Henry VIII,the Reign, in 140 Words
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King Henry VIII relinquished his royal authority to Thomas Wolsey, an over-bearing cleric who filched his power from the Roman Catholic Church. Wolsey’s elevation to the cardinalate fuelled his ambition to become pope and for two decades he machinated with the two most powerful monarchs in Christendom, until they united against the megalomaniac minister and engineered his downfall.
Henry was ineffective in his government and the void left by Wolsey roused hitherto latent anti-clerical forces. They sought to reform such clerical abuses of power and employed the marriage of Henry to Anne Boleyn as a device to sever papal authority in England. Anne’s purpose served, she was executed, and then to ratify their governance the anti-clericalists contrived the marriage of Henry to Jane Seymour. With Henry manipulated thus by politicians, his reign is infamous for a sextet of such unions. Read More Link Henry VIII, the Reign, in XIII Minutes |