King Henry was seeking to find biblical grounds to justify his divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, so he could marry his newfound love, Anne Boleyn. Cranmer was summoned by King Henry to write a letter to the papacy in favor of granting an annulment of King Henry’s marriage. Rome denied the request, but this act earned Cranmer King Henry’s respect, and he was appointed an ambassador of Europe. When the archbishop of Canterbury died three years later, Henry appointed Cranmer to assume the position of head of the Church of England.
