 Henry 's precise motivations and intentions over the coming years are not widely agreed on . Henry himself , at least in the early part of his reign , was a devout and well @-@ informed Catholic to the extent that his 1521 publication <unk> Septem <unk> ( " Defence of the Seven Sacraments " ) earned him the title of Fidei Defensor ( Defender of the Faith ) from Pope Leo X. The work represented a staunch defence of papal supremacy , albeit one couched in somewhat contingent terms . It is not clear exactly when Henry changed his mind on the issue as he grew more intent on a second marriage . Certainly , by 1527 he had convinced himself that in marrying Catherine , his brother 's wife , he had acted contrary to Leviticus 20 : 21 , an impediment the Pope had never had ( he now believed ) the authority to dispense with . It was this argument Henry took to Pope Clement VII in 1527 in the hope of having his marriage to Catherine annulled , forgoing at least one less openly defiant line of attack . In going public , all hope of tempting Catherine to retire to a nunnery or otherwise stay quiet were lost . Henry sent his secretary , William Knight , to appeal directly to the Holy See by way of a deceptively worded draft papal bull . Knight was unsuccessful ; the Pope could not be misled so easily . 
