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

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

Henry VIII, king of England, was not justified in divorcing Catherine of Aragon based on religious and political aspects. He was a man of the Church, and because of this his act of divorcing Catherine was not right. Henry was justified in making himself head of the Church of England for political and historical reasons. Henry took into account the laws and history of England before declaring himself head of the Church of England. For these reasons, he was more than justified in naming himself the head of the Church of England.

Henry VIII wanted the Tudor name to continue on after he died. To do this, Henry needed to produce a male heir. Unable to achieve this with Catherine of Aragon, Henry sought a divorce issued from the Catholic Church. Henry had read in the Bible somewhere that it was “blighted in the eyes of God” to marry your brother’s wife after he died (The Bible). Henry used that statement as ammunition in a plea for an annulment from Pope Clement VII. Henry claimed that because of that statement the marriage of Catherine and himself was never valid. Pope Clement denied the request for the annulment. The Pope could not annul the marriage because of Canon Law, but other reasons may have factored into the Pope’s decision (Canon Law 1st century). At the time, Charles V was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles V was Catherine of Aragon’s nephew. Because of the Catholic Church being within the Holy Roman Empire, the Pope would rather make an enemy with the King of England than the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (Coronation of Charles V, 1516).

Despite having Parliament on his side, Henry could not get the Archbishop of Canterbury to go against the Pope’s decision. Advisors, lawyers, and clergymen all advised Parliament not to go against the Pope’s decision. Henry divorced Catherine because he could not get an annulment (Letter of Thomas Cramer 1533). The Church did not recognize Henry and Catherine’s divorce as legitimate. Henry also decided to marry Anne Boleyn, which the Church also did not recognize. Since Henry was still a part of the Catholic Church at the time of his divorce to Catherine, he was not justified in his actions.

Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn caused an even larger rift between the Catholic Church and England. The Pope, wanting Henry to admit his marriage to Boleyn was invalid, threatened Henry with excommunication. Henry, along with Anne, researched documents and found that he, as ruler of England, was entitled to rule the Church in England. Through a series of documents, the Act in Restraint of Appeals and the Act of Supremacy, King Henry was effectively made the head of the Church of England. The Act in Restraint of Appeals was made by Parliament in 1533, and it stated all of England’s complaints against the Catholic Church starting in the 1920s. The idea for this document was started by one of Henry’s advisors, Thomas Cromwell, who said the document would make it seem as if the government was completely behind Henry’s decision to divorce Catherine and marry Anne (Act in Restraint of Appeals). In 1534, the Act of Supremacy came out stating that Henry VIII and all his successors had supremacy over the Church of England, not the Pope . The act was made by Parliament so it was legal. Because the acts were legal and made by Parliament, Henry was justified in making himself the head of the Church of England (Act of Supremacy 1534).

Ultimately, King Henry VIII was excommunicated from the Catholic Church but became head of the Church of England. Henry was unjustified in divorcing Catherine, but justified in making himself the head of the Church of England. The main difference between one being justified and the other unjustified was that one was legal and the other was not. Henry went through legal measures to make himself the head of the Church of England. Henry, however, broke the laws of the Catholic Church when he divorced Catherine. Simple distinctions made all the difference between King Henry VIII’s actions.

                                                         References

Medieval Sourcebook: Letter of Thomas Cranmer, 1533. (n.d.). FORDHAM.EDU. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cramner-hen8.html

Primary Sources - Letter from Katharine of Aragon to her husband,  King Henry VIII, 16 September 1513. (n.d.). EnglishHistory.net. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://englishhistory.net/tudor/letter2.html

Primary Sources - Letter of Katharine of Aragon to her daughter,  Princess Mary, April 1534. (n.d.). EnglishHistory.net. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://englishhistory.net/tudor/letter3.html

Primary Sources - Letter of Katharine of Aragon to her husband,  King Henry VIII, 7 January 1536. (n.d.). EnglishHistory.net. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://englishhistory.net/tudor/letter5.html

Primary Sources: A contemporary description of Henry VIII, 1515. (n.d.). EnglishHistory.net. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://englishhistory.net/tudor/henrydes.html

Primary Sources: The coronations of King Henry VIII and Katharine of   Aragon, 1509. (n.d.). EnglishHistory.net. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://englishhistory.net/tudor/h8crown.html

Primary Sources: The coronations of King Henry VIII and Katharine of   Aragon, 1509. (n.d.). EnglishHistory.net. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://englishhistory.net/tudor/h8crown.html

The Act in Restraint of Appeals. (n.d.). History Learning Site. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/act_restraint_appeals.htm

The Act of Supremacy. (n.d.). Then Again. . .. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://www.thenagain.info/Classes/Sources/ActSupremacy.html