[sinsofsolarempirefan]

The influence of the Roman Catholic church was widely hated, resented and feared in England for most of the time, with its purchased indulgences, corrupt clergy and the hated tithe, which was a essentially a tax levied upon the English by a foreign power in Rome.

The reason why Henry VIII was able to get away with breaking the church away from Rome was because the groundswell of support for the break away from a Church that was seen as irredeemably corrupt and material was already there.

[Cronos]

The influence of the Roman Catholic church was widely hated, resented and feared in England for most of the time, with its purchased indulgences, corrupt clergy and the hated tithe, which was a essentially a tax levied upon the English by a foreign power in Rome.

Ha. Where did you get that? Right up until Henry VII (8th's dad), most of Europe considered itself ONE entity -- Christendom. There was no foreign power like Italia or Rome and Christendom had the spiritual representative as the Bishop of Rome.

In contrast to your statement, the English were staunchly Christian and supported the crusades. Even during Henry's time, the common people detested Henry's grab for Church property and his destruction of the monasteries ruined a lot of civil life.