How important was religion as a motivation for Henry VIII's break with Rome?

The break with Rome, and subsequent creation of the Church of England, was motivated by a number of factors, including religion, power, money and succession. Although religion was certainly important to some extent - particularly when viewed in relation to the actions and religious beliefs of Henry's close adviser Thomas Cromwell, and future wife Anne Boleyn - it was not the sole motivation, and certainly not the one that most motivated the King. In fact, in 1519, he had been granted the title 'Defender of the Faith' for writing against Martin Luther's criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church, and enjoyed many of the Catholic aspects of religious practice. Henry was not, by any stretch, a devout Protestant, and he was arguably more motivated by other factors. One of these factors was power; he believed that, as king, he should be answerable only to God. However, as England was part of the Roman Catholic Church, this meant that Henry was also answerable to the Pope. With the break from Rome, he became the Supreme Head of the Church of England, transferring total religious authority over England to himself. Not only did this mean that he now had total secular and religious control over the country, but it also meant that the institution of the Roman Catholic Church no longer had any authority in England. This links to another motivation of Henry's; money. The Tudor monarchy was often in debt, from participating in wars and other costly ventures, so this would have been a strong motivation for the decision to break with Rome. After the break with Rome, Church lands could be taken by the Crown, and sold to the nobility for a profit. This is what happened during the dissolution of the monasteries, which took place from 1535. In addition, payments that the Crown had previously had to make to the Pope, such as Peter's Pence, no longer had to be paid. All of these factors were significant in motivating Henry VIII to break with Rome, but arguably the most important was the succession. By 1533, Henry VIII still did not have a son. His desire to end his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, and instead marry Anne Boleyn, was a particularly strong motivation; he had been unable to get a papal annulment of the marriage in 1529, and was becoming more desperate. The succession was of particular importance to Tudor monarchs as it was still a relatively new dynasty, that had been started with Henry VII's victory at the Wars of the Roses, and was therefore unstable. Henry VIII needed a male heir to help consolidate Tudor power over England. Overall, religion was certainly a motivation for Henry VIII's break with Rome, but it was not as important as the power or money that the break would bring to Henry, and certainly not as important to him as securing the succession.