Why did Henry VIII break with Rome?

There wasn't just one reason. Yes, he didn't want the Pope telling him that he couldn't divorce whomever he wanted to, but he also did not like the church telling him what to do in general. the Catholic Church was very political still at that time, and Henry didn't like sharing power. I doubt that any part of his reason had to do with a genuine philosophical religious viewpoint.

I think you're right - he wanted a divorce form Catherine, but the pope needed the approval of Isabelle and Ferdinand of Spain (Catherine's parents) to continue with his power. It was a power struggle, and Spain won. The pope would have probably granted the divorce had Catherine's parents not been so powerful.

There wasn't just one reason. Yes, he didn't want the Pope telling him that he couldn't divorce whomever he wanted to, but he also did not like the church telling him what to do in general. the Catholic Church was very political still at that time, and Henry didn't like sharing power. I doubt that any part of his reason had to do with a genuine philosophical religious viewpoint.

I think you're right - he wanted a divorce form Catherine, but the pope needed the approval of Isabelle and Ferdinand of Spain (Catherine's parents) to continue with his power. It was a power struggle, and Spain won. The pope would have probably granted the divorce had Catherine's parents not been so powerful.

Henry VIII did not withdraw from Catholicism, and the Church of England was not originally Protestant. Henry VIII was a staunch catholic, but not a fan of the Vatican. "I personally think the main reason was that he wanted a divorce from Catherine of Aragon because he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn and try for a son to continue the Tudor dynasty." This is true. The Tudors came to the throne when Henry Tudor (Henry VII) defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, during the Wars of the Roses. Henry VIII feared that if he failed to have a son, hence a male heir, that it would end the Tudors reign, and cause another civil war. Catherine of Aragon was originally married to Henry's brother Arthur, and though Catherine was adamant that her marriage to Arthur was never consumated, Henry VIII still became fearfull that his marriage to Catherine was cursed, due to a line in the Bible. Leviticus 20:21 "If a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing...they shall be childless." So he sought to get the Pope to anul the marriage. There were two big obstacles to this. First one being that the marriage of Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon was authorised through a Papal Bull, which was considered necessary, due to that line in Leviticus. The second one being that the Pope was a de facto prisoner of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, who happened to be Catherine of Aragon's nephew. So in the end, the marriage was annulled by Thomas Cramner, who before being the Archbishop of Canterbury was the chaplain to the Boleyns. This annulment by the Archbishop of Canterbury is what separated the Church in England from Rome.

Yes, the true reason was that he wanted a divorce, and the Pope didn`t go for that. You know, Catholics will actually occasionally follow the Bible... once in a while. I thought it was pretty common knowledge that he just wanted a divorce. Also, he didn`t like Rome being able to boss him around, so he founded a church that he was the head of.

History is usually a very complex field but every now and then it's simple. This is one of those times. Henry VIII declared the English church independent from Rome because he wanted a divorce. There were other pressures driving the separation from Rome but without Henry's desire for a divorce they would probably not have ended in schism. The complex parts of your question are whether Henry VIII's Church of England was "new" and "protestant". Many books and debates have been devoted to the subject by better minds than mine so I won't go into it here other than to mention that it's a complex issue.

1. he wanted a divorce from Catherine of Aragon because he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn and try for a son to continue the Tudor dynasty 2. Donations to the Catholic church were sending a steady stream of money from England to Rome.Much of it was to pay for the Pope's art collection. Henry wanted to stop this.

The immediate cause of Henry's breach with Rome was the question of divorce. Catherine was originally his brother's widow. It was after a papal dispensation that Henry married her. Absence of a male heir in her and his infatuation for Anne Boleyn made Henry plan a divorce. A divorce needed papal dispensation. Henry was disappointed and furious when decision on divorce was getting delayed. He got the divorce accepted by his own Arch bishop(of Canterbury) and, anticipating papal action against him, passed certain Acts that had taken away some of the powers of the Pope in matters concerning England. This had the effect of England getting out of Papal control.