How to I determine what the driving force was in Henry VIII divorce with Catherine of Aragon in 1532

Firstly- you need to establish what the driving forces were..... 1. Need for a male heir 2. Love of Anne Boleyn 3. Wanting to reform the Church 4. Troubled Conscience 5. Now- let's discuss what evidence exists for each of these factors 1. Need for a male heir = although Henry VIII had an heir: Princess Mary, he understood the importance of having a spare and a male heir because he himself only became King because his elder brother Arthur died in 1502. Secondly, the last female monarch- Matilda was usurped by her Stephen in the 12th Century. Also- Catherine of Aragon was past the age of child bearing- something established by physicians by 1524 2. Love of Anne Boleyn = Anne Boleyn was youthful and fun. She enticed Henry VIII and manipulated his love. It is clear that he loved Anne through the remains of love letters dated from as early as 1525 3. Wanting to reform the Church = There was much corruption which existed in the Church and at this time there were religious revolutions occuring such as Humanism and Lutheranism enabling Henry VIII to learn and understand more and more about the religious corruption which existed in the Church. 4. Troubled Conscience = Catherine of Aragon was originally married to Henry VIII elder brother Arthur before he died. In order for the couple to marry- a papal bull had to be published so that the marriage wasn't doomed. However, after research in the Bible- there existed 2 conflicting passages between Deutronomy and Leviticus. Given that Henry VIII viewed himself as a religious scholar this may have led him to contemplate his conscience as religious superstition was very common during this time period . Now- How do we evaluate the question..... you need to decide what factor you deem is the most important. One way of doing this is looking at how much evidence exists for each factor and determining how well supported each of these factors are. Another way is looking at previous trends and into the future in order to see how Henry VIII approached this problem and how he encountered it as this will help us to see what exactly was his thought process hence leading us to establish what drove him personally to getting a divorce. 

Answered by Ariana D. History tutor

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