• Told Henry VIII that he need not wait to hear from Rome for the annulment of his marriage to Queen Catherine but he could refer the question of the legality of the marriage to university scholars

• Became archbishop of Canterbury in 1533

• He was the highest ecclesiastical authority in England and exercised prerogatives traditionally reserved for the pope

• Pronounced the King of England as head of the church

• Rejected allegiance to the pope

• Tried to unite church of England and the Lutheran church

• Recanted his reformation beliefs and then recanted his recantations