Henry VIII and the ‘Great Matter’

King Henry VIII

I am very happy to share with you that I have selected Lynn Oliver’s article about Henry VIII and the ‘Great Matter’ as the runner up in our ‘Write Anne Boleyn’ competition.

I hope you will join me in congratulating Lynn on a very detailed and well researched article.

Henry VIII and the ‘Great Matter’ by Lynn Oliver

Henry VIII is most well known for his six wives and his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church that generated the Reformation.  Henry ended his marriage with three of his six wives via an annulment.  An annulment makes a marriage null and void, retroactive from the beginning.  It is unlike a divorce in that it cancels the married status of the parties.  Historians refer to the end of the marriage between Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon as a divorce, yet evidence demonstrates the marriage ended in annulment.  In nothing else during his decades long reign did Henry put as much research and energy as this dissolution.

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