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had imperialistic dreams and an immense wish to command. His ministers
were hardly allowed to interfere with the king's decisions. The only one
who influenced him was his great minister Cardinal Wolsey. Henry VIII is
mainly remembered for the break with Rome. Lutheranism was spreading but
the king did not like the new doctrine , he had in the past written a
book in support of the Roman Catholic Church and in 1521 the Pope had
named him Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith). So his break
with Rome (reformation) was not theological. One of the reasons was the sprowling of
anticlericalism. There was resentment against the clergy , in particular
, against church courts which denied a person accused of heresy the
right to trial by jury ignoring the English Common Law. Moreover ,
ordinary people wanted a more personal approach to religion based on the
Bible , while the Catholic church did not allow the translation of the
Bible into English. It must also be remembered that the king needed
money. He had estabilished a magnificent court on the Reinassance model
and this cost enormous sums. He was also involved in expensive wars
which gave no benefit to the country. In addition inflation had reduced
the amount of gold and silver brought to England from America.The king
was not indifferent to the fact that the Church owned large estates ,
and that the monasteries contained real tresures in gold and silver
metalworks, jewellery, libraries. Also people had to pay taxes to the
Church reducing the Crown's own income. Henry married Catherine of
Aragon , daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon. She had given him five
children , only one of whom - the Princess Mary - was living. Henry
wanted a male heir and at the same time he was seeing Anne Boleyn. He
asked the new Pope to declare his marriage null. The Pope denied Henry's
request. In response , the king in accordance with his legislative body
, broke off the old allegiance with the Pope and proclaimed himself head
of the Church of England ( Act of Supremacy 1534 ). He was now able to
divorce Catherine and marry the Lutheran Anne Boleyn. The monasteries
were dissolved and the king annexed their estates ; he bought the
support of the nobles by giving them a share. The valuable items were
sold and soon the sale of the lands began . The dissolution of the
monasteries led to real vandalism , in that many fine buildings were
pulled down , jewels and precious objects were melted and libraries were
sacked. Henry VIII's matrimonial life was turbulent. After the birth of
another daughter , Elizabeth , Anne Boleyn was charged with witchcraft
and treason and executed. The next wife Jane Seymour brought forth a son
but died in childbirth. Then it was the turn of Anne of Cleves. This
marriage was supposed to win alliance with Germany , but Henry did not
hesitate to divorce her declaring that she was ugly.Catherine Howard ,
the fifth wife was only nineteen while Henry was already forty-nine ;
she was executed for adultery. Catherine Paar was his last wife and took
care of the king until his death in 1547.
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