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Brexit MK II The Road from Rome in the 1530’s

Document Cited authorities 1 Cited in Related
Vincent
Date06 December 2018
Pages61-72
Published date06 December 2018
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78769-435-420181012
AuthorNigel Culkin,Richard Simmons
4
BREXIT MK II THE ROAD FROM ROME
IN THE 1530’S
ENGLAND AND EUROPE BEFORE THE BREAK WITH ROME
In 1491 Henry VII had a second son, Henry. At birth and during his first
few years, there was no expectation that Henry would become King. He had
an older brother, Arthur, who as Prince of Wales was destined for this role.
It is understood that Henry was initially being groomed to become
Archbishop of Canterbury and his early spiritual education was focused
accordingly.
167
However, the situation changed suddenly in 1502 when
Arthur died some 20 weeks after marrying the Spanish Princess, Catherine
of Aragon. In 1509, Henry first inherited his elder brother’s claim to the
throne, then soon after, having initially rejecting her, married his late brother’s
wife Catherine. The stage was now set for Henry’seventfulreign.
England in 1510, having recovered from the earlier ‘Wars of the Roses’,
which ended with the accession of Henry VII in 1485 had become engaged
in a complex competition between nation states that was also intertwined
with a somewhat secular Renaissance Papacy. The world of the ‘Renaissance
Prince’was one in which alliances were forged and then broken. This was
the backdrop to the European Power Politics of the day. England, France,
the Papacy and the Holy Roman Emperor were in a state of constant tension
as France and the Emperor struggled against each other for primacy across
Europe. Under Henry VII, England had tended to avoid overseas adventures,
but following the accession of Henry VIII to the throne it was now engaged
in Europe both militarily (through for example the successful 1515 campaign
61

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