Break with Rome[edit]

Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, Henry VIII's chief minister responsible for the Dissolution of the Monasteries In order to allow Henry to divorce his wife, the English parliament enacted laws breaking ties with Rome, and declaring the king Supreme Head of the Church of E ngland (from Elizabeth I the monarch is known as the Supreme Governor of the Chu rch of England), thus severing the ecclesiastical structure of England from the Catholic Church and the Pope. The newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, Thom as Cranmer, was then able to declare Henry's marriage to Catherine annulled. Cat herine was removed from Court, and she spent the last three years of her life in various English houses under "protectorship," similar to house arrest.[11] This allowed Henry to marry one of his courtiers Anne Boleyn, the daughter of a mino r diplomat Sir Thomas Boleyn. Anne had become pregnant by the end of 1532 and ga ve birth on 7 September 1533 to Elizabeth named in honour of Henry's mother.[12] Anne may have had later pregnancies which ended in miscarriage or stillbirth. I n May 1536, Anne was arrested, along with six courtiers. Thomas Cromwell stepped in again, claiming that Anne had taken lovers during her marriage to Henry, and she was tried for high treason, witchcraft and incest; these charges were most likely fabricated, but she was found guilty, and executed in May 1536.