WI Henry VIII of England becomes Pope?

In OTL the second son of Henry VII was destined to follow an ecclesiastical path but his brother's early death changed this plans and he succeeded his father as King of England in 1509...
WI Prince Arthur doesnt die and Henry enters the clergy? His father or brother could obtain a bishopric and a cardinal's hat from the Pope for him...
Could he managed to become Pope somewhere in 1530s?
What would be the impact of an English Pope in Europe? Could he managed to deal with the upcoming reformation in his tenure as Pope?
 
Was there ever an english pope OTL?


Found one

Indeed Nicholas Cardinal Breakspear Bishop of Albano reigned as Pope Adrian IV in 1154-1159...

So if Henry Tudor becomes Pope i see him calling himself Adrian VI... (or Adrian VII if Adrian Cardinal Boeyens manages to obtain the Papal throne first...)
However it would be interesting to see if Henry Tudor ally with Wolsey or they would be rivals in this TL...
 
I dunno if he could actually become a Pope. After all, there hadn't really been a non-Italian Pope in centuries, and Adrian VI was only elected as a compromise candidate between the Spanish and French Cardinals. Henry would be especially unpopular given his royal name and connections (he might 'favor' England). But he could certainly become a Cardinal. I guess if a fluke occurred he could become Pope, but I think it unlikely...
 
I dunno if he could actually become a Pope. After all, there hadn't really been a non-Italian Pope in centuries, and Adrian VI was only elected as a compromise candidate between the Spanish and French Cardinals. Henry would be especially unpopular given his royal name and connections (he might 'favor' England). But he could certainly become a Cardinal. I guess if a fluke occurred he could become Pope, but I think it unlikely...

Well Reginald Pole almost became Pope (He fell short 1-2 votes from 2/3 majority) so why not Henry Tudor?
 
I dunno if he could actually become a Pope. After all, there hadn't really been a non-Italian Pope in centuries, and Adrian VI was only elected as a compromise candidate between the Spanish and French Cardinals. Henry would be especially unpopular given his royal name and connections (he might 'favor' England). But he could certainly become a Cardinal. I guess if a fluke occurred he could become Pope, but I think it unlikely...

I have always been of the opinion that Henry Cardinal Tudor would have been more dangerous than Henry VIII. Even as just an archbishop, he would have the resources and backing of the Church behind him and somewhat less restraint than OTL.

Pope would be a stretch. Must do research to satisfy curiosity...
 
Well Reginald Pole almost became Pope (He fell short 1-2 votes from 2/3 majority) so why not Henry Tudor?

Because Henry Tudor is of the royal family. When was the last time we had a royal son become Pope? Sure, lots of them had clerical benefices and some even became Cardinals, but none were ever seriously considered as Papabile. Wolsey was also considered having some chance of becoming Pope too.
 
I have always been of the opinion that Henry Cardinal Tudor would have been more dangerous than Henry VIII. Even as just an archbishop, he would have the resources and backing of the Church behind him and somewhat less restraint than OTL.

Pope would be a stretch. Must do research to satisfy curiosity...
Plus he would have many Mistresses.
 

Thande

Donor
Ridiculous as this sounds, it's actually somewhat possible considering, as the OP says, Henry was destined for the Church and was certainly a strong enough character and had the connections to get near the head of it. As noted above there was only one English pope ever, Adrian IV, but it's not impossible--his best bet is if the French and the Spanish are backing rival candidates and he can present himself as a compromise.

Certainly if Arthur had trouble getting a son I imagine he wouldn't have much trouble getting a divorce from this Pope ;)
 
Certainly if Arthur had trouble getting a son I imagine he wouldn't have much trouble getting a divorce from this Pope ;)

Could Henry go for a powerplay? Deny his brother a divorce in hopes that no son will be produced, allowing Pope Henry (or Adrian or whatever) to ascend the throne as King of England? That would be epic but probably very implausible.
 
Could Henry go for a powerplay? Deny his brother a divorce in hopes that no son will be produced, allowing Pope Henry (or Adrian or whatever) to ascend the throne as King of England? That would be epic but probably very implausible.

If such a scenario happens then propably England would be turned to a Papal fief or something like that... Maybe similar to Naples in OTL?
 
Could Henry go for a powerplay? Deny his brother a divorce in hopes that no son will be produced, allowing Pope Henry (or Adrian or whatever) to ascend the throne as King of England? That would be epic but probably very implausible.

No, because it would be about as subtle a tactic as a brick to the head, and all of Europe would see the obvious motivation behind his action and take steps to force him to back down (after all, this is the era of the King of Spain who invaded Rome and put the Pope under house arrest, though for more legitimate reasons).

Besides, remember that Popes were generally close to the end of their lives when elected. Arthur would not only be too old for a divorce by the time Henry might be elected to the Papacy, he would most probably be dead already with grandchildren surviving to keep on the family line.

But the real crux of the matter is that he would never have been elected. This era saw the office of Pope essentially used as a pawn between the Spanish and French kingdoms, with the country in the ascendancy managing to put a national of theirs on the Papal throne. On the handful of occasions when a Pope wasn't blatantly pro-Spanish or pro-French, the Conclave are not going to elect the heir to the English throne as Pope because he will be so flagrantly politically-charged that it would be a sincere threat to both kingdoms. A neutral Pope would always come from Italy, because of their heritage of packing the Cardinals' College, because of their strong and ambitious powerplaying families, and because of their ultimately minor status in European affairs, meaning any Italian Pope is never going to be able to successfully derail French/Spanish ambitions by promoting Italy, at least not in the way that a pro-English candidate not just might but surely would. Allowing Henry to be elected would be like the French and Spanish agreeing to shoot each other in the foot. For that very reason, Henry would likely never even be raised to a Cardinal's position - it prevents the very possibility of English interference in their affairs.
 
But the real crux of the matter is that he would never have been elected. This era saw the office of Pope essentially used as a pawn between the Spanish and French kingdoms, with the country in the ascendancy managing to put a national of theirs on the Papal throne. On the handful of occasions when a Pope wasn't blatantly pro-Spanish or pro-French, the Conclave are not going to elect the heir to the English throne as Pope because he will be so flagrantly politically-charged that it would be a sincere threat to both kingdoms. A neutral Pope would always come from Italy, because of their heritage of packing the Cardinals' College, because of their strong and ambitious powerplaying families, and because of their ultimately minor status in European affairs, meaning any Italian Pope is never going to be able to successfully derail French/Spanish ambitions by promoting Italy, at least not in the way that a pro-English candidate not just might but surely would. Allowing Henry to be elected would be like the French and Spanish agreeing to shoot each other in the foot. For that very reason, Henry would likely never even be raised to a Cardinal's position - it prevents the very possibility of English interference in their affairs.

I agree with all of this, except by the last part. If Henry had become a member of the clergy he surely would be made a Cardinal. IIRC every single member of a royal house who entered the Catholic clergy during the 16th and 17th century (Spanish, French, Portuguese and Polish) was made a Cardinal. I see no reason to an English prince not be made one too. But he would surely never be elected a Pope.
 
England was no great power by then (not until Elizabeth's I times) so an English compromise candidate would be acceptable in a potential deadlocked conclave when french and spanish party wouldnt be able to push their own candidates...
 
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