The King's Great Matter

If you haven’t heard of King Henry VIII and his six wives, you are missing out on a story almost too fantastic to believe, complete with affairs, beheadings, and intrigue. But before all the madness began, King Henry VIII was married to Catherine of Aragon for almost 20 years. Henry VIII’s conundrum in trying to divorce Catherine became known as the “King’s Great Matter” and ended with creating a new religion.

The “King's Great Matter”: Henry VIII

King Henry VIII, born to King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York in 1491, was the second king in the Tudor Dynasty. Henry VIII, however, was never meant to be king. His brother, Prince Arthur, was next in line for the crown, but Arthur passed away in 1502, just months after his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. As a result, Henry VIII became the heir to the throne.

Fig. 1 - Henry VIII

King Henry VIII, born to King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York in 1491, was the second king in the Tudor Dynasty. Henry VIII, however, was never meant to be king. His brother, Prince Arthur, was next in line for the crown, but Arthur passed away in 1502, just months after his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. As a result, Henry VIII became the heir to the throne.

In 1503, Pope Julius II formally approved a marriage between Henry VIII and his brother’s widow, Catherine of Aragon. A marital alliance between Spain and England was still attractive to both parties, and it seemed like the easy solution. Upon Henry VIII’s accession to the throne in 1509, he married Catherine of Aragon.

Fig. 2 - Catherine of Aragon

The “King's Great Matter” Causes

A male heir was very important to King Henry VIII. His father had fought hard for the throne in the Wars of the Roses, but the Tudors still need to prove their stability. Unfortunately, in around eight pregnancies, Catherine of Aragon only had one child survive: Mary. This greatly frustrated Henry VIII who, in 1525, gave his illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, the title of Duke of Richmond. It seemed he was working towards legitimizing Henry Fitzroy and naming him an heir.

Fig. 3 - Anne Boleyn

Also in 1525, Henry VIII met a young woman named Anne Boleyn whom he began pursuing. It was by no means his first affair, but it was certainly his most significant. By 1527, he had decided he wanted to annul his marriage with Catherine of Aragon--but he wanted the Catholic Church’s blessing.

Henry VIII believed that he had found the perfect loophole for the no-divorce rule with Leviticus which forbade a man from marrying his brother’s wife. If the man disobeyed, the couple would have no children:

Henry VIII argued that he had violated Leviticus and was living in sin. He appealed to the papacy and expected success but found himself waiting years before he decided to move forward without the Church’s support.

The “King's Great Matter” Timeline

The “King's Great Matter” Summary

It is important to understand the side of the papacy in the matter. Pope Clement VII would have to go back on a previous pope’s decision in order to satisfy Henry VIII’s wishes, which was not a good look for the Church. There were already contradictions to Leviticus within the Bible itself. In addition, in 1527, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V had sacked Rome, essentially taking Pope Clement VII as prisoner. Charles V was not going to allow an annulment because Catherine of Aragon was his aunt.

King Henry VIII, however, was determined to have his way. By 1527, he was trying to set things in motion with the help of Cardinal Wolsey, but it was not until the summer of 1529 that the Legatine Court convened to offer the Church’s decision. (The Pope had told his representative Cardinal Campeggio to stall as long as possible.) Both King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon appeared before the court and pled their cases, but in the end, Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio made no decision, stating it needed to be decided in Rome.

Henry VIII, furious with Lord Chancellor Wolsey for his lack of progress in the matter, arranged for his execution, but things continued to stall. In 1531, Henry VIII was clearly showing signs of impatience when he began living openly with Anne Boleyn. Papal disapproval no longer seemed as dire. Still without the answer he wanted two years later, Henry VIII finally moved forward with marrying Anne Boleyn in 1533 without the Church’s permission.

In 1534, Henry VIII made his split with the Catholic Church official with the Act of Supremacy that declared him the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Later, all subjects had to take the Oath of Succession proving their acceptance of Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn and any heirs they might have.

The “King's Great Matter” Effects

With the Act of Supremacy, King Henry VIII essentially started the English Reformation, formally splitting from the Catholic Church. The new Church of England was Protestant in name, but Henry VIII’s practices still mimicked those of the Catholic Church. This lack of clarity led to religious turmoil during the reigns of his children.

Henry's son, Edward, from a later marriage, attempted to fully transition to Protestant practices. However, Edward died young and his sister Mary, daughter of Catherine Aragon, started a reign of terror against Protestants as she tried to reinstate Catholicism. It was not until the reign of Elizabeth, Henry's daughter with Anne Boleyn, that a compromise, or religious settlement, began.