Henry the VIII and the English Reformation - Research Paper Example

Henry thus needed a male heir who could succeed him and help protect the English legacy from the potential enemies within Europe. The frustrations of Henry in his search for a male heir is a story worth telling due to a dramatic twist of events that finally led to major reformation in England and beyond. Henry was a man full of drama and he always ensured that he gets what he wanted and this is the reason why he broke from the Catholic Church to form the protestant church. The decisions Henry took in his quest for what he wants to have a lot of impact on the implications for English policy and the monarchy.

About Henrys Life According to Knowles and Hadcock (1972), he was a young boy who would later become the king after the death of his father was born in 1491 as the second son and he became an heir to the throne in 1502. He was described as an intelligent boy and an athlete with a good understanding of French, Latin, Spanish and was a very religious man due to his upbringing as a strong Catholic. He was a go getter who was extremely fond of hunting and never takes a diversion without tiring eight to ten horses.

His scholarly interests included writing books and music and thus was accomplished a player of many instruments and a composer of various songs. About that time (1500AD) Enduring social order of the early modern church depended entirely on the production of male heirs in most of the cultural settings since most people do not believe in the leadership of a woman. In most cultural settings, women are forbidden from taking the crown and its thus required that the hair to the throne be a man. For some communities, lacking a surviving male heir is like inviting a curse, uncertainty, political disorder, and ultimately war that may lead to tremendous loss of lives.

England learned the cost of women's leadership when an infant took the leadership in the year 1442 that eventually led to wars and the rise of the Tudor dynasty that destabilized their power system (MacCulloch, 2003). Most English people also feared giving power to women since they can be married to foregin land thus diluting the culture, heritage and the influence of their country. Divorce in the ancient Catholic Church was highly disregarded and it was unimaginable for ordinary people. Divorce could only be considered for the rich, powerful and the royal but only when sanctioned by the catholic pope himself and thus it was equally hard for everybody.

Those who tried divorce without papal approval were highly trading on the dangerous path by inviting severe punishment and excommunication by the church (Knowles, 1979). The Catholic Church and its leadership faced a test of their time when the king himself needed a divorce, considering the power and authority he has over the land. The refusal to grant Henry permission to divorce his first wife who could not sire a man to be the heir of the throne made Henry break ranks with the Catholic Church (Knowles, 1979; Rex, 2006; Skidmore, 2007).

This marked the beginning of protestant churches and the split of the Catholic Church that used to be the sole church for the people of England. The rebellion of the pope was considered illegal and liturgical and thus was considered by most of the churchgoers as an invitation for a curse in England. The Catholic Chu