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why did Wolsey fail to get an annulment? - Coggle Diagram
why did Wolsey fail to get an annulment?
the Pope's premediated biases
The Pope was under the control of Charles V
Charles was the Holy Roman Emperor and for a short period of time in 1527 Charles even imprisoned the Pope
Charles V was the nephew of Catherine and so did not want the Pope to grant the annulment to Henry
Use of the Bible
Wolsey found a passage from Leviticus which stated that Henry should have never married his brother's widow in the first place
'if a man shall take his brother's wife it is an impurity... they shall be childless'
Henry saw Catherine's failure to have a son to be a sign from God, he was punishing him for marrying his brothers widow
Henry's argument only worked if Catherine had consummated the marriage with Arthur (if they hadn't then their marriage technically wasn't valid meaning that there would be no curse on Henry and Catherine as Henry didn't marry his brother's widow)- Catherine had claimed that Arthur and her hadn't consummated the marriage meaning that technically her and Henry didn't go against Leviticus, however there was no proof of this
Catherine's supporter referenced Deuteronomy which stated that the brother of a dead man should marry his brother's widower and have children with her on behalf of his brother
Invalidation of the original dispensation
Wolsey claimed that the quote had incorrectly worded the original dispensation which meant that technically the marriage was void
Catherine's supporters found a correctly worded version of the dispensation in Spanish
Wolsey tried to pressure Catherine into becoming a nun
this would terminate the marriage as nuns had to remain unmarried - the Pope's approval would be avoided
Henry tried to threaten Catherine into being a nun
he sent her a letter stating that if an attempt was made on the King's life, she would be blamed for it
letters sent saying that she hated the king and that she was being too friendly with the public
Henry said that he would no longer see their daughter, Mary
the Blackfriars case
Pope sent Campeggio to overlook the annulment case- no intention of allowing the annulment
October 1528- Campeggio arrives in London
the case opens in June 1529
Campeggio dismisses the case for the summer in July 1529
Catherine refuses to speak at the annulment hearing and appeals to the king to stop the case
Catherine herself didn't want the annulment
she knew that if the marriage was invalidated, her daughter Mary, would be illegitimate and wouldn't be in the line of succession anymore
she still loved Henry
she had been married to him for 20 years and wasn't prepared to give this up
if the marriage was invalidated, she would have been living as a royal mistress- she was a devout Roman Catholic and didn't want to accept the marriage was invalid
she didn't want to give up her royal status, she was born a princess of Spain