23 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Tuesday Trivia | History's Greatest Betrayals
One of my favorites is that of Henry VIII and his pawn Thomas Cranmer[1], which set the stage for Church of England's break from the Roman Catholic Church.
It was timely (Pope Clement VII was literally besieged by angry unpaid Spanish troops, Rome was sacked, Charles V was busy in Italy and Germany), surprising (Cranmer himself was surprised he was made Archbishop of Canterbury), and perhaps even subtle (Cranmer was consecrated without an oath to fealty to the Pope).
A key change in Henry VIII's favor was installment of Thomas Cranmer, a close friend of the Boleyn family, as Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry VIII made it such that Cranmer was consecrated without taking an oath of loyalty to the Pope; thus, Cranmer could immediately grant the annulment Henry VIII sought. This set the stage for the "Reform from the top" that was mentioned.
Comment by [deleted] at 03/06/2015 at 01:19 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Have you ever seen the ShowTime series *The Tudors*? Cranmer is one of the more well-done characters in the show.