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Henry VIII of England (1491-1547) brought the Reformation to England for political and dynastic, rather than religious, reasons. Before 1527 England had sought alliance with Spain through Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, but the alliance with Spain seemed to help Spanish monarch Charles I's domination of Europe and the Americas, with little reward to Henry and England. Infatuated with Anne Boleyn, Henry in 1527 began questioning the legality of his marriage to Catherine and the legitimacy of her only child, Mary. He appealed to Pope Clement VII for an annulment, which was refused. In 1533, Henry secretly married the now pregnant Anne, and declared himself, rather than the pope, head of the Church of England. This portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger shows him in 1540 at age 49.

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