Reasons for the break with Rome
...But there did exist an Opposition against the church, even if it was not widespread and by 1530 Protestant ideas reached England which originated in Germany and Switzerland. The second group of causes is Henry VIII’s desire for more power. The Pope was the most powerful man of the church, and because of the fact that the church was thus powerful, he was a really very important man. This means that Henry as the king hasn’t had complete power over everything. But this changed when Henry broke away from the power of the Pope and he became also the leader of the church. The third and last group are Henry’s private reasons; Anne Boleyn, his desire for a male heir and his conscience. In my opinion the less credible reason of these is his conscience. Henry thought his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was against god’s will. He refers to the words of the Bible where Leviticus said: “If a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing… they shall be without children.” But Henry and Catherine had a child, Mary. This did not follow Leviticus in the Latin translation, so Henry turned to the Hebrew original, which specified sons rather than children. So his conscience could not have been...