The divorce was only the catalyst in a long running string of events. A. F. Pollard believed it was not a question of if but when Henry would break with Rome. He was exhibiting signs that he disliked the control the Church exercised in England in 1515 when he said, ‘By the ordinance of God we are King of England, and Kings of England in time past have never had any superior but God alone’. Henry’s campaigns in France early in his reign are also evidence of his longing for more power. In 1521 Henry was granted the title ‘Fidei Defensor’ so he is recognised as equal to Francis, ‘The most Christian King’ and Charles V, ‘Holy Roman Emperor’; previously he had been upset that he did not have the same status as the other Christian monarchs. It was not surprising that Henry, always eager to increase his control, would become envious of the church and the power it wielded. This explains why the schism was not based on doctrinal issues, as it had been on the continent, but on laws that increased secular power in England; Elton believed that the aims of Henry were political and not religious.
For the first time ever Parliament was used to pass acts that greatly limited the control of the church. In March 1532 the Commons drafts the ‘Supplication against the ordinaries’, complaining about the independent of the church courts. In May the same year in ‘The Submission of the Clergy’, the Church accepted that Henry could review and veto any clerical legislation and review all canon law. Henry had taken the first legitimate step towards obtaining a divorce. In 1532 the ‘Act in Conditional Restraint of Annates’ was passed allowing Parliament to withhold annates from Rome but gave Henry the option of allowing them to continue. It also prevented the Pope from delaying the consecration of bishops, conveniently permitting Thomas Cramner to become Archbishop of Canterbury. Not only did this act greatly increase the amount of money in the treasury but it also meant that Henry could economically blackmail the Pope. The fact that this act was not just related to the divorce issue is proof that Henry had begun to realise just how much he could benefit from breaking with Rome. In 1533 the ‘Act in Restraint of Appeals’ was also passed by Parliament preventing appeals to Rome on certain cases including matrimonial ones. Henry, who had declared his marriage to Catherine to be void in December 1532, quickly married Anne in a ceremony conducted by Cramner.
Evidently then the Acts passed by Parliament did not just allow Henry to marry Anne Boleyn but also increased his and Parliaments control over the clergy. There was a tradition of literate anti-clericalism (evident in tracts such as Simon Fish’s ‘Supplication for the beggars’) that existed amongst London’s middle classes and Parliamentarians. Henry was fortunate that a certain amount of anti-clericalism existed in both the Lords and the Commons at that time, and therefore had little difficulty in persuading them to support him. The laymen of Henry’s parliament saw the great benefits that a break from the Pope would bring. The payment of annates not to Rome but to the royal treasury could only be advantageous to those who supported the King. Cromwell wanted a constitutional monarchy; this too would greatly profit Parliament and increase its control in England. Parliament saw the potential in a break from Rome and supported Henry.
However anti-clericalism wasn’t a widespread phenomenon in England. A movement known as Lollardy had grown following the execution of John Wycliffe in 1382 but that had been forced underground when support from the nobility diminished. There was a slight renaissance when reformist ideas came from Europe, but this was limited to isolated pockets in the Southeast. The Church too was not in a bad state and was accepted by most of the population. Abuses did exist but they were relatively rare and few sees showed signs of neglect. Bishop Fisher and Wolsey both initiated reform by dissolving decaying monasteries and using the money to fund schools and colleges. Prior to 1529 the humanist movement had been at the forefront reform debate led by the Thomas More, who was also Lord Chancellor. However when henry began to act the Catholic Church, More and the humanists were horrified. More resigned from his position in May 1532. After 1529 there were few calls for reform.
Yet although the calls for reform weren’t widespread there was one group of very influential reformers who had congregated around Anne Boleyn. Two opposing factions dominated court following Wolsey's downfall. Catherine’s which consisted of Thomas More, Bishop John Fisher and Bishops West, Clerk, Standish and Tunstall, was supported in Parliament by the Queen’s Head group, a group of Catholic noblemen. Anne’s faction embodied the more radical members of court, Edward Foxe and Thomas Cramner (both on the King’s spiritual council), Thomas Cromwell (effectively Henry’s policy maker), Thomas Audley (speaker in the House of Commons) and George Boleyn. This ‘Protestant’ faction was determined to solve the divorce issue and in doing so advance their reformist ideas. Arguably if Henry had been marrying a Catholic the schism might never have taken place. Anne, Cramner and Cromwell were all hugely influential to Henry. Anne’s family had protestant sympathies and it was her that pusher Cramner as the next choice for Archbishop. Cramner had sworn an oath to Henry saying that his loyalty lay first with the King, something Wolsey had been unable to do. He was the clerical mind behind the divorce and it was also Cramner who eventually married Henry and Anne. Cromwell was perhaps the most important of the three as he was the man who put Cramner’s and Henry’s plans into practice. He devised solutions to the problems and implemented them. It was also Cromwell who used pamphlets printed on the printing press to gain popular support for Henry. However it was a work entitled ‘Collectanea satis copiosa’ compiled by Edward Foxe and Thomas Cramner during 1530 which finally gave Henry the legal and historical principles needed to prove the righteousness of his case. They had found a solution to the divorce issue and their anti-papalism ensured that it did not involve the Pope. The document redefined the boundaries between royal and ecclesiastical power and paved the way for the divorce.
In 1534 the ‘Act of Supremacy’ was passed declaring Henry supreme head of the English Church. Many factors had contributed to the schism with Rome. It was evident from as early as 1515 that Henry disliked being subordinate to the Church and it was therefore likely that at some point they would come into conflict. This finally happened over the divorce issue. Although Henry tried to compromise for several years, when it became obvious that he may not get his own way he changed his tactics. Anne’s pregnancy meant that he would stop at nothing to gain a divorce. Achieving this was made easier by the anti-clerical feeling in Parliament who therefore supported Henry. The final idea of actually breaking with Rome was due to the reformist ideas of Anne Boleyn, Cramner and Cromwell. But the driving force behind the split was Henry and his desire for more power.
