King Henry the 8th was very great in the fact that he cut off the Church and still held great power. In his day and age, having power after cutting off the Church was nearly impossible. So how did he do it? When Henry took control of Roman Catholic Abbeys he took the money out of them and would disperse it amongst the Tudors. Also by diminishing the monasteries King Henry's church grew in itself. King Henry killed all those who opposed him including the head of monasteries, in a letter to Thomas Cromwell, Richard Pollard informs him of the latest execution, "Pleaseth it your Lordship to be advertised that..[On November 15] the late abbot of Glastonbury went from Wells to Glastonbury, and there was drawn through the town upon a hurdle to the hill called the Torre, where he was put to execution;" King Henry was very charismatic but he had the people on his side, those who opposed him were instilled with fear so there was very little anyone could do. Also Henry's new religion was very similar to that of Roman Catholicism so it was not a great big change, the rules were more lenient so the people liked it better. Another thing that was not a big change was that before Henry was excommunicated he slowly gave Rome less power of England by making laws in which they could not make laws without the King's consent. Henry remained in power by making sure the Church had no power over England and the English people themselves. He made sure that he had the hearts of the people and the fear of his enemies so that no would oppose him.
citation: "Henry VIII of England." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 13 May 2010. .
Henry VIII V2 BestLo. Digital image. Commons Wikimedia. Wikipedia. Web. 13 May 2010. .
Pollard, Richard. "Medieval Sourcebook: The Suppression of Glastonbury Abbey." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 13 May 2010. .
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