Henry wanted an heir - Catherine had
6 pregnancies in 15 years and only
one child had survived - a girl
Catherine was old
and lost her looks
Henry believe his marriage was sinful
because of Leviticus - it said that you
shouldn't marry your brother's wife
Henry was in love with Anne Boleyn -
she was pushed by her uncle the Duke
of Norfolk to hold out for marriage
Complications
Pope Julius II had given a dispensation for
Catherine's marriage to Arthur - if Henry used the
Leviticus (ch 20 verse 21) argument it would mean
that this dispensation shouldn't have been given
For the current Pope (Clement VII) to admit that
Julius was wrong would cause people to question
Papal supremacy
Lutherans in Germany are kicking
off - this would only make things
worse for the Catholic Church
Leviticus said they would be
childless, however they weren't -
this argument was already invalid
1527 Sack of Rome - Pope
Clement was under control of
Charles V - Catherine's nephew -
Charles wanted Catherine to stay
with Henry to promote his own
interests
Clement delayed the annulment by 2
years with little progress
Henry needed the Pope to give Henry permission (a
'Papal Bull') to marry someone he was already related
to, as he had been involved with Anne's sister
However this 'Papal Bull' was
only valid if his current marriage
was declared invalid - it wasn't
Henry wanted a Legatine Court in
England, rather than in Rome
He instructed Campeggio to
slow down the Divorce as
much as possible
1529 - The court is
delayed over the
summer and
recalled in Rome
1529 Peace of Cambrai
and Barcelona are signed -
no one will help Henry
Wolsey's approach
Catherine claims that her
marriage with Arthur wasn't
consumated
The dispensation given in 1503
was given on the grounds that
her marriage to Arthur WAS
consumated
either she is lying or the
dispensation is invalid
Wolsey said that she was telling
the truth - would make the
dispensation invalid, as well as
her marriage to Henry
1528 - Pope decides Legatine Court can be
held in England, but 2 Papal Legates have to
be present (Campeggio with Wolsey)
Wolsey is not worried about Campeggio
Wolsey upstaged
him with the
Treaty of London
in 1518
Campeggio is
the Bishop of
Salisbury, and
therefore gets
paid by Henry
Reasons the Divorce failed
Henry decided to use his own
biblical argument, rather than
Wolsey's legal argument
Wolsey may not have wanted it - he
hated Anne Boleyn and liked Catherine -
he also hoped that Henry would bore of
Anne, as she wouldn't put out
However, desperate letters to
Rome suggest he realised his
political power depended on it
Charles V's view
on Divorce
Catherine was his favourite
aunt - family pride - therefore
was against it
However, modern view is that
he wasn't into family pride -
one of his other aunts was
divorced and he took the
throne from his mother
He was more likely interested in
keeping Catherine in court for his
own interests and the fact he
didn't want to back down
Pope Clement VII's
view on Divorce
He was very
indecisive - he hoped
the issue would just
go away:
Catherine could die
or go into a convent
Henry might get
bored of Anne -
no sex
England might sort it
out themselves
He was afraid of both
Henry and Charles - didn't
want to annoy them
However, he was
determined to do
nothing
1534 - Pope declared Henry's
marriage invalid - too late as he
already married Anne