is time it was carried to term, but when the child was born it was still born. This still birth was a shocking blow to not only Catherine but to Henry as well. The child was found to have been a boy, and Henry was still in need of securing a male heir to assure the family succession. By 1525 King Henry VIII and Queen Catherine were no longer partaking in sexual relations with each other.2 The void of succession was quite evident to Henry and this then opened the door for all of the conditions to be right for the coming events of the next few years.With Henry still unsure of his successor he named his bastard son, Fitzroy, the Duke of Richmond. This was an important action because not only was this the position that was held by Henry Tudor before the battle of Bosworth Field, but it also placed Fitzroy as a male candidate for the throne if there was no male heir when Henry died. Henry was well within his powers as king to do so, and knowing legally what this title would mean to Fitzroy's possible succession meant that the king was beginning to show his legal knowledge and use it to his ends, and he was beginning to show his concern for the succession.Henry began his quest for a dissolution of the marriage to Catherine began shortly after his affair with Anne Boleyn began to blossom. Anne refused to be a mere mistress to Henry and this fact, along with Catherine's dynastic failure spurred Henry's actions. We do not know if the fact that Anne would not settle for being the king's mistress alone influenced Henry's decision but it can be assumed that it was. Around this time Henry found a validation for his dissolution from Catherine, two texts from Leviticus. The first of these texts is in Leviticus 18:16 and it states directly: "Do not have sexual relations with your brother's wife; that would dishonor your brother."3 This text was plain to understand and Henry felt that even with the dispensation from Pope Julius II the marr...
