Henry VIII

I find it incredibly amusing when I read about Henry VIII. Due to his love affair with Anne Boleyn he almost single handedly cause a separation from the church. Henry VIII was so obsessed with divorcing Catherine that he took extreme measures to see it through. Henry VIII knew that if the trial over the divorce was to go to Rome he would not come out victorious, so what a King to do? Go to Parliament of course. In 1533 Parliament finalized the divorce and made it official. This was good for Henry, because previously that year he had took matter into his own hands and married Anne. To make these proceedings official and in part legal the Parliament passed the Act of Succession in 1535. This signified the official split between England and the Roman Catholic Church. The Church of England was now in full affect and Henry now controlled all religious land holdings and monasteries. It’s ironic because this reformation was caused by Henry's obsession with Anne, and when it was all said and done Anne was executed shortly after their marriage but the split from the church remained. Henry VIII although extremely crude and shallow was a sort of businessman in a sense, and he definitely knew how to persuade and connive in order to get his way. After Henry's death England would go on to switch the national religion back and forth depending on the King or in later cases the Queen. But as it stands the reason for England’s schism from the church was caused by a stubborn mans obsession with a women.