Why did Henry VIII ask Thomas Cranmer to support the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon?

King Henry VIII sought the support of Thomas Cranmer for the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon because he needed a theologian capable of providing a robust, scholarly justification for his position.12

After a chance meeting in 1529, Henry commissioned Cranmer to use Scripture, the writings of the Church Fathers, and decrees from general councils to construct a cogent argument supporting the annulment. Henry was eager to secure the assistance of any capable individual to help him resolve the "divorce" controversy, which had stalled due to the Pope's refusal to grant the request.123

Cranmer’s work proved instrumental to the King’s objectives. By 1533, after being appointed archbishop of Canterbury, Cranmer convened a court at Dunstable and formally declared Henry’s marriage to Catherine void, thereby facilitating the King's marriage to Anne Boleyn and contributing to the broader English Reformation.143