The Pope excommunicates Henry VIII
1538 · Event
After the desecration of Becket's shrine at Canterbury, Paul III finally puts into force the excommunication drafted five years earlier, absolving Henry's subjects of loyalty and inviting Catholic Europe to depose him. Nothing happens — France and the Emperor are busy — but England fortifies the coast and the break becomes formally irreversible.
On these timelines: Henry VIII's Break with Rome, England, The Papacy, The Reformation, United Kingdom (combined)
More from Henry VIII's Break with Rome
- English Reformation (1533)
- Act of Supremacy (1534) (1534)
- The King's Great Matter (1527)
- Henry secretly marries Anne Boleyn (1533)
- Execution of Anne Boleyn (1536)
- Execution of Thomas More (1535)
- Cromwell becomes the king's chief minister (1532)
- Execution of Thomas Cromwell (1540)
Around 1538
- French Wars of Religion (1562)
- The Reformation (1517)
- Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519)
- Eighty Years' War / Dutch Revolt (1568)
- Columbus reaches the Americas (1492)
- Spanish Armada (1588)
- Spanish conquest of the Incas (1532)
- Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation (1519)
- Luther's 95 Theses (1517)
- Sistine Chapel ceiling (1508)