How the desire to put the king in a box leads to unexpected, large-scale consequences

Sometimes history lessons show how dangerous it is to make mistakes with rulers who wield almost unlimited power

The English King Henry VIII was furious when the Pope refused to dissolve his marriage to the barren Catherine of Aragon on March 7, 1530. After all, he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn, and Catherine would not grant him a divorce, since it would mean imprisonment in a monastery for her.

Підписуйтеcь на наш Telegram-канал Lenta.UA - ЄДИНІ незалежні новини про події в Україні та світі

In terms of church authority, England was then still under the auspices of the Pope, and he, as befits a strict Catholic, as was said above, did not grant Henry VIII a divorce and even issued a bull on the legality of Henry and Catherine's marriage.

In response, the king initiated the adoption of the Act of Supremacy of the Royal Authority over the Church in England in 1534 and was proclaimed the head of the English Church, the date of if not birth, then, figuratively speaking, "conception" of which was March 7, 1530.

However, this did not end well for Anne Boleyn. First the illegal, and then the legal wife of the king, she was never able to give him a male heir. Anne suffered two miscarriages and the loving king, who had already found a replacement for her, decided to get rid of his wife. Anne was accused of all mortal sins, including incest and treason to her husband - and treason to the king was equated to state treason and was punishable by death.

The only merciful act for those times that Henry VIII did in this situation was to replace the burning at the stake with beheading, which happened at the royal court in the presence of all the nobility.

This whole royal family drama has long since become history and material for novels and films, but the Anglican Church has remained and now has 25 million parishioners. Formally, it considers itself a reformed Catholic Church, but at the same time, its organizational reforms have gone very far from the Catholic Church.

And it all began with a refusal to grant a divorce...

Photo: Canterbury Cathedral is the main cathedral of the Church of England Wikipedia