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He was appointed accordingly chaplain to Anne Boleyn's father， and was one of those sent on the embassy to meet the Pope and Charles V. at Bologna. During his wanderings in Germany he was brought into close relationship with many of the leading Reformers， and following their teaching and example he took to himself a wife in the person of the well-known Lutheran divine， Osiander. Such a step， so highly objectionable to the Church authorities and likely to be displeasing to Henry， who in spite of his own weakness insisted on clerical celibacy， was kept a secret， though it is not at all improbable that the secret had reached the ears of the king. At the time when the latter had made up his mind to set Rome at defiance， he knew how important it was for him to sacrifice his own personal predilections， for the sake of having a man of Cranmer's pliability as Archbishop of Canterbury， and head of the clergy in England. On the 30th March， 1533， Cranmer was consecrated archbishop， and took the usual oath of obedience and loyalty to the Pope； but immediately before the ceremony， he registered a formal protest that he considered the oath a mere form， and that he wished to hold himself free to provide for the reformation of the Church in England.[25] Such a step indicates clearly enough the character of the first archbishop of the Reformation in England.

To prepare the way for the sentence that might be published at any moment by the Pope a bill was introduced forbidding appeals to Rome under penalty of Praemunire， and declaring that all matrimonial suits should be decided in England， and that the clergy should continue their ministrations in spite of any censures or interdicts that might be promulgated by the Pope. The bill was accepted by the House of Lords， but met with serious opposition in the Commons. An offer was made to raise ā200，000 for the king's use if only he would refer the whole question to a General Council， but in the end， partly by threats and partly by deception regarding the attitude of the Pope and the Emperor， the opposition was induced to give way and the bill became law. By this Act it was declared that the realm of England should be governed by one supreme head and king， to whom both spirituality and temporality were bound to yield， "next to God a natural and humble obedience，" that the English Church was competent to manage its own affairs without the interference of foreigners， and that all spiritual cases should be heard and determined by the king's jurisdiction and authority.[26] The question of the divorce was brought before the Convocation in March 1533， and though Fisher spoke out boldly in defence of Catharine's marriage， his brethren failed to support him， and Convocation declared against the legitimacy of the marriage.

Henry was now free to throw off the mask. He could point to the verdict given in his favour by both Parliament and Convocation， and could rely on Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury to carry out his wishes. In order to provide for the legitimacy of the child that was soon to be born， he had married Anne Boleyn privately in January 1533.

In April Cranmer requested permission to be allowed to hold a court to consider Henry's marriage with Catharine， to which request， inspired as it had been by himself， the king graciously assented. The court sat at Dunstable， where Catharine was cited to appear. On her refusal to plead she was condemned as contumacious. Sentence was given by the archbishop that her marriage with Henry was invalid (23rd April， 1533). Cranmer next turned his attention to Henry's marriage with Anne， and as might be expected， this pliant minister had no difficulty in pronouncing in its favour. On Whit Sunday (1533) Anne was crowned as queen in Westminster Abbey. The popular feeling in London and throughout the kingdom was decidedly hostile to the new queen and to the French ambassador， who was blamed for taking sides against Catharine， but Henry was so confident of his own power that he was unmoved by the conduct of the London mob. In September， to the great disappointment of the king who had been led by the astrologers and sorcerers to believe that he might expect the advent of an heir， a daughter was born to whom was given the name Elizabeth.