How Did King Henry Influence Medieval Europe

520 Words3 Pages

King Henry was a very significant individual in Medieval Europe. King Henry the second son of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York was born 28 June 1491 in Palace of Placentia, Greenwich. After the death of Henry's older brother in 1502 Henry inherited the throne. King Henry had many big impacts on Medieval Europe but the biggest impact being a religious reformation. King Henry was married to his brother's widow to reassure the alliance his father had with Spain. On February the 18th, 1516 Catherine gave birth to the first heir, Princess Mary. Henry was angry as Catherine now at age 42 couldn’t conceive Henry had a mission to have a male heir to obtain the throne. Henry requested for a divorce but it was denied. In 1533 Henry's mistress Anne became pregnant and Henry …show more content…

Later in the year Henry’s marriage with Catherine was revoked and he got secretly married to Anne by the new Archbishop Thomas Cranmer.

Point 1 - religious reformation: why was he significant?
King Henry is renowned for the religious reformation. King Henry split from the Catholic church in 1534 because of the dispute he had with the pope, who wouldn’t allow henry to get divorced. Henry’s decision to split from the Catholic church was a very significant part of ancient history. Henry’s motivation to split from the church was not only about him wanting a divorce but Henry saw it as a political advantage as many people thought the Catholic church were abusing the power they had. In 1532 Henry declared Thomas Cranmer as the archbishop of Canterbury and in 1534 Cranmer supported the act of supremacy which led to the eventual split of the two religions later on. After 16 years of helping Henry, Thomas Wolsey was accused of treason and was taken into custody and died. Henry’s actions made had very big impacts on society because standing up and going against a Pope who was very high in power and a big

More about How Did King Henry Influence Medieval Europe