The ‘King’s Great Matter’

• Henry VIII


  King of England in the 1520s
• By the mid-1520s Henry was becoming dissatisfied at the state of his marriage
• Catherine


  • Six years older than the King
  • Past childbearing age
  • Only one child, Princess Mary, had survived infancy
• Henry was fearful for the kingdom should he die without a male heir
• Henry even considered legitimating his son Henry Fitzroy (his son from his mistress Bessie Blount); a plan unlikely to succeed
• Henry had fallen in love with Anne Boleyn who was unwilling to become the king's mistress
• Henry claimed that in God's eyes his marriage was illegal and that he was therefore free to marry Anne
• Catherine claimed that her marriage to Prince Arthur had never been consummated and that therefore the Biblical ban did not apply
• Henry insisted that Wolsey seek a dispensation for annulment based on the Levitican argument anyway
• Catherine refused to accept the court's verdict and, in accordance with canon law (church law), appealed to the Pope
• In May 1527 Wolsey used his power as the personal representative of the Pope to bring Henry before a fake court to 'accuse' him of living in sin with his supposed wife, a fault which Henry readily admitted.