Henry VIII: DivorceFrom Catherine

From RomeHenry VIII: Marriage

To AnneHenry VIII: Divorce

From Anne

Religion Before the Break with Rome

PrintingGutenberg Genesis, 1450

Caxton Indulgence for the Defense of Rhodes, 1480

Erasmus Greek to Latin translation Gospel of Matthew

Novum instrumentum• First published 1514• Contained annotations

comparing text with Vulgate

• 229 reprints in 16th C.• Basis for Tyndale’s

English translation

William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury

Letter to Wolsey, 1531• “that University

[Oxford] be infected with the heresies of Luther”

• “a great number of books of said perverse doctrine”

• Young scholars, infected with the cause, should be examined in London

Luther in England

Discussants and martyrsRobert Barnes (1540), William Tyndale (1536), Miles Coverdale (exile), Nicholas Ridley (1555), Hugh Latimer (1555), Thomas Cranmer (1556), Thomas Bilney (1531)

Henry VIIIDefense of the

Seven Sacraments

Thomas More ?Dedicated to Pope Leo XHenry titled Defender of the FaithOver 20 editions

Church and Welfare

• Until the fourteenth century almost all charitable endowments had been in the hands of the Church-chiefly monasteries

• 15th century – almshouses supported by guilds• 1495 Vagrancy punished by 3 days in stocks

Some beggars given permission to beg• 1531 Licenses for begging.

Tithes, Tithe Barn, Lenham Kent (14th C.)

Pre-Henrician DissolutionSt Radegund's Priory, Cambridge; dissolved in 1496 and converted into Jesus

College,

Bishops in London

• York Place (later Whitehall) (Abp. of York)

• Lambeth Palace (Abp. of Canterbury

• Ely House, Camden (B. of Ely)• Winchester Palace (B. of

Winchester)

Church Courts

• Visitations – audit of spiritual, moral, administrative and financial state of dioceses– Correction of problems

• Civil suits – tithes, defamation– Probate and guardianship

• Marriage– Broken promises– Divorce

Divorce a vinculo

• A divorce from the bond of marriage. A total divorce of husband and wife, dissolving the marriage tie, and releasing the parties wholly from their matrimonial obligations. (Black's Law Dictionary)

Causes

• Pre-existing contract• Impediments of relation by blood, marriage or

affinity• Impotence• Duress• Adulterous relationship• Religious vows

Margaret Tudor (1489-1541)

• 1502 Marriage to James IV• 1513 Widowed after Battle of Flodden• 1515 Married Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus• 1521 Initiated divorce proceedings• 1527 Divorce on grounds of pre-contract• 1528 Married Henry Stewart

Divorce a mensa et tlioro

• A divorce from table and bed, or from bed and board. A partial or qualified divorce, by which the parties are separated and forbidden to live or cohabit together, without affecting the marriage itself. (Black's Law Dictionary)

Causes

• Adultery• “Spiritual formication” – heresy, apostasy• Cruelty

Mortuary Fess

Hunne’s CaseA challenge to church authority

Catherine of Aragon

Was this the face that might have launched a 1000 ships?

Lucas Horenbout Miniattures, ~1525, NPG

Duke of Buccleuch Collection

Legal Considerations

• Stare decisis (Pope Julius grant of dispensation)

• Adequate representation in England• Judicial bias in England• Inability to produce witnesses from Spain