Why did Henry viii fail to get a divorce?

Answer 1

Just had to improve that answer...it's a little more complicated.....

Really there were three main reasons why Henry failed to obtain the divorce. The first was poor diplomatic relations with Rome. Wolsey ( Henry's chief minister until his fall in 1529) had done Henry's bidding and kept Rome at arms length, in an effort to minimise papal influence in England. However, while this had previously been advantageous, it meant that Henry had very little support in the Roman court when it was required, and Wolsey had very little knowledge of the Roman system. meaning that it was unlikely that the Pope would even hear the case, let alone grant the annulment. Furthermore, Cardinal Campeggio was elected to oversee the divorce case at Blackfriar's court in 1529. However, he was Cardinal Protector for both England and Spain (where Catherine was from), and thus had divided loyalties. A degree of enmity also existed between Wolsey and Campeggio, and so Campeggio likely slowed the court case.

Perhaps the main reason was that Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor) had invaded and sacked Rome in 1527, holding the Pope a virtual prisoner. Due to this, he had great influence over the Pope's decisions, and as he was Catherine's nephew, he was unlikely to allow an annulment to be granted. Those ambassadors sent to negotiate with the pope were also inexperienced and had questionable religious views, making them ineffective.

Finally, the religious justification for a divorce put forward by Wolsey was dubious. It was based around the fact that Catherine's last marriage to Arthur Tudor had been consummated, and so Henry's marriage to her had never been valid. To prove this, he referred to Leviticus scripture, pointing out that those who disregarded the traditional rules regarding marriage would be 'sonless' (as Henry was). However, Catherine insisted that her marriage had never been consummated and thus the argument was invalid, while Pope Innocent III had previously ruled that the bible passage should instead be interpreted as 'childless'....Henry was not childless (he had a daughter, Mary), and so the marriage to Catherine must be valid.

Hope that helps!