Section D: Wolsey, Catherine, the succession and annulment

• how is catherine of aragon related to charles?

  she was his aunt
• why did henry want to annul catherine of aragon?

  1. need male heir, catherine = too old.
  2. has tried multiple times to have baby with catherine, but always failed. henry thought it was god's displeasure, in leviticus "if a man shall take his brother's wife...they shall be childless."
  3. met anne boleyn, loves her
• henry's attempts to gain an annulment

  1. in 1527, gave task to wolsey
  2. annulment needs approval of pope, but wolsey was papal legate so he had infuence in rome, pope = ally
  3. however, catherine = aunt of charles. charles had taken pope as prisoner
  4. pope did not want to risk upsetting charles by granting the annulment, but also did not want to lose alliance with england. = delay of decision
  5. wolsey tried to find evidence against leviticus: book of deuteronomy, suggested a man could marry his brother's widow. however this only worked if arthur and catherine's marriage was consummated. catherien insisted it had not.
  6. huge pressure on catherine- becoem nun and renounce marriage
  7. pope sent cardinal campeggio to england to oversee arrangements, pope said don't make decision. cardinal did not arrive in england until oct 1528, no annulment hearing until june 1529, broke up court in july 1529 with no decision.
  8. case had to be heard in rome
• opposition to the annulment

  1. clement vii, the pope
  2. catherine of aragon
  3. john fisher, bishop of rochester
  4. thomas more, advisor to the king
  5. public support for the queen
• reasons for wolsey's fall from power

  1. campeggio suspended work on divorce in july 1529 = wolsey failed
  2. in oct, henry punished wolsey by stripping him of most of his powers and possessions, exiling him to york
  3. in nov 1530, wolsey summoned to london for trial on charges of praemunire; treason by a member of the clergy as a result of working in the interests of the pope, not the king
  4. wolsey died on the journey south, spared execution
• the influence of the boleyns

  1. wolsey was unable to prevent a powerful new group in court developing around anne, led by her father thomas boleyn and her brother george boleyn.
  2. boleyns argues that wolsey was deliberatley trying to disrupt divorce proceedings because he favoured catherine
  3. other nobles with grudges against wolsey sided eagerly with the boleyns