Assess the reasons Henry broke with Roman authority in 1529-34.

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Assess the reasons Henry broke with Roman authority in 1529-34

     Henry’s decision to break with Rome was based on many factors, including, importantly, what he saw as his need for a divorce, money and power and a rise in anti-clericalism feeling.

     Henry’s divorce was an important factor in his decision to break with Rome. His wife, Catherine of Aragon had yet to produce a male heir and, at the age she was, she seemed unlikely to. It was therefore necessary for Henry to re-marry, and to do this he needed a divorce. However, the Pope would not grant him one, despite the best efforts on Henry’s then chief minister, Cardinal Wolsey. It appeared to Henry that the best way to obtain an annulment was to do it himself. This would leave him free to marry Anne Boleyn, the daughter of a rising courtier, whom he was becoming infatuated with, and try for the male heir he needed. This idea of gaining the power to grant an annulment himself would have seemed an attractive proposition to Henry, and is one of the main, if not the main reason behind his decision to break with Rome. Power was important to Henry, and was the key to another reason behind his decision to split – simply because he had the power to and would gain even more power as a result. Church Law would no longer rival common law and he could appoint whom ever he wanted in the Church without the need to ask the Pope. He would have the support of enough clergymen that little could block him. Some kings in Europe, for example in countries such as Switzerland and Germany, had leanings towards Protestantism, but few, besides those in Switzerland and Germany, had been bold enough to go all the way and actually break with Rome. If Henry did he would, arguably, show how strong he was and this was especially important because his wars with France had dried up due to his lack of money. Money was as equally important to Henry as power. He needed money to continue his wars with France, and parliament had stopped giving it to him. The Church was a great source of money through taxation, as well as the large amount of land it owned, and if Henry were head, he would inherit this. Indeed when he did become head of the Church, he dissolved the monasteries and made a huge amount of money from the seizure of their assets. Overall he stood to make a lot in terms of money and power from becoming head of the Church in England. It was a proposition that Henry could not easily refuse.

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  Henry was not the only person who felt England should break away from Roman rule, though. There was a rising anti-clericalist feeling in England. Although Henry himself was not a protestant, many members of parliament were, as were some members of the clergy, men like Robert Barnes and Bishop of Rochester Hugh Latimer, as well as many members of the nobility. Many of these MPs were lawyers, who objected to Canon Law. It was this parliament that passed the Acts that broke with Rome, such as the Act in Restraint of Appeal and the Act of Supremacy. People like ...

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