How Henry VIII Marriages Re-Sculpted English History
Henry VIII Marriages Re-Sculpted England
The hour of eight o’clock tolled one May morning in England as a woman knelt with her neck on a block. “Chop” went Anne Boleyn’s head! She was one of six wives of Henry VIII, King of England. The marriage of Anne Boleyn was the second failed attempt of Henry VIII to produce a male heir. Not having a son left Henry VIII with marital problems which forced him to cut all ties with the Roman Catholic Church. This problem affected a reformation that would encompass much of his life and the lives off all his heirs. Before Anne Boleyn, Henry was married to Catherine of Aragon. Their divorce began the English Reformation.
The first wife of Henry VIII, Catherine Aragon, played a crucial role in starting the Reformation in England. She was the catalyst that drove Henry to separate from the Roman Catholic Church. Catherine came from Spain and was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Spanish rulers who financed Christopher Columbus’s voyage to America. “In 1509 he married Catherine of Aragon, who was Ferdinand and Isabella’s daughter, as well as his brother’s widow.” Henry, a devout Catholic earned the title “defender of the faith” from the Pope in 1521 for his strong views against Martin Luther, the German Protestant. Henry remained a defender of the faith his entire life but changed the leader of it in England. He kept his Catholic view very strongly until a more pressing issue arouse, a male heir, something his current wife could not provide.
The lack of a male heir caused Henry to seek a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. “Catherine of Aragon, had given birth five times, but only an extremely frail girl, Mary Tudor, survived.” Mary Tudor, who later made drastic Counter Reformation changes in England, was a girl which meant she could not continue the dynasty of her father. This displeased Henry and forced him to seek a divorce, something only the Pope could grant during the 16th century. To obtain his divorce Henry asked permission of Pope Clement VII for an annulment of the marriage. Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and nephew of Catherine, occupied Rome with his vast army. To make sure Catherine was not disgraced he forbade the Pope to allow the annulment. By preventing the Pope to annul Henry’s marriage, Charles forced...