Today in 1531 Pope Clement VII wrote to Henry in England telling him that if he remarried he would be excommunicated. Henry was still waiting to hear what the papal court had to say about the legitimacy of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon, and it had been several years since the pope first heard the case, still with no answer. Henry was becoming impatient, wanting to marry Anne Boleyn, and he was threatening to take matters into his own hands.
He wrote
“At the request of the Queen, forbids Henry to remarry until the decision of the case, and declares that if he does all issue will be illegitimate. Forbids any one in England, of ecclesiastical or secular dignity, universities, parliaments, courts of law, &c., to make any decision in an affair the judgment. The whole under pain of excommunication. As Henry would not receive a former citation, this is to be affixed to the church gates of Bruges, Tournay, and other towns in the Low Countries, which will be sufficient promulgation. Rome, 5 Jan. 1531.”
Of course, Henry wouldn’t listen in the end, would marry Anne two years later, and declare himself the head of the Church of England and have Archbishop Thomas Cranmer declare his marriage illegitimate.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Episode 109: Divorce in the Middle Ages (The Precedence for Henry’s Divorce)
From the shop:
The Henry and Anne Love Letter Accessory Bag
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.