25. Henry VIII and the English Reformation

The Reformation came to England through the back door, as Henry VIII, determined to divorce his Spanish Queen, Catherine of Aragon, sought but failed to obtain the pope's permission to do so. His break from papal authority established an independent church in England, but the church remained fundamentally Catholic in its theology and liturgy, leading to heroic efforts by others to move England toward a posture more fully reflecting the Reformation. The success of those efforts, however, would have to wait for a later time.