Divorcing the Catholic Church

Explanation: The break between England and Catholicism was largely predicated on the actions of one monarch - Henry VIII, who wanted to divorce his first wife. The Catholic Church did not (and does not?) recognize divorce and remarriage, Henry VIII needed a special dispensation from the Pope. Since the Pope was close with (or under the thumb of) the Spanish royal family that Henry VIII’s wife, Catherine of Aragon, came from, permission to ‘annul’ the marriage was denied.

… so Henry VIII adopted a form of Protestantism of his own devising which allowed him to… inflict himself on several subsequent wives.