Why does Plucknet claim that the Common law courts were impermeable to foreign influence? What mechanism in the courts led him to this belief?

Regarding Henry VIII's motivations, Maitland claims on page 14 that the Byzantine Code provided better justification or authority "for a King who wished to be monarch in church as well as state ... than could be found in our ancient English law-books".

According to the Wikipedia page on Henry VIII, he separated the Church of England from the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Henry's first Act of Supremacy granted himself Royal Supremacy, which meant that he was the supreme head of the Church of England. It seems as though these acts were done for political rather than religious reasons, since "he remained a believer in core Catholic theological teachings, even after his excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church".

Perhaps Prof. Moglen was right. The Reception never happened. Whatever embrace of the Roman Law there was in England was merely a small part of Henry’s plan to rid the Catholic church of its influence in England so that he could become leader of both the church and state. This had nothing to do with the merits of a Roman or English legal system.

-- JulianAzran - 24 Oct 2014