How would the world be different without king Henry VIII?

Answer 1

Henry is probably most remembered for his marriage record; the six wives. But this characteristic had little direct effect on the world at large. He was a belligerent monarch and fought several campaigns against his neighbours. The Scots were defeated at Flodden in 1513 but his war with France proved expensive and unsuccessful. Henry's all-consuming concern was his need for a male heir. When he determined to replace Catherine of Aragon, his first wife, the widow of his brother and the cause of a dispute with the Church in itself - who had only one daughter, Mary - the Pope finally decided 'enough was enough' and refused to grant the divorce. When in 1533, Henry went ahead anyway and married Anne Boleyn, with whom he had a daughter, Elizabeth, the Pope excommunicated him and parliamentary legislation confirmed Henry's decision to break with Rome. Henry established himself as head of the Church of England and ordered the dissolution of the monasteries. It is this almost accidental creation of the Anglican Church with him as its Head - virtually a side effect of his determination to get his divorce - that is his greatest effect on the rest of the world; the Anglican Church is now almost worldwide. Other reforms - including the uniting of England and Wales and the creation of the Council of the North and the Household and Exchequer - also instigated during the 1530s - similarly had little effect on, or relevance to, the rest of the world.