Why did King Henry the VIII break away from the Catholic Church and start the Church of England?

Answer 1

The Catholic Church did not allow him to divorce his wife so he decided to create his own church the Anglican Church of England. He also needed money from a war with France and by being head of the church he could use the Catholic's money and land to pay for his wars and banquets. He wanted to marry Anne Boleyn (which he did BEFORE he divorced Catherine, in secret) and therefore needed to get rid of Catherine, who he still had a fondness for and so instead of executing her for made-up crimes, he wanted to divorce her on the basis that their marriage was illegal as she had previously married Arthur (Henry's older brother who died 6 months after their wedding) and even though she had denied consummating the marriage, it probably had been consummated The Pope wouldn't allow this because he had allowed a dispensation so that the marriage was legal "in the eyes of God" and, he was scared of Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor) who was the most powerful man in Europe and was Catherine of Aragon's nephew. Charles V had recently ransacked Rome with his troops, they smashed buildings, raped nuns, and even killed some priests. Also Henry needed a male heir because he knew only had 1 daughter and he knew that a weak succession meant a weak reign. Henry needed a son because when his daughter Mary got married her dowry would be England! Anne had promised Henry a son (a silly thing to do) because she could not guarantee to give him a son.

Unfortunately she did not give him a son and was beheaded in 1536.

Answer 2

The most important reason of why he broke with Rome in 1533 is because he wanted a divorce with Anne Boleyn and as Rome was a catholic region it was unheard of and bad to even think about divorce so King Henry VIII decided that he would like to break with Rome so that he could divorce Anne Boleyn and marry another women that was younger and able to give him a baby boy who can be a heir to the throne.Correction

Henry VIII broke with Rome because he wanted a divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon so that he could marry Anne Boleyn who became his second wife. He eventually had Anne executed for alleged adultery.

Answer 3

He break with the church of Rome when Pope Clement VII did not permit his annulment with his first wife. Therefore, he imposed that he will become the head of the church of England and the divorcement is legal.

Answer 4

England became a part of the reformation more through politics than theological debate. King Henry VIII (1509-47) needed an heir to the throne and with his wife was unable to produce one. The Pope would not grant a divorce and so Henry convinced Parliament to declare him head of the Church in England. Henry's daughter, Mary Tudor was a staunch Catholic and persecuted the Protestants. When Henry's other daughter, Elizabeth, inherited the throne, she tolerated the Protestants just enough so as not to irritate the Pope. When the English fleet defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, the Anglican Church permanently replaced the Catholic one in England.

(Below is an excerpt from the biography of Henry VIII)

In 1534 Henry VIII was declared head of the English Church. People had to swear an oath that in future they would obey Henry as head of the church. More refused and he was convicted of high treason. Still refusing to recant, he was executed at the Tower of London on 6 July 1535.

The Pope and the Catholic church in Rome were horrified when they heard the news that Henry had destroyed St. Thomas Becket's Shrine. On 17 December 1538, the Pope announced to the Christian world that Henry VIII had been excommunicated from the Catholic church.

The King was excommunicated by Pope Paul III in 1533; the following year he passed the Act of Supremacy which established the monarch as Head of Church of England.
Henry's break from the Catholic church did not occur all at once, but rather as a series of steps.

In 1530, he go the theologians at Oxford to declare that his marriage to his first wife, Catherine, was invalid despite the pope's declaration that he could not enter into a new marriage until he had a decision from Rome - which had not yet been given. At this point Henry began to publicly state that he did not believe the pope had the authority to make such a decision.

In 1532, Thomas Cromwell, a lawyer and supporter of Anne Boleyn, Henry's second wife, brought a set of declarations before Parliament that recognized Royal supremacy over the church, and at the end of 1532, Henry married Anne Boleyn in a secret ceremony.

He married Anne publicly in another ceremony in January of 1533 and the Archbishop of Canterbury convened a special court later that year where Henry's marriage to Catherine was declared invalid and shortly thereafter declared the marriage to Anne to be valid.

In 1534, Parliament passed the First Succession Act (although because of the legal calendar in use at the time, it is labeled the Succession act of 1533).

At this point, the pope excommunicated Henry and the Archbishop.

Several more Parliamentary Acts followed further placing Henry in full control of the Church of England and declaring that the pope was of less authority than the King with respect to the church in England.

By 1540, the break was complete.

Answer 5

He wanted to divorce his wife and the Pope refused to grant the divorce. If he split off from the Catholic Church he was certain the local English Bishops would grant the divorce (which they in fact did).

Answer 6

He broke with the catholic church because they refused his request to get divorced from Catherine of Aragon (his first wife).

Answer 7

wanted a divorce from Anne Boleyn