heir and Catherine could not give him one. Henry came to believe that God was punishing him for marrying his brother's widow. Normally that would not have been allowed but the Pope granted him a special dispensation. Henry now argued that the marriage to Catherine was not valid and should be annulled (declared null and void). Not surprisingly Catherine was totally opposed to any move to dissolve the marriage. Henry asked the Pope to annul the marriage. However the Pope would not co-operate. (He could not because Catherine's uncle Charles V of Spain had captured Rome and the pope was his prisoner). In 1529 he formed an ecclesiastical court headed by Cardinals Wolsey and Campeggio to look into the matter. However the court could not reach a verdict. In the autumn of 1529 Henry sacked Wolsey and banished him to York. In 1530 Wolsey was accused of treason and was summoned to London to answer the charges but he died on the way. Thomas More replaced him as chancellor. Thomas More ruthlessly persecuted Protestants. He also opposed the proposed relaxation of the heresy laws. In 1530 a Protestant named Thomas Hitton was burned at Maidstone. Thomas More called him 'the Devil's stinking martyr'. However More resigned in 1532 and he was replaced by Thomas Cromwell. Meanwhile in 1527 Henry began a relationship with Anne Boleyn. Henry was keen to get rid of Catherine and marry Anne. In 1529 Henry called the 'Reformation Parliament'. Ties between England and Rome were cut