Henry VIII wanted more than anything a son and heir to the Tudor throne, but his wife Catherine of Aragon had born only one living child, a girl named Mary (Mary I or Bloody Mary) and was now beyond bearing children. Henry had also taken a fancy to the young, beautiful Ann Boleyn. He first appealed to the Pope to annul the marriage on the grounds that as Catherine had previously been married to Henry’s deceased older brother Edward, their marriage had never been legitimate. There were two problems with this; the first, when Henry had married Catherine he had applied for a Papal dispensation (permission to marry) and therefore, the Pope, by annulling the marriage, would be saying that his predecessor had been wrong. The second problem was that Catherine was of the Spanish royal family and her nephew was King of Spain. In 1527, the King of Spain (amongst other titles) Charles V stormed Rome and his mutinous troops looted the city. The Pope had quickly surrendered, but it wasn’t until 1530, when Charles was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, that the two made peace. The Pope, in this precarious situation, was not willing to anger Charles by authorising the casting off of his Aunt. For these two reasons the Pope refused the annulment and Henry turned to more extreme measures.

Henry implemented a series of actions which were to strip the authority of the Pope and power of the Roman Catholic Church in England. The aim of this policy was to push the Pope into giving in and granting the annulment, in doing so closing the matter. In 1534, Henry changed the law so that annates, money paid from Churches in England to Rome, now came to the crown. Following this he granted himself first fruits, the revenue received by a Church establishment in its first year were given to the crown. On top of this Henry introduced a yearly tax of 10% of the value of Church property. Meanwhile, the 1532 Act of Submission of the English Clergy meant Henry was responsible for the appointment of Cannons in England, not the Pope and the Church could no longer make its own rules, they were subject to the King’s. In 1533, Thomas Cramner, the Archbishop of Canterbury, granted Henry’s divorce, without the Pope’s authority. Henry quickly married Anne Boleyn, who is crowned Queen (and pregnant with Elizabeth). In this same year, Parliament ended the Papal authority in England, meaning that Catherine was not able to appeal to the Pope to halt the divorce. To finish this extraordinary year, Henry was excommunicated by the Pope. The Succession Act, past the following year, disinherited Mary (Catherine's child) and decleared Elizabeth and any future children of Anne as heirs. Following this, the Act of Supremacy claims Henry as Supreme Head of The Church of England. (A Treason Act closely follows, making it a crime punishable by death to deny the above).

Henry in these short few years had changed the future of the Country. The Church of England then slowly grew into the worldwide Church that it is today with millions of followers. The Queen is still proclaimed Supreme Head, not the Pope. However, nowadays it is considered a Protestant Church, as it was by many Protestants or reformers in 1534, but not Henry VIII. Henry never renounced the Catholic faith; he went so far with the reformation and then in the 1540s doubled back and became more conservative. It is very unlikely that when he began making the alterations to the Church in England he planned anything so drastic as the creation of a new Church.

Some historians argue that Henry was not as Religious as all his attention to religious affairs would suggest. The alterations made to the Church gave Henry the three things he wanted most - money for wars in France, power over the people and the chance for a son. The theory is that if he had been able to get these another way, he would have. Certainly his dedication to the Church before this event, such as the writing of his book denouncing Luther, resulted in him being awarded the title ‘Defender of the Faith’ by the Pope. This would suggest his belief in the Roman Catholic church was strong and authentic. The execution of Thomas Cromwell, a reformer, who organised many of the religious changes and the appointment of a mixed conservative and reformist council as protector for his son (a minor at the time of Henry’s death) would also support this. However, he married a reformer, Anne Boleyn and his only Son was raised by them.