Henry

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Why did Henry want a divorce?

Spiritual/Religious Reasons

  • Henry believed that the Bible told him he was cursed because he was married to his brothers wife

Political Reasons

  • Catherine had been pregnant 6 times but only one baby survived (Mary)

Personal Reasons

  • Catherine was 39 years old-->ugly and aged
  • Henry fancied Anne Boleyn - Anne playing hard to get --> refusing to sleep with him unless they are married
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Why did Wolsey fail to annul the marriage?

Wolsey attempts to annul marriage

  • Uses Bible - passage in book of Leviticus - Henry should've never been allowed to marry Catherine (blaming old pope)
  • Technicality - wording used in marriage ceremony wasn't correct
  • Puts pressure on Catherine - tried to persuae her to become a nun (automatically ends marriage) - threatens her she'll never see Mary if she didn't annul marriage with Henry
  • Try to persuade pope to let him decide (Cardinal & Papal Legate) over the pope

Why he failed

In the end pope sent envoy (Cardinal Campeggio) to hear divorce case - Campeggio never made decision because pope told him to and because couldn't prove whether Catherine had slept with Arthur & couldn't reach decision about Bible. Catherine argued at trial she was a good wife, she was a princess, she wouldn't allow Mary to be illegitimate & wouldn't accept she'd been living as Henry's mistress since 1509.

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Why Wolsey fell from power?

Why Wolsey fell from power?

  • failure to get money (3)
  • failure to give Henry successful war/ raise H8 to be equal to Francis & Charles (4)
  • failure to annul marriage (6)
  • Boleyn faction --> Boleyn faction consisted of Boleyn family (Thomas Boleyn-father, George Boleyn-brother, Thomas Howard-uncle) and those who supported Anne's marriage to Henry - Boleyns always wanted power - was why Mary & Anne Boleyn both sent to court - Boleyns hated Wolsey as he'd previously stopped Anne marrying Percy (rich Lord) & put family down - blamed Wolsey for deliberately stopping Catherine's annulment- also found evidence to destroy him-found he'd been writing letters to pope, Francis and Charles behind Henry's back
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