The main reason for Henry's failure in obtaining an annulment was mainly due to the opposition of Katherine of Aragon, this is what is suggested in Source 4 as it strongly suggests that she was the cause of the failure. The source portrays Katherine as determined and will not give up until she gets what she wants "Henry's bullying only increased her determination". It was not only Henry who was pleading her to give up on here intentions to stay married to him, Cardinal Campeggio suggested that she became a nun meaning she would be married to the Church and then their marriage wold be claimed as invalid, but Catherine opposed the suggestion as that would meant she would lose her power as Queen and loose contact with her daughter Mary. Henry was dependant on the Bible passage Leviticus to attempt to prove their marriage was invalid. In Leviticus it states that if you marry your brother’s wife you shall remain childless.
Her works are full of details about daily life at court, the deeds of her family, and the exchanges between the Byzantines and western crusaders during the first crusades. It would be easy to assume that Anna's personal background, specifically the obvious bias towards her father, would prohibit historical accuracy. However, this simply doesn’t seem to be the case. Rather, one finds that the evidence of Anna's background adds to the Alexiad in providing the historian or reader with an intimate insider's account of events in Byzantium. In addition, Anna Comnena’s genuine belief in her father for not only being morally sound during his reign, but extremely strong in his strategic planning, creates an endearing, but still effective, record of history.
The fall of Thomas Cromwell was the start in the decline of Henry's authority. Cromwell was able to control the faction fighting, after his fall political instability increased and there was a growth in the rivalry between the factions. The reformist faction led by Archbishop Cranmer and Edward Seymour wanted political and religious reforms, whereas the conservative faction led by the Duke of Norfolk and Stephan Gardiner wanted to retain Anglo-Catholicism rather than adopt a radical form of Protestantism. As a result of Cromwell's fall, Henry lost control of the factions in his court. The power of the factions was mainly determined by the woman in Henry's life at the time.
In reflection, it is clear that there is not one cause solely that caused the English Reformation, but Anne Boleyn, Henry, Cromwell and Cranmer working together however the settlement reached was largely of Henry’s making. It is arguable the character and the influence of Anne Boleyn was the main cause of the English Reformation as supported in source 7. Source 7 emphasises that the “King’s love” for Anne was a strong component in the decision of the reformation, as it says “he sees nothing and thinks nothing but Anne” which indicates that Anne was present with Henry a lot of the time and this suggests that her influence would be great and “on it depends his life”, this further supports that Henry would do anything for Anne, this claims the importance of her influence. However this view point may have been exaggerated as considering it is comments by Cardinal Campeggio, he is likely to shift the blame for reformation from corruption in the church to Anne Boleyn in order to protect the dignity of the church. Furthermore, he might want to amplify “The
They rarely addressed themselves to national issues. 4. In the era of personal monarchy, the characteristics of the individual king or queen were bound to have an impact on the workings of politics. As a woman in a mans world, Elizabeth learned to use her gender to good effect. She countered the problems of her questionable legitimacy, England’s weak international standing and the need to re-establish a Protestant church in a Catholic land.
Henry VIII began his reign as a loyal Catholic, accepting the Pope as head of the Church. The Pope even gave Henry the title, ‘Defender of the Faith’. This was a reward for writing a book that defended the Pope against criticism from a German reformer called Martin Luther. However, things did not stay the same - Henry VIII and the Pope had a quarrel. It was over Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
Henry VIII believed that it was necessary to have a male heir so that he could make sure that the Tudor dynasty survived throughout generations. Henry’s wife, Catherine of Aragon had given him a daughter, Mary, but no son. Regrettably, she had numerous miscarriages and it was apparent that the chances of her giving birth to a son were very slim. As a result of his strong passion for a male offspring, he was determined to divorce Catherine and marry somebody else. Nevertheless, only the Pope, who was the head of the Church, could give him this.
The reformation period brought fundamental change to the structure of the family, and thus when assessing the question of which offered more to women: Protestantism or Catholicism, it is important to draw upon evidence that predates the Protestant reformation in order to decipher whether the impact it had upon women was beneficial or not. What remains consistent across both Christian denominations however is that there was a marginal difference between female blessedness and female heresy. Highlighting that both faiths were similar to some extent in what they offered to women, even if they differed in what areas of society they did this. Luther’s domestication of women narrowed women’s options, because marriage became the only honorable way to live in a Protestant society. Therefore, Protestantism offered less to the unmarried women than that of a Catholic community where there was the option to join a convent.
“Mary was the closest Catholic claimant to the English throne and Elizabeth knew some of her subjects were not above hoping she could be deposed and Mary made queen of both Scotland and England” (English history, 6). Because she was Catholic, Mary, had many Catholic followers, who wanted her on the throne of England instead of Elizabeth I. “In fact, Mary had been a tolerant leader in Scottish religious matters. But such was the extreme religious upheaval of the time, that tolerance was a sign of weakness” (Scotlass, 1). Therefore, the pressure from her followers led Mary to make decision to plot against Elizabeth, during her capture and imprisonment against her will.
Many debates have happened whether or not these women approach feminism for their time period. The answer to that is ambiguous and depends on how the reader takes in their writings. One can say that even though Wollstonecraft is so obviously pining for co-education, and in that way to be equal to men, she is not promoting equality for anything else. By not wanting to be equal in anything else, how can she be approaching feminism? Pizan so obviously from the start of her writing, introduces how women should behave (from the perspective of a princess), so that her actions shall be beneficial to her and her husband.