According to Carlo Capello, the Venetian ambassador, on 15th March 1532 William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, criticised Henry VIII in the House of Lords when Parliament was discussing the proposed annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. In response, the King used “foul language to him, saying that were it not for his age, he would make him repent of having said what he did against his Majesty.”
I’d love to have been a fly on the wall, wouldn’t you?
Historian G. W. Bernard writes of how “Warham’s outspokenness did not last” and that he then toed the line. Henry’s threat had obviously shaken him and he was an old man, being around 82 at this time. Warham died on 22nd August 1532, leaving a vacancy which could be filled by a man who would support the annulment wholeheartedly: Thomas Cranmer.
Notes and Sources
- Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 4: 1527-1533: 754
Warham, fisher & more all had guts. The
Church existed partially as a counter to
Selfishness and despotism; without it henry
Could murder unrestrained.
The poor Archbiship Warham must have been very confused by what he may have seen as a direct attack on his beloved church and faith that he had served for several decades. He was an old man of 82, not just for those times, but for now as well and I feel that in some ways he was blessed to die and be taken home to heaven before he saw what Henry was to do to the church that he loved so much. Dying in 1532 made way for Cranmer to be appointed and was good for Henry and Anne but it was also a blessing that he did not have to witness the murders of More and Fisher; the destruction of the monastic orders and the ending of traditional Catholic practices. Nor did he have to witness the execution of monks and nuns brutally at Tyburn, the traumatic marriage with Anne and her execution, the deaths of several of the King’s friends, and the closure of the religious buildings that he saw so much beauty in. The Lord spared the old Archbishop that and the final break from Rome. He stood up to Henry as best he could but he must have been too ill to take any more and died probably in a mixture of shock and peace.
I think that Thomas More in the Tudors put it well when he commented that His Grace was fortunate to be called to heaven now before he was forced to witness the final attack on his beloved church. He finally commented that affairs of state no longer interested him as they no longer interest His Grace. In other words the archbiship was weary with the affairs of the world and fortunate to be allowed to die in peace, before the horrors that were to come occured.
RIP Blessed William Warham,
I am a student of Church History. We studied the life of the Friends of King Henry VIII like Thomas More, Most Rev. Fisher, and Elizabeth Barton, the Holy Maid of Kent! These three suffered execution because they opposed the annulment case of the king to Catherine of Aragon because of his passion tor Anne Boleyn, The Church does not approved this annulment. Because of the advice of Thomas Cromwell, the he should get the support of the Parliament of the assembly and declared himself as the supreme head of the Church of England. There are many Thomas in the Rulership of King Henry VIII, Thomas Wolsey, who who was removed from office as the Lord Chancellor of Englang, Thomas More, he replaced Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer the Bishop who replaced the office left by Bishop William Warham. Cranmer considered as the first Protestant Bishop because of his approval of the King’s marriage to Anne Boleyn. Thomas More died with strong conviction of truth for him was revealed by God and yeilds not to the promises of the transient joys of the world. It is the issue of infedility. He was executed because of his sin of treason to the King.