Part 5: The Anglicans

On 21 April 1509, King Henry VII of England dies, and his son, the Duke of York, succeeds him as King Henry VIII. A few weeks later, on June 24, 1509, at Westminster Abbey, the new king marries Catherine of Aragon, his late brother's widow.

King Henry VIII

King Henry VIII desires a male successor, but because Catherine has been unable to conceive one, he befriends Anne Boleyn in the hopes of having a son from her. Anne has no objections to the king's request, but she informs him that she is not ready to be a mistress; if he wants children with her, he must first divorce Catherine and marry her.

The king asks his spiritual advisor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, to secure him a quick divorce. He explains to the cardinal that he is seeking a divorce because he has discovered that his marriage to Catherine was illegal and thus invalid. The Bible, he claims, forbids a man from marrying his brother's widow (Leviticus 18:16). Cardinal Wolsey refers the matter to Rome, but Pope Clement VII refused to allow the divorce.

When Rome declines to grant him his wish, King Henry takes matters into his own hands. He declares that England is breaking away from the Catholic Church and establishes the Church of England, with himself as its head.

In January 1533, King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn marry, and in June, a heavily pregnant Anne is crowned Queen of England in a magnificent ceremony, after which she gives birth to a baby girl called Elizabeth on 3 September.

Henry hopes Anne will bear him a son, but he becomes disillusioned after a couple of stillbirths. In order to end the marriage, he accuses her of infidelity and has her beheaded in 1536. He married four more times after that.

In 1534, King Henry VIII summons parliament to pass the Act of Supremacy. The act formally separates the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church, and it recognized Henry VIII as the "Supreme Head of the Church of England".

In later years, the Church of England becomes known as the Anglican Church; and during the colonial era, it would open branches in different countries. Each of these branches is known as a Province of the Church of England.

For a long time, Kenya's branch is known as the Church Province of Kenya (CPK); but, in the 1990s, it changes its name to the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK).