Why did Henry VIII break with Rome?

Why did Henry VIII break from Rome?

• Answer:

  Henry VIII made the break from Rome and the Roman Catholic Church when he was married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Henry and Catherine had not managed to produce a son to succeed to the throne and Henry believed that God was punishing him. Henry wanted to divorce Catherine on the basis that their marriage was illegal as she had previously married Arthur, Henry's older brother who had died 6 months after the wedding. He also wanted to marry Anne Boleyn but could not marry her unless he first had a divorce from his wife. Henry asked the Pope for a divorce but the Pope would not allow him to divorce Catherine. With the refusal Henry was threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church should he divorce Catherine. He did divorce his wife, was excommunicated and created his own church, the Anglican Church of England, becoming Head of the Church of England and also Defender of the new faith. The break from Rome also meant that the taxes that had previously been paid to the Church in Rome would go to Henry instead and, after the break, he sacked the Catholic monasteries of their gold and confiscated the Church's land making him even richer. Alternatively, from an Anglican Catholic perspective: The break with Rome was simply a quarrel between two powerful men, the King of England and the Bishop of Rome. It was not about a divorce, a fanciful idea, but about an annulment. Henry, a Catholic King, wanted an annulment from his wife and the custom of those days was to approach the Bishop of Rome and his Court and obtain one from that source at a very great cost. This Henry did, paying out his money to the Roman Court and obviously expected his due return. Unfortunately for Henry, the Pope was taken prisoner by his queen's nephew, the German Emperor and under these circumstances the deal fell through, to Henry's displeasure and extreme frustration when his money was not returned. In disgust at not receiving his due and in deep humiliation at being the laughing stock of medieval Europe, Henry lashed out with the word that the Bishop of Rome was actually breaking the ancient laws of the Catholic Church and breaking the very basic rules of the Church Councils, and that the Bishop of Rome has no authority to interfere in another bishops see. The bishop then, in high dudgeon, banned Henry from his communion. This didn't bother Henry in the least because he was not a Roman Catholic but a member of the Catholic Church in England. What Henry and the Church in England did do was to point out that according to the Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church, that the Pope had no authority within another bishop's see. This, whilst it was true, upset the Pope and he in turn withdrew his communion from Henry.