King Henry VIII revolutionized England during the Renaissance and became one of the most influential kings in English history. He married six different women in his search for the perfect wife and a male heir. Two wives were beheaded, two marriages were annulled, and one wife died in childbirth. The powerful and influential Catholic Church forbade divorce and remarriage, so Henry joined the European Reformation movement which rejected the supremacy of the Pope. He passed laws to establish a new church – The Church of England. After his death, each of his three children had turns on the throne, with Elizabeth becoming a visionary ruler and setting the stage for England to enter the modern era.