Gerry Reinhart-Waller wrote: > Gerry here: Didn't Henry VIII banish the pope and Catholics from > England because the Roman Catholic Church wouldn't recognize his > divorce? > Or are you speaking of something totally different? > Gerry > > [log in to unmask] wrote: > > > In a message dated 99-12-07 08:55:00 EST, you write: > > > > << Henry was tired of having large portions of his kingdom controlled > > by > > foreigners. >> > > > > Is there any evidence for this? The simple answer is that it was all for love of a woman, and the divorce was the cause of the break with Rome. But, this is like saying that the American Civil War was entirely about freeing slaves. Its the simple answer. But, it also a very incomplete answer. The real cause of Henry VIII's break with Rome was church property, appointment of priests, etc. Henry rightly saw that the Catholic Church was under the thumb of France and Spain. When someone has a knife to your throat (or in this case an army in your front yard), one pays attention. As a result the Pope did what he was told. A large portion of England had been donated to the Church and was no longer paying taxes or even controlled by the English. Henry saw a good opportunity to get rid of the Church, seize all of the Church lands, and get a divorce. JH Brothers IV %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%