which monarch separated england from the catholic church
Henry VIII
title: Catholic Church in England and Wales text: attracting international pilgrimage and inspired the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. An Englishman, Nicholas Breakspear, became Pope Adrian IV, ruling from 1154 to 1159. Fifty-six years later, Cardinal Stephen Langton, the first of English cardinals and later Archbishop of Canterbury (1208–28), became a pivotal figure in the dispute between King John and Pope Innocent III. This critical situation led to the signing and later promulgation of the Magna Charta in 1215. England remained a Catholic country until 1534, when it first officially separated from Rome during the reign of King Henry VIII. In response to the Pope's refusal to annul title: Monarchy of the United Kingdom text: led the monarch to break from the Roman Catholic Church and to establish the Church of England (the Anglican Church). Wales – which had been conquered centuries earlier, but had remained a separate dominion – was annexed to England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Henry VIII's son and successor, the young Edward VI, continued with further religious reforms, but his early death in 1553 precipitated a succession crisis. He was wary of allowing his Catholic elder half-sister Mary I to succeed, and therefore drew up a will designating Lady Jane Grey as his heiress. Jane's reign, title: Protestantism in the United Kingdom text: either Catholicism or Protestantism. Henry VIII was the first monarch to introduce a new state religion to the English. In 1532, he wanted to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon. When Pope Clement VII refused to consent to the divorce, Henry VIII decided to separate the entire country of England from the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope had no more authority over the people of England. This parting of ways opened the door for Protestantism to enter the country. Henry VIII established the Church of England after his split with the Pope. However, England stayed much the same, even with title: Church of England text: later called Whitby Abbey. It was presided over by King Oswiu, who did not engage in the debate but made the final ruling. In 1534, King Henry VIII separated the English Church from Rome. A theological separation had been foreshadowed by various movements within the English Church, such as Lollardy, but the English Reformation gained political support when Henry VIII wanted an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn. Pope Clement VII, considering that the earlier marriage had been entered under a papal dispensation and how Catherine's nephew, Emperor Charles V, might react title: History of England text: never consummated their brief marriage and that the prohibition did not apply here. The timing of Henry's case was very unfortunate; it was 1527 and the Pope had been imprisoned by emperor Charles V, Catherine's nephew and the most powerful man in Europe, for siding with his archenemy Francis I of France. Because he could not divorce in these circumstances, Henry seceded from the Church, in what became known as the English Reformation. The newly established Church of England amounted to little more than the existing Catholic Church, but led by the king rather than the Pope. It took a