Henry VIII's evidence to support break with Rome turns up in Cornish library

In the 1530's King Henry VIII tried to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled by the Pope so that he could marry Anne Boleyn and produce an heir. Part of the evidence he and his lawyers gathered to support his case has been discovered in the library at Lanhydrock, a National Trust mansion in Cornwall. The Pope refused to annul the marriage but Henry married Anne Boleyn and established himself as the head of the Church of England. The breach with Rome was complete and the course of British history was changed.

The book is a summary of the theories of the medieval philosopher
 and theologian William of Ockham.
Photograph: Steven Haywood

“The book is important not only for its provenance but for the notes entered in it by Henry VIII’s advisers and no doubt intended for him to see. They draw attention to precisely the sort of issues that were so relevant to the king’s policies in the years leading up to the break with Rome.”

More: The Guardian