The English Reformation Parliament, which sat from 3 November 1529 to 14 April 1536, was the English Parliament that passed the major pieces of legislation leading to the Break with Rome and establishment of the Church of England. In Scotland, the 1560 Parliament had a similar role. Sitting in the reign of King Henry VIII of England, the Reformation Parliament was the first to deal with major religious legislation, much of it orchestrated by Thomas Cromwell. Background By the mid-1520s, King Henry VIII was in desperate need of a male heir. His wife, Catherine of Aragon, was increasingly considered to be past child-bearing age, and in Henry’s mind, having a female on the throne (i.e, his only legitimate heir, later Mary I of England) would destabilize the country. Henry then concluded that a divorce was needed and sent Cardinal Wolsey to negotiate with Pope Clement VII. Wolsey was unable to convince Clement to grant a divorce. Frustrated with Wolsey, Henry then turned to combating the influence and the benefits that the Catholic clergy enjoyed in England, hoping that pressure on the Church would influence the Pope to support his cause. However, England was not all that powerful and important enough in Europe at this time for the Pope to pay it much attention. Henry then consulted with his advisors including Thomas Cromwell to address the influence of canonical law in England. Henry called Parliament to session in 1529; the subsequent 8 sessions of Parliament through 1536 began the separation of canonical law from statutory law in England. Acts The major pieces of legislation from the Reformation Parliament included: 1529 Clergy legal privilege removed An Act was passed to prevent the clergy from being subject to separate canonical courts. Instead, they were now to be trialled in the same way as everybody else in England was and not be looked upon favourably by the courts. 1530 Praemunire charges reinstated The Parliament accepted the reinstatement of the charge named Praemunire where individuals could be convicted of a crime for appealing to any power outside of the realm for resolution of a situation within England. In particular, the law was aimed at those recognising the pope's authority. The law gave leave that charges could be dropped if fines of £118,000 were paid. 1532 Rome deprived of a portion of Annates normally remitted The session of 1532 saw plan and purpose that had not