Editing House of Tudor (section)

=== Break with Rome ===
[[File:Cromwell,Thomas(1EEssex)01.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex]], Henry VIII's chief minister responsible for the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]]]]

In order to allow Henry to dissolve his marriage and marry Anne Boleyn, the English parliament enacted laws breaking ties with Rome, and declaring the king Supreme Head of the Church of England (from [[Elizabeth I]] the monarch is known as the [[Supreme Governor of the Church of England]]), thus severing the ecclesiastical structure of England from the Catholic Church and the Pope. The newly appointed [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Thomas Cranmer]], was then able to declare Henry's marriage to Catherine [[annulment|void]]. Catherine was banished from court, and she spent the last three years of her life in various English houses under "protectorship", similar to house arrest.{{Sfn|Tittler|Jones|2004|p=37}} This allowed Henry to marry Anne Boleyn. She gave birth on 7 September 1533 to a daughter, [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth]], named in honour of Henry's mother.{{Sfn|Tittler|Jones|2004|p=36}} Anne had two further pregnancies which ended in miscarriage. In 1536, Anne was arrested, along with six courtiers. [[Thomas Cromwell]], Anne's former ally, stepped in again, claiming that she had taken lovers during her marriage to Henry, including her own brother, [[George Boleyn]], and she was tried for [[high treason]] and [[incest]]. These charges were most likely fabricated, but she was found guilty and executed in May 1536.