Why did Henry VIII of England create the Church of England?

Essentially for one reason, The pope thought that he could bleed England dry of funds to finance his schemes and thus dictate policy, particularly foreign policy, to all his vassal states. read more

King Henry VIII created the Church of England in 1536 as a result of a dispute with the pope, who would not permit Henry to get a divorce from his wife and marry his long-time mistress. Henry's marital history started under a cloud of suspicion, as his marriage to Catherine of Aragon meant he was forming a union with his brother's widow. read more

Henry VIII did not create the Church of England. The Church of England was founded by St Augustine of Canterbury in the sixth century - long before Henry VIII. One could also name Pope Gregory the Great as the prime mover behind Augustine's mission to convert the English. read more

A few notes, Henry VIII created the Church of England, commonly known as the Anglican Church, NOT the Church IN England, that would have been the Catholic Church from very early up until he seized control of all the Churches from the Catholic Church. Also, Henry did not create the protestant church - there actually is no"protestant" church, there are, as of 2013 over 33,000 churches which can be called protestant and Henry only created the Anglican one of those. read more