Expert: Mark Smith - 10/14/2006

Question
what role did HenryV111play in the change of religion in his reign

Answer
Hello Cornelius.
The Church of England with the Monarch as its Head was founded during the reign of Henry VIII in 1535, but its creation was not driven primarily by religious concerns. It had more to do with Henry's desire to divorce Katherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn, something the Catholic Church would not allow him to do. As a result the Anglican Church under King Henry was far from the Protestant Church we know today. It only developed under his son Edward VI and was refined under his daughter Elizabeth I. Having said that its inception came under Henry, but it was not his idea, that came from his Chancellor Thomas Cromwell. Henry gladly went along with Cromwell's suggestions as being the best way to get what he wanted. As far as religious matters went Henry resisted any moves towards Protestantism as practised in northern Europe. He saw the Reformation as a political not religious matter.
Mark