[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.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

Luther’s and earlier ‘heretics’ works were very influential in England at the time Henry VIII broke away from Rome. If this were not so, he wouldn’t have broken with Rome in the first place. People like Thomas Cromwell and Anne Boleyn were already protestants long before the break with Rome, and they lobbied Henry to make the break.... This wasn’t just a unilateral decision on Henry’s part, but one that he was persuaded into by others.

Ironically, in spite of his political break with Rome, Henry VIII was actually a lifelong Catholic, and worshiped according to the latin rite until the day he died.... It was others who pushed to destroy the ‘catholic’ aspects of the Church of England once the break had been made, which clearly demonstrates that these elements were already long established and hostile to Rome before the schism....