How Did Henry Viii Contribute To Religion

Henry VIII is often remembered as the English monarch who broke away from the Roman Catholic Church. However, Henry was only attracted to Protestantism in a restricted way. Henry VIII loitered with Protestant ideas, but ultimately he proved to be conservative on matters of many religious beliefs altogether (Hobbs). This being said many people were often confused with certain newly found doctrines from different religions now being used in one church. Henry VIII came to the English throne in 1509 as a devout Catholic, having church services held in Latin and defending the Roman Catholic church against Protestants (Barrow). In 1521 Henry was, later to be found ironically, given the title “Defender of Faith” by Pope Leo X for his great support
The Reformation in England began rather political, opposed to religiously later on, because of a dispute between the king and the pope (Nelson). The source of this dispute was that the king was expected to produce a male heir to the throne. England did not have the Salic law, which in France this law forbade female heirs to the throne, though England had just surfaced from a prolonged civil war, the Wars of the Roses, so a new male bloodline was needed to maintain the throne and prevent resumption of another civil war (Nelson). Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s then wife, had borne him many children, although only one remained living, Mary, and she was not expected to produce anymore (Nelson). Ordinarily the procedure in such a case was to find a fault in the marriage that would be enough for the pope to permit an annulment (Nelson). In Henry and Catherine’s instance, the fault was not difficult to discover; Catherine had been married to Arthur, Henry VIII’s brother, and canon law forbade the marriage of a man with his deceased brother’s widow. Although at the time, Pope Julius II granted their marriage on exception to cover this rule (Nelson).