Rise of the Church of England essays

Rise of the Church of England essays The Church of England was formed by King Henry III for political reasons and not religious. One of the reasons Henry VIII changed the religion in his country is because he wanted a son and since he believed his wife could no longer have children he wanted a divorce from her. Henry called Parliament into session and asked it to pass laws that would end the popes power in England and thus be able to divorce his wife. Parliament voted and approved The Act of Supremacy. All of this was brought about because of Henrys desire to have a son. Henry wanted to have a son even though he already had a daughter, Mary, from his wife Catherine. However, he wanted a son to inherit the throne because he knew that no woman had ever successfully claimed the English throne. He desperately wanted to divorce is 42 year old wife, Catherine, because he believed that she would no longer have children and be able to give him a son. He wanted to divorce her and marry someone younger who could produce a son. Henry asked the Pope to annul his marriage but the Pope refused because Church law forbade divorce. Henry then sought to take matters into his hands. Henry decided to solve the problem by himself. He called Parliament into session and asked it to pass laws that would end the Popes power in England. The Parliament session during this time (1529 to 1534) came to be known as the Reformation Parliament. In 1533, Henry secretly married Anne Boleyn, who was in her early twenties. Parliament legalized the divorce from Catherine. These events lead to the Act of Supremacy which made the King, not Pope, the official head of Englands Church. The Act of Supremacy made the King the head of Englands Church. This allowed King Henry the freedom to do basically what he wanted. Henrys marriage to Anne Boleyn did not produce the son he so much wanted but a daughter, Elizabeth. This caused Anne Boleyn to fall out of He...