While lethal politics played a role in the pope’s denial of an annulment to King Henry VIII of England, Henry’s decision to ignore excommunication and marry Anne Boleyn was still a flouting of Church authority—one that led to a new church in England and much violence and hardship in the wake of its formation.
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We are in England, in the first half of the 1500s. Today's protagonist is King Henry VIII, and the most surprising thing about this story is that Henry was not a rebel at all. In fact, he was highly esteemed by the Church.
When Martin Luther first began setting Europe ablaze, Henry actually wrote a book defending the Pope, earning himself the official title of Defender of the Faith. In short, he was an ironclad Catholic, until personal interests got in the way.
Henry is married to Catherine of Aragon, but the queen is unable to give him the male heir he desperately needs to secure the succession to the throne. Meanwhile, a young and ambitious lady-in-waiting has appeared at court, Anne Boleyn. Henry falls madly in love with her, and decides he has to marry her at all costs.
There's just one problem. He's already married. And so, he sends his ambassadors to Rome, to Pope Clement VII, to request an annulment of the marriage. A practice that, for monarchs of the era, was actually quite often granted. But Clement VII's hands are tied. Rome is surrounded by the troops of Emperor Charles V, who just so happens to be Catherine of Aragon's nephew.
The Pope simply cannot afford to antagonize the most powerful man in Europe. And so, he says no. Henry doesn't wait for permission. He marries Anne Boleyn anyway. Rome immediately responds in 1533 with an initial excommunication. But it's too late to stop him. Henry doubles down, and in 1534, he passes the Act of Supremacy, declaring himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England.
From that moment on, the laws of Rome no longer rule in London. That first excommunication is kept suspended for years, in the hopes that Henry might backtrack. But he doesn't. And so, on December 17, 1538, the new pope, Paul III, makes it final and unappealable.
The king, however, doesn't even bat an eye. Instead, he uses the rift to confiscate all the wealth of the English monasteries and to behead anyone who dares to remain loyal to Rome, including his old friend Thomas More. It is the birth of the Anglican Church. An excommunication that didn't break a single man, but instead handed an entire nation over to a new faith.
