One of the reasons why Henry broke from the Roman Church was because he needed money. When Henry was made king he was short of money because he had fought lots of expensive wars. Henry then noticed that the church had a lot of money. If he took over the church all of its treasury would be his. Source 1 states that “monasteries were very rich and owned about a quarter of the land in the country”, so he could then close down the monasteries, take their money and sell of the land. Henry needed the money for power so that he could then build a stronger army and fight more wars. This would then show that he was a powerful king. Money is not the most important reason but it is an important reason.
Another reason he broke from the Roman Church is because he wanted power and control over his people. Henry wanted to make sure that he was in total control of England so he needed to get rid of anyone that might threaten his position including the pope. In 1534 the pope announced that Henrys marriage to Anne Boleyn was invalid. So Henry reacted by saying that the pope no longer had authority in England. This meant that there was no longer any church in England so in 1534 source 2 says “that the act of supremacy made the king head of the English church not the pope. Power therefore, was the most important reason why Henry had to break from the
Church of England, because all the other reasons link to this one. Also when his son was king he would need to maintain power in the throne when he was dead.
Religion is another reason why he broke from the Roman Church. The pope was scared of the king of Spain, and so couldn't grant Henry a divorce. So he set up his own protestant Church which would allow him to get divorced and have a higher chance of getting a son. He sent inspectors to inspect the monks’ houses and then made excuses that they were breaking rules. He said that you didn’t need the pope to get closer to god you just needed to follow Jesus. This also links to money as he closed down some of the monasteries and took in there riches. Religion therefore was a reason for why he broke from the Roman Church. Henry wanted the religion for power so that he could get a son and so that the people respected him.
The final reason why he broke from the Roman church is because of succession. Henry needed a son; he feared that if he did not have a son to take over the throne then the Tudor family would lose control of England. His wife Catherin of Aragon gave birth to six children but five of them died within a few weeks of being born. She was then to old to give birth anymore. So Henry then needed to marry someone else and is choice was Anne Boleyn. He asked for a divorce from the pope but the king of Spain threatened him that if he let the divorce go on then he would be angry. So the pope did not let the divorce on. But arrangements were made for Henry to get married. But in 1534 the pope announced that henrys marriage to Anne Boleyn as invalid. Henry reacted by saying the pope no longer had authority in England. Henry realised that if he took control of the church then he would be able to get married to Anne. This is not the most important reason. Henry wanted a son so that power remained in the Tudor family for future generations.
Henry broke from Rome because of many reasons but these are the four main reasons, power, money, religion, and succession. They all link together, but all of the reasons link together for his need for power. I think that power is the most important because all the reasons are linked together for power and Henry took control of the Church mainly because he wanted to maintain power over his people and build a reputation of a rich and powerful king.