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Why did King Henry VIII reject the authority of the pope in Rome?

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Anglicanism The stately Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, England. The cathedral is the seat of the archbishop of Canterbury, the mother church of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion, and part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.

King Henry VIII’s rejection of papal authority was primarily driven by his desire to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon to secure a male heir to the throne.12

Henry believed his marriage was cursed because Catherine had previously been married to his brother, and he sought an annulment from Pope Clement VII. However, the Pope was unable to grant the request, largely because he was under the influence of Catherine’s nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.12

When legal avenues through Rome failed, Henry—guided by advisors like Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer—orchestrated a break with the Roman Catholic Church. This culminated in the Act of Supremacy in 1534, which formally repudiated papal jurisdiction and declared the King to be the "Supreme Head of the Church of England," effectively placing the church under state control.134