 With Charles V distracted by the internal politics of his many kingdoms and external threats , and Henry and Francis on relatively good terms , domestic and not foreign policy issues had been Henry 's priority in the first half of the 1530s . In 1536 , for example , Henry granted his assent to the Laws in Wales Act 1535 , which legally annexed Wales , uniting England and Wales into a single nation . This was followed by the Second Succession Act ( the Act of Succession 1536 ) , which declared Henry 's children by Jane to be next in the line of succession and declared both Mary and Elizabeth illegitimate , thus excluding them from the throne . The king was also granted the power to further determine the line of succession in his will , should he have no further issue . However , when Charles and Francis made peace in January 1539 , Henry became increasingly paranoid , perhaps as a result of receiving a constant list of threats to the kingdom ( real or imaginary , minor , or serious ) supplied by Cromwell in his role as spymaster . Enriched by the dissolution of the monasteries , Henry used some of his financial reserves to build a series of coastal defences and set some aside for use in the event of a Franco @-@ German invasion . 
