Why was it not possible for King Henry the VIII to divorce Catherine of Aragon?

Answer 1

There were several reasons why the Church would not let Henry divorce Catherine of Aragon.

The first was because Catherine was the Aunt of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles, who had sacked Rome and held the Pope prisoner just before Henry petitioned the Pope for divorce. In this situation the Pope was not about to make Charles mad by sanctioning the divorce of his Aunt so that his Uncle could marry someone else.

The second was because before Henry and Catherine got married they had a dispensation saying that their marriage was valid and they went threw significant problems trying to get it, so getting another one 20 some years later went against what the Pope was about.

Answer 2

It was against the Catholic Law.

Not exactly

Henry asked the Pope to annull his marriage to Catherine on the grounds that as his brother's widow it had been sinfull for him to marry her in the first place. It would not have been uncommon for the Pope to grant a request like this especially from a good Catholic king like Henry. Unfortunately the Pope at the time was under the control of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V who was Catherine's nephew and who objected to her being treated like that so the Pope refused.

Answer 3

Divorce was not allowed in Roman Catholic Church, so Henry VIII wanted an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn. Under pressure from Catherine's nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Pope Clement VII refused the annulment.

Answer 4

Before Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon he received a Papal Bull from the Pope agreeing that Henry could marry his dead brother's (Prince Arthur) wife. When Henry and Catherine married in June 1509 both were Roman Catholics. Everybody in England was - the penalty for heresy (being found guilty of being a non-believer) was death. Though Henry is portrayed as a powerful king who dominated his land, such was the tie to Rome and the Roman Catholic faith, that he felt it necessary to effectively get Papal permission to marry Catherine. In 1509 it would have been inconceivable that anyone would think that a break would occur with Rome and the power of the Papacy. However, within 25 years this is exactly what happened.Answer this question…