WI: Henry VIII doesn't create the Church of England.

IOTL, Henry wanted his marriage to Catherine annulled because she couldn't give him an heir and he had fallen in love with Anne Boleyn, but the Pope refused, prompting Henry to split from the Catholic Church and create the Church of England. WI Henry and Catherine had produced a male heir and/or Henry and Anne had never met? What are the possible results of England remaining Catholic?
 
IOTL, Henry wanted his marriage to Catherine annulled because she couldn't give him an heir and he had fallen in love with Anne Boleyn, but the Pope refused, prompting Henry to split from the Catholic Church and create the Church of England. WI Henry and Catherine had produced a male heir and/or Henry and Anne had never met? What are the possible results of England remaining Catholic?

Very possible that there is no English civil war, due to most of the country remaining catholic, meaning there is likely even less growth of parliament, also no glorious revolution, and perhaps no Stuarts
 
A happy Henry VIII

Very possible that there is no English civil war, due to most of the country remaining catholic, meaning there is likely even less growth of parliament, also no glorious revolution, and perhaps no Stuarts
Quite plausible, and certainly no Stuarts would be a win for England! Though it's always possible that some descendant of Henry and Catherine also died childless leaving a Stuart as the best heir available

:eek:

Though I think there would still have been religious tensions within England, as there was a growing Protestant community even before Henry broke with Rome. And possibly problems with the Scots unless something butterflied away their turn to Calvinism.

There's always the idea I've heard put forward, possibly in jest, by David Starkey. That Henry was a Romantic who simply wanted to marry Anne Boleyn for love and simply used the lack of a heir from Catherine as an excuse. IF true (i doubt it BTW) he would probably have found another excuse or maybe Catherine would have died "accidentally".

Which might have been better for England, or Roman Catholics anyway, as there'd have been no need then for the divorce and Break with Rome. A POD for another thread perhaps?
 
If you look at other Northern European countries like France, Scotland or Sweden you generally still had a Protestantism and and religious turmoil even without a Henry VIII like figure. By the time Martin Luther comes along the Catholic Church outside it's heartlands of Italy and Spain was in a pretty poor state with a corrupt Hierarchy and the long term consequences of the post Black Death collapse in Monasticism. England could have gone the way of France and with the support of the dynasty the Catholic Church could have clung on and crushed the Protestants but equally it might not have. It's a great topic for AH though because there are so many possibilities.
 
I think if the Pope had simply given Henry the annulment he wanted, Henry would have STAYED Catholic and been quite oppressive to British Protestantism. Of course, the Pope had been literally outgunned by Catherine's nephew Emperor Charles V so he didn't want to antagonize the occupying forces by doing 'business as usual' re a royal marriage annulment.
 
There will still religious disturbances in England. It's just that the Crown won't support the Protestants. Some of the people who were supporters of Henry because of his break with Rome, now become his enemies. We will still see a situation similar to France where the Huguenots and Catholics fought.

Protestantism will still appeal to many of the urban middle classes, the merchants and traders, and some of the nobles. They will increasingly become discontented and demand more freedoms. Civil war of some kind is likely inevitable in the second half of the 16th century and/or first half of the 17th century. Catholics will simply have a better chance IOTL because of support from the crown. Cavaliers and Roundheads will still happen.

The question is who wins, and what the end result will be in terms of religious tolerance. That can only be determined by specifics in the new timeline.
 
There will still religious disturbances in England. It's just that the Crown won't support the Protestants. Some of the people who were supporters of Henry because of his break with Rome, now become his enemies. We will still see a situation similar to France where the Huguenots and Catholics fought.

Protestantism will still appeal to many of the urban middle classes, the merchants and traders, and some of the nobles. They will increasingly become discontented and demand more freedoms. Civil war of some kind is likely inevitable in the second half of the 16th century and/or first half of the 17th century. Catholics will simply have a better chance IOTL because of support from the crown. Cavaliers and Roundheads will still happen.

The question is who wins, and what the end result will be in terms of religious tolerance. That can only be determined by specifics in the new timeline.

Not necessarily. While Henry VIII is pretty conservative in religious terms and in the absence of a feud with the Pope likely to continue burning Protestants there is no guarantee that his heirs will follow his path. Separately Civil War is not inevitable, in OTL the English transitioned to Protestantism with only some fairly minor and fairly hopeless Revolts and it's entirely possible you'll have the same thing in an AH TL. As for the English Civil War it was about a lot more than just religion and any way was a Century after the English Reformation.
 
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