Henry VIII's Divorce from Catherine and His Split from the Catholic Church

Was Henry VIII justified in divorcing Catherine and making himself head of the Church of England?

Henry VIII quickly chose to sign the Act of Supremacy in order to have chief authority over the Catholic Church.  This would allow him to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn.  Henry VIII wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon because she could not give him a son to be the heir to the throne.  He wanted to marry Anne Boleyn because she was young and he believed that she would be able to produce a son as the heir.  When Henry made himself head of the Catholic Church he severed all ties to the Vatican and the Pope, which made him not only King of England, but also primary leader and decision-maker for the Catholic Church.  Now that Henry was the leader of the Church he could basically do whatever he wanted, including marrying and divorcing any woman that he wanted whenever he wanted.  This greatly upset Catherine of Aragon because she was Henry's current wife and she would remain loyal to him until her dying day.  If he really loved Catherine he would stay married to her no matter what, even if she could not produce a son.  Catherine tried many times to have children, but many were miscarried or died within a few days after being born.  Henry was truly not justified in divorcing Catherine and making himself head of the Church of England because he made enemies with many different people who used to respect him and his authority. 

In divorcing Catherine and making himself head of the Church, Henry greatly angered the Holy Roman Empire specifically.  The Holy Roman Empire had a more religious point of view of the situation and they believed that Henry VIII was pushing his power to the limits and making decisions that were truly not under his control.  The Holy Roman Empire along with the Vatican were extremely powerful at the time period of Henry's reign, and they felt that Henry was completely taking over the position as leader.  The emperor of the Holy Roman Empire at the time of Henry VIII's reign was Charles V who happened to be the son of Catherine of Aragon's sister, Joanna of Castile.  This means that Catherine had ties to the Holy Roman Empire.  Henry VIII was trying to get permission from the Holy Roman Emperor to annul his marriage to Catherine, which is probably why Charles refused him the ability to do so.  Charles was Catherine's nephew and he was not going to give permission to Henry to divorce his own aunt.  Although it was not necessarily fair for Charles V to make such a biased decision, Henry VIII should not have made such an extreme choice to cut off England from their true religious leaders: the Holy Roman Empire.

Another person who had to be extremely angered and upset by this whole situation had to be Catherine of Aragon herself.  All of the years she had spent being faithful to Henry meant absolutely nothing to him now that she could not produce a male heir for the throne.  Catherine did in fact have a child with Henry, but it was a girl named Mary and that was not enough to please Henry.  Because Catherine could not produce a male heir, Henry believed that their marriage was cursed and he wanted absolutely nothing to do with Catherine any longer.  This was extremely upsetting to Catherine because she tried multiple times to give him a son, but it never happened for her.  Throughout everything that happened between Henry and Catherine she remained faithful and loyal to him no matter what, and she never stopped loving him even after he divorced her.  Surely Catherine, along with many others, surely believed that it was not right for Henry to divorce her just because she could not produce a male heir.

There were many other people who would usually be in support of Henry VIII that did not in any way support his decision to separate from the Church.  One of these people was Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.  Wolsey was King Henry's chief minister, and he held a very powerful position as well as a close friendship with Henry.  Wolsey, although very close with the King, did not agree with his idea to split away from the Church and become the prime religious leader.  Although he was against King Henry's idea, he still did all he could to get the annulment for Henry's marriage to Catherine, but he was unsuccessful.  Wolsey was executed because of this.  Wolsey did not deserve to be executed for such a petty thing.  This shows that King Henry was so absorbed in the idea of splitting from the Church and marrying Catherine that he was willing to kill someone who was his friend.  The fact that someone so close to the King, like Wolsey, went against him and did not agree with him in separating from the Church, shows that what Henry was doing was not right.

The opinions of Catherine, Thomas Wolsey, and Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire show that what Henry did was not justifiable.  There were some people who agreed with the King in splitting from England, but there were many more that thought what Henry wanted to do was simply not right.  Henry should have listened to the people around him like Thomas Wolsey and rethought the irrational idea of splitting from the Church of England just so he could get divorced from Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn.  King Henry VIII let getting a male heir blind him from seeing how his actions would truly affect the future of England.  Along with this he hurt the one woman who truly loved him, Catherine of Aragon.

Works Cited:

"The Act of Supremacy." Then Again. . . Web. 30 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. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/c_holyroman.html>.

"Habsburg History - European Monarch Genealogy." Welcome - European Monarch Genealogy. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.monarchgenealogy.com/habsburghistory.htm>.

Catherine of Aragon. "Primary Sources - Letter of Katharine of Aragon to Her Husband, King Henry VIII, 7 January 1536." EnglishHistory.net. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://englishhistory.net/tudor/letter5.html>.

Hall, Edward. "Primary Sources: The Fall of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, 1530."EnglishHistory.net. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://englishhistory.net/tudor/priwols1.html>.