Henry VIII always considered himself a devout Catholic. Any number of Protestant “heretics” were martyred during his reign, particularly while Thomas More was Lord Chancellor. Henry VII’s Lord Chancellor More zealously burned Protestants at the stake. His pursuit of Tyndale began in 1525. The dissolution of the Catholic monasteries, involving the confiscation of their properties and wealth, did not begin until the year Tyndale was killed in 1536. The Six Articles of 1539 reaffirmed many of the doctrines of the Catholic church, including transubstantiation, clerical celibacy, and oral confession. These articles also led to the persecution and killing of Protestants, due to Henry’s perceived need to prove that he was not a heretic. He thoroughly detested Lutherans and he never regarded himself as “Protestant” in his entire life.
Henry was an intellectual, but lazy and self absorbed. And, like the monarchs of the era, easily angered and destructive to those to opposed them.