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When Henry VIII came to the throne, England was a Roman Catholic country. The head of the church was the Pope in Rome, Clement VII. Henry was a devout Catholic and defended the Church against Protestants.

A German Monk, Martin Luther (1483-1546) started a religious movement called the Reformation which lead to the birth of the Protestant faith. In 1517 he protested against the Catholic practice of granting indulgences. An indulgence was a pardon instead of punishment for a sin. To gain an indulgence, a person had to perform a good deed. This was often giving money to the church, so it looked like the Church was selling pardons.

Luther protested that this was wrong. He believed that a man could only be saved by his faith. There was definitely much corruption in the Catholic Church at the time and many things needed reforming.

Luther gained support for his protests and other people started to protest also. Like John Calvin (whose followers were called Calvinists).

Europe was split, with very little tolerance from either side (Catholic or Protestant) for other peoples beliefs. Both sides persecuted the other.

In England, Henry VIII was a devout Catholic, in 1521, Pope Clement VII gave him the title of Defender of the Faith. However by 1529, Henry was trying to get rid of his wife, Catherine of Aragon but couldn't persuade the Pope to annul the marriage. So the King decided to claim that he was now head of The Church of England. The King persuaded Parliament to pass a new law making England independent from Rome. Henry divorced Catherine and married Anne Boleyn. In 1534 Parliament made a law called the Act of Supremacy, making the King Supreme Head of the Church of England.

Later on the King closed all the catholic monasteries, abbeys and religious houses. He resented their power and saw them as a threat. He also wanted their money.

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