The most important act of Henry VIII, the one that had the most important consequence for the cause of Protestantism in Europe and England was his decision to separate England and the English Church from allegiance to the pope of Rome.
It was a bold and intrepid move. He did that because the pope had not wanted to annul his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in order to marry another woman, Ann Boleyn. Angry because of the papal delay to grant his wish, he promoted the Act of Supremacy of 1534 which severed England´s Church submission to the authority of Rome and made the king the supreme head of the national church. Acting on the advice of Protestant close collaborators and by his marriage with a Protestant queen, his actions helped spread Reformation on English soil.
