Why, in 1529, did the Church in England begin to come under attack?

... Why, in 1529, did the Church in England begin to come under attack? In 1529, the Church in England came under attack from Henry VIII after Pope Clement VII refused to grant him an annulment for his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. It is conventionally believed that there were two main factors which led to the English Reformation: Henry's failure to receive a divorce, and general discontent amongst the laity towards the Church. Traditional historians have long believed that 'if one thing can be said of the English people early in the sixteenth century it is that they thought little of priests.' They also believe that, even without the divorce, the Church in England would have experienced some form of reformation, due to widespread anti-clericalism. 'The higher clergy were disliked because they were wealthy and ostentatious; Wolsey provided a suitable epitome of this alleged trait. The lesser clergy - parish priests and

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