EMPIRE & DEMOCRACY

Henry VIII and the Church

Henry VIII (1491-1547) is famous for his six wives and his ambitions. He married Catherine

of Aragon, niece of Emperor Charles V, ruler of most of Europe and the Americas. They had one daughter, but not the son and heir Henry wanted. When his mistress, Anne Boleyn, became pregnant, Henry asked the pope for a divorce. The Pope did not answer, so Henry got a divorce from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry then made the Church in England independent of

Rome. Parliament’s Act of Supremacy in 1534 made the king Head of the Church of England, which became Protestant. This was popular with many English people who were already Protestant.

The Pope gave the title Fidei Defender, Defender of the Faith, to Henry VIII. Henry kept this title, in spite of divorcing the English Church from the Roman Catholic Church. Queen Elizabeth II still holds this title today and the abbreviation F.D. is printed on every coin.

It was Henry’s second daughter, Elizabeth I, who became one of the England’s greatest monarchs. During her reign (1558-1603), England’s sailors captured many Spanish ships bringing treasure from the Americas. King Philip of Spain, encouraged by the Pope, who wanted to restore Catholicism to England, sent the Spanish Armada, a fleet of 130 ships, to invade England in 1588. It was defeated. England became the most important Protestant power in Europe.