Excommunicating Henry VIII

Henry VIII is, arguably, England’s best-known king: the subject of  countless academic monographs, journal articles and conferences, not to mention popular biographies and television series. It is extraordinary, therefore, that in 2024 we still lack any study of Henry’s excommunication by Pope Paul III – an event of profound significance in the eyes of contemporaries both at home and abroad. This paper will chart the protracted and complex process through which this excommunication came to pass, exploring how the issue of Henry’s censure by the papacy developed over the 1530s through analysis of a series of ambassadorial reports and papal briefs issued in the lead-up to the final bull of excommunication promulgated in 1538. As well as shedding new light on European perceptions of the English Reformation, this paper argues that, to an extent never fully recognised by historians, the spectre of papal censure hanging over England throughout the 1530s subtly informed key religious, diplomatic, and economic decisions taken by Henry as he recast England’s relationship with the Roman Catholic Church. In the process, it also underlines the significance and agency of individuals traditionally relegated to the sidelines of histories of the English Reformation, not least Katherine of Aragon. Ultimately, therefore, we argue that a focus on the excommunication offers the opportunity to see a defining and well-trodden period in Tudor history in a new and unfamiliar light.

Paulina Kewes is Helen Morag Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Jesus College and Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford.


Fred Smith is Early Career Fellow in Early Modern History at Balliol College, University of Oxford.