Henry VIII made a brash decision to sign the Act of Supremacy, bestowing upon himself the authority over the Church of England, in order to be able to divorce his wife Catherine, who would not give him a son, and marry the younger Anne Boleyn. By making himself head of the Church of England, Henry disconnected himself from Rome and the Vatican, and had not only the power of the crown, but also the power of the supreme religious leader. Henry made it so that he himself and only himself "shall have full power and authority...to visit, repress, redress, record, order, correct, restrain, and amend all such errors, heresies, abuses, offenses, contempts, and enormities," (http://www.thenagain.info/Classes/Sources/ActSupremacy.html) which gave him any and all authority over the kingdom of England, and presented the very easy opportunity to abuse his extreme amount of power. Consequently, he also gave himself the ability to marry any woman who would have him, since he had the power to divorce any of his wives should he so choose. Catherine of Aragon was the first victim of this. In signing the Act of Supremacy and divorcing Catherine, Henry was unjustified because he pushed his power to its limits, and abused the privileges he already had in order to steal more away, angering Catherine, the Holy Roman Empire, and many of his own subjects.
On a personal level, Catherine could not have been fond of Henry's decision to take away her position as queen and divorce her for a younger woman, all because she could not produce a son. She had been in power for 24 years, serving her husband faithfully and attempting to give him an heir many times, but all of her children were miscarried, stillborn, or died in infancy, except for one: Mary. Henry was displeased with her and thought their marriage was cursed. Catherine writes him, "You have cast me into many calamites," (http://englishhistory.net/tudor/letter5.html) letting him know how much pain and stress he had caused her, but Henry never really cared about her as anything more than an object that could give him a true male heir. When the Vatican would not let him divorce Catherine, he made himself head of the Church of England and broke Catherine's heart, sending her away as Princess Dowager and moving on to Anne Boleyn. Catherine had tried to retain her position as Henry's wife and queen, not letting Thomas Cranmer oversee their divorce because "her cause was before the Pope she would have none other judge," (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cramner-hen8.html). Catherine demanded that the highest authority in the Church declare their marriage annulled, trying to hang on to her beloved husband, but Henry found a way around that for his own selfish purposes. None of the years Catherine was faithful to Henry mattered to him; all that he cared about was his wife, any wife, producing an heir for him. Catherine, on the other hand, loved Henry with all her heart until her dying day when she writes him a letter ending with "Lastly, I make this vow, that mine eyes desire you above all things," (http://englishhistory.net/tudor/letter5.html) letting him know that she will always love him more than anyone. In Catherine's opinion, and the opinions of many who agree with her, it was surely not right for Henry to divorce her without her having any say, and Henry should not have done away with her for such petty reasons.
The Holy Roman Empire, on a more political and religious standpoint, thought that Henry was overstepping his boundaries as king when he intruded on the position of a religious leader. The Vatican, at this time, had a lot of power. The Holy Roman Empire had started out small in 843, but it had grown to cover much of Europe between that time and the time of Henry VIII's reign. Also during this time, the Holy Roman Emperor in charge of the entire empire was Charles V. This man happened to be the nephew of Henry VIII's wife he was trying to divorce: Catherine of Aragon. Not only did the Holy Roman Emperor disagree on this attempted divorce on religious grounds, but Charles was surely somewhat biased in his decision to not annul Henry's marriage, because he was working partly on the behalf of his family. Though this partisan was not completely right, Henry should have yielded to the ruling of the Holy Roman Empire instead of cutting himself and England off completely to satisfy his need for an heir. No matter how hard Henry and his associates tried, the Vatican would not be swayed in its decision to not annul the marriage of Henry and Catherine (http://englishhistory.net/tudor/priwols1.html), so Henry took control of his own Church and made his own rules. In his Act of Supremacy, Henry VIII states that the purpose is "for the conservation of peace, unity, and tranquility of the realm," (http://www.thenagain.info/Classes/Sources/ActSupremacy.html) while in reality he made himself an enemy of the entire Holy Roman Empire by going against their will.
Not only were people of authority against Henry's decision, but many of his subjects and people under him were too. Cardinal Thomas Wosley lost his job and was executed as a result of Henry's discord with the Church, and he surely thought Henry trying to overpower the Vatican was not the best idea. He did all that he could to try to give Henry what he wanted, but it was not enough. Henry, crazy with supreme political and now religious power, ordered Wosley to be killed. Wosley had trusted Henry, saying even upon arrest, "My person was in the king's protection," (http://englishhistory.net/tudor/priwols1.html) assuming that this was a mistake and Henry will save him, where in reality Henry was the one condemning him to the Tower of London. After being thrown in the Tower, Wosley "was much astonished and shortly became ill," (http://englishhistory.net/tudor/priwols1.html) eventually dying as a result of Henry and the fact that, now that he had so much power, people that were once close to him were dispensable. Murder on undeserved grounds, even indirectly, is never ok, and this resulting from Henry's splitting from the Church to divorce Catherine helps to show how Henry's choice was not right, and shows that all the power in his hands corrupted him enough to betray Wosley, one of his chief advisors.
Judging from the viewpoints of many different people in many different positions, as a whole this withdrawal from the Vatican was initially an unjustifiable act of Henry VIII. Some good that came of it in time, though, was a sense of English nationalism when Elizabeth I continued Henry's religious establishment and made Protestantism such a big part of England that it was deeply intertwined in the culture itself. Henry's decision does show that some good can always come from bad. Nevertheless, Henry's decision was made selfishly and has no decent reasons to justify it, but despite his motives, Henry took control and forever changed the fate of England.
Works Cited:
Catherine of Aragon. "Primary Sources - Letter of Katharine of Aragon to Her Husband, King Henry VIII, 7 January 1536." EnglishHistory.net. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. <http://englishhistory.net/tudor/letter5.html>.
Cranmer, Thomas. "Medieval Sourcebook: Letter of Thomas Cranmer, 1533." FORDHAM.EDU. Fordham University. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cramner-hen8.html>.
"Habsburg History - European Monarch Genealogy." Welcome - European Monarch Genealogy. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. <http://www.monarchgenealogy.com/habsburghistory.htm>.
Hall, Edward. "Primary Sources: The Fall of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, 1530."EnglishHistory.net. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. <http://englishhistory.net/tudor/priwols1.html>.
"HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE--1500." McMurry University | Christian College | Universities In Texas. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. <http://www.mcm.edu/academic/depts/history/maps/HOLYROMEMPIRE.html>.
"The Act of Supremacy." Then Again. . . Web. 27 Sept. 2010. <http://www.thenagain.info/Classes/Sources/ActSupremacy.html>.
"The Holy Roman Empire’s Imperial Diet: Electoral Votes in 1792." The Napoleon Series. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. <http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/c_holyroman.html>.
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