Today in 1538 Henry VIII was excommunicated by Pope Paul III over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. The timing is interesting because this was already a year and a half after Anne Boleyn had been executed. Henry had first been threatened with excommunication in 1530 when Pope Clement VII threatened it.
Of course, at that point, it was a threat designed to have Henry break off his relationship with Anne Boleyn, and welcome his wife back. But it didn’t work. Henry kept pursuing Anne, and pushing Katherine of Aragon aside.
Clement VII died in September 1534, and Paul III, born Alessandro Farnese, became Pope. Paul III first issued his sentence of excommunication in August of 1535, after the executions of Bishop Fisher and Thomas More. Â That sentence was suspended, hoping that Henry would stop pursuing religious reforms, and return to Katherine. Eventually, it became clear that Henry was set on his own path, and today in 1538 Henry was officially excommunicated.
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 where we did an entire series on the Reformation in England.
Suggested link:
Reformation Month
From the shop:
Cromwell: Coffee first, Because Reformation-ing is hard mug
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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.