Anne Boleyn

The breaking of the Catholic Church began with king Henry VIII's desire to marry Anne Boleyn and the Pope's refusal to annul his previous marriage to Queen Catherine. Anne had refused to become the king's mistress and told him that the only way she would yield to his embraces was if he married her. The leader of the English Reformation, the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared Henry and Catherine's marriage null and void, then declared Henry and Anne's marriage to be good and valid. The pope immediately decreed sentences of excommunication against Henry and Cranmer. This resulted in the break between the Church of England and Rome, the Church of England was brought under the King's control. Anne became pregnant quickly and the future Queen Elizabeth I was born on 7 September, 1533. Disappointed in the gender of the child, and the three miscarriages that followed, Henry started courting Jane Seymour. In order to get rid of his wife, king Henry VIII charged Anne with adultery, incest, and witchcraft and sent to the Tower of London, where she awaits trial.