King Henry VIII of England set off the reformation. It is said that it all started from his trouble with woman. The King wanted a divorce from his wife, Catherine of Aragon. The pope would not annul his marriage. This made the King very upset with the pope. .
Since the King already had power, he figured that if the pope would not give him what he wanted then he would take control of the church in England. He wanted both secular rule and religious rule. King Henry set forth the Act of Supremacy. This gave the king his power calling him the head of the church, and "shall be taken, accepted, and reputed the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England". Also "shall have and enjoy, annexed and united to the imperial crown of this realm, as well as the title and style thereof, as all honors, dignities, preeminence's, jurisdictions, privileges, authorities, immunities, profits, and commodities to the said dignity of the supreme head of the same church belonging and appertaining"(Act of Supremacy). .
This act basically gave the king complete control over the church and it's properties. This act passed by parliament in 1534, it gave legal sanction to Henry's assumption of those clerical powers. He now had the legal right to do what he wanted to do, no one could stop him. He had gotten rid of the pope in England and made himself head of everything. .
This lead to the rise of the Protestantism, pulling more people away from the Catholic Church. King Edward made the protestant church the main church in England. He changed the way people lived and prayed, giving them a common book of prayer and removing all icons from the church. King Edward died young and he tried to insure the protestant religion after him through his sister Mary. .
Once queen Mary took the throne she gave the church back to the pope and restored the catholic belief. The move back the church was to late. Protestism was already on them move and there was no stopping it.
