Why didn Henry VIII get a divorce under English Law?
Henry claimed that, as he had married his deceased older brother’s fiancee, this was incestuous and illegal and should be annulled (declared invalid) by the Pope. The Pope at that time was a relative of Henry’s wife Catherine of Aragon (part of Spain) and especially Charles V of Spain, a very powerful ruler. Hence Henry had no chance to change wives. He desperately wanted a son to succeed him, not wanting another round of civil wars such as the Wars of the Roses, so he declared independence from the Catholic Church, set up the Church of England, and annulled his marriage as the head of the C of E.
There was no “English Law” at the time, and the term “divorce” – almost always used in the story of Henry VIII – is entirely inaccurate and misleading. Firstly, the Roman Catholic Church – the ONLY one at the time – did/does not recognize “divorce”. “Separation” was possible, but that did not allow re-marriage, and so was no use to Henry – the whole purpose was to have a wife who would give him a son. What he requested from the Pope was an “annulment” of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. That would decare that he had never been legally married, and would then be free to do so. The grounds were that he had married his brother’s widow – also forbbiden by Church Law – which indeed he had, but his father, Henry VII, had persuaded the then Pope to grant a “Special Dispensation”. Henry VIII’s case was that that Pope had been wrong to do so, and that Catherine’s failure to produce the vitally-important male heir was a sign of God’s displeasure. He stood high in the favour of the current Po
