 A year later , Catherine was banished from court , and her rooms were given to Anne . Anne was an unusually educated and intellectual woman for her time , and was keenly absorbed and engaged with the ideas of the Protestant Reformers , though the extent to which she herself was a committed Protestant is much debated . When Archbishop of Canterbury William Warham died , Anne 's influence and the need to find a trustworthy supporter of the annulment had Thomas Cranmer appointed to the vacant position . This was approved by the Pope , unaware of the King 's nascent plans for the Church . 
