the most important event that happened in england when henry was the king was the country's change in religion. at first, there was no sign that henry would do this. eight years into henry's reign, the protestant reformation began in germany. until then, all of western europe had been part of the roman catholic church. when the reformation began, some countries broke away from the roman catholic church to form protestant churches. at first, henry was against this. the reformation did not spread to england straight away. but by the 1530s, there were many powerful people in england who liked the idea of the reformation.