WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In 1534 Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy which defined the right of Henry VIII to be supreme head on earth of the Church of England, thereby severing ecclesiastical links with Rome.

Detailed explanation-2: -However, Henry formally broke with the Pope and the Roman Church after Pope Clement VII refused to grant him an annulment of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon so that he could wed Anne. His appeal for an annulment was on the grounds that their union contravened the scriptures, citing Leviticus 20.

Detailed explanation-3: -In response, the Reformation Parliament (1529–1536) passed laws abolishing papal authority in England and declared Henry to be head of the Church of England.

Detailed explanation-4: -The first Act of Succession passed in 1534 required his subjects to accept the King’s marriage to his second wife, Anne Boleyn, as ‘undoubted, true, sincere and perfect’. Henry’s annulment from his first wife, Catherine, had forced his break with the Roman Catholic Church.

Detailed explanation-5: -In 1534 however, Henry pushed through the Act of Supremacy. The Act made him, and all of his heirs, Supreme Head of the Church of England. This meant that the Pope no longer held religious authority in England, and Henry was free to divorce Catherine.