Taking a step back in time, Henry had already considered his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. The Pope did not. Henry had also already gotten Anne Boleyn pregnant and secretly married her. When the Pope got word of this, he excommunicated Henry, but the King had already seized some of the catholic church’s assets in England.
After Henry’s death, his staunch catholic daughter Mary took the throne and tried to re-establish the supremacy of the pope within England, which did not go well with Henry’s supporters. But Mary reigned for only five years and died at the age of 42. After that, Elizabeth assumed the throne of England and had Parliament pass the second Act of Supremacy, which – from then on – made the reigning monarch the head of the Anglican Church.
An image of King Henry VIII, sitting on his thrown, looking right chuffed, surrounded by courtiers and others.
In this illustration, Henry is resting his feet on the back of a miserable-looking and prostrate Pope Clement VII.
Source: Luminaries
On this day in the year 1534, the English Parliament passed the first Act of Supremacy. The legislation made King Henry VIII head of the Anglican Church. It caused what the British might call a bit of a dust up with the Pope, Clement VII.
#History #OTD #Excommunication #Expropriation