Summary:
Historical Content behind the movie "A Man for All Seasons"
A Man for All Seasons
The movie A Man for All Seasons is about the divorce and remarry of King Henry VII. It is in taken from the other side, showing Sir Thomas More's view on the divorce and how the king reacts to this. In 1509, King Henry VII married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon from Spain. This marriage was made to form a more solid alliance between Spain and England. The Pope completed a dispensation to okay the marriage. For sixteen years, King Henry VII and Catherine tried to produce a male heir to the throne. Unluckily, Henry and Catherine had no success in their efforts to produce a male heir. Catherine did bear male children, but they were unhealthy sons that were either stillborn or died shortly after birth. The King grew tired of trying to produce a male heir to the throne through Catherine and soon became interested in a very fertile Ann Boleyn. Henry was completely convinced that Ann Boleyn would be able to bear him a son. For this reason, the King wanted to end his marriage with Catherine so that he could be wed to Ann Boleyn. He revealed his desire for a second papal dispensation that would end his marriage. Henry claimed that he believed that his punishment for marrying Catherine was that she could bear no healthy male heir. When Cardinal Wolsey died, Henry appointed Sir Thomas More as Lord Chancellor of England. When Pope Clement VII refused to back the divorce, Henry declared war on the Church. Sir Thomas More later resigns his position because of disagreements between him and the King over the issue of his divorce.
Henry and Thomas Cromwell, the King's confidante, set up legislation to weaken the authority of the Catholic Church in England after the Pope refused his request for the annulment of his marriage with Catherine. This led to the Henry's excommunication from the Catholic Church. Henry then created the Act of Supremacy, which stated that he was the head of the Church of England. Parliament passed an act to follow the Act of Supremacy requiring that all the King's subjects swear an oath to the Kings supremacy in England over the Church and to the legality of his divorce and remarriage. Sir Thomas More would not swear to this for anything. For this reason, he was beheaded on charges of high treason due to the perjury of Richard Rich. The oath of supremacy went against Sir Thomas More's moral beliefs. Sir Thomas More, overall, was beheaded for remaining silent.
Overall this movie taught me a good deal of information about the government and just the overall way of life during this period. I really enjoyed this movie and would watch it again anytime. I'm glad that I took the time to watch A Man for All Seasons.
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