The Great Matter was a defining event in the lives of King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, and Anne Boleyn. One of the world’s messiest divorces, it saw Henry VIII trying everything in his bag of tricks to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon to marry his new infatuation, Anne Boleyn. While we know that the basis for his argument that he should be able to divorce Catherine comes from the book of Leviticus in the Bible, we often see Henry’s debate through the Catholic and Protestant lenses. However, Henry relied on another group of people who had not been on English soil for centuries, the Jews. What does Jewish law bring to the discussion of the Great Matter and did it help Henry? Jerry Rabow examines this often overlooked aspect of Henry’s road to divorce in his book, “Henry VIII and His Rabbis: How the King Relied on Jewish Law to End His First Marriage- and Why He Failed.”

I want to thank Amberley Publishing for sending me a copy of this book. Obviously, as a Tudor nerd, I am very familiar with the Great Matter, but when I saw that it was focusing on Jewish law and how it pertained to this case in particular. I have some knowledge of theological debates from college, so I wanted to see how in-depth Rabow would go.

Rabow begins by exploring the phenomenon known as Tudormania before diving into a brief history of the Jewish people in England before Henry VIII’s reign. He then takes the time to provide background information about the Great Matter, including discussing the Leviticus Prohibitions, which would be the base of Henry’s argument for his divorce. I have to say that the way Rabow covered the Tudor portion of this book felt like he oversimplified things or made assertions about their characters that felt generic.

When it comes to the main topic, Rabow spends a bit of time explaining Jewish law and the different Jewish traditions. This foundation is important because different Jewish traditions understand the Leviticus Prohibitions in different ways. One tradition believes in a levirate marriage, which allows a brother to marry his sister-in-law if his brother dies without an heir. So essentially what happened when Henry married Catherine after Arthur died. To say Henry was not thrilled with this branch of Jewish tradition would be an understatement. Rabow shows his audience how Henry VIII relied on Jewish scholars in Italy to help defeat the Pope’s gridlock on the matter.

I think the theological matters and the history of the Jewish people and scholars were interesting in this book. Where it fell short for me was when Rabow entered the Tudor court. Overall, it was an interesting book with a unique twist on the story of the Great Matter. If you want a book that explores the Great Matter with a twist, I suggest you read, “Henry VIII and His Rabbis: How the King Relied on Jewish Law to End His First Marriage- and Why He Failed” by Jerry Rabow.