanted an annulment from Catherine on the grounds that you couldn't be married to your brothers wife. Unfortunately the Pope believed Catherine when she said she was a virgin when she married Henry and he denied the annulment. By this time Anne Boleyn was pregnant with Henry's child which he was sure was a boy..which he needed to secure the succession to the English throne. Catherine was brought to court in England and Henry declared their marriage annulled and married Anne Boleyn which caused the Pope to excommunicated Henry. Henry then founded and was the head of the Church of England. Unfortunately for Henry but fortunately for England Anne Boleyn gave birth to Elizabeth I. Later she miscarried a boy child but Henry had already moved on to another woman and after it was proven in court that Anne Boleyn had committed treason by sleeping with other men including a court musician and allegedly her own brother she was beheaded and Henry married again soon after.

Answer 5

The Pope refused to grant Henry a divorce so he banished the Catholic Church from England and formed the Anglican Faith.

Answer 6

Anne B. was also accused of having various affairs with members of Hank's court.

Also Henry VIII was credited with forming the Anglican Church. He closed most of the Catholic monasteries and confiscated their money. Pretty funny for a fat guy.

Answer 7

~Henry was essentially a pawn in a power play conceived by Sir Thomas More and, through More's connivance, Henry eventually caused Great Britain to break away from the Catholic Church.

More had designs on a bishopric, expecting to eventually make cardinal. He was passed over time and time again. When Oliver Cromwell was appointed Bishop of London and Wales in 1532, More had had enough.

He then started scheming with Thomas Wolsey. A plan was formulated whereby Henry would be convinced that his wife, Anne Boleyn, was sleeping with various members of the court, notably Thomas Cromwell (Oliver's brother), Robert Dudley (Lord Exchequer) and John Fisher (Earl of Rochester). Henry bought the rumors and, in a jealous rage, ordered Anne beheaded. William Howard, Duke of Taft, did the deed.

This caused a great deal of consternation in Rome because Anne was the daughter of a Hapsburg and a Bourbon. The Papacy relied heavily on these two families (who had a piece of every throne in Europe) to maintain its power and wealth. Under intense pressure from Maxamillian in Salzburg to take action against Henry, Pope Clement VII immediately but reluctantly excommunicated Henry. Prior to Anne's murder, the Tudor's, Henry particularly, had been stalwart supporters of the papacy and they were the primary reason that the Church had enjoyed more than a century of peace and harmony in Britain while the rest of Europe was challenging Church position and power.

Once excommunicated, Henry had to do something to pacify the people of England. Given the superstitious fervor of the times, the people were as apt as not to revolt if their Lord and Master, the king (who claimed to rule by divine right and through the grace and the blessing of the almighty) no longer belonged to His flock of could pray in His church. That was when More and Wolsey sprang. They convinced Henry to announce the creation of his own Church. He did, calling it the Anglican Church. More was installed as the first Archbishop of Canterbury (the second in command of the church and its property after the monarch) and with Wolsey as the first Basilica of Westminster (next in line in the church hierarchy after the crown and Canterbury)

This must all be right there in your text.

Answer 8

Anne Boleyn was his second wife. He used his marriage to her to undermine the church who refused to grant him a divorce from his first wife for years. He wanted a male heir and when Anne only gave birth to Elizabeth he had her beheaded so he could marry again and try for a male heir to succeed him. She was more or less a scapegoat for his actions.

Answer 9

he was an english king and she was his wife