Another corruption that Luther frowned upon was the supposed supremacy of the pope. A extract from Martin Luther’s Against Catholicism (1535) states: “Further, he took upon him power, …show more content…
Question 3. King Henry VIII
Henry VIII was born on the 28th of June 1491 and after his older brother Arthur died, he became the next heir to the throne. It was 1509 when he became King and married Catherine of Aragon. Because he was a faithful Catholic, he opposed the Protestants and wrote an attack against Martin Luther. Due to his action, the Pope named him “Defender of the Faith.”
Henry VIII fell in love with Anne Boleyn and wanted to marry her (also because he wanted a male heir and Catherine was too old to bear children) but knew that if he wanted a divorce for this reason, he would be excommunicated. The changes that he wanted for the Church were for his selfish desires. Henry also wanted to get rid of the monasteries of England as he saw them as a threat to him. His reasons for wanting to see changes in the Catholic Church were self-centred and unmindful, wanting more power over the Church as he was allured to economic opportunities.
King Henry VIII attempted to cause the changes he sought through publishing a text called “Defence of the Seven Sacraments” in regards to Martin Luther’s disapproval of the Pope. The book proposed many arguments that favoured traditional middle-aged beliefs and calls out Luther for “impertinent calumnies”. The book defends papal authority and the binding of marriage. It was well known that Henry disliked Martin Luther