On the 17th December 1538 Pope Paul III excommunicated Henry VIII from the Catholic Church. And, rather than reinvent the wheel, double click on the image to open a new page in the Anne Boleyn Files which explores the reasons why the papacy finally lost patience with the chubby Tudor terror.
Excommunication had been threatened by Pope Clement VII in 1533. He died the following year and a new pope was elected.
Pope Paul was born Allessandro Farnese and it was to this pope, elected in 1534, that fell the job of organising the Counter-Reformation. Two years after Henry’s excommunication using the papal bull drafted by Clement but never enacted the Jesuits were recognised by the Catholic Church and in 1542 the Inquisition received a face-lift.
Farnese was the most powerful pope outside of Medici. His gardens are still a marvel and a great six day visit four years since for the third time gave me ideas for my lake gardens. Henry of England was in deed extremely lucky to have survived the onslaught of this young pope who never took no as an answer in his life.Then Henry was not important to anyone of his nobles or Europe. The bloody evil Tudor family up to Elizabeth all are better forgotten perhaps by time and the pages of history as the son of the biggest rouge ever to sit on the English Throne until James 1 came to rule a richer nation and topped even Henry the accountant though James was indeed a real Royal; not on a bully boy stolen throne. Though it made little difference he the queer little itch became out tyrant.