This Day in History: Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn's marriage is annulled on this day in 1536. Why is this important? Henry VIII was previously married to Catherine of Aragon, but she was unable to bare him a child. Hank then wanted a second wife because he needed an heir, but the Pope refused his request for a divorce/annulment. Henry then said "screw you" to the Pope, and declared himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England (thereby rejecting the Pope's authority).
Thus, Protestantism and the Reformation was officially started and sanctioned in England, and Catholicism started to lose control over the Western world.
Was Henry VIII a Protestant? "No way! He killed Protestants who threatened the Roman Catholic air he breathed. Up until the very end of his life he resisted the Reformation’s central idea of justification by grace through faith alone, and with the help of Cardinal Wolsey and others, ordered the burning of Martin Luther’s writings, and imprisoned and killed his followers. Historian Alec Ryrie must have been right when he wrote that Henry’s reforms look more like 'Catholicism without the pope' than 'Lutheranism without justification by faith...Henry’s middle ground was in many ways a political Reformation of convenience, and he clearly did not intend his heirs to embrace Protestantism. Nevertheless, his actions helped make a way for this outcome. '” Source
Oh, and Henry VIII didn't behead all of his 6 wives, only 2. He divorced the other 2 and one died of blood poisoning. To help you remember, there's a little poem that explains what happened to his wives in chronological order:
"Divorced, beheaded, died.
Divorced, beheaded, survived..."
"Divorced, beheaded, died.
Divorced, beheaded, survived..."
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