B+-+THE+KING'S+GREAT+MATTER,+1529-1533

__** SECTION B: The King's Great Matter, 1529-1533 **__ "All through 1530, the King was concentrating on resolving the divorce issue ... There was little else that Henry could do ... other than put some kind of pressure on the Pope.  He did this by attacking the clergy with the powers he already had in law.  Despite the pressure, Henry made little headway and his patience was wearing thin." **D.G.Newcombe -** //Henry VIII and the English Reformation// **(1995)**

Sometime in the late 1520s Henry first met Anne Boleyn, having had numerous affairs and mistresses there was something different about Anne, she didn't want to be used in the same way as many others had been, including her sister Mary Boleyn. Henry had fathered several illegitimate children through his mistresses and it would seem that his infatuation with Anne Boleyn could purely be about the timing of his divorce proceedings, or it could be that Anne was very clever and decided to force the issue of the divorce for her own political ambition. However there is an argument that suggests that Anne was a Protestant sympathiser, perhaps by forcing the divorce she could get some way towards her religious beliefs being made acceptable in England?

The truth behind their feelings and what was going on could be interpreted through their correspondences. If you look at the letters between the various elite in Tudor circles at the time you might be able to decide for yourself who really had the power to push for the divorce? Did the King have all the true power in this relationship, or was he merely being used by Anne Boleyn for her own self interest? [|Letters to and from Henry VIII]