Initially, the English king Henry VIII was a fervent defender of the Catholic Church against the ideas put forward by Luther. When Henry’s wife did not bear him a male heir to the throne, he asked the pope to grant permission to marry someone else. The pope was not able to give permission, as the sacrament of marriage is a lifelong bond.
King Henry VIII therefore broke with the Catholic Church in 1534 and established the Anglican Church, with himself as its supreme head. Catholics loyal to their faith and to the pope were persecuted and many died as martyrs.
